Who hasn’t been hat home just enjoying a Saturday morning and then the infamous knock at the door comes. Oh look its some very polite, nicely dressed young men but wait they have backpacks and…. and….. Aww hell it’s the Mormons. I had this happen today, but the big question is “how should I handle this?” You always have two choices in this situation, you can either tell them to get out of your face, or you could talk to them. I chose to go with the more civil of the two choices.
If your familiar with selling techniques you can always spot them when people come to your door. One of the first is presentation, there is a reason these kids look like a boy scout version of a car salesman, but you cant fault them for it. The next is creating a sense of rapport, these people don’t know you from the last door they were at but they want to hear your sob story so they can “know how you feel.” I bet they are even sincere about it and really want to know about you. Once they start getting you to tell your stories or even sob stories they are going to get the overall feeling and repeat what you said back to you except this time with a positive twist like “ I know exactly what you mean, would it have made a difference if ______ was different, how would that have made you feel?” When you start to visualize yourself in that moment with everything going right and you begin to get a conversation going that’s when they feel they’ve got their hooks in.
So now you know and knowing is half the battle…. that’s what the Transformers used to tell me anyway. Stay tuned for the follow up to this on how to use these same techniques and how I suspect it works.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Nightmares That Make You Go To Church- Part I
Had a nightmare last night which is very out of the ordinary for me because nothing scares me, usually. It wasn’t even a whole dream that was scary…. But in my nightmares It never is. The thing that makes my nightmares scary to me isn’t zombies or king kong not even being a reality tv star. My nightmares are a common theme in my life, they are never different types of scary dreams they are always basically the same.(well the scary part is not usually the whole dream)
It all started with the very first scary dream that left an impact on me that I still remember. This sucker looked like it was directed by Tim Burton but made by Wes Craven….. Scary stuff when you’re a little kid. I remember I was in front of my house which at the time looks like a trailer with one room in front of the other but with the door at the very front, two trees in the front yard but has the vibe of a dark rainy day. I guess its because it was a dream but everything was skewed a little bit like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the house that Charlie lived looked like the house in my dream.
I remember running and hiding behind the curb, you know laying in the street with 2 black trees towering over me with malicious intent. I felt like Dorthy in the woods with the trees throwing apples. Then He made his appearance. The Shadow man, he looks like death but without the sickle and without a face, just an aura of darkness that consistently tries to swallow me. He would haunt my dreams on and off for years to come(anyway back to the dream). He stands far enough away from the edge of the curb that I can still hide from him. He looks out over the street glaring with that blackness devoid of any feeling, then makes his way back to the house but disappears. I beat it, he chased me I won and I stand proud and go back into my house with my head held high. I start toward the kitchen but the rotary phone rings….. rrrrring……rrrrrring….. I sense something wrong as the mood turns dark again. I pick up the phone trying to ignore the feeling that has come over me but no one is there. Hello…. Hello…. Hello? Right then the phone turns black and I drop it and jump back. The black receiver crashes on the floor and right as it bangs the floor the black from the phone spreads into the air and becomes the Shadow. As quickly as it appears it heads toward me and just as its about to touch me….. I wake up.
Remember if this doesn’t seem scary to you I was probably 8 or 9 at the time but I got scared just reliving the dream. This was just the first of these Nightmares, more to come so stay tuned and let me know what you think.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Smallville The End is Near- a quick Review
Smallville is finally going to end with the series finale May 13( three days after my birthday….. How bitter sweet) Saying goodbye to Smallville will be like saying goodbye to an old friend. I am a recent convert to Smallville, I always wanted to watch it but it just never seemed to happen until I started buying the seasons. One by one I worked my way through the discs, falling in love with the shows high and lows. I even became a bit obsessive leaving me down on a day I left on a sad episode.
