D I S P A T C H E S

Road Trip Update: Dang, That Was Fast!

2007-09-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note (for now) to report that everything went very well on the whirlwind trip to Dragon*Con. Everything went off close enough to plan, there were no issues (other than a couple patches of VERY slow traffic on the way home), and I finally got to meet - in person - my dear friends ladydove7 and zephyri as well as make the acquaintance of several other extremely nice and very talented artists; girlanime, mistressofspam, windfalcon, insanejudge, kaioshade, and a future filmmaker named Jack (who may or may not be on dA).

The convention was an absolute maelstrom of zaniness and fun; great costumes, wonderful artwork, throngs of roving photographers begging to capture the images of the aforementioned lovelies. And, from what I was told, the level of convention madness that I witnessed on Friday was about 20% of what was expected over the weekend.

Not wanting to saddle such exuberant and creative youth with the albatross of my middle-agedness ( ;-) ), I decided to head back a little earlier than the previously mentioned schedule. The trip back was plagued by traffic jams, roadside brakdowns (not mine, thankfully) and a downright paranormal inability to get ANY FREAKIN' FOOD for about 250 miles! Oh well. Finished up the trip at 04:30 this morning, 25.5 hours after beginning the trip.

It was a very fun day.

So, now it is off to begin editing the footage. I should have the first installment of the PORTFOLIO - Special Report posted within the next day or two. If you subscribe (via iTunes or elsewise) you'll get it automatically; if you don't, I'll post an announcement here.

Thanks for all the feedback and support throughout. Be thinking about what we should do next; I'd love to hear your ideas.

Jade

Next: PORTFOLIO 2.2 (Special Report) - The Trip Up.

Road Trip Update: Cat Nap

2007-08-30T20:43:00.001-04:00

Hi Comrades!

The next several dispatches will be fairly brief, owing mostly to the fact that I will be on the road within the next seven hours (kicking off at 03:00) and the vehicle I'm driving to the convention, although sporty (5-speed Hyundai Elantra), is not designed for mobile computing.

I am currently sitting in said scout vehicle outside my daughter's dance class. As soon as this is over we'll head home and I will try to grab about five hours sleep before hitting the road. I don't like to stop much on the road, but I do drink ridiculous amounts of water - so I'm not sure yet how I'll compromise on that. I'm sure I'll have to stop more than I want to, so I'll dash of a note when I do and let you know how the trip is progressing.

I may jump on Skype from the car tomorrow morning sometime (user ID: jademacalla), so if you see me online give me a call.

For those of you who are also heading to the convention, be careful. Looking forward to meeting all of you.

Jade

Road Trip: Logistics

2007-08-27T20:28:00.001-04:00

It's a new brand new week, so let's kick this thing off.

As I sit down to write this the countdown timer on my dashboard says 78 hours, 23 minutes, 32 seconds until I hop into my car and head out for 36 (or so) fun-filled hours of non-stop surreality. After several days of actually thinking about making some sort of plan for this trip I still have:

No place to stay should I feel the need to collapse someplace relatively safe

(Actually, that is not quite true. My agent on the ground, the shadowy and extremely well-educated, Ms. Angela Sasser, has arranged for a backup bivouac with an exceptional artist by the street name of 'Mistress of Spam', along with various others of her family and friends. I feel bad about imposing on the domestic arrangements of so many nice people in one small room, so unless I become a threat to myself and others I will probably just prop my eyelids up with toothpicks. Do check out Mistress of Spam's artwork, though; absolutely beautiful.)

No Princess Leia slave girl outfit
No 20-sided dice
No idea if it is going to be possible to post video within such a compressed schedule

(Which is not to say that I will not be shooting miles and miles of tape; just not sure I'll have the time (or wish to take the time) to do even the most basic editing and compressing. Still playing with this one. If I can figure a way to do it without cutting into too much visiting time, I definitely will. If not, I will still be blogging in real time here...maybe a little audiocast of some of the fun.)

As of right now, the tentative schedule is:

310807 - 0300: Leave for Atlanta

310807 - 0301 to 1030: Drive one of the most boring stretches of road this side of the modern incarnation of Route 66, arrive in Atlanta

310807 - 1100: Wander aimlessly though the hotel looking for Elf-ladies and Demonesses (sounds like my last family reunion)

310807 - 1130 to 1800: General roadie duties, helping to set up artwork and such

310807 - 1800 to 010907 - 0300: Bacchanale

010907 - 0300 to 0400: Breakfast at Waffle House (drink 3 gallons of coffee)

010907 - 0400: Tearful goodbyes, back to Tampa

010907 - 1400: Mow lawn

Next: What to wear?

