It's part of our culture now

Latest funny Lolcat.

Courtesy icanhascheezburger.

You may have missed something....

There's one thing about Blogger that bugs me. If you work on a post and come back to it later, the draft is saved with the date you started the post. So when you finally get around to posting the finished post, it gets tucked below everything you may have posted since.

Why am I mentioning this? Because I just posted another edition of If I Had My Own Radio Station, but it got lost under yesterday's date.

I'm just sayin'.................

My 7th MacBook Report - Making Movies

One of the reasons I was so curious about the Mac is because of its reputation as a multimedia wizard. So, having just filmed most of the Calgary Stampede Parade on my new camcorder, it was time to put the Mac to the test. The video files that my camcorder produced didn't seem compatible with iMovie, so I tried importing it into Windows Movie Maker. Same difference. So I pulled out my handy dandy Super conversion utility and converted all of my mpg-1 files into mp4s. iMovie had no trouble importing mp4 clips. I managed to import the clips, arrange them how I wanted and add video transitions, titles and credits with absolutely no outside assistance. But all iMovie does is create a movie project and save it as a computer file - in this case I chose Apple Quicktime .mov file. This produced a 300MB file containing over an hour of video, but contained in a player window about 300 by 300 pixels. In order to make this into a DVD, I would need iDVD. iMovie exports movie projects right into iDVD. Unfortunately, I did not find the interface extremely intuitive. But after doing a little research, I managed to create a title screen and encode the project for burning to DVD. Since my MacBook does not have a DVD burner (reader only), I chose to burn the movie to an image. I then copied that image to my Windows computer and Nero made it into a DVD flawlessly.

That's a wrap.

How do these people get their license?

Here's some great footage of someone who just can't seem to drive their way out of a parking lot.

At least, not without great difficulty and damage to at least one car.

Comet dust

If you like watching meteor showers, the August spectacle Perseides is coming next weekend. NASA details what to look for and when here.

I have a feeling I'll be getting up early Monday August 13th and heading north of the city to get away from the city lights to catch part of the show, then head to work at sunrise. Should be fun.

Animation Zen

Here's a bunch of animations built around short audio recordings of Alan Watts.

If you don't know who he is (I didn't) - he's a philosopher and writer who has turned people on to Zen Buddhism.

They're not that long, so you won't be converted to Zen Buddhism before you're done.

For a wine, it's a little fruity....

Last night, Darlene and I went out for dinner with some friends, then on to a night at Loose Moose. When we got back, they brought out a bottle of something I had never tried before - fruit wine. It turns out we have a cottage winery not far from Calgary that specializes in wines made from strawberries, raspberries, Saskatoon berries, bumbleberries and cherries. The place is called Field Stone. We sampled the Saskatoon Berry Dessert Wine and it was delicious. Sweet, but not sickly sweet.

We'll definitely be going to this place to get some.

Wanna buy a DVD?

I'm cleaning house. Some DVDs gotta go. Here's what I've got for sale on eBay at the moment:

• Peter Gabriel - Secret World Live
• Sex and The City - Season One
• Million Dollar Baby
• The Pink Panther
• School of Rock
• The Jackal
• Birth

If you search on these titles, it should be pretty obvious (by username) which one is me. If you buy and live in Calgary I will waive the delivery charge - heck I might even deliver!

"Captain! The ego is damaged pretty badly!"

Dennis, the guy who runs Loose Moose, told us at the orientation, leave your egos at the door. He wasn't kidding. That shit is hard!

I attended the warm-up class last night and got to try a few exercises with the company. I sucked. Big time. Nerves, inexperience, thinking too much, 3 things that will sabotage your efforts right off the bat. I'm not worried - things will come around with training, experience and confidence, but whoa - if anyone ever tries to tell you that improv is easy, just laugh knowingly........ they have no idea what they're talking about, dude.

But I wasn't just there for warm-up. Last night was my inaugural night as usher. Usher rocks! The beauty of being usher is that you get to see the show for free. Last night, I got to see the Micetro Improv format for the first time. This is a neat venue. You start with 15 or so players. The director brings them on stage a few at a time and directs them in scenes. Then the audience gives them a score. Each player gets up at least a few times, accumulating points with each scene. At the end of the round, the players with the lowest scores are out. Then it continues. By the end, only one player remains - the Micetro. Last night, one of the international students lasted to the end. It was fun to watch. Some true brilliance was evident in the performances - I have a lot to learn. But I'm still up for it.

"I have take-aways"

Almost everyone's seen this by now, but just in case you haven't - a kid calls 911 for some help with his math.

No minced words here

It's not without some cursing, but what else would you expect from Henry Rollins? More importantly, Henry rails against the impending hijacking of the internet by government and telecoms. Food for thought.

Schmoozing at the Moose

Last night I attended a reception for a gang of international improv students who are taking a several week course at Loose Moose. This finally gave me a chance for some face time with the members of the company. I got to chat with some of the veterans for a while and meet more members. Lots of names to recall. I've found a way to cheat in that regard. I've been keeping a list of names on my PDA and assigning everyone with attribute words to help me remember who is who. The latest batch of volunteer-friends that I was adopted by got a kick out of that. Speaking of which, one of said group was an evil little monkey and tried to convince some of us that the reception was a costume party. I almost fell for it too. Retribution will be mine to serve for that one I tell ya.

But back to the party. Met loads of cool folks from around the world and I realized last night how nice it is to finally feel like I belong to a group or organization that will lead to many friendships and opportunities. The next improv course is running in October and I'm signing up for it. Tonight, I'm working the theatre as usher / door person. So, if you're going to the Moose tonight - we'll be seeing ya!

