You may, or may not, have noticed that I haven’t posted in a few days. I have a reason this time. I was making a logo for someone, I do offer free graphics after all. I really got into this one. Partially because of an update to ArtRage. They’ve added some great stuff to an already great program.
ArtRage is a great program to begin with. Is the ArtRage team satisfied with that? Heck no, the developers keep improving it and making it better. Not only that, but they listen to the people that use ArtRage.
Stencils and Friskets
New additions to ArtRage, stencils and friskets.
Stencils and friskets were a popular request on the program’s forums. I even made a suggestion or two about it myself. It makes sense to have stencils in a program like this. It’s meant to mimic real world art supplies. Artists use these things a lot.
Think about it. If you’re drawing and you need a straight edge, you use something with a straight edge as a guide. Now you can do the same thing in ArtRage. Of course, they’ve added more than just straight edges. Take a look at some of this stuff.
There are a decent number of stencils included in the update. More than it looks like, because you can invert any of the stencils to have the opposite effect. Not only that, but you can make your own and add them to the program, just like the paper textures.
They haven’t limited themselves to edges either. They’ve also added gradients, textures and objects as well. Take a look at a sphere in ArtRage.
Click the images to see them full size.
There is a lot you can do with the stuff they’ve added. I believe they’ve really made some great improvements in the program. ArtRage is well on it’s way to being the best natural media graphics program there is.
Now if only we could turn off or adjust the lighting, it’d be perfect. I just got an e-mail from Ambient Design. You can turn the light off now, with the F5 key. So now it’s perfect.
Check out the ArtRage site for a free trial download. Even the full version is only $25. That’s a good deal for a great program.
Well, it’s here. The days are cooler, kind of. The Halloween decorations are starting to show up in stores. It’s fall. That means the return of old favorites and brand spanking new TV shows.
Old Friends.
I can’t wait til Thursday. Brand new My Name is Earl and The Office. Yay! Those are two of my favorite shows. Back to back, throw in ER and it’s probably the best night of TV NBC has had in a long time. Well, since the season finale of those shows anyway. I’m particularly looking forward to Earl.
Familiar Faces.
Reaper
As long as it’s more Clerks and less Jersey Girl, I’ll be happy.
There are a few new show I’m looking forward to. Reaper has been getting some buzz. I can understand why. Big names behind the camera, and familiar faces in front of it. You might recognize Bret Harrison from The Loop, a weird show about an airline. If you have better taste, you’ll recognize him as Brad O’Keefe from Grounded for Life, or maybe his short run on That ’70s Show. Yes, he was on That ’70s Show. He was the nerdy guy while Topher Grace was busy becoming a movie star. Even better news, sorry Bret, Kevin Smith is behind the camera. As long as it’s more Clerks and less Jersey Girl, I’ll be happy. My only problem with it is the time slot. It’s opposite The Office, so I’ll wind up recording it. It’s on Tuesdays.
The show centers around Sam Oliver, played by Bret Harrison. Turns out his parents sold his soul, and now he works for the devil. Well, part time, he also holds down a crappy job.
Sounds good to me.
Big Bang Theory
Two scary smart nerds with a sexy, dumb, neighbor. Classic TV.
Another show I’m looking forward to is Big Bang Theory on CBS Monday nights. I’d heard nothing about the show. The only reason I’m aware of it now is late night TV. Nope, not Jay or Conan. Infomercials. Well, the paid advertising spots that are normally filled with infomercials. I was flipping channels trying to find something other than a Girls Gone Wild ad and I found Big Bang Theory. They had actually paid to show an episode. It even had the “This was a paid program” disclaimer at the end. I don’t know why I haven’t heard about this show. It is hilarious. Well, it is if you’re a geek.
Two scary smart nerds with a sexy, dumb, neighbor. Classic TV. Doesn’t sound like much but the banter is dead on. Seriously, the dialog in this show rivals Joss Wheadon. Anyone who has seen anything Joss has done knows he is a master of dialog, so that’s saying a lot. I think Big Bang Theory can back it up.
