Flying Over the Holidays

Oh, how I dislike flying during the holidays....  And today it's not even for family holiday fun, but instead for work.    Just down to San Diego and then back up to SF tonight.

Nicely, though, people have been really pleasant all morning.  Maybe it's Christmas spirit, or maybe it's just that everyone has gotten used to the high-volume shipping business that the airline industry has become.  Whatever the cause, I'm going to try to enjoy it.

Sent from my iPhone

Bird and Sutro Tower

Again prooving that the best camera is the one you have with you, I
just shot this with my phone when walking home from Safeway.

Of course nice photos are pretty easy to take when you live in San
Francisco....

Moon in Edwardian Window

Was walking home the other evening and happened to see the moon
reflected in the window of this grand old building on Castro Street.

Video EDITING on my iPhone

Everything you are reading and watching here was handled on my phone:
shooting the video; speeding a shot up; editing and titling;
rendering; compressing; and composing this post. Nothing went out to
a computer.

The video processing and editing was done with two apps by Nexvio,
available in the app store. Many smart phones can shoot video, but
I'm not aware of any that can edit it, aside from the iPhone. These
apps are dead simple to use, and the results are quite lovely.

They're promising the ability to add music and narration in an
update. (The current version only adds whatever sound was recorded at
the time the video was shot -- there's audio on this clip; it's just
that I shot these pretties when it was quiet.)

Is that a production studio on your pocket, or are you just happy to
see me?

Didn't I Just Leave This Party?

Travel for work. Rainy day. Bad combo....

Carl Sagan Still Inspires Me

This video is a remix from Cosmos and, it seems, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. (In case anyone wonders, I had nothing to do with its creation, though I would be proud to have.)

Cosmos inspired me as a teen, and it's wonderful to see that it still can inspire me today.

Enjoy. And if you think to, check out the artist's page. He's pretty amazing.

A still more glorious dawn awaits....

Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge

Roadside Lunch in Southern Mass

Yes, this burger has FRIED MOZZARELLA STICKS on it....

Heart attack on a bun?

Test video post

Sparkling lamp....

The Bridge

Painted on my iPhone using Brushes 2 Beta. Major new features. Major
new fun!

Lunchtime Doodle

I wasn't terribly hungry at lunch today, so while I snacked I
scribbled on my phone.

Thought I'd pop this up on the blog since I haven't been very good
about posting a lot.

This was done using the app layers.

Another new painting application

Not much time to write, but I wanted to post this image I made while
waiting for a delayed flight, using a new natural media simulator for
the iPhone.

This one is called Layers, and where it differs from my standard
painting app (Brushes!) is in it's offering of Photoshop-like layers.
You can paint on a single layer, add new transparent layers and paint
in them, kind of like painting on panes of glass stacked one atop the
next.

It has a few quirks and bugs, but it is a remarkably well executed app.

I'll write a proper review soon. In the meantime, check it out!

Pink Saturday, part deux

Do you like movies about gladiators?


I know these guys were handing out something, but can't for the life of me remember what it was...



Largest mirror ball I've ever seen, and I've seen my share. I've also whacked my head on my share, but that wasn't going to happen with this 10' diameter, crane suspended behemoth.



Some twink climbed up on the street light. Cool image for gay pride in the Castro. I played with the image a bit in Photogene.



People who live on Castro Street often hang out their windows, offering to toss plastic party beads in exchange for a "show" from the passers-by. I used to live in the building just past the neon sign on the left; I wasn't in a Castro-facing unit, so I would just go up on the roof for parties like this.




Some of the entertainment. I love how enthralled the audience is.




Every year a group of volunteers goes up on Twin Peaks and builds a huge, illuminated pink triangle above the city. This year there were some fireworks launched around midnight.

(For readers who don't know where the pink triangle comes from, it was used by Nazis to identify gays, much as the yellow star was used to identify Jews. We've embraced the symbol and in the embracing of it, have robbed it of it's former negative power.)

The Pink Party this year was very fun. As a community and personally we've been through a lot since the last pride. We saw our first, state-sanctioned same-sex marriages (including my own), and then we saw the state vote with a slim margin to classify me and my people as second-class citizens -- a vote that was upheld by the California Supreme Court. The "fierce advocate" for the GLBT community who occupies the White House has yet to act on his promises to end the worse than useless "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the hateful "Defense of Marriage Act." He's done damage to us, too...

