Caffine Snack Test, courtesy of Gizmodo

Found this via a link from io9.com. If this does not get your creativity going, don’t know what will!

Last night I finished my 3 day marathon of watching the entire first season of Fringe. I managed to miss this show when it first aired, and now coming up on its next season I figured I should give it a shot. I’ve heard it described as “X-Files on crack” but I don’t really think that does this new [relativly] JJ Abrams offering justice.

Fringe is an interesting mixture of horror, science, and some laugh out loud character driven comedy. Hmmm this sounds a bit like LOST…not quite. The show’s formula driven format breaks from the narrative style of a show like LOST, and reminds me more of a House or NCIS. The nerd-tacular level of “real” science techno-babble is enough to make any science geek want to keep watching [a trend that wanes as the season progresses, much to my dismay].

Early in the show, the actors’ portrayal of their characters seemed forced and unsure, but as the show progressed the characters found their feet and developed a believable on-screen chemistry, the precipitate of which [I had to get some science joke in there] is a core set of characters we start to care about.

I did find myself tiring of the show during the back half of the season’s “monster movie” episodes. Though the episodes had their moments I felt like they lacked some of the intelligence, wit, and sense of fun that had me watching episode after episode on Hulu.

I may not be waiting with bated breath, but I look forward to seeing where Fringe takes us next season.

So I picked up an acoustic guitar last week and I’ve playing around trying to learn that after work in between a little bit of Flash AS3 programming and worrying about politics.  Not too good yet but I’m getting better every day.  Three weeks till I leave my day job and take two weeks off before heading back to SCAD.  Looking forward to what I think is a well deserved break from the daily grind.  I’ve decided not to get a car this summer as I won’t be commuting between SCAD and a job during the quarter and it frees things up a bit financially [gotta save money with the economy like this].

One of the guys at work, showed this to me today, I kinda want to make one.

So, finals week is coming up but the the of my work has been this weekend due to my due dates being mostly Monday and Tuesday with written tests on Wednesday and Thursday.

The final for my classics of SciFi Literature class looks like its gonna kill. I’ve done almost all the reading and was one of the most active in class discussions, but remembering all the tiny details from six novels read over a 10 week period is not easy.

The written final or Baroque Art History won’t be bad but I’ve got a huge research paper due thats 40% of my grade. Almost done with that, just need an intro and conclusion and one or two little edits.

My final project for Interactive Design is the “Swine Flu Panic Simulator”, going for a humorous take on things and focusing on non standard interactive elements to add a sense of immersion within the app. The actionScript has been a bit glitchy but I made some major breakthroughs yesterday and got to take the night off instead of my usual all nighter. I’ll try and get my Flash projects from this class up on dA soon as I’m happy with presenting all of them [I'm considering them all alpha stage projects as they were created on 2 week production times].

Well back to work.

Working \ Hangin around. All nighters can be a pain but tonight I’m not running it too hard. Throwing some concept art and mood boards around for some classes. Writing thesis statements in 2 hours once the library opens. No energy drinks either, just some coffee.

Live twittering the inauguration.

Well then.  Its been a while.  Months.  I accomplished a lot but sadly not in the arts.  Where to begin.

End of Last Quarter

Intro to Interactive Design and Game Development – Final Grade: B

I felt like we deserved a bit more on our final project.  The grade I got on the final was an 89 which to me feels like a bit of an insult.  Its kinda like you were this good but I’m not gonna give you that one more point to make it an A.  Plus I honestly felt we did A work.  We made a fun, solid, distinctive game that people enjoyed.  But I guess I’ll just have to try even harder next time I’ve got Professor Spencer.  But I got through with a B and I’m a little smarter for it.

Survey of Art History 2 – Final Grade: A

Now here was a class I loved and I think my test grades show it.  97, 98, 88, 98.  The 88 was on an essay I wrote and I know my writing skill needs work.  Professor Jasin has got to be one of the best teachers I have ever had.  She made me really want to go to class and pay attention.  Her lectures were informative and interesting, and her tests were tough but fair.  I learned so much from this class and I think she’s given me a love for art history.  I really hope I can take some more classes from her in the future.

Digital Design Aesthetics – Final Grade A

Gotta say, I’m proud of this one.  Before going into this class I was told things like “no one gets an A in this class” and “its just not possible”.  Basically you’ve got to make the teacher want to sit up and take notice of your work to pull the A.  And I got it.  I enjoyed the class and I’m hoping to take more from the professor soon.  He teaches the technical and programming side of interactive and flash development so its a must have.

Winter Break

What I did

I was an audio system’s technician on Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church’s “North Atlanta Christmas Festival”.  A huge production [for a church] that runs a three night show near Christmas.  I was working for weeks all day for no money.  Basically took up my entire break and this is why I was unable to get any art done and no one has heard from me.  Took all my time and burned me out.  Don’t know if I can pull that again.  Almost 100 microphones, probably miles of cable, 8 high power projectors, 25+ moving lights, hundreds of feet of trussing, the Georgia Tech Drum Core, 2 drummer flown 20 feet in the air, 300+ person choir, huge orchestra, 16 man tech crew, kabuki curtain, fiber optic curtain, moving projector screen, 3 spotlights, a LOT of Velcro ties, a few exploding lights, a broken leg [not my own] a HELL of a dress rehearsal, some crazy choir antics, security needs, and three great performances.

What I did not do

Make any appreciable money

learn action script enough to skip classes

practice my artwork

hang out with friends

Winter Quarter 09

Three new classes, some old friends and some new ones, a lot of work, a lot of caffeine, student projects, personal projects, internships, resumes, dates, dinners, groceries, pens, pencils, paper, computers, dice, bags, laundry, drama, RP sessions, and every day I learn how much more I have to learn.

My classes

Modeling, Materials, and Lighting – basically an intro to Maya.  Done this sort of thing before but I’m in need of a refresher and there is always more to learn

20th Century Art – Don’t really know a lot about the art of the 20th century.  Should be informative at the very least.

Life Drawing – Really need this one and I’ve got a great teacher.  Expect to see a big jump in my ability to draw the human form.  Only 2 weeks in and I can see it already.

Just got back from the print shop.  Proofs on my Intro to Interactive Design and Game Development final project looked good and the whole set should be done by 7:00am.  The other two members of my team are doing well, one is a bit behind schedule but it happens.

I just need to do a final work over on a few animations for the website and print the CD and jewel-case on my Digital Design Aesthetics class final project.  Also need to get my progress PDF file together for this project detailing my process from concept to completion.

I have my final Art History 2 exam in 7 hours.  It covers sculpture and architecture in the later 19th century through Abstract Expressionism.  Have not really slept in the last 3 days.  I’ve gotten three, one hour naps though out the last few days but that’s really it.

I know next quarter I’m going to have to manage my project time a bit better than I did this time around.  But now I’m on the home stretch and things are looking up.  Gonna go back and make sure I really know all my info for Art History then get some sleep.

Good morning everybody.  Hope you like the smell of spray adhesive.

So this is it.  Finals week.  The entire quarter comes down to this, and once again my future in college is on the line.  In one class, my grade depends on how well I can remember information accuratly, in another how well I can work in a small team environemnt on a short deadline, and in a third, how well I can design every visual aspect of a web game product rollout.  Three very differnet tasks all coming to a head in the next few days.  And at the center of it all the test of managing my time, my stress, and my health.  Here goes nothing.