wanna see NewSpring?

So, you live far, far away and you’ve always wanted to see what we do at NewSpring? Well, look no further. The new site’s online, and it includes a media player with video of our services. To my tech / artsy readers out there, what do you think?

Bear in mind, we’re ripping our IMAG program feed. All live, no post editing… live cuts and crazy shots are included!! There’s a certain “honest” quality to showing the same experience you see on the main screens, huh?

And props to Lloyd for an awesome job in developing the new site.

Barden wedding.

DSC04506

Originally uploaded by avclub.

Jared and Jennifer Barden are now married. I fully enjoyed the wedding, the first I’ve been in in quite some time. Angela took this lovely picture of my sweetie and I. Me? I was without camera, phone, cameraphone, etc…. for the first time in a long time. It was actually very nice. Good time had by all.

10 most dangerous toys of all time.

Wired and Radar lists for us the 10 most dangerous toys of all time. (full article)

identity 2006.

Best logos / identities / branding of 2006.

burial of the green monster.

1215061413.jpg

Originally uploaded by avclub.

So, yesterday, DJ and I decided to haul off the remains of the “big green monster” from last weekend. It took a massive trailer load and for truck loads (pictured) to contain the beast. But he’s gone.

CS3

A rundown of what to expect in Photoshop CS3.

feedburner.

I just set up a feedburner email subscription form under the about page, if you’re into that sort of thing. I’ve had some other blog buddies want this feature, and the guys over at oakleafgroups.com found this service. I thought I’d take it for a spin.

critter box synth.

What do I really want for Christmas? To build this critter box synth. It’s cool on so many levels. (watch the movie here). Then, I’d like an extra 2 hours per day.

Christmas meme – ’cause it’s fun.

Got tagged by Jonathan, and I’m a good sport so I’ll play along.

Christmas MEME

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog (Publix low-fat… to justify the quantities).
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Old skool wrap.
3. Colored Light on Tree/House or White? White.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? I should…
5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon as possible… I’m one of “those”
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? crunchy balls (which, strangely, are neither crunchy nor perfectly ball-shaped).
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? getting Robotix set.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My brother and I confronted Mom.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? nope
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? with sentimental ornaments + a few decorative embellishments from my wife.
11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love it.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Ibanez RX-170 and a Crate 30 watt amp.
14. What’s the most important thing about Christmas to you? Jesus.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? pumpkin pie
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas morning, hanging around the house with family in our PJs
17. What tops your tree? a large bow
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? giving. I have trouble not giving too early
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? toss up… Carol of the Bells (found 4 versions on my iTunes) vs. O Holy Night
20. Candy Canes. Yuck or Yum? Yum.

And to pass along the joy… I’m tagging:
Perry
Meg
Jesse
Paul

Christmas fractals.

Some Christmas fractals Gizz and I generated today. Feel free to use and enjoy. Are they snowflakes? Are they lights? Who knows…

preston

My father in law, Preston, is the coolest. Here he is (on the far left right) in full Scottish garb with his pipes. He’s played for over 40 years and is very passionate about it. We could all stand to learn from his excitement and fervor. (article here)

miniblog?

I’m toying with the idea of a miniblog… a blog within a blog. Look to the right… what do you think? As an AV Club reader, would you prefer me to have a single feed of info, posts, etc., or would you prefer more in depth, thought out posts in the main column and smaller, frequent “link posts” in the miniblog?

battle of the century.

I’ve found it. I’ve found the secret to relieving stress and anxiety. Sure, you can exercise, watch TV, or even get a massage. Those solutions only pale in comparison to my cure. What is this magical elixir to rid yourself of tension? A chainsaw.

First, pick a target. Here’s mine. Then get the gear. (don’t forget safety glasses… if you make your living with your eyesight, it would be a pity to lose it over a misdirected branch or piece of shrapnel). ***NOTE, these particular safety glasses were given to me at VIA Systems in Virginia and have a sort of “Weezer” quality to them that I love… works well with a thug-style beanie. ***

Finally, hack like there’s not tomorrow. Chainsaw as if your life depended on it. Enjoy the results.

Some may find it helps to intimidate the tree or shrub with a cobra-like ninja claw.

Now, you may get very confident and decided to attack another target. I chose the BIG GREEN MONSTER as target #2. He’s been my nemesis since we moved in, and I’ve vowed many a day to take him out. He looks normal from a distance, but up close, he’s quite formidable. Another view. Here’s a photo next to my cat for size comparison. After several hours of hacking and sawing and chaining, both the bush and my stress are gone.

S.A.F.E.

Tonight was first Wednesday, and that means a new opener / package. The title of the message was Playing it S.A.F.E.

Safe Open (3.6MB)

AE background render script.

If you’re an After Effects 7 user (anyone? anyone out there?), try this. It’s a script that takes advantage of your multiple processors and boost render times. Sick.

*** UPDATE *** I just tried it on the Mac, and it (1) was very fast and (2) rendered one thing while I continued to work at full speed. This has the makings of a MAJOR time saver.

Lost, whaaa??

ABC announces that Lost will be showing this coming spring at 10:00PM on WEDNESDAYS. That’s just late-night crazy.

all baptisms should be this fun.

the unibrow – so hott this year.

vacation, continued

Still on vacation. I’m a motivated type person, so it’s tough for me to just hang out around the house. Though I’m realizing that to dedicate these few days playing with my kids and taking care of Meg are both much needed and well worth it. Gardner wasn’t feeling well yesterday… I don’t know if he’s just picking up a cold or just grumpy, but I do have a larger appreciation of what Meg goes through on a “rough day.” Hopefully today will be more chilled.

Got up at 6:00 this morning to meet Dad for coffee. We do that once a week. I enjoy our house early in the morning when it’s quiet and everyone’s asleep. After Dad left, I cracked open the Xbox for a little bit. I just started playing Metal Gear Solid 2. Should be fun.

Last night, the Fall season of Heroes wrapped up with new episodes expected on Jan. 22, 2007. I still enjoy the show and appreciate the faster pace (compared to, uh, Lost) that they move at. They have just as many “main characters,” but somehow keep all of their story lines progressing without feeling sluggish. What did you guys think?

In other news, I finished the Battlestar Galactica miniseries DVD the other night. It’s a great show, gritty, well invested characters, good backstory and histories to explore. It’s like Star Trek without the campy vibe and more realism. I’ll be picking up Seasons 1 & 2 from Netflix soon.

I have no idea what this is, but it was on the Make Blog, and it involves espresso and a NES controller… can’t be bad.

Finally, I’ve been playing with the Xbox Media Center mod a buddy set up for me and it’s a lot of fun. I have a temporary network cable I can run across the house to the Xbox router to test it. I currently can read Bloglines on the Xbox, and can stream ShoutCAST audio streams right into the stereo. Seriously, does one need 18,000 different audio streams of music? Well, only if you want to hear Celtic Christmas music only in the keys of G, D, and Em sung by blonde haired twin boys. I’m sure it gets that specific.

So that’s vacation up to this point. More later.

Sunday off.

I had the Sunday off. It was strange, but fun to sit in the service with my wife for the first time in a long time. Man, it’s easy to forget how good things are until you’re sitting away from the Production control room. I did venture up there once, but most of the techies kicked me out.

Sunday afternoon, we took the kids up to Eden Farms for an afternoon with the horses. Gardner rode a horse for the first time, was nice to pose with Santa Claus, and we even won the cakewalk! (my first). Good afternoon.

View Photo Gallery here.