Despite these setbacks (and probably in no small part because of them), the community has come together in a celebration filled with joy and love.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I'm reminded of that old Chumbawumba song, with a minor alteration:

We get knocked down, but we get up again. No, you're never going to keep us down.

Happy pride!

-- Post From My iPhone and all photos twere aken with it, and edited using the iPhone App, Photogene.

Pink Saturday

The yearly celebration of pride, San Francisco style! The lovely lady
in the window gave her blessing to the love and joy on the street below.

More pics if I get any that are worthy of posting....

Movie of Painting

Recently I posted a painting I did in Brushes!, the iPhone app that I really love for allowing me to paint anywhere, any time....

I've posted a movie of the painting being painted on my main page. Check it out. Let me know what you think.

www.dexfx.com

More Brushes!

You may recall that I've posted stuff I painted on my iPhone using the
app "Brushes!" before. Brushes! Certainly seems to be catching on. A
cover of the New Yorker magazine was painted with it. A well known
artist included images he painted on the iPhone in a museum show.. A
British newspaper recently published a spread of works by various
artists using Brushes.

All of this inspired me to play some more. This is what I put
together a little last night and a little on the train to work this
morning.

Hope you like it.

I'll come back into this post later and update it with links when I'm
at a computer. (I'm posting this directly from the phone.)

Well, I'm Glad They Explained That!

I'm waiting at SFO for a quick flight to Orange County (after a
disasterous morning on BART, but don't even get me started on THAT).

Isn't it great how in this age of information, the airline spares no
expense to make sure we know exactly why there's a delay?

Once More Into the Breach

I'm assembling my field video kit to tape presentation of the Supreme
Court's opinion on Prop 8 -- whether I am still married, whether a
simple majority can vote away the rights of a minority.

As I clamp the camera body to the tripod, I steady myself. The
nutjobs were assembling when I arrived this morning at 7:30, carrying
signs proclaiming their self-righteous, self-defined superiority
because they happen to be straight.

As I test the camera settings, I ready myself as best I can for what
I'm about to see.

Will I be fighting back tears of joy, or tears of despair? I'll know
in an hour and ten minutes.

Heading Home!

Whew! The weekend trip is over. By any measure, the premiere was a smashing success. The second night also sold out, which surprised me. Both nights' audiences were very enthusiastic and excited. It seems to be a big deal to have the world premiere of a movie in Cleveland.



The crowd excitedly awaited curtain. (Chris was afraid nobody in San Francisco would believe that there were crowds. I offer the above photo as proof!) On the second night we recognized a couple who had come the first night. They had no connection to Eggshellsnd (the place or the movie), they just liked the movie so much that they came back for seconds. And the second night they brought their daughter along. She seemed to enjoy the movie, too.



I had some time to see the sights of Cleveland on Saturday with my in-laws who drove over from Pittsburgh for the day. I know I'm tall, but I never realized just how freakishly tall I am. You know, other than when I'm trying to stuff myself into a coach-class seat on a five-hour flight....

So, now I'm on my way home. Tired. Glad I went. But glad to be out of that hotel. Oh, right. The hotel. It was, er, a hotel. Mostly....


-- Post From My iPhone

Welcome to Eggshelland

Yep, it's real. I'm here in Cleveland (yes, Cleveland) and I've just gotten back from visiting Eggshelland, the subject of Eggshelland, the documentary I wrote and performed the musical score for. Here you see me and Chris Noice, the director of the movie, in front of this year's display. It's far more spectacular than I expected.

I also got to meet Ron and Betty Manolio, though I didn't get any photos of them on my camera. The awesome thing about them is that they were exactly as I expected them to be from having watched the movie. So, Chris did a great job capturing them and their energy and their love for one another.

Here's Julie Matthews, the producer of the movie, along with Chris, flanking the poster for the movie that Ron and Betty put up alongside the Eggshelland display. Chris and Julie have been working on this movie off and on for five years.

