Photo taken with my Canon Xti using natural light diffused through a curtain at The Angel Hotel in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK.

What says “Friday night” more than a picture of a croissant? Not much. What does “croissant” mean to you? And why? Feel free to comment on this any any other croissant/or baked goods related topic. I, myself, will ponder this question whilst I commence my bi-yearly Ridley Scott marathon:

Alien
Blade Runner
Gladiator
Black Hawk Down
American Gangster

Sometimes you just need a little Ridley.

Step 1: Choose a shape.

I like circles. Do you? You probably do cuz most people do. So this is a good tool to start with. It’s kind of tricky to find the circle tool, cuz it’s hiding under the picture of a rectangle, but don’t let that fool you. It is actually there.

Step 2: Pick lively colours for your circles.

There are a lot of colours. Choosing them is hard. So it might take you some time to think of which ones are best for your circles. I was too busy to think so I just chose the first 4 colours in my palette.

Step 3: Make a bunch of circles.

Some big, some medium, some smaller. I liked putting the smallest one on the end, so he felt the most left out.

Step 4: Give your circles personality.

Right now your cartoon characters look like blobby circles. And circles don’t intrinsically have personality, so you have to give them eyes and eyebrows. Do you see how I made the green one look dubious with his monobrow and googly eyes? And the yellow one is obviously fuming mad. It’s cuz he’s being left out, as always. It’s touches like I’m mentioning that really help bring a character to life.

Step 5: Humanize your cartoon circles.

Another trick to make circles appear more like cartoon characters is to give them human features like legs and feet. I used the line tool to make their stick-like legs and then the Direct Selection Tool aka the small arrow tool that bends shapes, to make their misshapen feet. If you don’t know how to use this fancy tool, just click on things until you see some lines and dots and then pull the lines away from the dots. Random movement often creates the best results.

Step 6: Chose a meaningful, yet ambiguous slogan that makes you LOL.

People like meaning to be confusing. And you like them to be confused because at some point in their confusion they will think that you are you are smart and maybe even mysterious.

There you have it, 6 zippety quick steps to create your own mighty fine illustrator cartoon that you can use to impress your mum, grandmother, dog and even your most design savvy facebook friends!!!

This marks my second attempt at proving my wizarding prowess. My first attempt with a portkey didn’t go so well. So when I found myself at King’s Cross, I just had to give it my all.

I thought that the latest OSX update, 10.5.2 would fix my whoas with Leopard. Not. so. much. Safari, iChat, iMovie crashes are still plentiful, as well as complete system hangs. And yesterday my Mac Pro woke up from an hour long sleep with this lovely multilingual message plastered on it’s screen:

Now granted I push my Macs to the brink with all the media stuff I’ve got constantly churning away, but seriously, if Safari crashes one more time, I might… uh… write Steve an angry note? uh… use the Leopard disc as a frisbee? uh… threaten to rename this latest update 10.5.sucksbollocks? Yeah. That’s what I’ll do! And don’t try and talk me out of it. This is no flimsy threat!

I wanna know if you’re experiencing the same suckiness with Leopard. If you experience a crash or hang on Leopard, vent your frustrations in the comments below.

PS. I promise to write about something that does not suck tomorrow.

Independent Thought:
Not all vacation packages are made to suit everyone. One might have cheap hotels, and the other may be offering cheap air fare. The best one is the one that offers an economical assemblage, regardless of the fact that you will be staying at resorts or a travel lodge.

 
That’s me. Lying on the cold cold ground in the early AM photographing a pair of running shoes. There are no lengths I will go to to take a great photo. Good thing I am wearing my big, fluffy Canadian parka, as it is taking ages to get the flashes to sync because my cheapo Gadget Infinity wireless triggers keep misfiring! Arg!

If you are a recreational photographer or if you are like me and you just started your own home media business that requires a ton of electronic gadgets and creative gear that sees no financial boundaries, you probably don’t have $500 to spend on Pocket Wizard’s wireless triggers. That’s why I bought the Gadget Infinity wireless triggers (Cactus Model) for a bargain basement price of $60 for one transmitter and two receiver to go on my flashes, the Canon EX 430 & 580).

Before purchasing the cheapo version, I had read loads of reviews that warned of misfiring and unreliability, but the Gadget Infinity triggers seriously take the piss. These are the main things that suck about these triggers:

• Flash misfires, often. This totally sucks because it uses up all your flash’s battery power and not only do you have to wait even longer for the flash to charge, but when it finally does, your flash is likely to be dunzo.
• Flash is out of sync with the shutter. This is possibly the most annoying thing ever. More annoying than a late-90s boy band reunion. I know. That’s infinitely annoying.
• Flash doesn’t fire. Period.

If you have a time sensitive shoot or you are dealing with a live subject that might complain more than these running shoes, I recommend renting Pocket Wizards (approx. $25).

Has anyone else had a sucky experience with cheap triggers? Is there a budget solution to make them work better?

Independent Thought:
An ideal deal should take care of everything from airline tickets to the details of rental cars as well as the hotel reservations. Finding cheap flights should not be your concern.

I just upgraded the comments section to reflect the uberness of you and your fabu comments. Just because I love you that much. What do you think about the new design? Likey? No likey?

I was overwhelmed at the number of tabloids aka “celebrity” magazines in Tescos. Yet not one single copy of Wired could be found on their shelves. Lame. I also noticed the number of young girls on buses and trains reading this pappo-trash (I just made up this word. I think it’s kinda neat.) Anyway, I have a strong policy against reading pappo-trash. The day Britters shaved her head, I said good bye to pink, tmz, intouch, instyle, rag o’ the month. I just thought who am I to judge? And gadgets > lame fashion tips. Plus, what fashion tip do I need? How to stay warm and snug in your pajamas in your bed? or Sexy Slippers for work and play? (Assuming you could wear slippers outside. Might be inappropriate. I guess I should stop doing it.)

So why do Brits love their tabloids so much? And can any one explain the photo below? Is it possible that there is a link between fat balls and tabloids? If so, I’m anxious for your reply.

I was a die hard football fan when I was 15. I loved Manchester United, and Team Brasil. Enough to name my lil grey tabby cat, Romario. (He had excellent ball handling skills for a cat). That summer, I bought myself some serious umbro gear and headed to soccer camp. I will admit that my enthusiasm for the sport may have had a teeny weeny bit to do with the cuteness of certain players in the glossy posters I hung in my room. Maybe. But I sure had fun playing that summer, two broken toes and all. How did I break my toes playing football? Well, like the three previous times I broke my toes:

1. Kicking my Grandmother’s metal tea trolley;
2. Kicking the toilet seat whilst dancing in the bathroom;
3. Running into a sliding door;

In the most awkward way possible. Yeah. Coordination. Not. So. Much. My skating coaches were super thrilled when I had to take the first week off summer skating training because I couldn’t fit my swollen, black-and-blue toes in my skates.

Anyway, Man U was the best team then, and always, especially after the 4-nil pummeling they gave Arsenal in the FA Cup quarterfinals. Booyah!

Independent Thought:
If you have taken care to be on cheap cruises rather than the expensive cruise deals, naturally you will also care about the other expenses. Why not try a travel lodge this time instead of staying at expensive hotels?

It was a beautiful sunny day for the Bury St. Edmunds Saturday Market. And I was giddy like an English school girl when I found these hats amongst all the fruit and veg.

Monkey! A sacred animal in British folklore, astrology, and politics, the monkey is considered “a right lovely beast” by loads of British folks.

Look at those baby blues. You could melt any heart with this one-of-a-kind Chaton Chapeau.

This Aslan the Lion hat is a great way to show your Narnia pride.