This TV series (brace yourself this is going to sound dumb) helped renew my faith in my fellow man. Its easy to get overwhelmed with the butt holery that can go on in the day to day life but among all the trash on tv here is one show that tries its best to live up to the symbol of good Superman should stand for. It might be childish but I think we all need a dose of that from time to time. This show reminds me of that friend of yours that is kind of cheesy nice but is a really great person but you get embarrassed of him with your cool friends. I choose the nice friend over some douche bag fad rider. See how sad I am to see Smallville end I’m rambling now. Now back to the point.
The first few seasons could be compared to Dawsons Creek with super powers but its epic way more than it makes me want Dawsons Creek to dry up. Clark and Lana play the can we dance for a few seasons but when all that finally ended Lana was what we in the real world would call a crazy hoe. Then Lois joins the cast and this chick is so hot and the personality that they gave the character totally blows Lana out the water. Chloe is such an awesome sidekick that she is practically an information superhero and she actually becomes one for a little while. Lex Luthor is the man from the beginning, he is actually the reason I bought the first season because I saw a few episodes and that’s how cool he was. He struggles with his good side because Clark Kent can influence anyone but a scorpion is a scorpion. When Lex is finally turning in comes Oliver Queen to take up the role of the billionaire friend gap that Lex has left open. I have to be honest though I never liked the idea of green arrow in a universe with Superman but this show has changed my mind because Green Arrow is so awesome and powerful a personality he can influence Clark a.k.a. the “Blurr.” After Lex “dies” Tess enters the show pretty quick picking up where Lex left off but Clark actually gets to her and turns her, at least that’s what it looks like so far. There are many cameos from DC universe characters but so far my top 5 character cameos are:
1.Doomsday
2.Zod
3.Brainiac
4.Bizzaro
5.Impulse aka the Flash
Clark is so close to realizing his Superman destiny you can feel it at this point.
The April 29th Episode
It was a setting up episode for the darkness aka Darkseid. Clark went into the Phantom zone looking for answers and Oliver forces his way into this episode by pushing Clark into the portal leading to the PZ. They meed the 2 in 1 Zod with old phantom Zod that destroyed Krypton possessing new clone Zod that tried to take over Earth. With double the hate Zod pits Oliver and Clark against each other trying to use the darkness in Oliver to get him on his side. Then there are reminders that the Wedding is days away. (YAY…. in the most girly voice possible) Great episode Clark dawned a red cape which made this episode even better but watching him a Oliver fight was totally awesome.
Hard for me to type this as I shake in anticipation for the series Finale on May 13th or maybe it’s the Parkinson’s rearing its ugly head….. Either way cant wait.
This TV series (brace yourself this is going to sound dumb) helped renew my faith in my fellow man. Its easy to get overwhelmed with the butt holery that can go on in the day to day life but among all the trash on tv here is one show that tries its best to live up to the symbol of good Superman should stand for. It might be childish but I think we all need a dose of that from time to time. This show reminds me of that friend of yours that is kind of cheesy nice but is a really great person but you get embarrassed of him with your cool friends. I choose the nice friend over some douche bag fad rider. See how sad I am to see Smallville end I’m rambling now. Now back to the point.
The first few seasons could be compared to Dawsons Creek with super powers but its epic way more than it makes me want Dawsons Creek to dry up. Clark and Lana play the can we dance for a few seasons but when all that finally ended Lana was what we in the real world would call a crazy hoe. Then Lois joins the cast and this chick is so hot and the personality that they gave the character totally blows Lana out the water. Chloe is such an awesome sidekick that she is practically an information superhero and she actually becomes one for a little while. Lex Luthor is the man from the beginning, he is actually the reason I bought the first season because I saw a few episodes and that’s how cool he was. He struggles with his good side because Clark Kent can influence anyone but a scorpion is a scorpion. When Lex is finally turning in comes Oliver Queen to take up the role of the billionaire friend gap that Lex has left open. I have to be honest though I never liked the idea of green arrow in a universe with Superman but this show has changed my mind because Green Arrow is so awesome and powerful a personality he can influence Clark a.k.a. the “Blurr.” After Lex “dies” Tess enters the show pretty quick picking up where Lex left off but Clark actually gets to her and turns her, at least that’s what it looks like so far. There are many cameos from DC universe characters but so far my top 5 character cameos are:
1.Doomsday
2.Zod
3.Brainiac
4.Bizzaro
5.Impulse aka the Flash
Clark is so close to realizing his Superman destiny you can feel it at this point.
