Welcome to tastypopsicle.com

I've decided to open up the weblog archive. At one point is was closed off except to registered members due to an incident, However, that company has since closed its doors so they can just eat it. Use the search to find something that youmight be looking for. Maybe you'll find it.

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Yea, so I've had this quasi photo blog up that I made with my blood, sweat, and tears for awhile but it's a rather pain in the butt to add new pictures and to manage all of my pictures. So, as such, I've never really used it that much. But, some time ago that changed and I created an account with Blogger. Everyone knows that Google owns Blogger. And they own Picasa (to manage your pictures on your PC - very iPhoto like) and Hello (to pull your pics from Picasa and then upload them to your Blogger account - or email them to anyone). So, these 3 tools have really changed the way that anyone with a PC can quickly add photos to a website. I suggest you check them out. And while you do... Check out tastypopsicle.blogspot.com

I hate late fees. Every now and then they just creep up on you. Have you ever woken up on a Sunday morning to return a movie you thought was due back at noon that day only to find out weeks later when you want to rent another video that, oh wait, there's a late fee of like $4 or something - it was due back that Saturday. Goddammit! Because they got you. What can you do? By that time you don't even remember what the movie was or what the circumstances were and you're there to rent another movie to go home and just eNjoy the evening. So you pay the fee AND you rent the movie after you're pissed. The evening is ruined so you pick up a liter of Vodka on the ride home and get piss drunk while you watch "When Harry met Sally". Too bad because you'll probably forget to return this movie on time, too. Well, no more come January 1st.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Blockbuster Inc. announced Tuesday it is abolishing late fees on all its video tapes, DVDs and video games as of Jan. 1. The world's largest video rental company will still have due dates for their rental products -- one week for games and two days or one week for movies, depending on whether it's a new release. But customers will be given a one-week grace period after that to return the product. After that grace period ends, the chain will automatically sell them the product, less the rental fee. If the customers don't want to purchase the movie or game, they can return the product within 30 days for a credit, less a restocking fee.

Yipee! I can certainly remember to return a video within a week's grace period. I just have trouble with their whole 1 week rental (7 days) but day 1 is the day you rent it and you've got til noon on the 7th day so try this: If you rent "Friday" on Saturday at 10pm what day of the week is due back? Doesn't matter - you've got at least 13 days to figure it out. Why does it feel like we all just won something?

NEVER! - About a year ago I added an extra 120GB internal hard drive to our G4 tower. A cinch to do and it meant that the G4 now had about 160GB of storage. It's all filled up now. Amy's 15" Powerbook came with an 80GB drive. Guess what - it's all filled up. Between her pictures and Photoshop files and more recently all of the iMovie projects we're putting together there just isn't enough space any more. I've learned that no matter how "big" that new hard drive seems when you get it, you'll soon find out that it cannot possibly contain everything that your creative mind can come up with.

I've also realized that it's pointless to add 120GB now, and then 120GB later, and then 250GB more in 2 years. So I just bought a external 500GB Lacie hard drive. The LaCie Big Disk with Triple Interface 500GB with USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 ports so it can be attached to virtually any machine. (Except I didn't get it from LaCie directly. I found it cheaper from a place that I have had success in past purchasing products.) It should be arriving in the next 3-7 days. At slightly more than $400 (less than $1/GB) it's a bargain right now especially when you consider that 1 Terabyte (1,000GB) is a little over $1,000.

Yes, it's an additional cost that I wish I didn't have to make but it's a necessary one that if I didn't do it today I'd probably be doing tomorrow - it's that necessary now. I want to be creative and I want to be able to work on some audio and video projects but without the right tools it's rather frustrating more than fun. And once you break from the mantra that your old, outdated yet still-working system is "hanging in there" you'll be able to tap into some of those creative ideas that you've always wanted to do. Besides, it's not like I spent more than $200 on a Christmas tree.

Wish me luck - because this video stuff is a pain in the ass!

