Posts Tagged ‘Random Gems’

thanks for the l0v3

Jun 7 2008

Thanks for all the comment and email l0v3 and movie/tv/book suggestions. My neck feels less like a giant yarn ball of pulsating fire, and more like a golf ball of subtle flames. In my time away from the internet, I was unfortunate enough to catch “Resident Evil: Extinction” and Mila’s clunky, lack-luster wire stunts and sweet Gaussian-blurred face. Why can’t every zombie movie be like “Shaun of the Dead”.

Then, I learned some sweet breakdancing moves from Jonah Takalua and watched my new favourite show, the Australian mockumentary series, “Summer Heights High”. It’s kinda like if Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais, Mitchell and Webb and “a dingo ate my baby” met, went to a bottlo, and threw so many shrimps on the barbie and wrote this. Either that or Chris Lilley is serious comedic genius.

Other than that I’ve got BSG: Razor on board for tonight, along with the Aliens Quadrilogy for back to back slimy, chest-bursting awesomeness and Ridley — Cameron — Fincher — Jeunet! That’s my kind of quadrilogy. Plus, one of these films has my favourite line of dialogue ever. 10 points and a place in my heart for guessing the correct phrase!

In addition, to watching movies I got some totally swedish IKEA furniture and sorta helped put it together.

Not a Lamp

And practiced my juggling techniques, one ball at a time.

one ball juggling skillz

And put my lomo film in the fridge for safe keeping.

lomo film in the fridge yumm

(more…)

Updates and random fun!

May 25 2008

Ok. So I went to Vidfest and was super inspired by Dooce, the sassiest female blogger ever and MightyGirl’s Maggie Mason.

Dooce & MightyGirl

Then, I went to the Vancouver Apple Store launch and waited in line for 2 hours and cried because i didn’t get a free t-shirt until they gave me one out of pity and embarrassment. And then upon returning home, I realized the t-shirt was sooo big I could fit my entire body inside it.

This Mac Tee is a little big for me

Then I accidentally URLed my blog on a few iMacs in the store. Oops. And I realized that there wasn’t anything in the store to see that I hadn’t seen when I went to the London Apple Store.

Mostly Mac

Of course, I took all sorts of video and photos at these awesome events, but I’ve had so little time to set up my MB Air and my MB slowed down to G4 stylez last night because I packed it so full of media goodness that it had no room to breathe. It was gasping and overheating and complaining a lot, so I’ve decided to take a good chunk of today and spend it on sorting my heaps of GBs, reformatting my MB, reinstalling Leopard on my MB, and digging into the MB air.

iJustine/eJustine reminded me about some software that I always forget about when my machine is acting up called Disk Inventory X. It’s super at showing you what stuff is taking up so much room on your computer and why it’s moving slower than a dehydrated donkey. I also used this opportunity to add more cartoony arrows and text in Skitch cuz it’s sooo fun!

What's on my MB

Yikes! I take a lot of photos. almost 30GB in 4 months. I’m glad i found those old iMovie HD files though. Saved me a bunch of room!

Oh yeah! I got a Lomo last week! I’m ready to get so lomosexual.

Lisa's New Holga Lomo

Lisa+Lomo

This Holga Lomo has a hot shoe so I bought this awesome Colorsplash flash kit that came with a little rotating wheel that you can put coloured gels in to get extra snazzy tint in your shots.

I has Lomo!

(more…)

University Edu-ma-cation

May 11 2008

I spent a lot of time in university. A good 6 years to be exact. I took classes in almost every subject, partly because I was interested in so many things, but mostly because I was distracted by figure skating and continually moving all over Canada in search of a ice dance partner who didn’t require serious emotional counseling.

In those 6 years I took 52 classes. 52 classes in linguistics, journalism, writing, philosophy, psychology, neuropsych, physiology, anatomy, acoustics, English lit & grammar, Spanish, Russian, history, art history, music, film studies, and drama. I know! That’s a whole lotta knowledge I’ve crammed into my short term memory. How much actually made it into my long term memory remains to be seen.

Now, obviously I think learning stuff is cool and fun or I wouldn’t have spent so many years doing just that… or maybe I just stayed so long because of the free medical/dental plans, scholarship money, and lack of adult responsibilities…

Every now and again when I hear students whine about super hard final exams, endless assignments, and less than adequate beer at Pub night, I think to myself, “What did I actually learn in university?” Here, I explore this topic in moderate detail.

