A collection of digital wonders and some other stuff
Last night Andrea and I hit up the concert of two time Juno award winning musician Dan Mangan at the Yates here in Lethbridge. He puts on a fantastic show. About halfway through the night he explained that the show was being recorded and a link would be sent out so that we could all have a copy if we want to listen again later. In the age of (basically) free digital storage… why not?
I’m back into the swing of things as a substitute teacher. I don’t have much to say about it other than now that I’m back teaching high school I remember what it’s like to really love what you do.
On that note, here’s an inspirational cartoon I saw in the class I was subbing in today:
The other day, while looking through an old hard drive of mine, I found a folder called “Random Internet Fun”, which was full of random comics and animated gifs that I suppose I collected over the years. I’ll post them here for posterity…
From Cynthia Littleton, Kate Aurthur, Matt Donnelly, Gene Maddaus writing for Variety:
Hollywood heaves a sigh of relief. The WGA and major studios and streamers have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract that promises to end the 146-day strike that has taken a heavy toll across the content industry.
Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached the finish line Sunday after five consecutive days of negotiations.
…
”What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd – is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days. It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal,” the negotiating committee wrote in its message to members.
Now it remains to be seen how long it will take until my favorite shows are back in the air. As much as everyone hated the strike, good on the writers and their guild for sticking it out.
Meanwhile, the ongoing actors strike is entering its third month. So while late-night and daytime talk shows are expected to make a quick comeback, scripted shows that require actors will take longer to return.
The default ring for the iPhone used to change every year or two evolving through various iterations of the tunes: “Marimba”, “Opening”, and “Reflection”. In the video above composer and pianist Tony Ann reimagines “Opening” as a complete ballad.
(via Kottke)
I just discovered a relatively new YouTube channel about comic books that takes me back to my childhood. I particularly enjoyed this story of Rob Liefeld, and despite the clickbait title, “How this ‘terrible artist’ made MILLIONS”, it’s actually a great documentary on Comic Book history, and true, I remember thinking how weird some of his characters looked. I got my start collecting comics with the X-Force #1 mentioned in this video. I still have it wrapped in plastic sitting in my childhood bedroom.
Also, don’t miss the backstory behind the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I also used to collect the Archie Comics version of these heroes in a half shell. On the playground I remember hearing about the ultra-violent black and white versions of the comics that kids weren’t allowed to buy. I enjoyed hearing about the ending to that particular run of comics at the end of the video:
Rediscovering comic book history through this captivating YouTube channel has been a delightful journey down memory lane, and it looks like it’s gotten quite popular in its short life so far. I’m looking forward to Matt’s next release.
A couple of months ago, I received the news of Keith Johnstone’s death and learned about a celebratory wake in his honour to be held in Calgary on June 25th. Initially uncertain about attending, fate led me to join my friend, Wren, and I must say, it turned out to be an incredible experience. As we pondered what the event might entail, Wren confessed her belief that it could either be a remarkable gathering or a chaotic mess.
During my time at University, I had the privilege of participating in a one-day improvisation seminar led by Keith himself. The experience was truly transformative. I distinctly remember Keith expressing his disappointment with students who focused solely on being great performers, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and embracing our natural selves. His wisdom echoed the sentiments he had eloquently penned in his renowned book on improvisation, aptly titled “Impro” (which I highly recommend). Don’t try to be great, just try to be average and it will free you to be great.
Yesterday, Wren and I arrived at the festive wake, and to my delight, it was a beautiful celebration of Keith’s life, flaws and all. The eccentric sound technician, Dave Lawrence, embodied the character of Terry Cahill from the film “FUBAR” and added an extra touch of greatness. Mouthwatering authentic Mexican tacos from a local truck satisfied our appetites. The venue showcased an impressive collection of Keith’s artwork, accompanied by live music and heartfelt speeches. Even Death itself made an appearance, as a towering Grim Reaper on stilts, reciting Keith’s “Death’s prologue to Live Snake and Ladders.”