Big Bang Theory also has someone you might recognize. Johnny Galecki, David from Roseanne, plays Leonard. His roommate Sheldon is played by Jim Parsons, who has been in Judging Amy and Ed, so I don’t recognize him. Kaley Cuoco, best known for 8 Simple Rules, plays the hot chick Penny. Those three seem to be the core of the show, but everybody was great when I saw it.
There is hope for TV this season.
I’ve had some things I wanted to write that didn’t fit in here or on AnimeFansOnline. So I decided to start a personal blog for all that miscellaneous stuff. I’m lucky that I have a fairly unusual name, it wasn’t registered. Well, the “.eu” was, but I don’t live in the Eu. I’ve registered www.JasonWigley.com and I’m putting a WordPress blog up.
I’m hoping that it will give me a chance to write different kinds of posts and also make FanaticSpace better. At the very least it will move the non-fandom stuff out of here. That should help to keep this site on topic.
So say goodbye to meta-blogging on FanaticSpace. No more blogging about blogging here. Unless I’m writing about a fandom blog, because that still fits in here.
If any of my friends here want to link to it or review it, I’d appreciate it. Give it a little time first if you want to review it. I’m busier than ever now.
I joined Facebook a short time ago. I’m more active there than I’ve ever been on a social site. I’m still getting to know it, but it seems great so far. I’m trying out a few things with the groups over there.
Looking for group.
I tried to find a group for people with fan blogs and couldn’t find one. Not a problem, I just created one. So if you have a fan blog about games, movies, TV or what ever you’re a fan of then check out Fandom Bloggers on Facebook.
One of us. One of us. One of us.
The group is open to anyone with a fandom blog. If that’s you, then stop by and check us out. Get to know your fellow bloggers. Talk about your fandoms. Talk about your blog. This could be a great way to find other stuff to be a fan of.
Debating negligible differences, the favorite sport of fans everywhere.
What is a fandom blog? That’s really a matter of opinion, so I’ll give you mine. If you’re a fan of something and you write a blog about it, then it’s a fandom blog.
What isn’t a fandom blog? Celebrity gossip blogs are not fandom blogs.
What’s the difference?
- If you write a blog about Paris Hilton and focus on her acting talent (Please, don’t laugh. Well, not loudly.) and her work as an actress, then it’s a fandom blog.
- If you write a blog about Paris Hilton and focus on what she wears and who she’s dating, it’s a gossip blog.
As the group name implies, gossip blogs need not apply.
This is a pretty darn good AMV. I found this one when I was looking for a different one. I’m posting it here because it doesn’t quite fit with the ones I’m planning to post on AnimeFansOnline, but I wanted to share it anyway.
Speaking of Angels.
I was going to post this later, but since I’m talking about Angels I’ll post it here.
Angel over at WorldOfAngel.com is giving away $100. That could buy a lot of anime. Well, it could buy some anime. As expensive as it’s getting an extra $100 would help. So go check out the contest rules and enter. If you win, feel free to send a little thank you this way. *L*
To celebrate the 12th anniversary of Command and Conquer, EA has made the original C&C free to download. That’s right free. At no cost. No money down and nothing to pay later.
Download Command & Conquer now.
(Update: The official site is no longer hosting the files, but you can still get ‘em from MegaGames, just click on download above the title.)
If you run XP you’ll need to burn it to a CD. If you can’t burn a CD, find a friend who can. Command & Conquer is worth it.
Granted, it’s not going to be as pretty as Command & Conquer 3. It is an older game. Think about it though, this game was good enough to spawn one of the greatest PC game franchises ever. Command & Conquer is the standard in real-time strategy. Now you can play the game that started it all for free.
I’m going to download it now.
I added the BlogRush widget. Maybe it’ll bring in a few more readers. We’ll find out in time.
