I’ve been spending more time doing computer programmer stuff. There was a new project that kept me a little busy, but for the most part, what really kept me busy was this little pet project that I’ve been working on after work. It was sort of technical and most of you probably wouldn’t be interested in it. But it was something I wanted to finish and I will talk about it when it’s done. You know, sometimes I don’t really feel like talking about something until it’s done and this is one of those cases.

Also, here’s something you might not be that interested in: I just started a new blog. Feel free to click over but it would probably not be very interesting for most of you. I have been too busy to remodel it so all you see is the default Twenty Ten theme. That’s going to be my new blog where I talk about computer programming, specifically, iOS app development. Feel free to subscribe and read technical mumbo jumbo.

But here’s something you will be interested in (maybe). So I was listening to the radio and an ad for California Lottery came on. The slogan “Imagine what a buck could do” was quite familiar to me, but it still didn’t stop me from having goofy thoughts. When they told me to “imagine what a buck could do”, I imagine a buck (you know, a male deer) ramming towards a car door and rescuing the people that were trapped inside. Or maybe it was a house that was on fire with people trapped inside. Either way, I imagine a buck as a hero that rescues people with his antlers. So, what would you do for a Klondike bar? Oops, I mean, what would you imagine a buck could do?

And I think I should write a post about the evolution of smoky eye make-up because I am also a make-up artist in my spare time… Okay, more like a artist that makes up stuff. Or actually, I just make up stuff, period. I had lunch at a food court at a mall and apparently this is what the mall inspired me to do.

For some reason I really dig B.o.B.’s “Airplanes” song lately. It went “Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I can really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now”. My first thought was “That’s cheating! They are way more frequent and go much slower!” And then the second thought was, there must be someone in an airport somewhere unable to get on an oversold plane and singing “Can’t we pretend that shooting stars in the night sky are airplanes? I really need to get on a plane right now, plane right now, plane right now”. Once again, random thoughts.

So I was having lunch and realized something, because lunch was very inspiring, apparently. I was at a pizza place and James Blunt’s “You Are Beautiful” came on. During the guitar interlude, I realized the image that popped into my head was James Blunt playing the guitar and Telly Monster snapping his fingers. I realized that I am way more familiar with the Sesame Street version than the original. Still, it was always fun when singers go on Sesame Street and parody their own songs. My favorites are Feist’s Counting to Four (parodying 1,2,3,4), Norah Jones’ Don’t Know Y (parodying Don’t Know Why), and James Blunt’s My Triangle (parodying You Are Beautiful).

I actually have more random thoughts (because I have a lot of them), but this post is getting fairly long already. So that’s it for now. Until next time.

That’s right. In addition to Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc., I now have a profile on IMDB. Kind of cool. Now I can call myself a movie star! Okay, not really…

But wait, guess where my name is also appearing. Yep, in the news!

That makes me even more famous. Again, not really.

I got an IMDB page because I worked on a student film back in 2008 called Seamus and Magellan. The way it works is that you cannot just create a profile for yourself. There needs to be a film already included in IMDB and then you can attach your credit to it. I am not entirely sure what the criteria are but apparently this film is eligible to be included in IMDB. As for how I got on the news web site (and probably also the printed version), the reporter knew that I am an iPhone app developer so he asked me to comment when the new iPhone was released. That was how I got into that article.

So if you think you need to be famous to be in the IMDB or the newspaper, think again.

Chances are, neither of these will make me any more famous than before, but hey, the idea that I am in IMDB and the newspaper simply amuses me very much.

Date: Six Saturday mornings starting November 14, 2009
Location: Los Angeles, California (More specifically, Sherman Oaks, which is right next to North Hollywood)

This is the class that I’ve been writing about for the last few weeks. Michael Earl is an Emmy-award winning puppeteer/writer that had worked on Muppets, Sesame Street and numerous other projects. He has been puppeteering for 31 years now, and of course, that’s lots of experience and knowledge on this topic. The beginning class will run for six Saturday mornings starting November 14th (this weekend). The class is for Muppet-type puppets. You will be taught to perform for the camera, while the monitors give you instant feedback on what the performance looks like. You will first learn the basics, like how to stand straight and how to walk. You will be taught different exercices for different aspects of the performance. You will lip-sync and dance to songs. And you will also do some improv. Very fun class. Everyone learned a lot. If you are interested in puppetry and are in the area, I highly recommend this class. For more information, check out the website at http://www.puppetschool.com.

P.S. In addition to the Los Angeles workshops, Michael Earl will also be doing a whole-day workshop (10am-5pm) on January 8, 2010 in New York City. Info about that workshop is on his website as well.

Puppet-Building with Naomi Guss (Australia)

Date: Six Saturdays starting January 23, 2010
Location: Melbourne, Victoria (More specifically, Northcote)

Want to learn how to build a puppet? Puppet builder Naomi Guss of Puppets in Melbourne will be teaching a puppet-building class in January and February of next year. You will learn to make the head and body (out of foam), cover it (making the skin) and dress it. You will also get your own copy of the pattern. And of course, at the end you can all play with your puppets. This is a class that I would’ve signed up for if I were in the area (but as you can probably tell, I am in Los Angeles), but if you are in that area and interested in puppet-building, take a look at the info on the website regarding the class. Check out http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au

While I am not going to be there, I am going to be following along online. Puppet-builder and friend Naomi from Puppets in Melbourne will be live blogging this event as it happens on her Natoinal Puppetry Festival diary page. She just landed in Atlanta yesterday after four flights and has already updated the page with some sight-seeing notes. And I am only expecting more interesting info to show up on the page once the event starts.

So let’s follow along! You can find all the updates on this page, or subscribe to the RSS feed here.