Although the livestream encountered some technical difficulties, the audience cheered Terry on as he quickly resolved them, and we were treated to a captivating collection of interviews and insights from Keith, which I encourage you to watch:
However, there was an incident that stood out—a passionate audience member expressed his disagreement when Keith’s son revealed that he had asked GPT4 to emulate Keith’s thoughts on the new AI technology. The man, sitting near us, repeatedly shouted “No!” at the screen. I thought the message from the chatbot was apt because it determined that while Keith may have marvelled at the technology he ultimately would have emphasized the importance of keeping a human connection.
Surprisingly, these minor technical glitches and the diverse characters in the audience added to the charm of the event. The imperfections created an atmosphere of genuine connection and shared appreciation for Keith’s impact.
Attending Keith Johnstone’s festive wake was a privilege I won’t soon forget. From my personal experiences with his teachings to the delightful surprises at the event, it was an extraordinary tribute to a remarkable individual. The gathering showcased the essence of Keith’s wisdom—embracing imperfections and allowing space for greatness to emerge. It was a truly memorable and inspiring celebration of a life well-lived.
Update: here is the entire festive wake edited “with the boring parts cut out”.
Adobe has announced a new Beta version of Photoshop that comes with generative AI technology.
Pam Clark, writing for the Adobe Blog:
We are thrilled to announce that the Photoshop (beta) app has released Generative Fill, the world’s first co-pilot in creative and design workflows, giving users a magical new way to work. Generative Fill is powered by Adobe Firefly, Adobe’s family of creative generative AI models. Starting today, Photoshop subscribers can create extraordinary imagery from a simple text prompt.
This brings two imaging powerhouses together — Photoshop and generative AI, enabling you to generate content from inside Photoshop with a text prompt and edit it with Photoshop’s comprehensive range of tools to create extraordinary results.
I’ve been having a lot of fun playing around with DiffusionBee running Stable Diffusion and yet this one from Adobe blows me away by how fast and awesome it is. Even if working on Photoshop itself is not your thing, don’t miss the examples.
As this video explains, line array speakers in sound system design have revolutionized audio quality in live music events. Dave Rat, a sound engineer and sound system designer who has provided audio for Coachella since 2001, explains the differences between point source and line array speakers and how the latter has helped improve the even distribution of sound across large festival areas. Additionally, advancements in technology, such as laser range finders and 3D mapping, have helped sound designers create precise and targeted sound systems, minimizing sound bleeding and creating a better experience for festival-goers. Next time I’m at a concert, I’m going to notice the speaker arrangement and appreciate how far we’ve come in sound design.
I’m not a graphic designer but I that’s basically what the New Media program at the U of L taught me to be so I’m interested in good design and want to share some examples of recent logo and flag redesigns:
Back at the end of the 90s I spent a year living in Utah, the flag they had then is basically just the state seal on a blue background. Some 24 states still sport this style of seal on a blue “bedsheet”.
They’ve recently redesigned it and, in my opinion did a pretty good job. Modern design dictates that good logos should be simple enough that one could draw them from a basic description. The new flag meets that criteria. It’s got a great use of the beehive (a symbol of Deseret), the red rocks below, and the white peaks of the mountains. Good job.
Speaking of redesigns, my ATA local recently updated their logo. When they were talking about doing the new logo I thought about volunteering to do it myself but I was worried that I wouldn’t create something in the same ballpark that a full time professional designer could come up with.
The new logo incorporates some symbolism of hoodoos (in the south) to the willow trees that exist in the northern part of our local. It doesn’t meet modern design’s trend of being easily drawn — it’s much too detailed.
I decided to make my own attempt and this is what I came up with:
I suppose my design doesn’t pop in this black and white format, but I’m confident that adding a little colour would give it the same life as the one they chose. C’est la vie. Anyway, I’m disappointed that they’re not going to use my logo, I should have volunteered when the time was right.
(via One Foot Tsunami)