The April 29th Episode
It was a setting up episode for the darkness aka Darkseid. Clark went into the Phantom zone looking for answers and Oliver forces his way into this episode by pushing Clark into the portal leading to the PZ. They meed the 2 in 1 Zod with old phantom Zod that destroyed Krypton possessing new clone Zod that tried to take over Earth. With double the hate Zod pits Oliver and Clark against each other trying to use the darkness in Oliver to get him on his side. Then there are reminders that the Wedding is days away. (YAY…. in the most girly voice possible) Great episode Clark dawned a red cape which made this episode even better but watching him a Oliver fight was totally awesome.
Hard for me to type this as I shake in anticipation for the series Finale on May 13th or maybe it’s the Parkinson’s rearing its ugly head….. Either way cant wait.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Five Fast Movie Review
Five Fast was such an awesome movie…. LET THE SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS BEGIN!!!!
This movie started out where the other left off, right when the gang was about to do something awesome and break out Dom from jail. A few things that stood out were Mia was really really skinny, she had the upper lip of a starving African boy. Other than that Mia was really hot. The only thing that is bothering me about this movie is that it was less like Fast and the Furious and more like the Italian Job with the FF cast. The Italian Job was a great movie. There were good car scenes with lots of intensity but there were also scenes that were totally left out because your just supposed to assume that Dom is the best in the world.
Hot chicks and a very intense ending chase scene make this movie a must see for the car lover and I loved every minute of it.
PS. Stay for the credits!!!! its awesome
This movie started out where the other left off, right when the gang was about to do something awesome and break out Dom from jail. A few things that stood out were Mia was really really skinny, she had the upper lip of a starving African boy. Other than that Mia was really hot. The only thing that is bothering me about this movie is that it was less like Fast and the Furious and more like the Italian Job with the FF cast. The Italian Job was a great movie. There were good car scenes with lots of intensity but there were also scenes that were totally left out because your just supposed to assume that Dom is the best in the world.
Hot chicks and a very intense ending chase scene make this movie a must see for the car lover and I loved every minute of it.
PS. Stay for the credits!!!! its awesome
Get Real American Idol 10
(I know I’m writing this kind of late but I had some things to do and I wasn’t near my computer so I’m doing this right after walking in the door and getting my stupid internet up and running)
I’m not the kind of person that jumps to the computer to blog every time something happens that makes upset, angry or even happy. But I cannot stand for this disgrace to happen without putting some kind of word out on the net about how I feel. I now remember why I stopped watching American Idol….. The voting public can make mistakes besides we are all only human but doing it a second time makes me wish Simon was back on the show. I’m sure you know what I am talking about, Casey Abrams the most musically talented person on the show was kicked off tonight.
I’m not going to recount the whole night for you because if you saw it you know what I’m talking about and if you didn’t see it, Bruno Mars sang and Casey got kicked off, that’s all you need to know. Like many of American Idol watchers and Casey fans I thought it would be James and Casey in the finale, but alas, chalk up one more mistake to the American Idol viewing audience. This came as a shock but at the same time not too much of a shock because this vote just reminds me why I don’t watch tv much anymore. Casey proved to be a musician not just a karaoke singer but America doesn’t like someone to push them out of their nice little pop comfort zone where absurd “artists” like Lady Gaga and Britney Spears reign supreme. This man is talented because someone that looks “unconventional” never makes it very far in this competition because as we all know America is kind of shallow but mostly the producers. (exhibit A- Jersey Shore, B- Kardashians) But this guy proved he had what it took and brought it to America and for a while America loved it but why keep him around when we could keep the beautiful and completely untalented Hailey.
