F’ Me, Mr. Bradbury

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John Scalzi drew my attention to this. It’s odd how this stuff makes the rounds. Still this is awesome enough to steal from Youtube and give a permanent home here…

[zdvideo autoplay=”no” width=”500″ border=”no”]http://macblaze.ca/wp-content/swf/raybradbury.flv[/zdvideo]

I dedicate this to the one person who will really appreciate it ( you know who you are…); may we all revel in our inner 15-year-old boy! A backup version to be permanently found on a page on the sidebar.

Why the world needs publishers

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Whilst cruising for ebooks I came across this lovely tidbit. The best part is the use of quote marks (well, not the best part but I was trying to be nice…).

The Three Planeteers For All
by Edmonda Hamilton
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 Edmonda Hamilton

A Gender Switch Adventure

CHAPTER I

Comrades of Peril

THEY sauntered through the crowded, krypton lit street bordering the great New York spaceport, casually, as though there was not a reward on their heads. An Earthwoman, a Venusian, and a huge Mercurian, looking merely like three ordinary space-sailors in their soiled, drab jackets and trousers.

But inwardly Joan Thorn, the lean, dark-headed Earthwoman of the trio, was queerly tense. She felt the warning of that sixth sense which tells of being watched. Her brown, hard-chinned face showed nothing of what she felt, and she was smiling as though telling some joke as she spoke to her two companions.

‘We’re being followed,” she said. “I’ve felt it, since we left the spaceport. I don’t know who it is.’

Sua Av, the bald, bow-legged Venusian, laughed merrily as though at a jest. Her bright green eyes glistened, and there was a wide grin on her ugly, froglike face.

‘The police?’ she chuckled.

Etc.

At least it was offered for free.

Mud and Paint…

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They’ve given the place a first coat of paint and are finishing the mudding on the neighbour...

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Kitchen masked to paint the roof

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C’s living room

Check out the gallery as usual

iPad sketches

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I think I’m gonna have to add another category. I hummed,hawed and researched and finally decided that while Sketchbook Pro gave me everything I wanted, it also gave me too much. I’d rather opt for the simplicity than the versatility that I will likely never use… Rather the opposite of my attitude towards computers etc. And oddly enough using the same logic.

I went for Brushes. Still $7 or so but a cleaner interface and more than enough power for my simple tastes. Here’s a quick fish for you angler-files out there…

More Art

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Using Adobe Ideas I am exploring iPad doodling. To get them online I had to take a screenshot (hold down power, click button). We’ll see how the resolution turns out.

The Next Day…

I played a bit with iDraft which is not vector based and has the virtue of being able to save to the photo album on the iPad directly. Unfortunately it is much more of a sketching program and not so suited to my style. Still I might adapt…

And More

Sketchbook Mobile X is a free iPhone app that I added to the iPad. It offers a bit more control although I don’t like the interface as yet. The iPad app is $7.99 which is overkill I think for what I’m looking for. Here’s a quick sketch:

Day dix-sept: Au revoir

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Morning was slow because Carmen decided on another shower… did I mention we enjoyed the hot running water…? Eventually we were all up and running and Carmen toasted her tomato sandwich over the fire (which frankly was a pain in the ass to keep lit).

We eventually got packed up and checked out. we’d pretty much given up on the idea of running away to Grand Cache; we figured there were too many carnivores for competition and we’d eventually have to surface again…sigh. We cruised into town and gassed up; Carmen did her usual bang-up job of bug scrubbing and we were on the road again.

We figured a short hike around Maligne Canyon wouldn’t be too much of an imposition so we pulled in to the crowded parking lot. We took the high trail down and it was empty, but as soon as we started back up the main trail the tourists and their kids and dogs and pretty much everything else descended. I guess we’d been too many days away from the touristas cause they sure as hell were irritating. I guess the three of us really are misanthropes, although Leslie’s biggest beef was with the 25 or so dogs we encountered on the trail.

Fighting through the hordes for a bathroom break gave us a final bitter (sweet) taste of Jasper and we hit the road. Leslie finished off her abominable book for us and we groaned through the last chapter as we got a lurid description of Nell not getting any and no real resolution to the mystery except to blame it all on Rasputin. Jeez.

Leslie drove the last bit home and we unpacked around 5. We bid Carmen adieu and showered, sorted the mail and had a quick run through on the pictures. We have two more days before life starts again so hopefully we stay calm cool and relaxed. Carmen will be off to find her lion soon and our cats are busily ignoring us and then checking every 2 seconds to see if we are still there.

C’est tout…