well it`s been a long day, i spent almost thirteen hours in the office today, i`ve been pulling clipping paths on images all day and that`s just to magic a foreground image onto a background. i haven`t even started to do the necessary work for the completion of the advertising. but i am making progress.
on more than one front too.
my fedex package is safely in hand in trinidad and should be ready by tomorrow evening or wednesday morning, meaning i should have it back in time to take with me to barbados. i also got my ticket. so i can go and come back, thanks to the generosity of a friend and i have somewhere to stay, thanks to the generosity of another friend. so all appears to be on schedule for my appearance in the embassy on monday.
i`m noticing for the first time in my life, immediate price increases, the dollar is holding steady here in jamaica but the price of fuel has gone up about $2 or $3 a litre since i`ve been here and in the last two weeks, almost everything i eat has since i price increase. this is a new experience for me, gasoline prices in trinidad are fixed and even when i was in florida where pump prices fluctuated, there was no immediate price change in goods.
i`m wondering if this gouging on the part of retailers of if there is an actual relation. i find it odd that taxi fares remain the same but the price of food has stared climbing.
in trinidad, after the last budget there was if i recall correctly a 20% price increase in fuel which was viciously transferred onto commuters by as much as 200% price increase in taxi fare in some cases and 50% in the most reasonable of cases. in this scenario, it`s nothing more than price gouging as everyone used the rising transportation cost to line their own pockets. trinidad has some of the lowest transportation costs anywhere on the planet and 20% increase in the price of fuels wasn`t going to hurt anyone`s profit margins.
i`m still familiarising myself with this economy and the more i see of it, i wonder how the majority of the populace gets by.
welcome to 1984
we`re already on the way there, this will just be the final nail in this particular coffin.
Technorati Tags:
1984, george orwell
there is an adage that i find very interesting, there are three sides to every story, each party`s side and the truth.
i posted a link to the NYT story about child porn and how much it upset me, i edited it later with some interesting questions that were being asked of the story [i don`t feeling like linking inside the blog, just look for it, it was within the last week].
there have been further developments and it`s gotten nasty, this link [january 31 entry], comprehensively covers the developments of the past week.
i posted the story at face value and i can`t say that it didn`t touch me, but in light of the questions raised, i find myself pondering how much was written to do just that. i`m not saying none of this exists, but to what extent was it over-exaggerated to garner sympathy and righteous indignation.
it saddens me as a media practitioner, notice i didn`t say journalist, how manipulative our industry has become, as with everything else it`s about the bottom line. it`s about what sells.
does it say something about me being in two fields that exist solely to manipulate the way people think?
edit: link fixed.
it`s sunday, early afternoon and i`m in the office, i`ve been here almost since early this morning.
so since it`s sunday and i should be working i`m going to make this brief. it really is only two links.
the first of which is apple`s giant fuck you to the RIAA. steve seems to be on a roll this week, first it`s disney over pixar and now this, brought a smile to my face.
and lastly, thank you mefi once again for bringing side splitting laughter into my life. i present to you Uncle Patrick`s advice to children containing such gems as:
The rash wont go away on its own.
Wear the condom. No, for the love of Pete, not the mint-flavored one. Jesus, that thing burns.
You can whoop those two guys easy enough. But what if they come back with a friend who’s big enough to lift you off the ground and pin you to the wall with one hand? What then, slugger? (Youre going to feel like a fucking idiot, that’s what.)
Sure, she’s good-lookin. Shes also crazy. Crazy as a shithouse rat. Run for your life.
When it comes time to pick out that first tattoo, remember: it doesnt matter how much you like that one comic book. Theres always a chance that eight years later someone will make a movie of it that stars Sylvester Stallone. And youll be fucked.
yes i have a sick sense of humour, but it`s sunday and i have to work.
douglas adam fans of the world unite and cheer, casting and production have begun on The Hitchhiker`s Guide to the Galaxy movie.
it`s going to be a mostly english production with a few surprises not the least of which is Mos Def as Ford Prefect.
other roles cast include Zooey Deschanel as Trillian, Martin Freeman of The Office as Arthur Dent and Bill Nighy as fjord builder Slartibartfast.
if none of this makes any sense to you, that`s ok. just go see the movie when it premieres then read the books.
that is all.
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douglas adams, hitchhiker’s guide, don’t panic
i`m thankful for the friends and well-wishers this week. wednesday was really a low point for me, but since then i`ve gotten a lot of support. things are under control, not entirely through my own machinations, but because people have stepped up to help me. from the smallest offer to say a prayer to material contributions.
i want to say thank you. thank you for believing in us. thank you for your support and kindness and generosity.
If you could go back to any age, what age would you choose and WHY?
i wouldn`t actually. i`m pretty happy with me right now. well i would go back about three years and suggest a different course of action but otherwise, every step in my life that has brought me here, is a learning and growth purpose.
every stumbling block, every adversity, everything has happened for a purpose. it may not be clear to me right now, but i can look back on it and work out the lesson.
i`m happier now than i`ve ever been in my life, set backs aside. why would i want to give that up?
we were shooting in the airport this morning, so i took a golden opportunity to get on a scale.
it`s a good thing my heavy ass doesn`t have fucking heart problems. i have hit a benchmark that has always been my upper marker.
i am three hundred pounds. i`m traumatised. the fact that i don`t look it, offers me little comfort. i think i lost weight as well, so does this mean i was over three hundred pounds before?
i don`t have body image issues but in terms of health, i need to lose this weight. it was my aim to get into the 240 – 250 range by the end of the year, i`m going to be working on that with renew vigour.
three hundred pounds, what the fuck!
two more photo shoots wrapped. i can expect delivery of my cds in the morning with my images at the 7am call. i should go to be early tonight, stayed up until 2 am talking to vic, planning and trying to figure out what we`re going to do.
i managed to get everything i needed to done for plan to be at least marginally successful. i got fingerprinted, got it fedexed to trinidad. hopefully i`ll get it back by next wednesday.
now i just need to work out how i`m paying for my ticket. today was a lot better. even though we were shooting small children. the old adage never work with animals and small children, i think is even more applicable in an advertising environment.
we were working with a five year old this morning and managed to get her co-operative for about an hour at which point she declared she was bored and didn`t want to do anymore. a little coaxing and we got a few more images that were useful.
this afternoon we had the pleasure of a three year old boy, he was cute but he`d missed his afternoon nap and was in no mood to play nice after 45 minutes. we figure we can photoshop together what we need from the images we have.
it`s always so entertaining to see the finished product. all the retouching, all the touch ups, a nip here, a tuck there. this is why i said the first matrix is advertising. nothing you see is real, it is all an illusion.
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advertising, photo shoot
in all my rage yesterday, i forgot to mention that both the shoots yesterday went well.
the really cool thing is that the photographer is shooting digital. he`s got a 22 megapixel digital back connected via firewire to his laptop. it`s a modified 4×5 camera with a digital processor where the film loader would be and shoots in raw format
talk about instant gratification. we could move people around, lights, anything we needed. shoot, preview, adjust shoot, again. it`s fantastic.
i`ve always know about the system but this is the first time i`ve seen it in use. i got cds full of images the morning shoot when i got to the evening shoot. i`m thrilled by the possibilities.
i have two more photo shoots today, in between which i need to get fingerprinted, get them notarised and faxed to trinidad, of course on par with everything else, nothing is easy, i have to go to downtown kingston, not a trip i`m looking forward to.
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immigration
