Well, I’ve never actually used

by Matt | Dec 10, 2001 | Imported Entry

Well, I’ve never actually used that much Latin in one evening. Last night was St. Marks annual Christmas Carols night and my mother wanted and needed someone to go with her, so I volunteered. You could defiantly tell that the program had been thought up by someone from the High Church because there were robes and candles and Latin aplenty. Anyway.

The whole reason we were down there was because Steve (my brother who goes to St. Marks) wanted to go into Boston. I wanted to check out Urban Outfitters since there were having another “%50 off the entire store” sale. After that we went across the street to Cardullo’s and then back out to Alewife. The reason Steve had wanted to come is because he was looking for a present for his girlfriend. Since he hadn’t found anything, he asked if we could stop at the mall that was between Boston and St. Marks. It was only a quick mall trip, thankfully, but he found something nice and we were on our way. Then it was time for carols, then home. That’s pretty much it.

I’ve got two random little web links today. First one was discovered by Big Dave and passed on to me. E-Lance is a really cool freelance services site. Artists make bids on jobs and if the people looking to get work done like the proposal they accept the bid. Then the artist whips up whatever their supposed to do ( logo design, web pages, graphics etc) then send them to the client. Then they get paid. It’s kinda cool. Anyway, if any of you graphic designers are looking for a few extra bucks. Check out E-Lance, it’s well worth the $25 to join.

Lastly, Nagle passed this one on to me, it’s the Resident Evil the Movie Poster Contest. You can download a bunch of production stills from the movie and try and put them together into a cool movie poster. If you win it’s a cool $2500, a copy of your poster and a screening of the movie in your home town. Nifty huh?

Later.

Well. Last night was fun.

by Matt | Dec 8, 2001 | Imported Entry

Well. Last night was fun. I got to hang out with Chip and Big Dave. I hadn’t seen Dave in a while and it was cool getting to “shoot-the-shit” for the evening. Dave is one of those cool people that understand that “artistic motivation” isn’t exactly something you can explain and that art isn’t just bullshit. Anyway, we got a bit to eat and then sat around Valvcon talking about everything from graphic design to paying for college.

As for this afternoon. I finally got to see the end of Behind Enemy Lines. I’ll be fair in saying that the story was ok and the acting wasn’t half bad, but to be honest, this movie sucked. Now, it did have it’s good moments, but it wasn’t good enough. This movie failed in the same way that Three Kings failed. Shitty cinematography. Period. The DP and the director pulled out all the “trick shots” humanly possible. Slow-mo, tilt and swivel, quick cut, everything. Even down to the “inside something” shot used in, you guessed it, Three Kings. One scene stands out in my mind. Our main character is trying to get away from the bad guys and is wondering through an industrial/warehouse section of town. There is no danger, he’s eluded the bad guys, yet the camera follows the action as if they were hunting down criminals in an episode of Cops on TV. They couldn’t borrow a friggin’ steady-cam for the afternoon? No, of course not. The problem wasn’t with the shot, I suppose that “style” has it’s place, but this wasn’t it.

Anyway, it was “ok” in the end but it left me fairly disappointed. I should have gone to see Spy Games instead. I’m told it’s better, but then again, I was also told that this movie was good. Go figure.

After the movie I stopped to get some gas, a bite to eat and then headed up to Nashua to continue my exhaustive search for “the perfect gift”. I don’t think it exists. I was given $100 to spend on myself but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I did pick up a cd but that’s hardly $100. I snagged Deep Dish: Moscow over at Newbury Comics. I had been meaning to get it for a while and never had the money. Since I was told to buy my own birthday present, I figured that would do. Happy almost birthday to me. I’m not big on buying myself “presents”. Don’t get me wrong, if I’m out and I see something I want I’ll probably get it. But the concept of “giving” to myself seems very foreign. Whatever.

So, it’s Saturday night, and I’m chillin’ on the couch, waiting for Chip to give me a call back. Allegedly it’s “fun night” so they may be doing something. Who knows. I’m going to go listen to my new CD now. Later.