There is a problem though. One that I hope will be fixed. The widget gives no option to resize. That’s just bad design. It breaks my layout if I try to put it in the sidebar. That’s why it’s way at the bottom of the page in the footer.
I can not be the only person this is happening to either. With all the blogs out there using many, many, different themes I’m sure this is happening quite a bit.
Seriously guys, a one size fits all widget? You have got to be kiddin’ me.
I really need to stop reading RevolutionSF. I’m sure it’s a contributing factor for geeks with high blood pressure. Ah, who am I kidding? That wouldn’t help. It’s not RevSF’s fault, mostly. They’re just reporting the screw ups made in Hollywood.
This is the trailer for the new Iron Man movie.
Abandon all hope, all ye who buy a movie ticket.
Once again the people behind the Iron Man movie have screwed up. You may remember my rant on comic book movie casting. I had very little hope for Iron Man turning out well. The only hope I had was that the scenes in the Iron Man armor would be abundant and awesome. Now I have even less hope.
Why would they make trailers and commercials with stuff that’s not in the movie? That makes no sense. Sure it’ll make people want to see a movie. What happens when they find out it’s a trick? A lot of people will just skip it. Hollywood shoots itself in the foot like this and then wonders why fewer people are going to the movies. To quote Kelly Bundy, “The mind wobbles”.
Here’s a tip for filmmakers.
If you film something for the trailer that turns out to be unbelievably cool, put it in the movie. It’s bad enough when people see a movie and find out all the best parts were in the trailer. When you see a movie and all the best parts are in the trailer, but not the movie that’s even worse. That is what people outside of the movie industry call a “lie”. You might want to look that word up. You probably know it better as “promotion” or “marketing”.
Don’t you just hate it when a site doesn’t have comments enabled? I just found out how much it bothers me. Normally I don’t really care, but there are times when it drives me up the wall. Here’s a good example.
I was just reading a RevolutionSF article about Eureka. While I agree with most of the points made, such as Eureka not getting enough love, I saw at least 2 major mistakes. Not spelling or grammar. I’ve read enough stuff on the net to overlook that most of the time. The mistakes made undermined the entire article. At least, I think so.
Character development in a Sci Fi show? Ha!
As with any ensemble show,in the first season, a lot of time had to be spent introducing all the characters and getting everyone established within the storyline
There was major development during the first season. The sheriff’s daughter Zoe was a different person by the end of the season.
Dream a little dream of me.
Imagine the most embarrassing dream you’ve ever had, and then imagine that other people are sharing that dream with you. Whether it’s Jack dreaming of being naked in public or resident junior geek Fargo having a romantic fantasy about his secret crush, which she happens to share, the results are hilarious.
BZZZZT! Wrong! Thanks for playing. That wasn’t Fargo’s dream. They made a big deal about that in the episode. It was supposed to look like it was Fargo’s, but the person really having that dream was Jo. The only way to miss that would be if you didn’t watch the episode.
Guess I just had a Eureka! moment myself.
I’ve tried to monetize this site to make it self sustaining. One of the ways I’ve been experimenting with is sponsored posts. I’ve tried to make sure that the sponsored posts are on topic, or at the very least make them fun. I think I’ve done pretty well. I’ve controlled myself when looking for sponsored content. Sorry, I’m afraid you’re not likely to see a post about vaginal reconstruction on this blog.
Goin’ Postal.
I’ve been signed up to Pay Per Post since the tail end of July. It’s been pretty good to me. I’ve managed to make about 50 bucks with Pay Per Post. That will go a long way to paying hosting fees next year. One good thing about Pay Per Post, they seem to like openness. I’m updating you on how this part of my blog is going, and they’re paying me to do it. As long as they run things that way, I’ll probably stick around.
What are your thoughts?
What do you think about sponsored posts? Are they a good way for a blog to earn it’s keep? Are they a necessary evil of blogging? Are they a festering boil that should be cut out of any blog they’ve tainted?
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