Road Trip Ramp Up

2007-08-24T14:08:00.001-04:00

Hi there, Comrades.

Some of you have been following this occasional site for some time (and you know just how occasional it can be) and some of you, no doubt, have only just arrived, have read a couple posts, and are now looking hopefully for the back exit.

If you're in the latter category I hope you'll stick around. The next week or so should prove to be entertaining in at least the same way that watching monkeys that have gotten all liquored up on fermented Challa Berries and falling out of trees is entertaining - and if all goes according to plan that will we be starting point for a more active presence here.

To recap:

I am getting ready to embark on a little road trip.

I live in Tampa, Florida (USA) and I am going to the DragonCon Sci-Fi convention in Atlanta, GA (USA) to visit some dear friends that I have never met (at least not face-to-face). I don't have quite enough time for the trip (because I also want to get back home to spend the holiday weekend with my family) and I don't have any place to stay whilst I am in Atlanta (because it hardly seems worth the effort to find a hotel, no matter how cheap, for such a brief visit). Also, I do not have any of the following: a Princess Leia slave girl costume (lost it in a fire), 20-sided dice (got rid of them 'cause they always came up '11'), action figures (unless you consider me to be one), or even a brown coat (although I do have a nice olive drab coat).

Yet in spite of all this (or, more likely, because of all this) I am not only still going but I am also going to report on and webcast video of my little trip in (more or less) real time. I am hoping to bring you interviews with interesting people, commentary on the wacky proceedings, and a documentary on just how goofy an already goofy person can act after long periods of (at best) very little sleep.

Follow the planning and the actual event by keeping an eye on PORTFOLI O (the video show) and DISPATCHES (this web journal).

Next: The Tentative Schedule

I'm tempted...

2007-08-17T12:37:00.000-04:00

...to just wait a couple more months and make it a cool, crisp year since writing anything here. But I'm feeling like I want to get things sorted out - insofar as 'things' are related to the various ways that I communicate on the 'nets. Verdict: no wait.

I am also tempted to do some new episodes of PORTFOLIO. I forget how much fun those were, especially the ones where I got to do stuff with all you cats. Yup, I think it's about time. Now, how should I go about embarrassing myself this time around...

The mind boggles at the endless possibilities.

Other old/new stuff too; soon, I hope.

NTS: From a post-it stickie note

2006-10-26T12:19:00.000-04:00

"The more there are, the merrier it is."

Busier than a one-legged...

2006-10-18T17:09:00.000-04:00

cat in a room full of cliches.

Man, it's been a crazy week. For those of you who follow the other info-points, the Vignettes idea is almost ready for release. The website it 90% complete, just need to finish a couple of the sample Vignettes and then we'll post the link. It's still the goofiest idea EVER, but it's goofy in a fun way and apparently there are at least a handful of people out there who get the humour of the whole thing. Big thanks to Jen (A.K.A. jensequel) for letting us use the perfect image for the home page.

There's a fun new PORTFOLIO in the works for this week. More on that when it is released on Saturday. I like the video game theme, so I will probably be doing a couple more on that theme before we move onto the next. Send a note if you have any ideas.

I believe next week will be a vacation week in the real world, so I will likely take a PORTFOLIO vacation as well. (we've got some new outtakes, so we'll probably post an episode of portfolio_CLIPS while we're away).

AND there is the new top-secret project which is still...Top Secret. More on that when it is no longer shrouded in mystery. It's a little less silly than a lot of the stuff. [then again, I suppose that judgment is all in your perspective. Some of you will think it is sillier than all the rest. A lot of life's like that, isn't it.] But if its topic is the sort of thing that tickles your fancy, I think you like the new show. DAMMIT! A HINT!

See you.
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P12 - Proto-Portal

2006-10-13T17:00:00.000-04:00

I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you cats that some episodes of PORTFOLIO are more fun to make than others. Don't get me wrong, they're all fun in some way (just like they are all a pain in the ass in some way), but some are particularly interesting either for the location, or the topic, or pulling off a given effect.

I guess I'll have to admit that I didn't really expect to be able to do the tennis ball bit in this episode (P12). I had a pretty good idea that I'd come close, but I was more than a little surprised that it turned out as well as it did.

