Some Thoughts, Vol. 1

This is the more awake edition of “Sleep-blogging.”  We’ll see if it’s any more coherent.

-It looks like next year’s Atlanta Braves will likely include Jake Peavy (awesome) and not include Yunel Escobar (what?).  Why can’t the Braves be made of money?  Either way, I’m already anxious for the 2009 season to start, even if we won’t yet be contenders.  But I’ll feel decent about our chances as long as no one predicts us to win the World Series.  

-Many people attribute the Republican’s discouraging defeat on Tuesday to their inability to win over moderates (or, in many cases, their ability to chase them away).  Tony Perkins, a leading conservative leader, however, has a different strategy: blame the whole mess on the moderates.  Perkins accused moderates in the ranks of leading the party astray, and feels it wrong to cater to their concerns.  Apparently, it’s never too early to start losing in 2012…

But seriously, I hope no one listens to this guy.  

-I really hope that the studios come to their senses and start slashing the prices of Blu-Ray movies.  The Blu-Ray player manufacturers are coming to their senses (good players can easily be found for south of $200 now), but I really don’t want to pay $30 for a WALL-E Blu-Ray disc this month.  I would, but I don’t want to.  Upscale DVD players do an admirable job, but there really is no comparison.  It’s a tough climate for visually-driven movie buffs. 

-Also, a word to Activision, or however makes Guitar Hero: sell drum kits separately.  There’s no reason I should have to pay $190 in order to get a $40 peripheral.  I want to live out my Drum Hero dreams.  

-The Furman Fighting Football Paladins are two wins away from a playoff berth, yet no one outside of Greenville seems to be aware of that; the media and messageboards have already given the spots away to App State, Elon, and Wofford.  It’s probably best that way.  And it’s definitely also best that we have an off-week this week.  I anticipate that both the Georgia Southern and Wofford contests will be barn-burners.  

-Still no Adobe CS4 Trial.  Adobe is giving me little reason to believe that the suite actually exists.  You know, other than floods of reviews and hands-on-impressions.  But those can be faked. 

-Apparently Pixar is working on two live-action films: John Carter of Mars and 1906.  That’s right, Pixar.  The films are being directed by Andrew Stanton and Brad Bird, respectively.  I give those guys (and all of Pixar) a mandate to try whatever they want, so more power to them.

Whoa, I have a blog?

Hmmmm….so, yeah.  It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here.  It’s a pity, too, it was going so strongly through the summer.  Now that I’m starting to get settled in to “life” some more, I hope to continue the conversation some more.

So here’s a little bit of what has been going on and what I’ve been up to.

First…the thing I get asked about a lot…I’m being considered for a position with the North Point Community Church (Atlanta, well, Alpharetta actually) media team.  This is obviously a pretty big “life detail” that I would love to see figured out.  I have no real indication of my chances of getting the job, and I think they’re still interviewing people, so such information would probably be pretty inappropriate at this point anyways.  But it’s an exciting possibility.  I’ve met the team, and it has got to be one of the most insanely creative collection of people I’ve ever encountered.  You should see their stuff…which, if you’ve ever been to North Point, then you have.  The position I’m being considered for is a hybrid designer/motion designer/anything-else-that-could-conceivably-fall-into-the-category-of-”media” guy.  That was 10 hyphens, for those who were counting.  Anyways, this has been (and I anticipate it will continue to be) a long process.  The limbo of not knowing whether or not I’ll be shooting of to the ATL anytime soon has had me pretty stressed/unsettled.  But I thing I’m chilling a little bit more.  

In the meantime, it’s the busy season at Concoxions.  I’ve been squeezing every last ounce of creative juice in me to come up with some quickly, and there’s still a looooong way to go….web designs, some new ideas we have for promotional material, promo videos, the works.  So we’ll see how it goes.

First up, Chillipepper…

This is the foundational design for the final promotional theme (mainly the poster) for this coming winter.  The typeface has remained mainly the same, but the idea has continued to evolve ever since the Coldplay/iTunes commercial gave the promotional video a kick in the pants.  The resemblance is perhaps a bit stronger here…

Disappointed that I had to “fake” the volumetric lighting effect (light rays coming through the letters), curiosity got the best of me and I fired up my Cinema 4D demo just so I could see what this motif could look like with full 3D treatment…lovingly called the “erupting version” by Tiffany. (Click for full size version.)  

I really, really, really, really want to get into 3D modeling/animation.  There’s just so much you can do typographically (which is what I mainly do).  But it’s expensive, at least for someone in my position.

We’re wanting to get the Seesalt stuff at the same time as the Chillipepper stuff, so believe it or not, I’m already having to come up with some drafts, about half a year sooner than I’m used to.

There’s a lot that isn’t quite up to snuff with that particular design, but it’s something to run with.  And of course, I couldn’t resist…

I am apparently addicted to big, bright lights.

Finally, we needed a design for “Art to Heart,” a traveling special-effects chalk drawing production (which we’ve already thrown together once this season, in front of about 1,000 students at Gardner-Webb…that’s a fairly large test audience).  I’m actually pretty stoked about this design, and trust me, that is RARE.  This one may have some potential.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s college football season.  I am a strange wound-up ball of happiness, stress, excitement, and tension during this blessed/cursed time.  But I tell you, this Furman team has the earmarks of something special.  We’ll know for sure this Saturday (home against #6 Delaware…HUGE game).  Meanwhile, I’ve been acting as the weekly “College Football Pick’em” guy over at amalgamblog, and (not to toot my own horn) I’ve been doing pretty well.  I may miss some games here or there, but I seemingly have a knack for guessing margins of victory pretty accurately.  But, we’re only three weeks in.  College football can be screwy.

Okay, I think I’ve made up for the lack of posting.  That’s enough for now.

Is it fall yet?

If you’re a fan of Furman football…nay, of college football at all…watch this video.  If it doesn’t get you jazzed for college football season, then…well, you’re probably just in a bad mood.  The video is a pretty good recap of the highs of the 2007 season (which admittedly ended with a lot more highs than with which it began).  

I’m feeling really really good about the upcoming season (but then again, I felt good about the Braves this year, and we see how that’s going).  2007 was supposed to be “the year” due to an overflow of talent, but they didn’t really seem to get their heads screwed on until the second half against App State…about one game too late.  From there on out, they were pretty unstoppable. 

This year we’ll return what could potentially be the best offense in the Southern Conference (you heard me, Crappalachian) and, finally, a brand new, speed-focused defensive scheme that should catch up with the Spread-Offense times.  I’m not predicting 1988: Part Two, but this unheralded, talented group has a lot in common with those guys.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Regarding Objections

A lot has been said about George Bush’s visit to my graduation at Furman University, as well as the resulting protest from a number of the Furman faculty. I haven’t been among those saying a lot, but that’s about to change, if only for a couple of minutes. I was told a lot about how I was supposed to feel about the entire situation– that it is an honor to have the president speak at one’s graduation (definitely true) and that you should as a result be nothing but excited (definitely not always true). Still, because of my unique and precarious position in the middle of it all–not a professor and not an outsider, but rather dipping my toes in both pools– I kept my mouth mostly shut.

To say that the situation was a simple as honors and presidents is to overlook the power of the presidential office. Because of an administration’s decisions,