Feeling like a Zombie.

     Necrosis is setting in, my breathing is ragged, and I feel brain dead. Finals are here and the heat is on. Staying up past the "no good" hour every night and surviving off of cafeteria food and bananas might just be the recipe for zombification. This strain does have its advantages though. I've been pumping out some great work and I feel like i'm truly finding my place here at Howard. (now the only problem is finding the money I need for next semester, sheesh.)

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      In my image processing class I had to sculpt and texture a head from photo reference(self portrait). The entire process was to be completed in Luxology's Modo, but I didn't mind that so much since I spend quite a bit of time in that program anyway because thats where I get most of my modeling done. I wasn't too happy when I couldn't use photoshop for my texture maps. Everything was done in the perspective view. I had some problems when I went to model the dreadlocks. I couldn't figure it out and the internet was no help but I eventually figured out a way. I think I'll make a tutorial for the rest of the world because it was so frustrating. I'm not the best sculpter as you can tell from the image below but overall I think it came out very well, especially since this is my first semester doing 3D.

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     My photography class has been kicking my ass as well but I know that I will get everything straightened out before the deadline. I'll post the results in the next update. I know I shouldn't be letting things ride until the last minute but the pressure always seems to make something great. Its awesome when it does work which is about 90% of the time. Funny thing that my mother always used to say that if I only spent 10% more of my time on my work I would be a perfect student.

Lightwave, Modo, and MAX, Oh My!

     The electronic studuio department here at Howard is showing me great things. We have an awesome professor who worked for Axis Games before he started teaching here. He is very in tune with what goes on in the corporate 3D modeling world. I love it here. The things I am starting to create here are amazing. I look forward to each new day and the challenges it presents. Below is a simple text animation I made using Lightwave and Modo. The base design came from a font I found on dafont.com by FR Design, called "Qubix." I used a little too much volumetric lighting so the render time was a little long and I should have made the camera moves a little slower, but I like how it turned out.

     Haven't been doing so well with the whole diet thing though. Still the same 270Lbs since school started. I probably just need to incorporate more exersise into my plan. I still ride my bike everyday but that might be the only reason I haven't gained any weight while eating all this cafeteria food. Time to go get the OATZ. I've been reading some information from a certain image board that advises working mostly on the larger muscle groups to help overall performance when it comes to becoming Alpha. Forget the bicep curls, It's all about the squats and bench press.

   Got the chance to play GOW3 online for the first time this weekend. I love the game but I hate how fast the characters move now. I miss the days where your character was big, chunky, and moved with a purpose. The sawed off is a noob weapon but I still think the game is incredibly well balanced. Great job Epic. Thank you for bringing us another hit.

Its Getting Kind of Crowded

Its been a while since I've updated this thing. Quite a few things have been happening. I guess I should read my last post to see where I left off ... (reading) ... (analyzing timecode) ... (rendering) ... Done! Ok, I see what happened. I was distracted by this string of natural disasters (A FUCKING EARTHQUAKE? AND A HURRICANE? LESS THAN A WEEK APART?) along with all of the bullshit that comes with going to a HBCU. It seems like the administrative processes are flawed at a basic level no matter where you go. If you feel differently please let me know. Side note: I would hate for the human race to be destroyed by a natural or string of natural disasters. Where are the zombies? I think the world would benefit from a common enemy. Get on it Umbrella Corp. Stop all this fighting and inequality. Zombies, the great equalizer.

I have officially started my Howard university journey. I've got my classes and I'm doing better than expected. Most notably I'm taking a few 3D modeling classes using Maya, 3DS Max, and Modo, and I love the environment. Ellen Page said it best in Inception, "Its just pure creation."
I'm not as shocked by the experience as I was at Tuskegee. I guess because I'm much older and wiser than before. Its like high school all over again but people see less intelligent. Hehe. Occasionally I run into those who like to snicker or tell a joke behind my back. I used to let those people slide. I call them out now and I've to find out that most of those people, as we say in the hood, are bitch. Spineless, simple minded, bitch ass mutha fuckas :) I'm thankful for them though. I would be bored without them. I guess I'm on my grown man shit. Kicking ass and taking names while riding on a cloud (hehe) and it feels good.