Maybe I’m being a bit judgmental but the part that irks me the most is that there has been no one judging this entire season….. SIMON WHY DID YOU LEAVE US with these fools. I don’t mind the fact that every contestant can sing better than JLO and Steven Tyler looks like a hobo that took the clothes out of a Sears dumpster or even that Randy hates to be demonized. This entire season has been full of praise and bias, at least Simon would say when he was a bit biased toward someone.
JLO has been the mastermind of all the subjectivity that has been going on this season. It was obvious JLO was biased toward Stefano since the beginning, spoon feeding this dude the competition, that’s why I was so happy to see him go. But she also was way too tough on the poor little Mexican girl that loved JLO so much because she played her favorite singer, Selena. I think she is truly evil for hating Karen Rodriguez so much, you could see it on her face whenever this girl would come on stage. It must be because JLO will never be truly out of Selena’s shadow, Selena is not even alive and is the reason that there is a JLO. Then in the top 6 or 7 is when JLO started to take it too easy on the girls also stating that she hopes none of the girls go home….HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR THE PROCESS YOU TALENTLESS HACK….. The judges are there to sway the publics opinion based on performance and talent not personal opinion.(or maybe I’m just an idealist) Don’t be mad because Pitbull totally overshadows you in your own song.
Then comes Stephen Tyler and Randy Jackson the wonderful YES men that never have a real opinion about a contestant unless someone else does first. Simon thrived on being hated not loved and respected above everything, that’s why his opinion mattered on the show. Don’t get me wrong I don’t dislike the two guys I like them both the same but this season just reminds me of one of those little league baseball games that don’t let anyone lose and every bit of the game is spoon fed to them so mediocrity can Finally REIGN SUPREME.
I am only a person with a computer and an opinion, hate it or hate me but the absolute truth is it’s no less/more valid than any other opinion.
I’m not the kind of person that jumps to the computer to blog every time something happens that makes upset, angry or even happy. But I cannot stand for this disgrace to happen without putting some kind of word out on the net about how I feel. I now remember why I stopped watching American Idol….. The voting public can make mistakes besides we are all only human but doing it a second time makes me wish Simon was back on the show. I’m sure you know what I am talking about, Casey Abrams the most musically talented person on the show was kicked off tonight.
I’m not going to recount the whole night for you because if you saw it you know what I’m talking about and if you didn’t see it, Bruno Mars sang and Casey got kicked off, that’s all you need to know. Like many of American Idol watchers and Casey fans I thought it would be James and Casey in the finale, but alas, chalk up one more mistake to the American Idol viewing audience. This came as a shock but at the same time not too much of a shock because this vote just reminds me why I don’t watch tv much anymore. Casey proved to be a musician not just a karaoke singer but America doesn’t like someone to push them out of their nice little pop comfort zone where absurd “artists” like Lady Gaga and Britney Spears reign supreme. This man is talented because someone that looks “unconventional” never makes it very far in this competition because as we all know America is kind of shallow but mostly the producers. (exhibit A- Jersey Shore, B- Kardashians) But this guy proved he had what it took and brought it to America and for a while America loved it but why keep him around when we could keep the beautiful and completely untalented Hailey.
Maybe I’m being a bit judgmental but the part that irks me the most is that there has been no one judging this entire season….. SIMON WHY DID YOU LEAVE US with these fools. I don’t mind the fact that every contestant can sing better than JLO and Steven Tyler looks like a hobo that took the clothes out of a Sears dumpster or even that Randy hates to be demonized. This entire season has been full of praise and bias, at least Simon would say when he was a bit biased toward someone.