The work is paying off, and we're now about an hour and a half away from the world premiere of Eggshelland. Everyone is excited and nervous, though I've been through this world premiere business before. Still, it's fun.

Look for another posting later tonight or tomorrow with details about the premiere and how it all came together. We're expecting a pretty good crowd, judging by ticket sales, so I'm hoping it'll be a great experience for Chris, Julie, the Manolio family and everyone else who comes.

More to come!

Long Day

I started today with a trip to Sacramento for work. After a brief scare (one of the folks I was to tape was in an unscheduled meeting with someone very high up in the organization -- someone who is famous for not being able to keep scheduled meetings on schedule, let alone unscheduled ones), I managed to finish everything and hit the road back to San Francisco. Directly from the office, I hit BART, and got to the airport on time for my flight to Cleveland (via LA). The flight to LA was quite nice; I was able to upgrade to "economy plus" for 14 bucks.



Now I'm at LAX, awaiting the sardine-can leg of the trip. They're overbooked, looking for volunteers to give up a seat. I'm tempted, except that Chris has already promised to pick me up at the Cleveland airport, and he's probably asleep....

Alas. It's going to be a long, cramped flight....

But, WORLD PREMIERE OF EGGSHELLAND.

In Cleveland. Yep. Cleveland.


-- Post From My iPhone

Playin' With the iPhone

Ooh, Pretty!

I've recently changed health insurance providers, primarily because I didn't like my previous provider, but also because we were putting Paul on my plan, and he really does like his doctor, who wasn't on my original plan. As a result, I've been getting to know my new doc, and that means new tests.

I went in for a blood draw this morning before work. The nurse (are they nurses or technicians who do the draws?) was a very nice Brazilian who took about one gallon out of me. (I exaggerate -- but only slightly -- for what I hope is comic effect.). I haven't had a draw like this in years, and maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I don't remember being this light headed afterwards....

So, now I'm in the office awaiting the arrival of tape for me to edit a package about the State of the Judiciary Address, and I'm oddly mesmerized by the glowey USB powered plasma ball on my desk.

Thought I'd share.


-- Post From My iPhone

Game Time

Smile, You're on Supernatural Camera

I'm cross-posting this with my other blog, the one I share with Paul documenting the behind-the-scenes processes involved with making our movies. Currently we're working on our second Inspector Hieronymus short, so most of our postings over there are about that project. If you're subscribed to my blog here, please add HomoMech to your subscriptions, too. It'll keep you up to date on the movie side of what's going on with me....

Here's the post from HomoMech:

Paul's script called for Inspector Hieronymus to use his "fabulous steampunk Polaroid" in our second short film chronicling the adventures of the intrepid occult detective. The camera needed to look like something that the Inspector would use to photograph supernatural activity, and in Paul's mind, I guess, that's "steampunk." The first Hieronymus short featured his "fabulous steampunk flashlight," and given it's brass fittings and such, I'd say it was, indeed, steampunk. (You can see the flashlight -- and the entire short -- here.) I'm pretty familiar with the historic line of Polaroid cameras, from the old Land to the Spectra and the "Go," but none of them were what I'd call "steampunk."

So, one Saturday a few weeks ago, I got together with JT Tepnapa of Star Trek Phase II, In the Closet (In the Closet isn't safe for work!) and Judas' Kiss for a walk through the Mission District of San Francisco to hit some thrift stores, looking for material to work with. We found a bunch of old cameras for cheap, and one awesome object that's a relic from the physical film days of home-movies (which I'm hanging on to for future projects!). Thrift-shopping for props is a great way to spend an afternoon hanging out with a friend.

Once home, I took apart one of the cameras, added some wood inlays, some brass brads, and some leather, but I still wasn't feeling it. It needed some brass fittings. So, I went to our local hardware store and spent more on brass lamp parts than I did on the rest of the camera and drilled, screwed and glued them on. The end result is the contraption you see the Inspector holding in the photo above. All in all I think it worked.

If we keep making these movies, we're going to build quite a collection of steampunk or para-Victorian items.

And that couldn't make me happier.

