Archive for July, 2009

GIMP.org the FREE Photoshop Equivalent

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

I just downloaded and installed GIMP from http://www.gimp.org. Before I did I looked a few review sites and the consensus was: “If Photoshop is a 10, this one goes to 11″. Nice reference to Spinal Tap.

This program can do everything that Photoshop can, it can open PSD files as well as all the others. The only thing is, you’ll have to learn a new program…but it’s FREE!

I recommend GIMP especially if you can’t shell out the $700 for Photoshop. I’ve already uninstalled my trial version of Photoshop…bbesides, learning something new is always good!

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Artistic Ability

Monday, July 20th, 2009

I just started the art category because I’ve always been interested in art and I’m also artistic…it runs in my family.
My Dad had one of those great voices, that were big and strong…think Luciano Pavarotti, who was also his favorite…my dad is singing with him somewhere in the ether.
My Mom was an amazing cook and she did everything from scratch…she cooked by feel…I inherited that ability from her and I was always in the kitchen with her when I was a kid. How did the great chefs in history become that way, by doing exactly what she did. As those chefs became well known they taught others and handed down their knowledge and then somebody got the bright idea to start charging people to learn things that the artistic ones already knew…but tapping into that knowledge is another story. My mom was an incredible cook!
My oldest sister went to art school in Boston and I remember going to see an exhibit she was in at the school when I was a kid.

My oldest brother has never really tapped his ability…I know he has it because he’s created some really cool things with wrought iron…I think he could be a sort of sculptor.

The middle sister plays piano and has a great voice, but unfortunately hasn’t done anything for herself with either. She did pass on her abilities to her daughter, my niece though. My niece has an incredible voice and I believe started playing piano as well.

My youngest sister, she’ the youngest of the girls in the family, is the same as my oldest brother…she’s never really tapped into her ability, so she’s never known what it is, until recently I think…she’s now a hair stylist and makeup artist and she’s really good…she’s also a really good dancer, although she’s never pursued that…she probably could’ve been good at ballet or something…she has that type of body.

The middle brother is an awesome guitar player. That’s a picture of me and him at the top when we were little. He’s wearing the plaid jacket and I’m the toe head in the red jacket.

His wife Christine is an awesome Pastel Artist; she shows her artwork around Boston at different shows. You can see her pastel paintings at her site: http://www.ChristineBodnar.com. She’s also won many Boston Pastel Artist type awards for her artwork

She’s going to have prints available soon, so if there are any of her pastel paintings that you like, send her a message so she can let you know when prints become available.

As for me, I’ve always like to draw and have always done well in art classes in school.
I remember when I was in 2nd grade, we had an art teacher come to teach us about art and we got to draw. It must’ve been around Halloween because I drew a witch. After we had handed in our drawings he and my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs O’Donell, I think that’s how you spell her name…Mrs O’Donell, if you happen to read this forgive me if I misspelled…it’s no reflection on your teaching ability hahaha, anyway, she and the art teacher, I forget his name, came up to me and he asked me If I wanted to get in front of the class and do a drawing with everyone, or something like that. My immediate response was NO! The thought of standing in front of the class and doing something like that scared the shit out of me…the rest is a bit foggy. I guess I hadn’t come out of my shell yet, those who know me now, might be surprised to hear that story.

I drew this pic of James Dean in the early 90′s with a charcoal pencil on canvas. Initially the idea was to draw the outline in pencil nd then paint it in, but it started to look too good to me, so I didn’t want to screw it up.
James Dean

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Belize Howler Monkeys

Friday, July 10th, 2009

I’ve been going to Belize these past couple of years to a clients eco lodge which is in the jungle. Their website is CottontreeLodge.com. The place is pretty awesome.

Check out the recording of the Howler Monkeys. they would go off almost every night…it was an amazing thing to hear…if you’ve never heard a Howler Monkey before, they probably don’t sound like you imagine they would. They sound like some pre-historic animal…or what we would imagine a pre-historic animal would sound like…think “Land Of The Lost”.

There were different “tribes” on both sides of the Moho River, the lodge is right on the river, you could hear the tribe across the river and then the tribe on my side. The were very close to my cabana.

One of the cabanas at CottonTree Lodge Belize

One of the cabanas at CottonTree Lodge Belize

There is a cabana that is right in the jungle and you can actually see the Monkeys from your balcony that faces into the jungle.

As one friend put it: “They sound like the guards at hell’s gate probably would”, (I’m paraphrasing)

Anyway, turn up your speakers.

If you’re going to go down there and don’t have your passport yet and need to get it in a hurry, what I did is call the Passport office and find out what had to be done. If you make an appointment with 2 weeks of your travel date, you can then go down and get it in time…that usually requires getting up early to stand in a line…there are services that will do it for you as well like: RushMyPassport.com or RushMyTravelVisa.com. These are both connected but will work.

CheapoAir usually has great fares…that’s who I used the last time I went down when I recorded the Howler Monkeys…try their Last Minute Airfare Deals, a lot of times you’ll get fares for seats that haven’t sold yet.

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