JLO has been the mastermind of all the subjectivity that has been going on this season. It was obvious JLO was biased toward Stefano since the beginning, spoon feeding this dude the competition, that’s why I was so happy to see him go. But she also was way too tough on the poor little Mexican girl that loved JLO so much because she played her favorite singer, Selena. I think she is truly evil for hating Karen Rodriguez so much, you could see it on her face whenever this girl would come on stage. It must be because JLO will never be truly out of Selena’s shadow, Selena is not even alive and is the reason that there is a JLO. Then in the top 6 or 7 is when JLO started to take it too easy on the girls also stating that she hopes none of the girls go home….HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR THE PROCESS YOU TALENTLESS HACK….. The judges are there to sway the publics opinion based on performance and talent not personal opinion.(or maybe I’m just an idealist) Don’t be mad because Pitbull totally overshadows you in your own song.
Then comes Stephen Tyler and Randy Jackson the wonderful YES men that never have a real opinion about a contestant unless someone else does first. Simon thrived on being hated not loved and respected above everything, that’s why his opinion mattered on the show. Don’t get me wrong I don’t dislike the two guys I like them both the same but this season just reminds me of one of those little league baseball games that don’t let anyone lose and every bit of the game is spoon fed to them so mediocrity can Finally REIGN SUPREME.
I am only a person with a computer and an opinion, hate it or hate me but the absolute truth is it’s no less/more valid than any other opinion.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Cartooning 101- It all starts with Emotion
Cartooning 101- It all starts with Emotion
Today boys and girls we are going to learn some cartooning fundamentals. Just a short list of materials before we get started:
1. Pencil
2. Paper
3. Eraser
4. Imagination- optional
5. Patience
My favorite thing about cartooning is that there are no real rules. Everything counts from stick figures to realistic drawings. There is one major rule to cartooning…. Emotion. Emotion is the key to the cartooning world. There are reasons all cartoons look the way they do, like actors they are playing a part, they must make you believe. You have to understand what the character is doing without reading a word. I could give you a whole list of emotions drawn out with a character but I have come to find that those types of reference don’t help very much, as a matter of fact they seem to hurt the creativity of making it genuine.
If your using a humanoid type figure like anything that stands on 2 legs has 2 arms and a head at the top, then emotion is all in the body language. Cartoons are for children (well not all the time) so they act a lot like them. Study how children react either in movies or in person, all their movement is an exaggeration of adult emotion. Children have all the same reactions as cartoon. (ok so their eyes don’t pop out of their head, but have you ever seen a kid on Christmas…. They almost pop out)
Your imagination should take over from here but if your looking for some lessons a little more formal those lessons will begin soon so stay tuned cartoon lovers!!!
Today boys and girls we are going to learn some cartooning fundamentals. Just a short list of materials before we get started:
1. Pencil
2. Paper
3. Eraser
4. Imagination- optional
5. Patience
My favorite thing about cartooning is that there are no real rules. Everything counts from stick figures to realistic drawings. There is one major rule to cartooning…. Emotion. Emotion is the key to the cartooning world. There are reasons all cartoons look the way they do, like actors they are playing a part, they must make you believe. You have to understand what the character is doing without reading a word. I could give you a whole list of emotions drawn out with a character but I have come to find that those types of reference don’t help very much, as a matter of fact they seem to hurt the creativity of making it genuine.
If your using a humanoid type figure like anything that stands on 2 legs has 2 arms and a head at the top, then emotion is all in the body language. Cartoons are for children (well not all the time) so they act a lot like them. Study how children react either in movies or in person, all their movement is an exaggeration of adult emotion. Children have all the same reactions as cartoon. (ok so their eyes don’t pop out of their head, but have you ever seen a kid on Christmas…. They almost pop out)
Your imagination should take over from here but if your looking for some lessons a little more formal those lessons will begin soon so stay tuned cartoon lovers!!!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Stikin Monkies 1
TA DA!!!! Here it is the very first Stinkin Monkies webcomic. I would like to thank my grampa for providing the inspiration for this strip and many more to come.... O yeah he was evil.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Inkscape quick tutorial
Inkscape is my favorite vector design software and best of all its free. Its pretty simple and simple to use depending on what you are trying to do. I like to trace my drawings and make shirt designs on Inkscape. I know there are many levels to doing things like this but for what I need it for it is pretty simple.
