Aquarium 2023 - Live Plants with Platys.

First created video in a long while. Of course it will be of my aquarium. It's all about making the occupants happy and healthy.

 

Fan Expo 2013 One Man Can Make a Difference

The one man that made a difference this year was David Hasselhoff. Who else could tell a joke and then lapse into song in the first 2 minutes, of making an entrance? His appearance at Fan Expo coincided with his career comeback. A movie? A documentary? A music tour? Getting his autograph earlier made my day.
With the expanded venue, I really appreciated a respite before going at it again on Sunday. The line up to buy tickets was nothing compared to the amount of people. Going on a Saturday was unthinkable.

Two showroom floors meant more to see. There was one ape who was in complete character no matter who he encounter. Looking in peoples bags in exchange for a photo op. While I was browsing at prices in the autograph area, I noticed these puppets. Apparently, I just ran into Ruffus The Dog.

Among the celebrities I saw speak were Richard Dean Anderson, David Hasselhoff, Karl Urban, and Carrie Fisher. The theatre was the only time I could find sit down for almost an hour. I was otherwise constantly on the move. To my delight, Karl Urban did talk about being on Xena: The Warrior Princess. You might remember he played a memorable Cupid and Caesar on that series. Carrie Fisher reminisced about the original 'Star Wars' and her work as an author.

For those who know me well, I found a great reason to buy T-shirts. Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were 2 games I did conversion work on, early in my career. It was nice to be able to add them to my collection of memorabilia.

To be able to have a photo with a very hardworking celebrity at Fan Expo. Many people do not know that Erin Gray, as owner of Heroes for Hire, is the person behind the celebrity appearances at these events everywhere. I have been fortunate to meet this very gracious lady on more than one occasion.

Playing The Inner Light

Playing from the penny whistle tabs based on Jay Chattaway's sample score found on musicnotes.com. Forgive me if this sounds a bit too rusty. I only wanted to show how the tabs do work on the instrument. Anyway, it was too early in the morning for me to do this properly.

Denizens of the Goldfish Tank

Can't forget the goldfish. The most ideal video subjects, because they won't stay put. It may be cold outside today; it sure doesn't look like that in here. Even the pleco is out nibbling at the algae. I am still learning to use Movie Maker. I am now using the recommended publish settings for better quality, while keeping the file size no bigger than the original clip. That means less pixels. It's due for a water change. I'll tackle that next week.

Bettas, Two Years Later

Passing another milestone, to me,  is something to be proud of. Because it was never that easy to keep fish, not even when they were free. Now, I don't count the days before they die, just the years since I bought one. Hopefully, it will be for a while yet, unless I get a new aquarium.

Betta Antics Mix

When one's fish will not cooperate with the camera of choice, one must resort to making a low resolution movie instead. It's true that a video recorder would produce a better quality capture and play well with the WeVideo app, but my betta are used to still photography. There just is not enough daylight hours now to wait for the perfect shot. So, Canon G1 it is again. Sometimes I think the red one is a tease. He would sneak a look at me behind my back.

Best Wishes for the New Year

The last few years, I have prepared animated gifs for sending electronic greetings. Several weeks ago, I decided to use this marionette I purchased from the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) to make a movie. Thus began my getting acquainted with its controls.

It was really a display model, but the strings do work the puppet. Over the weeks, while waiting for enough natural lighting to film, I learned to simulate dance or rather skating moves. A couple of days earlier I found the shoulder strings could mimic this.

Now, the difficult part was how to manipulate the puppet with one hand, either left or right, when I have to still operate the camera. That entailed practicing through watching the camera's flip screen.

Without too much planning, I proceeded to capture random scenes, with the final frame being the puppet fallen as if it had crashed into a gift box. Included background audio from a Christmas CD. I snapped a still image of that last frame for a gif to achieved the desired transition. Fortunately for this video, I just needed the first and last image, since I used a WeVideo preset style. Good to know that WeVideo now provides editable transitions and effects as well.

I was rather pleased with the results. As I have yet to make my dream paper puppet come to life, I was happy with the staging involved in this project. It's back to making animated gifs, until next year.

In case you were wondering. This was sold as a Pinocchio. My snowman marionette would have been a more appropriate choice, but this one works better.

Fan Expo 2012: The Year X-Files Made Contact

UPDATE: There is a slideshow of all the photos at the bottom of this post.

If you were me and saw the program schedule, you would wish there were 2 of you. Fan Expo has gotten that big. Despite having a fill-to-capacity meeting hall spill onto an already crowded venue, I like to commend the volunteers for their tireless corralling duties. It could have been a lot worst if they did not keep people moving. When I was not sitting at a Q&A, I was in the dealers room. There were some pleasant surprises along the way. I believe I may have broken a record for the shortest wait time in acquiring autographs in under 3 hours.

The only show panel I attended was for the Canadian time travel series Continuum. American audiences are going to have to wait until January 2013 to see this show. News of the summer show's renewal was announced in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

And then there is my personal favourite celebrity Q&A, which always brings me back for more year after year. I was really excited to first learn about Gillian Anderson's appearance this year. It is really a rare event. She has admitted to this being her second convention.