The End of an Era

Today marked the last broadcast of California Courts News, or CCN.
CCN is (was) the monthly news program I've been producing for the
Judicial Branch for the last five and a half years. The Office of
Communications, which is responsible for the program's content, has
decided to retool the show for web-only distribution. I'll continue
to produce the web version, and it will be cool, but it won't be the
same....

Today, a bunch of my co-workers came down to the studio while the show
was going out over the satellite with donuts and sparkling cider to
celebrate the show and send it off in style. It was a total surprise,
and a wonderful thing for them to have done.

Snif. CCN, I'll miss you....

Beta Brushes

I've written about the iPhone application "Brushes" before -- it's a natural media simulator on the iPhone which allows me to "paint" pictures with nothing but my finger and my phone. I love it, because I enjoy painting, but often inspiration strikes me when I'm not anywhere near real paint and brushes, or even my laptop. But I always have my phone with me.

So, I was really pleased when Steve, the guy who wrote Brushes, contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in beta testing a new version of the software. I enthusiastically agreed, and have been playing with a couple pre-release versions for a month or so. Up until the most recent version, the interface has been virtually identical, and the feeling of painting is very much the same. (The most recent version added two enhancements I'm really happy to see -- the ability to zoom out from the canvas, allowing for painting edge to edge, and the ability to zoom in as far as 800%, which allows me to paint tiny little details.)

Under the hood, though, Brushes has undergone some significant changes. The software remembers every stroke you make (which is very handy if you need to undo a lot of mistakes). It also allows you to export the image file to your computer, where the companion "Brushes Viewer" allows you to see the image you created, and to export a movie of yourself painting the image -- playing every stroke in order as you painted them -- or exporting a larger image than the tiny little 320x480 pixel image that the iPhone screen supports. Brushes Viewer allows you to export images up to 6 times that resolution -- up to 1920x2880 -- which is amply large to print even up to 8x10 or larger.

The downside to this is that I see exactly how primitive my pianting is! It's encouraging me to spend more energy increasing the detail I paint with. To the right is the same painting in the upper corner, at the 6x resolution. (You may have to click on it to get the large version.) You can really see the brush strokes and the smudgy stars and stuff.

(In my defense, I scribbled this painting out in about 24 minutes just to send Steve something and to let him know my impressions of this newest Beta version.)

I believe that this version of the software will be what Steve submits to Apple for the next upgrade to Brushes. It's an awesome update, and adds some real-world usefulness to this really powerful application. If you're interested in painting with your iPhone or iPod touch, Brushes is the app!

Luna and Venus over the Emerald City

A few days ago as I left work, I passed City Hall which was bathed in
green light. Looking up, I saw the moon and Venus above the classic
Beaux Arts dome. Snap with the phone.

Diana, the goddess of the moon, was a goddess of wisdom, and Venus, of
course, was the goddess of love. I can't think of two more suitable
figures to hold court over San Francisco, particularly as the Supreme
Court heats the Prop 8 cases in a month.

May the wisdom of Diana and the love of Venus guide the Justices.

A Childhood Icon

Homo Promo Art

Hey, everyone! Just thought I'd share an early sketch/painting/photo-
manipulation I did as a concept for the art on an "Inspector
Hieronymus" period style poster.

What do you think? I think it captures the feel of a 1940's noir
poster while still conveying the sexiness that Don oozes as the
Inspector. I also like the "what's that, Nancy Drew?" look on his
face....

As we work on more stories featuring our darkly heroic Inspector, I'm
thinking we'll want one poster image to rule them all! Is this one
close? Please make suggestions or just give up your opinion in the
comments!

- Dex, posting from my phone.

Weakest. Product. Tie-In. Ever.

I'm at MacWorld, perusing the Expo, and have just come across a pretty
awful advertising gimmick. The photo is of the DeLorean from Back to
the Future. THE DeLorean.

Why is it on display at MacWorld? Because the company that brought it
here replaces the glossy screen on your MacBook with a matte one and
promises to get it BACK IN TIME for you to get whatever work done you
need to get done.

Clever, no?

No.

iPhone fun

This was a Christmas present from my mother-in-law. It looks so much
like a Cylon that I just had to add the red eye (Brushes! App on the
iPhone), then used the app iMotivate to mimic the inspiational poster
look.

Happy New Year, by the way!