Speaking of kicking ass, I seem to have lost all of my natural ability in the FPS genre. Black Ops and Gears of war 2 are now almost unbearable to play. And its not like a have a terrible connection or anything. It just seems like I have the worst aim possible. But to defend myself I have been out of the game for a few years. I just picked it back up a few months ago and I'm no slouch but I have not been bodying these hoes like I used to. The occasional killstreak or curbstomp will keep me in the game  but the feeling of greatness is fleeting at best. For those of you that are reading this and aren't helping me beat these ass holes on Xbox Live, The gamertag is obviously "Suplox." I could use some help. However, I cannot stop shaking over the release of GOW3. 11 days left.

I've got a new toy and I'm actually using it to write this post right now and I'm finding more uses for it every day. Its the Acer A500 Iconia Tablet. And it is a beast. More than the iPad at almost half the price. I love it. HDMI, Front and rear facing camera, Full sized USB port, and expandable memory, its amazing. Sporting the Android 3.1 (gingerbread i believe it is called), I have access to tons of apps. The ones I find myself using the most are Autodesk's Sketchbook pro and Genial Writing. Had to get a stylus and protective case which ran me about $50 but that is the only downside I've ran into to date. Another great app is LumiRead which came with the thing. I normally don't like to read books but I've come to find myself downloading a few novels and other texts just to read on this thing.

One of the books I've been reading on this thing is The End of Faith by Sam Harris. Obviously by the title you can tell the book is about how religion (and not just that blowem' up muslim shit, all religions) has no place in our world of logic and reason. It makes clear observations at the way religion is destroying the human race by opening the doors of inequality and by slowing technological advance to a crawl. The amount of undeniable truth in this book is unnerving. Most people are afraid to fight against large forces. I am proud to say that I am one of the proud few. We are living in revolutionary times and I cannot wait to see the coming change.  As soon as I'm done with this post I'm going to pick it back up and I suggest you do the same. You can even find it online if you look hard enough. Thanks a lot jsk and darksiderg!

"There seems, however, to be a problem with some of our most cherished beliefs about the world: they are leading us, inexorably, to kill one another. A glance at history, or at the pages of any newspaper, reveals that ideas which divide one group of human beings from another, only to unite them in slaughter, generally have their roots in religion. It seems that if our species ever eradicates itself through war, it will not be because it was written in the stars but because it was written in out books; it is what we do with words like "paradise" and "sin" in the present that will determine our future.

---

Words like "God" and "Allah" must go the way of "Apollo" and "Baal," or they will unmake our world."

-- Sam Harris The End of Faith

Howard. The next logical step.

     Life has a way of throwing you just what you need when you need it. (but you have to be ready for it) Luck is when opportunity meets preparation and I was, for one time in my life, prepared. I can't wait. I always do my best when I have a clear path outlined and the path is easy to see for the next four years. I was accepted into the college of arts and sciences where I will be mastering my craft. I love my creative side and I couldn't imagine working a mundane job. I've done it before and I hated it.  Wachovia/Wells Fargo was the worst thing that has ever happened to me when it came to a job. It's time to stop worrying about the money and start living my dreams.  I will paint pictures with these lenses and the world will stop and stare.

     Its been a while since my last update. I lost my teaching job (it wasn't paying at all anyway), my video card died (working on one screen is the pits), My Canon SX120 died (but I fixed it XD ), and I have a whole documentary to finish before next week. It's crunch time. Not to mention that thursday is the last day that we will be able to stay in this house. It's time for us to move once again. We're good at beating this system called life. I'm bless by what ever gods my be that I never ended up in the projects, "baby mamma'd and child support'd," or locked in a cage like so many of my brothers. One good thing I can say about being poor is that I'm ready for pretty much anything that the world throws at me. I love this adversity! I've got stone skin now and my gamma energy is at critical mass. It's time to HULK SMASH!!!

