Jon Hillenbrand - 001_web

Subtitled for Success

Friday, July 16, 2010

Regular readers of my blog already know that I am fluent in several foreign languages including Russian, Spanish, French, Southie, Klingon and of course Huttese. But I use the word fluent to mean, “I know enough to get myself in trouble.” The drawback of my foreign language skills is that I have acquired them through watching movies. For example, I know how to say in Russian, “Very cold this morning Captain,” which is from the Hunt for Red October. I also know how to say, “Yes, cold…and hard,” which is Marko Ramius’s response to his 1st Mate, Vasili.... 

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glowing_bubbles

Making bubbles

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Photoshop has been good to me.  Since version 4.0 or so, I’ve been teaching myself successfully how to use it and having a lot of fun along the way.  I’m always impressed with what it can do in such a short amount of time.  Getting a Wacom tablet opened up a whole new world to me in PS as well, especially CS2 and later.  I often give tutorials to my friends and colleagues on some of the basics and tips and tricks I’ve picked up from classes.  Often during these tutorials, I get bogged down talking about the history of the development of the tool instead of just teaching... 

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Starbucks_cups_0024

College Paper Redux

Friday, July 2, 2010

While recently poking through my ancient floppy disks, I found some college papers which were written on a vintage Canon Starwriter 30 electronic typewriter.  Most of the disks are corrupted or unreadable, but mixed in among the Organic Chemistry and Ecology Lab papers were five or six philosophy papers that I could decipher if I corrected the strange formatting.  Some were basic writing assignments such as, “supporting or refuting an argument,” some more in-depth.  The interesting thing to me is that over the years, the higher math, the biology and certainly the advanced chemistry... 

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lensbabies---020

If you forget me

Saturday, June 26, 2010

I want you to know one thing. You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if I touch near the fire the impalpable ash or the wrinkled body of the log, everything carries me to you, as if everything that exists, aromas, light, metals, were little boats that sail toward those isles of yours that wait for me. Well, now, if little by little you stop loving me I shall stop loving you little by little. If suddenly you forget me do not look for me, for I shall already have forgotten you. If you think it long and mad, the wind of banners that... 

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picnic - 18_web

Canine Compound

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Every morning, someone is out in the courtyard behind my bedroom window screaming “Duke,” in inadequately-hushed tones repetitively in some kind of valiant attempt to overcome the human-dog language barrier.  Either that, or he is attempting to train a dog on the spot without supplying it with any commands.  The poor dog is probably thinking, “Yes, my name is Duke. And until you decide to ask me to do something, I’m going to run through the mud here and feel the wet earth between my toes because I’ve been slipping on your hardwood floors all night and your house... 

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Lake Forest Park - 025_web

You All Everybody

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

I’m in the middle of watching a marathon of Lost episodes from Season 1 through 6 and I’m finding that even though I never really liked Charlie, the washed up heroin-addicted rock star, before, I particularly don’t like him now that I’ve just seen Get Him To The Greek’s character of Aldous Snow played by the hilarious Russel Brand.  Both are British, both play the same kind of character, but Aldous actually has some wisdom and intelligence behind his problems which makes him witty and hilarious with an undercurrent of deep experience.  Brand is a screaming success... 

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Lake Forest Park - 041_web

A is to B

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Blogging can be a rewarding and/or frustrating source of happiness/malaise.  Forests require trees, fortune seems pale, fury seems petty and sometimes you just don’t feel like a good enough writer to compete with other talented bloggers using their accounts to their fullest.  For example, let’s say that person A and person B both have blogs.  Person A used to be an avid fan of person B and the two of them started dating. But then person B decided to move on with her life and all that person A now has to remember her by are her charming thoughts stamped out like mental photographs.... 

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everyday

Every Day the Same Dream

Monday, May 31, 2010

Unhappy at work?  Maybe your job is just a game.  Like this game from La Molle Industria.  It’s billed as, “A short existential game about alienation and refusal of labour. Or, if you prefer, a playable music video.”  Read More

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Check This Out

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Bathroom Perspective

bathroom - 0004

It’s funny how some ordinary everyday objects take on a new life of their own depending on how you look at them.  Of course, for someone like me who has -5.5 vision correction in both eyes, this is how the bathroom looks to me every morning when I haven’t put my contacts in yet (except for the creative colors).  Those of you “blessed” with 20/20 or better vision unfortunately will never get to experience this sensation except through the medium of photography. ... Read More

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Bad Driver

vimeo-GTA4a

I made this video as a test for the camera placement possibilities within Grand Theft Auto IV’s PC-based editing system. It’s a great editor with lots of control and a few frustrating limitations. But overall, this has been a very fun experience. For those who don’t know, the game records 20-30 seconds at a time. During that time, it records everything in the game within say a 100 foot radius around your character. While recording, you have the basic 3rd person... Read More

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Auditorium Seats – YMCA

YMCA auditorium - 024_webt

Oh what drama the auditorium seats have seen.  So passive in their demeanour, yet always watching with a soulless intensity eclipsed only by their occasional occupants. I took these shots at the Evanston YMCA’s ancient auditorium. View these on Flickr  Read More

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Blog

Subtitled for Success

Jon Hillenbrand - 001_web

Regular readers of my blog already know that I am fluent in several foreign languages including Russian, Spanish, French, Southie, Klingon and of course Huttese. But I use the word fluent to mean, “I know enough to get myself in trouble.” The drawback of my foreign language skills is that I have acquired them through [...]

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Videos

Beauty of Flight

vimeo-FSXa

This video was something I recorded in Flight Sim X (FSX) just for fun. The in-game footage was recorded with FRAPS (which slows down the frames per second). Since I’ve recently upgraded my computer, I was thinking of making another one of these machinimas as the quality will be that much better. New video card [...]