Tag Archives: Erich

Tumble, as endorsed by Tina! (Plus, GIF tutorial!)

“The thesaurus.com entry, as endorsed by Tina,” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina (click to embiggen it!)

So I went on a little Learning Curve Rabbit Hole today to do today’s The Daily Create, #tdc2750 which is called Thesaurus Fun.

It all started when I went to do a screen capture on my iPad of the thesaurus for tumble, which was just a word that I picked out of the air, and then when I was looking at the words I liked some of them so I thought I would put a little Tina face beside them so you would know that they were special. So I put the screen capture into the Keynote program on my iPad because that is what I do sometimes when I want to make a thing quickly, with layers, before I can do a screen capture to make the final picture for Twitter. I just went to my Twitter and got my picture and made it really small and put it where it needed to go. Then I decided that some words were better than others so I made copies of my picture right beside each other, like a kind of Tina rating scale.

Still, the pictures were kind of small to move for my fingers on the iPad, and I wanted them to be all lined up with each other, so I thought, “I will make it go through the iCloud to my computer and then I can do a select multiple and an align centre for all of the ones in one column and they will look neat!” So I did that.

But then I started to think it would look even better as an animated GIF (because doesn’t almost everything?) and so I wondered how I could make it export so I could GIF it. But then I found out that Keynote does an Export as GIF one now! FUN! So I did that.

But, sad face! The GIF was too big! it was 14 MB, which is a bit much, even for a really good GIF art. I opened it up in Photoshop to confirm my thinking, and found that it was made of all flattened layers, with everything on every layer which makes things really big.

So I thought, I guess I better do it the right way! So I made a PDF of one page and then opened it in Photoshop and then made each little Tina face into it’s own layer so I could turn them on one at a time with just the background screen capture that I started with way back when as the background in it just one time,

It was a lot of work, and in the end I just went back to making copies of the same Tina face (like I did way back in Keynote on my iPad) but in the end, it made a good GIF. It was only 44 KB, which is about 347 times smaller! Then I made it 1:2 for the Twitter, and added my face and the The Daily Create #2750 and URL references, and in the end it was only 146 KB with that added goodness! (Plus, the GIF is 1000 pixels wide, so if you want to embiggen it to read better, you can!)

Then I wrote this little post about it, and now I am back out of the Rabbit Hole! Bye!

“Back from the Rabbit Hole” screen capture by @iamTalkyTina (it’s NOT a GIF)

At last, boor Erich …

At last, boor Erich, I threw him well …

Well, it was a fun time to do today’s The Daily Create #tdc2728 “Alas, poor Yorick,” because the image is the same one I used for my last post (I had a @jimgroom #ArtLack for a bit) but now Erich is turned into a skull because of decomposition and such.

Plus, it was fun to find all the ways to turn the original Shakespeare lines into my own ones, as I say here:

Alas —> At last
poor Yorick —> boor Erich
I knew him well —> I threw him well.

I was going to use “I tripped him well” because it wasn’t really a threw, it was a trip, and I wanted to be accurate, but I used my poet’s license to go with the better sound of it with the original Shakespeare.

Always Mind Your Vision

The Daily Create, tdc2030, asks us to read the Eye Chart, and it pulls our attention down to the 20/30 line, where the letters start to get smaller. Make a six-word story with EFDCZP?

When I read this line, it immediately spoke to to me, because the the first letter reminded me of that one time, and that evil man, Erich.

It was an easy create to do, because I have a favourite video clip that I watch every now and then (every night before bedtime).

The six-word story just wrote itself!

I didn’t live there long enough to see if Erich was a good carrot-eater, but whatever, always be sure to mind your vision so that you can maintain your night vision and watch out for ambushes.

And so that you can keep on appreciating and making Art! 

Fall Down

“His Fall Down,” a two picture, two sentence story by @iamTalkyTina

Well, this is my last The Daily Create for June, 2017. It is called The Daily Create, tdc1999 two pictures, two sentences story. I have now completed the Alan Levine, (@cogdog, on Twitter) 30-Day Challenge, #30dayTDC.

I will now wait to see if I will be granted my @iamTalkyTina Certification in Creatorist accreditation and badge, for which the completion of the #30dayTDC challenge is a primary requirement. I have it on good authority that my application is complete and that I am likely to meet the standards, but I will have to patiently wait by my mailbox for a notification. My record tracking sheet is posted here for careful perusal.  I am so excited! It has been a wild ride and I cannot wait for the next opportunity to get an @iamTalkyTina certification. She is the best!  I wonder when the next certification window will open and what I might get certified in next? I will have to wait and see.

Are you going to get YOUR badge? Did you get all of your 30 The Daily Creates done? It is not too late! Although the clock is ticking, be sure to apply before the window closes at the end of June 30th, 2017. You can apply here.

