I have many friends and family who are graduating from the point-and-shoot digital cameras to the insanely awesome digital SLRs with interchangeable lenses. Some are getting frustrated trying to learn all of the features that were previously unavailable on their little pocket cameras. I stumbled across this 3:30 video on about.com today and I thought I’d share it.
Enjoy!
I am a sucker for the newest innovations in web design. Wawa, what is that you ask? Well I had no idea when I came across their new website for Hoagiefest. Yes a website promoting sandwiches. Not only that the are bringing back the 60′s.
Enjoy the song as it gets stuck in your head! Can anyone from the East coast let us know what Wawa is?
Hi everyone, this is Jake.
Many of you know me, but if not I am Nate’s brother and he has asked me to help contribute to the Black Diamond Digital Blog. I hope you enjoy my slant on the world.
This is a good farewell tribute article I found on AIGA’s website. Anyone who’s ever played around with a polaroid will appreciate it. Instant gratification well before it’s time.
Some of my favorite memories as a kid were sneaking into my Dad’s LP collection and playing “Class Clown” with my friends. We got a hell of an education from George Carlin. Not the stuff you learn in school, but you know, the real stuff. Not all of it was so serious, of course – his “New! Nabisco Tits!” line from the 7 Dirty Words (“ShitPissFuckCockCuntMotherfuckerandTits” – which I would recite at parties at ages 15-28) was a huge hit for me. I think it may have gotten me out of getting my ass kicked by an upper-classman once.
It’s fair to say George Carlin was a lot like my grandpa. Both were fans of quality stand up comedy like Lenny Bruce, Cosby and Pryor, both were extremely well spoken, opinionated role models and scary as hell to a kid, what with their dry, sarcastic senses of humor and all. As a grown man, I appreciate them more and it’s the people like that you want to spend more time with, but never really do.
George, you were right – life is a series of dogs. One dies, and you go get a new dog. Though I’m not sure the new dogs can ever live up to the legacy of the ones before them. Only time will tell, I suppose. I still have no idea how much the fake dog crap in the window costs, though, by the way.
Friends of mine talk of meeting George Carlin while he was doing shows in Vegas, and they’re always fond of it. Some celebs are a true pain in the ass off stage. Carlin was reportedly very cordial.
Thanks for the good times, George. Never met ya, but I wish I did, so you could sign my copy of Brain Droppings and I could thank you in person.
Thursday night I joined our friends from eurie creative and attended the launch of SKIN, a new line of paper being distributed here in Las Vegas. The event was at Platinum Hotel, which has one of the best views of the city from the top floor lounge. It was awesome catching up with some friends from MGM Mirage Advertising, Graphics West, SK+G and other various creatives.
From there, I joined some friends at the Rio for their VooDoo Beach event with the Presidents of the United States Live, sponsored by Fosters and Area 107.9. Not a big fan of their radio hits, but the show was actually pretty good. AFter chatting with friends from Area 107.9 and the beverage / night club Director at Rio. We moved over to McFadden’s and capped off the night with a big fat free Guinness from my buddy Joe, the GM. I dodged the invitations to join in on the Beer Pong, which would have made my 9am meeting today feel so much earlier!
you can try to fight big corporations from spending money on advertising, but you probably won’t win.
Here’s an interesting turn of events in L.A. that I read about on the LA Times.
A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the city of Los Angeles from cracking down on as many as 34 “supergraphics,” multi-story vinyl signs that have been draped across the sides of buildings in violation of the city’s billboard ban.
In a ruling last week, U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins ordered the city to stop prosecuting Insite Outdoor Works LA until the company has a chance to challenge the city’s outdoor advertising laws.
Collins said Insite showed that it had a likelihood of winning its lawsuit, which argues that the city’s 2002 billboard ban violates the 1st Amendment. The judge also threw into question the legality of city’s policy of keeping billboards away from freeways.
The city’s billboard rules are being challenged in more than a dozen lawsuits. Insite has argued that, despite the rules prohibiting freeway billboards, at least five outdoor signs have already been permitted near freeways at such locations as Staples Center.
“The plaintiffs here have persuasively demonstrated that, despite the city’s interests in safety and aesthetics that support its ban on signs within 2,000 feet of a freeway, the city has permitted giant commercial billboards in these areas that directly undermine those interests,” Collins wrote.
City officials have attempted to prosecute Insite over seven of its 34 supergraphics, which are on such streets as Wilshire, Ventura, Sepulveda, Santa Monica and Pico.
Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, said the same judge recently sided with the city in a separate case involving illegally erected signs in Hollywood. Mateljan also said the ruling in the Insite case applies only to the 34 signs.
“Each billboard case raises somewhat different issues arising from somewhat different procedural backgrounds,” he said in an e-mail, “so one has to review each case individually.”
Hey, let’s face it, we’re not known for our sports here in Vegas, unless it’s at the Sports Book or the Ponys, as they say. We do have some pretty awesome loyal locals who frequent the teams that we do have, though. I’m one of them, since it’s still one of the best bangs for your buck in the city.
Check out this link to the contest to rename our AAA Team (currently the Las Vegas 51′s).
I found this movie from diet.com on YouTube tonight. It’s one of the top viewed movies today. It’s about photo retouching and I think it’s interesting to see what people outside our industry think about photoshop in the media and retouching in general.
Personally, I think the people they mention who think magazine photos aren’t retouched are A) living in a cave or B) freakin’ idiots. Miss Beck, who “doesn’t think women and girls know the extent to which photos are retouched” doesn’t give women and girls much credit for having a brain in their head, either, I’d bet.
Here’s the link to the YouTube Video.
The report says… “in recent months, readers have become enraged at photoshopped images, and as a result, a backlash against digital retouching has emerged.” HUH?! Where? Who? This is retarded. There is no backlash, folks. It’s social supply and demand. Plain and simple.
This isn’t new, folks. People have retouched images for as long as they’ve been shooting photos (hell, before there were photos, what did you have: painting!) The only difference is that we (photoshoppers) can do it affordably now. And isn’t it interesting that the photographer mentioned Meg Ryan as a celebrity who wouldn’t release her photos without retouching. This is the same Meg Ryan with lips like balloons and more botox than not on her face. Maybe these fictional enraged readers should thank us for not having to look at how weird our overly appreciated celebrities actually look while they’re gracing the covers of 642 magazines shoved at us in the checkout line.
Look, I get the point of the piece, but I think it’s silly to point fingers at photoshoppers and editors, but make no mention of America’s addiction to fake hair and eye color, boob jobs, botox, makeup, lashes, fake tans and ridiculous over saturation and over hype of these false idols. What do you think?
Sometimes we get cool opportunities for business to mix with pleasure. Last night we were guests at Rain at the Palms from our friends at Maloof Sports & Entertainment. The occasion (as if we need one) was the CD release party for Rev Theory. Needless to say, it was a blast. We were treated to a cabana-level table with a bottle of a great-yet-terrible idea: caffeinated, guarana infused vodka! Some members of the Black Diamond Digital office were not feeling well this morning. I’m not naming any names, but the name rhymes with “cluck.”
This is why summer is a blast in Vegas. We’ve recently enjoyed similar adventures at the Hard Rock for the Dropkick Murphys and Stephen Marley shows. Stay tuned for Reggae In The Desert, the AIGA All In Poker Tournament, and the AIGA Work Show Party for similar madness. We may or may not take pictures!