     I've been looking at film techniques and trying to enhance my camera work. Specifically, I've been looking into camera rigging because of my not so steady hands. I built a Snorricam rig and I have to say I'm pleased with my prototype. Its a little flimsy but it gets the job done with my cheapo Sanyo HD100. The next rig that I will probably build is a fig rig or some other type of stabilizer. Youtube has been good to me. I'm learning the basics and its showing in my recordings already. I have some footage that I shot with the Snorricam today that has inspired me to shoot a music video for one of my friends. I cannot wait for that morning sun to rise for I know that tomorrow bring new adventures to capture.

      Here is the footage from earlier put to some music. A little something that I picked up from the Big O soundtrack. I fucking love that anime. Such a deep story line and it's oh so noir. The respect that the megadeuce gets when it tears through the ground is unparalleled. Roger smith is batman smashed together with Charlie Sheen And don't get me started on that robotic love machine, Dorothy. She has a special place in my heart, right next to my Dōjinshi. :)

Awesomeness.

I just took a step and looked at my life. I can help but think about the opportunities that the universe has blessed me with. This shit is crazy. I've been through so much and it's kinda scary that I'm still here. The probability of my life turning out this way cannot be explained with simple numbers and variables.

Eappy Haster Everyone! I saw a wonderful display of violence this morning but by the time I got the camera up and running it was over. BOO!!!

I did capture the perpetrators of this heresy though. The projects, hot weather, and a wooden chair = fighting in Easter suits. Check out the video.

I'm just that nice.

Played in a mortal kombat tournament last night for the midnight release. Lets just say I had a flawless victory. I did have a large advantage over most of my opponents for one reason, The PSN, Only on PS3 was the demo released so I could get some practice in a few days before the tournament. You may call that cheating but I call it preparation.

I played with a long time favorite character, Scorpion. I'm so glad that they brought back his teleport move. It gives him a solid ground against projectile spammers and can even be done in air to escape from sticky situations or just to get that much needed drop on your opponent.

I was really surprised how good this game is. The challenge tower is a great aspect of the game. The characters are actually very well balanced IMO. I'm sure over time people will develop cheesy ways to defeat the unskilled but I think the true gamers will enjoy this title for years to come. With its wealth of extras and deep fighting system I don't see me putting this one down for a long time.

A Change of Heart

I once was a devout follower of the catholic faith. I believed that the bible should be a reference tool in my life and Jesus was my homeboy. I knew that if I never did anything that Jesus wouldn't approve of, I would live eternally in a land of happiness after my body ceased to take breath. A lifetime of restriction was a small price to pay for an eternity of happiness. I believed that this message should be spread and other people should follow the path of Jesus. I couldn't think of any other way to spread the teachings of Catholicism so I decided to look into the history of my faith and find out how it was done in the past. This jaunt through the pages of history was the defining factor in my excommunication from the Catholic Church.

The Christian faith is dangerous when you get into their collective way. Throughout history Christians have not thought twice about spilling the blood of others when they would not hear or accept their message. Millions of people were killed by Christians during the crusades, European Christians have always prosecuted Jews, and if you can warp your thinking a little you might be able to figure out why the average Christian American has a gripe the Muslim faith(even before 9/11). The more I researched the more disgusted and enraged I became. I realized that I was living a lie passed down for generations and I would have to be the one to put this beast of reconstituted hatred to rest.

After my faith was completely dissolved I started to look into the histories of other religions and saw that most others shared our checkered past. It was easy to see that one religion has the right idea and there is no real way to know what happens after we die. Religion is just a tool to help you come with that natural fear of "What comes next." Carl Sagan, one of the most prolific scientific minds in the history of the world, has influenced me to great measure. I will leave you with some of his most influential words.

“I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking.

The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.”

--Carl Sagan "In the Valley of the Shadow" PARADE magazine (10 March 1996)