This is an image that can be printed out and posted on walls or signs or what not. What does the image represent? Nothing in the traditional way an image represents something. It’s a code–like a bar code–an image with embeded information. These are called QR Codes and are apparently all the rage in Japan. See if you have a cell phone with the QR Code reader software on it you can use your cell phones camera to decode the message, photo, music or whatever up to 1 mb! Pretty cool. I can see how advertisers might want to use it to lend an air of mystery and intrigue to their campaigns. I just like the idea of posting secret messages in plain sight.
Oh and I made the above image with their QR Code maker. It’s basically the story of my life … sort of.
I’m pleased to announce that an hour of my work from LO-FI SAINT LOUIS will be screened at the St. Louis Filmmakers showcase on July 21st, at 7PM. I believe that it’s free but I need to get confirmation on that., It’s not free, regular admission to the film programs apply, see the web site for ticket info. But all the info including the location and address of the screening are below. I’m really looking forward to this. Thanks to Erik Nelson who curated this program.
A special program featuring a curated sampler of video blogger Bill Streeter’s work, “This Is Lo-Fi Saint Louis,” concludes the Centene programs from 7-9 p.m. Streeter will also discuss his work and Web distribution of video contentA special program featuring a curated sampler of video blogger Bill Streeter’s work, “This Is Lo-Fi Saint Louis,” concludes the Centene programs from 7-9 p.m. Streeter will also discuss his work and Web distribution of video content. Regular film-program admission for “Lo-Fi” show.
My friends (Irina and Eddie) and fellow Podtech people went to see the original K.I.T.T. car from Knight Rider that is for sale now. The thing I love about this photo set is that you get to see all the prop buttons up and leds on the dash close and personal. I was never a huge fan of the show, it’s kinda sad that it represents some of the best television of the 80’s.
This release of Final Cut Studio seems to have everything I hoped for. One thing in particular is the new Color app that comes with the new suite. I love the fact that you are going to get near Photoshop level control over your video images now—and not only that but save the settings in portable files that can be traded in much the same way that Photoshop layer styles can be passed around. This is of particular interest to me because I’m a bit of a color nut when it comes to video. Maybe it’s my graphic design background and years of building Photoshop skill, but I can never just use the standard color I get from a camera. I frequently will increase the contrast and saturate or desaturate accordingly. The 3 channel color corrector in FCP is my most used effect. It was the singular tool that allowed me anywhere close to the level of control over all these things that I was looking for. But from I can see there are new curves controls that strongly resemble the curves palet in Photoshops UI. So … YAY!
Also from the looks of it, some of the functionality from Apple’s Shake compositing software has been cannibalized for FCP too. The video demo reveals a very shake like workflow UI that might take some getting used to. Shake had a reputation for being a little quirky in the UI department (this is what I’ve read—I’ve never used it myself).
So this stuff and all the new goodies in Motion and Soundtrack pro and I know that I’m gonna be out the $499 upgrade fee soon.
My buddy Peat Wollaeger, a stencil artist from here in St. Louis recently got this sweet gig painting a Mexican wrestling themed room at the Hotel Des Arts in San Francisco. Next time I’m there I’m gonna try to stay there and get that room. Here is a time lapse of him working. He likes to make movies around his work, which makes it as much a performance as art. We’ve also been working on a special secret project together too.
Here are a couple of movies I made about him at different times here and here.
I found another even earlier segment from Wild Chicago this one, from 1989, with the original host Ben Hollis. The bar in this segment, Phyllis’ Musical Inn was a place that I literally lived right around the corner from for several years.
Amazingly this is the only Wild Chicago segment that I could find on YouTube. Wild Chicago was a great show on public television in Chicago that was a huge inspiration for what I do now on LO-FI SAINT LOUIS. Obviously I didn’t rip it off completely, my format is quite different but I think I picked up some of the editing and shooting techniques from that show. One of the greatest local TV shows ever IMO. This particular segment was about the famous Williams game company in Chicago, makers of lots of Pinball games and video games like Mortal Combat. Great episode. I wish WTTW would put the achives of this show online for everyone to enjoy. It was one of those local shows that anyone from anywhere could enjoy. Will Klinger was the second host of the show. And I think the show suffered a little in it’s later years as personell changed and some of the origninal energy was lost. The first (and my favorite) host of the show was Ben Hollis who is now doing a new show (which I haven’t seen yet) that is similar to the original concept called Wild Chicago’s Illinois Road Trip.
Paul Schankman of Fox 2 St. Louis did a piece about me and vlogging on the 9 o’clock news tonight. I was worried it would suck, but it was pretty good. Check it out here.
March 6, 2007 at 6:23 am
· Filed under This is cool!
When I was a kid our TV broke when I was about 11. My Dad refused to replace it until I was almost 17. That means I spent 6 long years of my childhood with out television. At the time I thought it was a curse, but looking back on it I think it was a gift. I found other things to do. I played with this big reel-to-reel tape recorder that my dad gave me, making my own radio shows and comedy sketches (wish I still had some of that stuff). I also read, and drew comics. I was never into sports so much so most of my free time was pursuing creative endeavors. It’s interesting to think how that time sort of prepared me for what I’m doing now. Producing Lo-Fi Saint Louis isn’t a whole lot different than the stuff that I found to amuse myself back then. Most of the work is by myself, in my little room, just working on it—having fun with it.
One of the other things I did to amuse myself was listen to the radio. I got to know radio much better than most kids my age. I listened to music, sure but I also listened to a lot of talk radio. Talk radio wasn’t the same then as it is now. It wasn’t really even political. It was just hosts chatting about what was going on in town and reminiscing about the old days, mostly. It was about this time that I discovered Public Radio. Sunday nights the NPR station that I listened to would run serial radio dramas. Not old ones, but, new modern radio dramas. These were really well produced, deep, aural experiences. Quite frankly it blew my little 12 or 13 year old mind to listen to them. Among the ones I remember was the Star Wars Radio Drama, A Canticle for Leibowitz (based on the novel), and a series of programs produced by a company called ZBS productions. These were all serialized dramas that continued over several weeks. The ZBS series included the 4th Tower of Inverness, The Amazing Adventures of Jack Flanders, and Moon Over Morocco. For some reason these, in particular, captured my imagination and I never really forgot them. Years later I heard stuff produced by the 60’s audio sketch comedy group The Firesign Theater, which reminded me a great deal of these radio shows. I can’t be sure, but the Firesign stuff must have had an influence on the ZBS shows somehow (the firesign stuff started in the 60’s and the ZBS stuff was produced in the mid 70’s). I realize now that what I was listening to was the creative child of 60’s art counter culture mashed up with good old fashioned radio drama. The people producing this stuff in the 60’s and 70’s likely grew up listening to radio dramas in radios golden age of the 40’s and 50’s. I also was familiar with golden age radio shows because my dad collected those on cassette, which I also listened to in lieu of TV.
So anyway, I give you that personal background to tell you this; Moon Over Morocco is now being podcast! If you have any interest in audio drama, then please check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