Step 1- draw picture with pencil and paper
Step 2- scan drawing into the computer
Step 3- open inkscape (I’m going to assume you have it downloaded already)
Step 4- click file- open and choose the file you saved your drawing under
Step 5- open the pen tool not the pencil (well that’s what I use if it’s a sketchy drawing)
Step 5.1- If it’s a really good drawing with only black and white and solid black lines then use Path- Trace bitmap this should give a clean trace vector of your drawing.
Step 6- use the pen to trace small sections of the drawing and use the “Edit Path Nodes” tool to manipulate the lines. (I try to limit each line to only one curve…. Play with it a little and you’ll get it.)
When your done tracing you will have a complete vector rendering of your artwork. Stay tuned for more Inkscape tutorials I’ll be posting more in the future. If you need any help just drop me a line on twitter @smellyfingertee and I’ll be happy to help any way I can.
Step 1- draw picture with pencil and paper
Step 2- scan drawing into the computer
Step 3- open inkscape (I’m going to assume you have it downloaded already)
Step 4- click file- open and choose the file you saved your drawing under
Step 5- open the pen tool not the pencil (well that’s what I use if it’s a sketchy drawing)
Step 5.1- If it’s a really good drawing with only black and white and solid black lines then use Path- Trace bitmap this should give a clean trace vector of your drawing.
Step 6- use the pen to trace small sections of the drawing and use the “Edit Path Nodes” tool to manipulate the lines. (I try to limit each line to only one curve…. Play with it a little and you’ll get it.)
When your done tracing you will have a complete vector rendering of your artwork. Stay tuned for more Inkscape tutorials I’ll be posting more in the future. If you need any help just drop me a line on twitter @smellyfingertee and I’ll be happy to help any way I can.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Puppets are Coming
The puppets are coming… yay! I’ve got some videos in the works that are going to use puppets as the actors. You guessed it, I don’t want to be in front of the camera but I want to make videos with puppets. Like every other kid I grew up on Sesame Street and had wicked twisted ideas about where the show should go as an adult. I honestly don’t know why puppets are so awesome but I know they are. These videos are going to be mostly fun but are going to be a bit of business too. I’m about to launch a video campaign of funny shorts with puppets.
Speaking of campaigns I also have a web comic in the works I’m going to create a new blog for it… at least that’s the plan as of right now. It’s a little comic based around twin brother and sister and their imaginary adventures with their arch nemesis, grampa! Both of these little projects are less about business and more about something that I have always wanted to do.
Stay tuned because I’ve got all the updates coming your way.
When you get time check out the store its what keeps everything funded so check it out and let me know what you think.
Speaking of campaigns I also have a web comic in the works I’m going to create a new blog for it… at least that’s the plan as of right now. It’s a little comic based around twin brother and sister and their imaginary adventures with their arch nemesis, grampa! Both of these little projects are less about business and more about something that I have always wanted to do.
Stay tuned because I’ve got all the updates coming your way.
When you get time check out the store its what keeps everything funded so check it out and let me know what you think.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Selling on Ebay In December
December was the first time I had ever sold on eBay. It was not a success in the sense that I did not become an overnight millionaire. (I didn’t even make enough to cover the fees) It was a success in the sense I have a better grasp on what I am doing on eBay and a great sense of how hard its going to be. Now we are in 2011 a new year and a fresh start at doing this stuff. The old saying of “never say die” is my new years resolution. I am determined not to give up learning about online selling but I am going to have an iron will. Lots of ideas and promotions coming up so stay tuned. Ebay doesn’t really help in exclusive promotions but as soon as I get it figured out I’m sending it right to my customers. Until next blog… same blog time same blog channel.
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