Also, on a totally unrelated note: I am writing a story to be posted here. It’s about a girl who is smart, and good at telling stories. She is also the daughter of the Prime Minister of some fictional country. As some of you already know, I don’t like coming up with names. So… anyone want to suggest a name for this smart girl? If I use the name you recommend, you will get brownie points, which are not actually redeemable for brownies. Some restrictions might apply.

Remember back in May, I talked about a TV show, California’s Gold filming at the burger joint Apple Pan while we had lunch there? That episode just aired a few hours ago, and I spotted myself!

Yep, it was for only a fraction of a second, but it was fun anyway.

So in that previous post, I mentioned that Huell Howser was interviewing some customers in front of the place when we left. Well, that was not quite true. Turned out that those two people interviewed were not customers. They are the owners!! And we (my co-workers and I) happened to have finished our lunch and walked out the door. Sure we only appeared in the corner and took up 10% of the whole screen for a fraction of a second and nobody waved at the camera, but that was fun.

Haha, finally I can say that I’ve been on TV. It wasn’t a “cool, I’m now a celebrity” moment though. It was more like a “where’s Waldo” moment.

By the way, you should check out Apple Pan if you are visiting West LA. They’ve been there since 1947 and the burgers are indeed good. Oh, and what a coincidence. I mentioned my friend Jessika being on Without A Trace in that May post, well, tonight I saw the rerun of the episode of Cold Case she was in again. Somehow when I mention California’s Gold, I also mention her in the same post, though the two really have nothing to do with each other.

Puppet Building 101 is a nine-week video course on building foam puppets. Over the duration of the course, students will receive video tutorials and handouts that take them step-by-step through the puppet making process. There are also going to be live video chats to answer question that may arise.

The course will be taught by Andrew, who is the founder of PuppetBuilding.com and PuppetVison blog, and has been building puppets and teaching puppet building for a long time. What I particularly like about it is that we’ll be shown how to make our own patterns based on what we want to make. I think while it’s good to follow patterns and make puppets, it’s even better to know why the patterns are the way they are.

Am I signing up for this? Yeah, of course I secured myself a spot first, haha.

Who wants to be my classmate? You have until June 13 to sign up. See this website for details:
http://www.puppetbuilding.com/puppet-101-course.html

That’s when one of my co-worker pointed out to us, “Hey, it’s Huell Howser!”

Huell Howser is the host of California’s Gold, a program that shows regularly on several PBS stations in California. In the show, he takes the audience everywhere in California visiting interesting places, cultural events, old markets and diners, etc. I have seen the show before but didn’t watch it enough to recognize the guy, but my co-worker apparently knew a lot more than I did. So I guess they were doing a segment on The Apple Pan. That’s pretty cool.

When we left, Huell was in front of the door interviewing some customers. I think if we had stayed longer, we would probably have seen him in there sitting at the counter, talking to other customers, eating and commenting on how amazing the food is, cuz apparently that’s what he does. Don’t know when the episode is going to show, but we shall check the schedule again in June. Who knows, maybe we’ll spot ourselves way back in the background for a fraction of a second. (Or maybe that’s just going to be on the cutting room floor.) It would be interesting to watch the episode nevertheless.

Speaking of being on TV, a friend of mine, Jessika Van, was on last night’s Without A Trace. Too bad I don’t get CBS here with my lousy antenna. Got to track down that episode somehow.

So, I am going to be recording for them some bus safety instructions in Chinese. Basically I will be saying stuff like:
“Welcome to our bus. We hope you have a pleasant trip.”
“The fire exit is to your right.”
“Please ask the driver for the first aid kit in case of emergency.”
“The fire extinguisher is below the seat behind the driver.”

See? I don’t have to be a doctor to save lives.

As many of you know, the traffic during peak hours in Los Angeles is awful. During these hours, traffic lights that are programmed using a specific pattern don’t always do the most effective job directing the traffic, and therefore, police officers are often sent out to direct traffic. They are professionally trained, and they can just react to traffic conditions on the spot creating a better flow of traffic. They direct traffic better than the traffic lights.

So how does this have anything to do with puppetry?

Well, the economy has been bad, and California is not doing well either. In addition to the sales tax increase in the near future, our state government is also trying to reduce spending. Some budgets for the police departments have to be cut as well. And we would rather have cops out there fighting crimes rather than standing in traffic, right? Besides, many police officers have been injured during traffic direction duties, so Los Angeles is now trying to replace them with robots… Well, I really consider them to be puppets rather than robots. What’s the difference? A robot thinks on his own and make decisions, while a puppet is always controlled by a puppeteer.

In this case, there will be puppeteers sitting in the control center, and they will control the motions (mostly hand gestures) of the robots (or puppets) based on the images captured by the cameras installed on the robot. And the puppeteers will then control the puppets to direct the traffic accordingly. To make these robots more human and friendly looking, they ask the public to submit their own designs. And that’s where I come in.

In the design I turned in, I dressed my puppet to look like a police officer because that’s people are used to. The puppets do not have movable eyes or mouths, because these are not very useful features. The puppets should have very visible hands though. I design the hands to be big so it’s easier to see. Also I use a shade of red for the skin tone, because red (like red lights) is more visible because red color light penetrates through fog (or in the case of Los Angeles, smog) better. Besides, this also contrast with the uniform’s color.

I don’t think I have a huge chance of winning, but it’s fun to participate and it makes me feel more like a part of the community. So yeah, it’s all good. If you would like to check out and vote for my design, click here.

Here’s more details:
LCC Presents: The Great Pretenders
First night: March 6 at Northwest Auditorium
Second night: March 11 at De Neve Auditorium
Doors open at 6:30pm, show starts at 7:00pm
No ticket required.

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