I was really anticipating Gillian Anderson

For those celebrities who I cannot possibly see or meet, I can always catch sight of them signing autographs. This year, I literally ran into a couple on the dealers room floor. The creator of Captain Canuck, Richard Comely, was signing stuff for free. It was a treat to have him explain to me the origin story of Canada's own fictional superhero.

Got to show Gillian Anderson drawings I did when I was younger.

It is a convention for everything under the sky after all. I try to have my camera ready to catch the moments of spontaneity.

Do you see Batman on the ground?

The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibit

Slideshow: Fan Expo 2012

Betta Colour Characteristics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betta_splendens#Colors As I understand it, iridescence occurs naturally. Only black and red are pigments. The best way to see the refraction is by shining a flashlight on the red betta.

Now A Video With Goldfish Too

Tank was too dirty to show before. When does it ever stay clean? Maybe after the fish are gone. Did you know the common goldfish can live indefinitely? World records had one living 43 years. All it needs is nutrition and good filtration. Mine has gone through some adverse conditions. Only the size of its environment will be a factor here. Now, I can't wait to get a calico and black variety.

Fish Videos

I was wondering what to do with the videos I took recently. There was no professional set up, but I must admit they turned out great. I was able to use the editing tools in Youtube to unify the screen resolution from different cameras and add an acoustic track, among other things.

Update: The videos themselves was edited in Windows Movie Maker. I used it to split the clips. After I upload the video to Youtube, I add the text and transitions.

Toronto Comicon 2012

My legs had not ached so much since last summer, for Fan Expo. This weekend seemed like a shock to my system, because I've been such a couch potato lately. The allure of Star Trek was just too big. For this I was willing to stand in a long line both days. There may be two more conventions to go to. I realized it was going to get costly, as the year progresses, so I only got one autograph.

Highlights:
I saw him in the line waiting to pick up my ticket. I saw him walking around the dealers' room and interacting with a Dalek and Batman. I even spoke to him. That him was a very good impersonation of Kermit the Frog.

I found out that Polaris TCON in July was going to have Wil Wheaton and other Star Trek stars for the upcoming 25th year anniversary celebration for Star Trek The Next Generation. Now, I have to start planning a day trip.

All of this I happened before my first celebrity Q&A. I made a point not to stay later than 4pm. I regret having to miss out on some of these talks.

It was a real treat to see Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) act out the chess scene from A New Hope. The best story was the one John DeLancie (Q) told. He shared with the audience how he chose to be an actor. You would not have guessed that the man had dyslexia.

While it was handy to have a video recorder, it's not the same as a real digital camera. I made do with what I had and made a slide show video for all of you to enjoy.

Puppet Acting

This is a Pinocchio marionette I bought from the international pavilion at the Canadian National Exhibition. It was a Palestinian handicraft, beautifully made. When I saw it, I just knew I had to add it to my collection. The controls are simple enough to master. Strings on the heels, hands, and shoulders are very symmetrical. The one on top of the head is a bit lopsided. I put together this video to show what I can do with it.

The have seen many other puppets during my travels. I have a snowman from a Quebec City doll maker. It is not as intricate, but it was my first purchase. There were shadow puppets in Xi'an, China. I would have bought one too, if it were not so fragile. I also converted a miniature dancing lion from Chinatown into a puppet, by adding wires and rods. Still, I would like to make one from scratch. It's why I love building paper models.

I should like to talk about paper automatons at another time.

Arts Integra Theatre Presents The Wizard of Oz

The scenery is ready. The cast is rehearsing. Now for a taste of what is to come, a little slide show of the Keynote presentation.

The Wizard of Oz - Cyclone Projection

This will be centre of attention once Dorothy is knocked out. A taste of what the scene should look like. I have the Keynote computer for a couple of weeks to edit the elements for the projected backdrop. I am only half finished. This cyclone sequence has always been a pain. but I am finally satisfied with the results. The production provided me a sound effects library which I am learning to incorporate into the presentation. It's really quite exciting. I will work on the last part next weekend. I have a feeling it will be the more challenging of the two. Only a month away from show time.

Fan Expo 2011 (Extended)

It is the same video I posted on Spoiler TV with the rest of the photos taken over the four days threw into it. Enjoy.

Set Design: Keynote Textbox Video

Two slides made created in Apple Keynote.

Set Design: Wizard of Oz Opening Title Sequence

Finished going through the script. Beginning to assemble the projections today. Going to try variations of title transition. Fade in was the initial choice. Will try to slide it from the bottom next. With it being a text box, a jpeg of a black rectangle should be able to cover that bottom edge quite well. Hope to have much of slides in place by next weekend.

I should note that The Wizard of Oz music is licensed media. So the original audio for this video is disabled by YouTube.

Set Design: Wizard of Oz Cyclone Test

I made this video to show the potential of a still image can have over video to convey the movement of a twister for The Wizard of Oz background. Combine it with sound and lighting, it would be even more effective. To sell the idea to the production, I have added wind sound effects.

The feedback has been positive. I do hope we use this method. Still have to determine the duration of the cycle. Gotta compare my notes with the rest of production.

Set Design: Cyclone Animation

I have choices of how to animate the inside of the cyclone. (1) An animated filter on GIMP lets me use a wave filter to create frames for an animated gif. (2) The same image rotated to create a animation of spinning clouds. Will have to see which will work with Keynote best.