Things I learnt in university:

  1. The formant values of the Swedish vowel “ö”, the Russian vowel “ы”, and the Canadian vowel “aboot”;
  2. The inner turmoil of Ivan the terrible
  3. 20th Century European History (in general) AKA war sucks;
  4. How to review a really long & boring English Lit book by skimming, plagiarizing & half watching the movie whilst watching a super cool action flick in your peripheral vision;
  5. Philosophy & the Matrix (in general);
  6. The twisted and shady side of chiaroscuro;
  7. Modern poetry doesn’t NEED to rhyme;
  8. MS Word & Excel is the devil’s handywork;
  9. Psychology (in general);
  10. Why Tolstoy was such a giant stick in the mud;
  11. Nazis and Soviets were all over that propaganda shizz;
  12. It’s best to stay far away from the snacks on the Battleship Potemkin;
  13. The anatomy and physiology of the ear & mouth/throat area (in ridiculous detail);
  14. Infant screams/cries are less than soothing to acoustically analyze than say, Enya;
  15. Don’t sit next to the guy that sucks on pens causing them to explode over everything within a 5m radius;
  16. You really have to commit yourself to produce a good Patronus charm;
  17. It’s inevitable that you will get your worst mark in the class you took because you thought it would be super easy;
  18. Tutoring ESL is a great way to meet cute foreign exchange students;
  19. There are better ways to spend your time than failing to teach a monkey/chimp/gorilla language
  20. Pavlov was a jerk to his dog

Things I didn’t learn in University:

  1. How long it takes to boil an egg;
  2. How to earn money (in general);
  3. Anything about taxes;
  4. Tener una conversación inteligente en español es más complicado que ordenar tacos en un restaurante mexicano;
  5. How to fix a broken toilet or plumbing (in general);
  6. How to navigate around Home Depot;
  7. “Food-in-cupboard” maintenance;
  8. How to negotiate with cell phone carriers;
  9. Stuff about fixing cars or fallen off mufflers;
  10. The complexity of screwdriver heads;
  11. Where the missing socks go and who steals them;
  12. Cooking food that tastes good (in general);
  13. How to deal with over demanding, ambiguous, & clueless clients
  14. Exactly where the maple syrup comes from. Trees? The ocean? Bee hives? Mounties? Beavers?
  15. Anything about grout;
  16. How to fix broken electronics;
  17. Getting out stains produced by dark beverages, spaghetti sauce, and ink/jiffies/markers, on more often than not, white clothing;
  18. Where all the money goes and who steals it;
  19. Credit card debt. I swear, no one told me!!
  20. Computers, using software, coding, photography, video production, editing, design… basically everything I need to know. Oops.

What did you learn or not learn in university? Also, if you know the practical solution to any of the above please leave a comment. Teach me and I’ll listen… mostly.

PS. Why am I sat in front of an uber kit? Kind of random isn’t it? More sweet photos and a special DIY photo blog from my latest shoot with uber Vancouver drummer, Jesse Godin this week!

Mostly Lisa & The Dollar Store Fish

Mar 5 2008

I met a squeaking fish at a Dollar store on West Broadway. He had many tales to tell me. Some were somewhat avant garde. We went on a short journey and I learnt many things.

What did you learn from the dollar store fish?

NB. This is possibly the weirdest video I’ve ever made.

Friday Night Croissant Picture

Feb 29 2008

Breakfast Croissants at the Angel, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK

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.

Illustrator 101 Tutorial: Make Your Own Cartoons

Feb 28 2008

No one Belongs Here. Illustrator Cartoon..png

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!!!

I am not a Muggle: Episode 9 3/4

Feb 26 2008

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.

The Brits sure do love their tabloids

Feb 19 2008

British Tabloids in Tescos-1

 

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.

 

Fat Balls 8 for a pound

British Animal Hats!

Feb 17 2008

Mostly Lisa in Monkey hat

 

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.

Monkey hat

 

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

Kitty Hat

 

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

Lion Hat

Valentime’s is Special Times!

Feb 11 2008

Sometimes it’s really hard to sum up your emotions towards someone on a card. And with the range of emoticons increasing every day, you may find yourself unable to define the complexity of your feelings of love with :razz: :lol: :cry: :wink:

In anticipation of Valentine’s day, I took out my sketch pad to draw some loving illustrations to help inspire you to make your own “hey, i just love you rotten” cards for your special someone or perhaps someone who isn’t so special and you don’t even like.

 

For that annoying co-worker:

Valentine's cards by Mostly Lisa-2

 

For that person you know nothing about because you’ve never listen to a word they say because they are boring and you get really distracted by their inappropriate fashion statements that you pretend to like, but don’t:

Valentine's cards by Mostly Lisa-3

 

For that ex-boyfriend/girlfriend who broke up with you the day before Valentine’s Day:

Valentine's cards by Mostly Lisa-0

 

For that needy facebook friend who sends you 20 quiz requests like, “What Kind of Sunflower are You?” everyday: (I guess at the end of the day, giving them a wee bit of sympathy makes you a better person).

Valentine's cards by Mostly Lisa-1