Takin the day off

Crazy busy tonight.... Loose Moose private reception. I'll fill in the details tomorrow.

No posts today.

Oh Ca.... na.... bis...

Word has it that Canada has the highest (no pun intended) percentage of marijuana users of any industrialized country.

I'm tellin' ya, if we ever get it legalized, my Mr Munchie idea is gonna make millions.

Which one pertains to you?

Cool washroom male / female indicator signs from around the world.

Walken can cook!

Apparently Christopher Walken posted a video of himself cooking a chicken dish to imcooked.com without telling anyone.

Well....... that spread like wildfire.

3 years old - today

Happy Birthday to blog, happy birthday to blog.......

Facebook not so easy to cancel

I guess the geniuses at Facebook have made it extraordinarily difficult to delete an account once it's created.

SHOCKER!

I actually like Facebook in that it is a fine way to keep in touch with friends. I find some of their applications to be on the dumb side though.

It's not easy being an alien

Here's a cute clip called Lifted, about an alien who just can't get the art of abduction worked out right.

What's in common?

What do these 2 items have in common?

They both contain 120 calories. Look here to see more examples of 120 calories worth of food.

"Dude............ you're freaking me out!"

And I thought human males did some freaky stuff to impress females. Jumping spider males do this whole stomp / hands up in the air dance.

Don't like spiders? Don't watch it.........

Best Facebook friend status message.....

.....seen this week (so far):

"[friend's name] is sweatin' like a virgin at a prison rodeo."

Haha!!

Loose Moose training

So last night, I shadowed a Moosian ( a member of the Loose Moose company - a Looser didn't sound right) on stage lights. It was wicked. The job itself is fairly easy - technically. But as lighting person, you actually have the power to massage the scene. Firstly, lighting really does affect the look, the mood of the scene. Secondly, the lighting person has the power to decide that the scene is getting long in the tooth and end it. So - timing is everything. Now normally, that could be a stressful responsibility, but the Moosers are very supportive. I took over the lighting for the second half of Gorilla Improv and it was awesome. Many thanks to Steve (the sound guy) for giving me great cues.

This message will self destruct in 5.... 4.... 3....

Have you ever wanted to send a secure anonymous email to someone that self-destructed as soon as they read it?

Will Self Destruct will do that for you. This could be useful to send a tip to the authorities, sending out passwords, reporting fraud to your boss or institution, etc. Use your imagination.

Here's how it works: The recipient receives an e-mail with a link to a one-time secure web page which they will be able to view only once. Once the url has been accessed the message is deleted. You may enter your email address or just simply your name if you wish. If you do not enter an email address or name your identity will be anonymous to the message recipient.

White Noise is 3 years old!

It's been a long road my faithful readers, but you stuck with me.

In 3 days, this blog will be 3 years old. Over 3400 posts. 90-150 readers a day. And I thank them all. Here's to 3 more years............ at least.

P.S.: If you told a couple friends about the blog, I wouldn't mind at all. No.... really. It's OK by me.

The FCC apparently fell for this....

OMFG! A company in the US gave some rather questionable call letters to 2 of their newest TV stations.

My favourite of the two is KWTF in Arizona. Anna Johns of TV Squad said of the call letters, "Now, this one I like. I think I'd keep it. I'd make my motto, 'Hey! KWTF is happening in Arizona!' "

I'll go you one better Anna. I think the station should recruit TV show stars standing on a set, looking into the camera and saying, "Hey Arizona! K, what the f......" the remainder of the last word trailing off....

Thanks again to E! (Ernest) for the find.

Everyone knows someone like Jim....

Delusional Calgaria Intervention is a cute video about a guy from Nova Scotia who moves to Calgary for the big job and the big money. His friends and family stage an intervention to bring him back to reality ummm..... Nova Scotia.

Thanks to E! for the find.

I could explode!

What an evening. Last night was my first night at Loose Moose as an 'insider'. Some things I learned:

• Don't bother showing up early - the place is locked until almost pre-show class time.
• You get to meet a lot of people during pre-show.
• You play games with the company.
• You sometimes meet or hear stories about famous people.
• You can offer to perform with the company during pre-show.
• After that, the teams (for Theatre Sports) are assembled.
• Also, the other duties are filled (MC, judges, scorekeeper, etc.).

I know - you're asking, "Whoa dude! Why did you mention famous people? Who did you meet?" We had a guest teacher last night - improv guru Keith Johnstone. This guy invented many of the venue formats you see at Loose Moose.

I took the opportunity to shadow a few jobs for future reference. When the sign up sheet gets passed around, sometimes there's slim pickin's for what's available. I managed to get 2 usher positions in August, so if you go on the 3rd or 17th of August - it'll be me greeting you at the door.

Tonight, I'm officially shadowing the job of lighting the stage. I sat there last night, feeling like I had just been invited to the circus - backstage - in hopes of learning the craft and becoming one of them. It was totally exciting. Big shout out to Mandy, Brian, Sandy and Amy for accepting me into their group after meeting them on Tuesday night's orientation. It really helps to have a core group of friends you can talk to at Loose Moose.

Great days ahead.

It's not funny anymore. The industry is dead.

A mom videotapes her child dancing around the house. Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy' is playing in the background. Mom posts the 30 second video on YouTube. Universal Muisc issues YouTube a take-down notice for copyright violation. I'm dead serious.

Here's the video. Here's the EFF suing Universal for harrassing the rights of citizens.

How much more of this shit are you going to put up with America?

Check on cat = enjoy trendy neighbourhood

Darlene offered to cat-sit for a friend. I like cats and we don't have any, so this is cool. Even cooler, the house is in Kensington, so we get to park in that neighbourhood for free. Which is a big deal, because parking there is not easy - nor is it free.