Special thanks to Wallace for planting the original idea of doing something with the PORTAL trailer.

NTS: You may want to...

2006-10-11T13:57:00.000-04:00

...try to remember that you have this web journal here, and that it wouldn't be a bad idea to update it every once in awhile.
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Introducing 'portfolio: C L I P S'

2006-10-04T22:48:00.000-04:00

As was determined several posts ago, there is at least a moderate demand for clips of me making a bigger ass of myself than usual, as well as for extended segments of spots we've featured on PORTFOLIOs past.

So, since you asked for it, we present portfolio: C L I P S - 100% of the pretentious type spacing you've come to expect with no hint of a theme or a plot.

As a member of the growing PORTFOLIO brand, we are hosting C L I P S on the official site using the same RSS feed as the rest of the shows - so if you subscribe to PORTFOLIO you will get C L I P S automatically. Sorry.

In Episode #1 our old friend Mister Don expounds on his hat and stock photography. These can also be considered outtakes - in a way - because on several occasions I almost burst out laughing. I'm sure you'll be able to spot them.
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Dickens!

2006-10-03T23:39:00.000-04:00

Yes, it is almost time for the annual Holiday Pyjama Party. And yes we will be performing A Christmas Carol for the 7th year in a row, but I am talking about an entirely different Dickens.

I'd like to describe to you the experience of Dickens. I truly would. But I can't. Luckily, thanks to the magic of the Inter-webs, I don't have to. All I have to do is point and shoot. You'll want to pay attention to this...person?

I would strongly recommend Episode 2 of Houndstooth and Mr. Blue and (coincidentally) Episode 2 of A Day With Dickens.

There's a great deal of cleverness going on with this troupe, with a surreal edge that is very hard to quantify........ Nope; Still can't quantify it.

You'll have to see for yourself.

And the rest of the site is just as good.
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Notes To Self (NTS)

2006-10-02T10:40:00.000-04:00

I jot down a bunch of notes throughout the day, every day. Generally these little snippets get compiled into the standard tools for managing the important To-Do's, but sometimes they get left where they fall and when I run into them a couple days later I am occasionally hit with a strange sense of "what the hell?" as I try to figure out what I was thinking about when I made the note.

Since your sense of dissociation will be at least as great as mine (as you did not write the damn things in the first place), I thought it would be fun to post these jottings when I find them. I'll only post the ones that are related to the show (or other of the creative projects), that really cause me to scratch my head, and I'll post them under the NTS heading.

Today's entries (after a very trying weekend)

1) Show us your scary face.

2) School? Which one? Ghost story?

I should note that I was eventually able to remember the context.
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All's well that ends...

2006-09-30T21:54:00.000-04:00

...Well, this has been a hectic 24 hours. It actually felt a little like an episode of 24, in light of all the prop weapons and Macintosh computers strewn all around this place, and the running around all over town, "Dammit, I don't think we're going to get her to dance class on time - wait!, were's the spare clip for the Sig - wait!, were're the spare bulbs for work lights in the studio - wait!, why's there a ninja sitting in the back of the Element?" You know how it is.

I found out at about 10:30 last night that the show I had prep'ed to shoot wasn't going to happen, which meant that I had to shoot another one fast. So we did. Lots of help from Mrs. Macalla and the studio pixies (thank you).

Although it's a little shorter than the original 3rd part of the Make Your Own Show mini-series (had to leave out the part with the helium balloons), it turned out pretty close to the original intent.

This episode, #10, also introduces the widescreen format for the show. Pretty sure that we'll be staying with it, just wish we had a widescreen display for Camera #1. (Maybe it's time to but that head's up display...). Anyway, let us know if you like the new format.

More soon. And in case I haven't said it recently; thank you very much for watching the show. I really do appreciate it.

Holy Jumpin' Mother of...

2006-09-23T23:01:00.000-04:00

Catfish, Pan-fried With Side of Black-eyed Peas!

It's been nearly 8 months since I've checked in here at "DISPATCHES" (slight exaggeration). I'd like to say that it's because I'm a slacker, but that would be exactly 180 degrees off of the truth. Simply too much going on. But I like having this little area to write extra stuff about the show (and sometimes stuff about other than the show), so I resolve to TRY to ATTEMPT to GIVE IT MY BEST EFFORT to post more stuff here. (That means, of course, that something else will have to go. I'm leaning toward putting "wash the car" on the back burner.)