From 1995 - 1999 I attended Carnegie Mellon University's School of Design where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Communication Design. At the end of freshman your each student in the School of Design must decide on which path in the world of design they will follow: Communication Design or Industrial Design. Not being good with my hands or possessing any real talent at drawing 3D cubes I of course chose Communication Design which is NOT to be confused or even put into the same category as Graphic Design. Graphic Design is the art of illustration whereas Communication Design is the art of clarifying information. Regardless, I'm really not much of any of those three today. While I can zip through Adobe CS I more eNjoy Homesite 4.5 and VBScript. Throw in an Access Database or SQL and I'll really get excited. But this isn't supposed to be about me. No, this is supposed to be about a guy who was graduated with me with a BFA in Communication Design as well. The difference between he and I was of course that he was (is) an excellent designer. Even before he arrived as a freshman his mark was being left and felt in the design world. For you see, he has come to be perhaps one of the world's best type designers. He was better at is a freshman than the woman who was then teaching the type design class (by his junior year he was teaching the class). So if you really want to be inspired to do great things I suggest you first start by surrounding yourself and get to know some great people. Don't just read about them - get to know something about them and speak with them and, hell, even have throw some really crazy house parties together your senior year of college. That's what I did. I say all of this about Christian Schwartz because I am not a lone individual in this matter. It's precisely the opposite. For you see, when I visited one of my favorite sites, What do i know I spotted an Enjoying link to the 2005 FontFont Calendar and there, for the month of January, is the name of my former classmate. And on the same page is this paragraph:

Introducing The 2005 FontFont Calendar. The FontFont culture has always been about great designers making great type. This time we asked those creators to play with their work. Each month was a canvas for the world’s best type designers to paint with their FontFonts. As the pieces began to stream back from our all-star lineup, we grinned a happy holiday grin — the results are stunning.

It's no secret - kids that graduate from CMU go on to do some amazing things. It really is hard to find someone that isn't successful 7-10 years later. Don't worry, my time will come soon. But it's great to see that recognition is being made to those individuals who are truly leading their choice field. So to you, Christian, my hat goes off. Congratulations and I wish you much more success. I'm looking forward to January already.

Entertainment Weekly announced which albums of 2004 deserve a nod and a "that-a-boy" by listing it's Top 10 Albums of the year. It's nice to see that at #4 Kanye West's "College Dropout" has received much much praise and recognition. Big ups to Chitowns Finest. But enough about that kid. Nobody likes to talk about fourth place - or third or second - no, we always want to know what the number one is. Well hot damn... 2004's number one album, as decided by the folks at EW, is not even a legal album. No, this artist didn't make a dime off of this album and was ultimately sued for making it. But it's still the Best Album of the Year. 24 February 2004 a.k.a. Grey Tuesday a.k.a. The Black Album vs. The White Album a.k.a. Brian Burton a.k.a. DJ Danger Mouse a.k.a. The Grey Album Hell yea! Of all the albums released in 2004 with the backing of a major record label and the money and the radio play and the bling and the blam - they got nothing! They got nothing to show for it. It's over. Lights out. Exit. Cease. Desist. Check Mate. Trick or Treat. Grey Tuesday was an energizing day. I'm really glad I got the chance to participate in such an event and I hope to be involved in future year-changing events. You should too. ps. Check out Dangermouse's site - you won't leave cause you'll end up listening to his latest album. Damn good.

A few days ago Andy over at Waxy.org posted 6 videos filmed by tourists in the devastation of the Tsunami. These are the same videos that CNN, MSNBC, and other news channels are showing during their nauseating coverage. It's become quite the destination for visitors around the world hoping to learn a little bit more about this type of natural disaster caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake. So popular that about every 7 minutes someone is leaving a comment which can only mean that countless more are watching while not participating in the topic. And why do I think the American media coverage in nauseating? If I hear one more time, "So tell us Mr. I Know A Lot About Tsunamis, tell us the truth, can this happen in America?" My absolute favorite was a "question" raised by one reporter here in Chicago - "What's the likely hood that this could happen in Chicago." Not at all... Man, I hate stupid questions. Just cover the story and quit making your viewers look as stupid as you are.