Awesome Motion Graphics

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

My buddy Jon just turned me on to the place his friend Nate works, Left Channel Motion Graphics.

They’re based in Columbus and have done some seriously kickass work for a very impressive client list.

Go check out their Reel (or their video for RJD2 featuring images from Cuba)

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Who’s On First on Twitter

Monday, December 8th, 2008

I’ll start this by saying I know this is a dumb idea.

I was looking up fictitious characters on Twitter and found Mia from Californication.  That and the Sterling Cooper [Mad Men] Crew. Anyway, I suggested to my buddy Ari that we should create fake twitters for West Wing Characters (LemonLyman!)  But alas, too much conversation and too little movement through hallways.  I also toyed with idea of re-creating I Have a Pony in realtime.

But twitter rate limiting (100 per hour) is a bitch.  Then it came to me. Who’s On First. 

Feel free to follow @bud_abbott and @lou_costello on Twitter. I didn’t do too much error checking, so if the Twitter API wigs out, the conversation will stop. If I get enough (read: any) followers I’ll start a nightly performance.

Here’s the source text: back_and_forth.txt

And the code:

require('rubygems')
gem('twitter4r', '0.3.0')
require 'twitter'
require 'time'

client_abbott = Twitter::Client.new(:login => 'bud_abbott', :password => 'XXXXXXXX')
client_costello = Twitter::Client.new(:login => 'lou_costello', :password => 'XXXXXXXX')

puts "Logged In, Now Lets Go Through The Script"

File.new('back_and_forth.txt').readlines.each { | response |
  who_said_it, line = response.split(": ")
  if who_said_it.to_s == "Abbott"
    puts "Abbott: #{line}"
    begin
      status = client_abbott.status(:post, line)
      rescue RESTError => re
        puts re.code, re.message, re.uri
    end
  elsif who_said_it.to_s == "Costello"
    puts "Costello: #{line}"
    begin
      status = client_costello.status(:post, line)
      rescue RESTError => re
        puts re.code, re.message, re.uri
    end
  end
}

puts "Finished!"
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A Quick Story About Searching for Records

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

I like music, more specifically, I like vinyl records. I like listening to them, I like scratching then, I like buying them, I like finding them. The Internet is out to destroy this love. That’s because the Internet has destroyed what would have once been a several month process into less than an hour.

Scenario A
I read some zine some friend told me about. It contains an article about some great record I’ve never heard about. I mentally note it. One day, several months later, I discover that record for $5 Canadian in a record store in Kingston, Ontario. Holy shit, I think. I recall the article and of course buy the record. Which I listen to when I arrive home and enjoy immensely.

Scenario B
I hear about a new record from a podcast I listen to while driving (who listens to terrestrial radio anyway?) It’s All Songs Considered and I discover Take Ten by Paul Desmond. Sounds great. I get home and look it up (because I had already forgotten his name) and then search. I can grab it on ebay for about $8 shipped, which is not too bad. Itunes has it for $9.99, then I find pirated mp3s. I could download, listen to, and already get sick of the album before the ebay auction ends. (in two days) I’d love to find it in a record store, but is it possible that I no longer have the patience for that anymore?

Have I really changed that much where I can’t even enjoy the process of Scenario A anymore?
I’m going to hold out and wait until I find Take Ten in a record store. And I think the world would be a better place if more people did the same.

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I love Hollywood.

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
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