Let's see, since the last post we've:

Followed the rise and fall of lonelygirl15 (interesting concept, perhaps slightly less than interesting execution [but to be fair, I don't think I'm in the target demo]
Tracked some interesting new ARG's
Held a contest that no one entered. [We'd really like some feedback on this one; were they just too hard to see?]
Talked about various thoughts on where ideas come from (and collaborated with some super folks from literally everywhere)
Started our mini-series on high-level hacks for producing your own show. [These have been fun and will serve to bridge the gap into the next round of topics.]

[I should note that these () are parenthetical, whereas these [] are editorial, but I suppose that was a given.]

Now, let's stay on track, shall we.

Is Mister Don Real?

2006-08-27T04:41:00.000-04:00

I've been asked that question, along with the subtly different "Is Mister Don FOR real", several times over the past couple weeks and the answer is an unequivocal YES.

Here are some of the facts:

Mister Don is a real person and a real (and very talented) photographer.
Although he has been involved in a couple photoshoots that I was a part of, he does not actually take all my stock photos. (I could not afford him.)
It is true that he never pushes the shutter release himself (that is the job of Big Bobby).
It is extremely unlikely that he will consent to shoot your wedding, Bar Mitzva, etc., but fell free to ask.
He personally makes all of his 'signature' hats.

Thanks for you comments. I'm sure we'll see more of Mister Don in future episodes.
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SKETCH Episode 3

2006-08-26T11:39:00.000-04:00

This being Saturday, the week's episode was posted today. We did a longer SKETCH (actually a little longer than the original intent for the main show - although what length of show means in this discussion is a different matter) as an interlude to next week's episode - which has turned out to have several technical challenges. These aren't super-tough challenges, they are tedious, grunt work challenges that take a bit of time. So, this week we have a SKETCH.

At some point in the near future I'm going to have a meeting with myself to work through whether there is a need for the distinction between a regular episode of PORTFOLIO and a SKETCH episode. As it stands I think there is; if for no other reason than to show that a given episode has briefly broken the 'theme' of the episodes that surround it.

These first 7 or so episodes have been (loosely) about Stock Art, but that mini-series will be coming to an end shortly and we will be wondering off in search of very different forms of creativity. I'd be very surprised if we did not come back to Stock Art, and artists, from time to time, but the show was never intended to focus solely on that topic.

There are so many ways and things that people create, and so many that I know almost nothing about. The show's primary purpose is to give me a reason and a method for doing just that; finding out more about all that cool stuff, and the people who do it.

So, for this week, I hope you'll take a moment to learn a little more about the musical work and current projects of Thomas Dolby. He's been an innovator a couple times in a couple different fields, and - hopefully - he may be creating some crazy new stuff very soon. If you have iTunes, you can hear pieces of almost all his music there. It's a good place to start.

Dragon*Con 2006

2006-08-25T21:44:00.000-04:00

PORTFOLIO will be taking the show on the road next week, attending Dragon*Con 2006 in Atlanta, GA.

We will be holding power lunches with two of the show's executive producers (and fantastic artists) Sam Hogg and Angela Sasser, conducting interviews with all sorts of creative types, meeting the analog versions of friends who have up to this point been purely digital, and basically drifting in a sea of art, ideas, and wackiness.

Look forward to seeing much of the adventure on future episodes of PORTFOLIO or SKETCH. If you are going to be there, please drop a line - we'd love to meet you.

More of me screwing up...YAY!

2006-08-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about a new page associated with the PORTFOLIO site that would feature outtakes, bloopers, and footage that we've had to cut from the episodes due to time and size limitations.

If this sounds like something you'd like to see, send a note or leave a comment.

Other than that today was pretty busy; finished this week's episode and started doing the detail work on P7 (which I think will be pretty snazzy).

Guy's Kawasaki's "10 Things to Learn This School Year"

2006-08-23T16:08:00.000-04:00

I've been a big fan of Guy Kawasaki for just about as long as it has been possible to be a big fan. I've always found his ideas to have that ring of "gee, I think I was just about to think that." He's inspiring without being cultish, and he has that hard to define quality of seeming to be more or less a pretty normal guy (no pun) - albeit one who has a sizable share of good ideas.

Since it's that time of year for many, and since these days we are all going to school in one way or another most of the time, I thought it would be good to highlight his post on "10 Things to Learn This School Year". Although many of these may seem to be geared to "big business", I can vouch for the fact that whether you spend most of your time next to a conference table, an easel, a pad of paper, or a computer - they all come into play sooner or later.