Current tunes: Deep Dish: Moscow
Current mood: sleepy

Wow… if I was planning

by Matt | Dec 7, 2001 | Imported Entry

Wow… if I was planning on being here for New Year’s… I’d definatly find my way to Boston. Avalon has DJ Micro, John Debo, Michael Whalen, Dave Ralph, DJ Nailz and Mario Lima… plus a couple of local guys who aren’t very good… but I’m not going to be here, I’m going to be in TX with Lauren, which makes me happier. I think I’ve already seen the best DJs on the planet this season, I don’t think any show, New Years or not, could top it. So I’m pleased to be spending my New Years with someone I love. Actually, this will be the second New Years in a row that I’m in TX.

Ok, for lack of a better topic, I’m going to mention the weather. Yes, the weather. Or lack there of. It’s been consistantly warmer than usually in the eastern parts of the country this winter. Thank goodness that’s about to change. Two affilates in Boston plus those bastards over at the Weather Channel are predicting 2-4″ late Saturday night and into Sunday. Further south, around Boston, it’s predicted to change into rain by dawn but that the snow further north (here) would probably stay. HUZAH!!! Finally some freakin’ snow! I hate green Christmas’, I really do. To make me happy there must be a good foot or so of snow on the ground while I’m opening presents. It’s just the way it has to be. Hopefully we’ll get some more and it won’t warm up again. I guess we’ll see.

Software:
I just stumbled across QCD (Quintessential Audio Player). It’s actually kind of interesting. It’s not going to replace WinAmp when it comes to MP3s but it’s a very stable, very clean and easily skinnable player with all of the audio format options of Winamp. I really like a few of the skins so I might use it for playing WMAs or CD audio. It’s pretty cool. Check out the program here. And then check out some cool skins under the “applications” section of DeviantArt.

Last but not least. Trillian was finally updated. The instant message program I’ve been using which covers AIM, ICQ, MSN, YAHOO and IRC. The only downside to it was that it didn’t have file sharring. Well, fear no more. Trillian v0.70 finally has file sharring. Woot! Plus I think it’s the first program to have cool skins already there instead of having to download more… which of course I did anyways 🙂

that is all.

If I were a

by Matt | Dec 7, 2001 | Imported Entry

snoogans 🙂

Well, I never quite made

by Matt | Dec 7, 2001 | Imported Entry

Well, I never quite made it to the movies last night. Chip came over around 7:30 and we ventured off towards Nashua, stopping at Applebee’s for a quick bite to eat and then over to the mall for no real reason whatsoever. I had originally wanted to get a little x-mas shopping done but when I checked my balance it was -$0.91, which is not a good thing. I do have $250 to deposit tomorrow, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I guess shopping will have to wait until the weekend. Oh well. We did meet up with Jason but he wasn’t able to go to a movie so we compromised and went back to Jason’s apartment to watch a DVD instead. That was about it.

We did have a long chuckle about the stupidity of some people nowadays. I’m speaking of course about the author of this. I can’t honestly believe that this could be legitimate. I’m fairly sure it’s not. If it is, then its a sad example of how out of touch some people are with reality. Anyway.

As for today, I’ve got a few options. Obviously I should probably go to the bank before I get zapped $25 for having an overdrawn account. After that I was considering going with my folks to a hockey tournament but I wouldn’t be back until 9 or 10. I don’t know if even I can put up with high school hockey for that long. My other option is to hang out here and work on ideas for blogproject.com, which I’ve been wanting to do all day, that and finish off some new Photoshop projects I was working on. I’m considering getting a hair cut too. My hair is almost down to the tops of my shoulders. I was going to get it shortened just slightly and layered a bit, a la Richard Gere or Obi-Wan Canobi (episode 2 style). Who knows. I’d just like to change things up a bit but I’m not happy with any haircut I’ve had in the past year. Oh well. Ok, sleepy time. Later.