Spot on, every one of them. (Pay special attention to #3, #4, #6, and his end point.)

The Infinite Tunnel of Squidoo(tm)

2006-08-22T16:45:00.000-04:00

First, I must say that although I am (so far) very impressed with the service and the site, I find the name, SQUIDOO, to be odd. But, then again, I can't stand the word 'blog' and I refuse to speak Starbucks-ese.

Goofy name aside, though, Squidoo is a very interesting site that allows one to create a Lens (as many as you like) on a certain topic or theme. What is a Lens? you ask.

"...A lens is one person's view on a topic that matters to her. It's an easy-to-build, single web page that can point to blogs, favorite links, RSS feeds, Flickr photos, Google maps, eBay auctions, CafePress designs, Amazon books or music, and thousands of products from hundreds of other trusted merchants. You can pick whatever content you want to put in your lens to bring context to your topic. Then, when someone is looking for recommended information, fast, your lens gets him started and sends him off in the right direction. It's a place to start, not finish..."

The Lenses are easy to construct, have a clean and consistent look and feel, and provide a broad range of modules with which to customize your page.

The most intriguing part of the site, however, may be the fact that it is run as a co-op. The pages are liberally splashed with Google Ads (although I should note not more so than most sites these days) and the revenue from those and from other forms of referrals is divided up between operating expenses, CHARITIES (you can pick 'em) and your wallet (if you so chose to claim any of your swag).

Give Squidoo a look, you may find it interesting. Here is the link for the PORTFOLIO Lens. If you already have some Lenses, let me know about them - I'd like to take a look.

PS. Also, let me know if you get the reference in the title of this post.

PORTFOLIO's Intro Music

2006-08-16T23:26:00.000-04:00

Several people have asked about the intro music for PORTFOLIO (and for SKETCH, for that matter). Although I'm pretty sure my daughter could play that piece, it is not in fact her.

It is simply a loop from Apple's GarageBand, tweaked almost not at all, and then messed with slightly in each episode as the timing and situation dictate. The specific loop is 'Orchestra Strings 8'.
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Snippets

2006-08-14T23:42:00.000-04:00

Regarding the previous post:

These little missives will likely be just that: little. I'm planning to just swoop in and make a point or propose an idea or mention a good product or service that is useful in the creation of a show like PORTFOLIO.

And then swoop back out...

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Why, Oh Why

2006-08-13T23:31:00.000-04:00

Mainly because I don't really know what I'm doing; especially when it comes to producing a new show at least once a week. So I figure I'm going to have to learn a lot of stuff really fast if I'm going to keep up and live up to the Mission Statement:

Produce at least one (1) episode of PORTFOLIO or portfolio_SKETCH per week.

I can do more, but the goal is to not do less.

[And just for you nit-picky types out there; no, I would not consider a normal SKETCH episode to meet this goal. Mainly because a normal SKETCH episode is only about 2-4 minutes in length, whereas a normal PORTFOLIO is planned to be in the neighborhood of 5-7 minutes. But I would count a long SKETCH. (I love it when I get to decide if the mission is a success.)]

So, since I'm gonna have to figure a bunch of stuff out along the way, I thought some of that might be useful to some of you. If not, then I'm pretty sure you'll at least get a laugh out of how goofy/naive/Pollyanna-ish I am in my belief that I can pull this off.

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Let the inanity begin!

2006-08-11T22:38:00.000-04:00

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Since there are so many exciting things going on I thought I'd put up another, slightly more mainstream, web journal. This one is to deal more with the day-to-day project stuff; working on PORTFOLIO, doing stuff with Team Djinn, designing fights, developing new and even goofier projects with...well...all of you, I suppose.

It's not that there was anything wrong with the other journal, it's just that it was hard to tell the conjecture from the fancy from the all-out fiction (wink).

So tonight has been spent in updating the jademacalla.com site, of which this WEB JOURNAL is a part. (I still try very hard never to say the work 'blog'; I dislike it that much, even after all these years). I hadn't intended to work on this, but the stream of consciousness work flow just took over. But now it is more or less complete and all the people who have been trying to desperately to get ahold of me now have a place to go. [yes, intended]

On a side note, I was very interested to find that inanity is a real word; or, I should say, a real form of a real word. I thought I was intentionally warping the root into an unacceptable form - imagine my surprise. I like it so much, I might rename this WEB JOURNAL.
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