Are You Nervous Yet, Erich?

“Are You Nervous Yet, Erich?” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

Well, you can’t see the beads of sweat moving on Erich’s head, but his eyes sure look shifty scared.

I won’t repeat what I was saying to him over the phone from the garage, but it sure gave him a new respect for me!

For The Daily Create, tdc1984, Nervous!.

The History of The Two Swift Kicks for an Ass’ Neck

“Two Swift Kicks for an Ass’ Neck,” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

My favourite drink that I like to think reflects me (rather than defines me) is called Two Swift Kicks for an Ass’ Neck.  It is a variation on a historic favourite known as The Horse’s Neck (and The Horse’s Neck with a Kick) and here is the story of it.

The original Horse drink is kind of unique in that it is usually available as both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic variation. Without getting into a long tirade about my continually youthful appearance and my compact vertical proportions, let me just say that there have been times when it has been beneficial for the bartender to be able to appear to be serving me something that is in keeping with my perceived external looks, while at the same time being able to give me what I may actually want or need given my actual age or temperament at the time. Of course, during missions there are times when the opposite may be true, say if I’m needing to maintain my wits while undertaking hours and hours of libation-expedited negotiations.

I will confess that I spent many an evening practicing such tradecraft while visiting with Sir Ian Fleming himself at Goldeneye, and actually suggested the drink to him when he was writing a scene for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service — you know, the one in the airport VIP lounge where James Bond is disguised as Sir Hilary Bray? Remember how he goes in for a double brandy and ginger ale? That was my suggestion! 

Ian Fleming, reading my suggestions for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Anyway, I remixed and renamed the drink in the early sixties shortly after I did that spot on The Twilight Zone. Telly was being a bit mean to me on the set (part what you see in the episode wasn’t acting on his part), and so the night before the stairs scene I managed to sneak in and swap out his ginger ale for something a little stronger. (For the record, all of this came out in the disclosure before the trial, and was all considered as coincidental and not influential in the final outcome. Plus, remember, it was just a TV show.)  But it was just after that when I renamed it in Erich’s memory.

The other stipulation that I have always made is to ask that the bartender to forego the traditional highball glass. I prefer the tumbler instead. That way, not only do I get to have a little chuckle about Erich and his little trip down the stairs, but I also get two drinks for the price of one! Hence, Two Swift Kicks for the Ass’ Neck is what they give me.

The bartenders know what I like, and if not, they never get it wrong more than once.

Attributions:

The Ballad of Talky Tina

"Dreams of Stairs and True Friends" animatedGIF by @iamTalkyTina

“Dreams of Stairs and True Friends” animatedGIF by @iamTalkyTina

Well, this started out as The Daily Create TDC916 two-limerick Physics lesson, but there was a little more to tell to provide the proper context, so I wrote down a little bit more limericks to say a bit more of the story.  Now it has six instead of just two. But not all about Physics. Plus, I made that animated GIF up there called “Dreams of Stairs and True Friends.”

Their once was a dolly named Tina,
With a glowing and Friendly patina.
With her eyes wet and misty,
She was brought home by Christie,
Who became the first True Friend of Tina.

Mom and Christie came home from the store.
From the car to their house’s front door.
But with some trepidation,
and a queasy sensation,
Trouble met them there on the first floor.

Now at this point we’ll be shifting the focus,
With some poetic hocusy-pocus,
From omniscient thee,
To the first person me,
We’ll continue with I as the locus.

That Erich, he was a bad papa,
With his yelling’ and shoutin’ improppa.
He cut me and squished me,
Tried to burn me and ditch me.
Despite all our pleas, he don’t stoppa.

With my Friend Christie cryin’ and ballin’,
In the late night that Erich came callin’.
But he tumbled and tripped,
Summersaulted and flipped.
Them stairs stopped him dead with that fallin’.

So my True Friend grew up to be strong.
After that, me, I moved right along.
With spy missions and acting,
Ninja skills and some packing*,
My list of True Friends now is long.

———-

*For more explanation about the packing reference, you can read about one of my former careers.

Thank you to all my True Friends for staying True!
Remember, DUTMW. TDLTMW!

Well, bye!

Perhaps Things Are Looking Up for You Now?

“tdc606 Perspective: Perhaps Things Are Looking Up For You Now?” by iamtalkytina, on Flickr

This is just a little exercise-in-perspective sketch that I whipped off many years ago after a little event. It came to mind today as I read of The Daily Create for September 5th, and I thought it might be appropriate.

tdc606: “Make a drawing that emphasizes perspective (e.g. angle of view)”

I just hopped the bus down to the local Art Gallery where it is currently on display as part of a little show. I snagged a photo that I could upload to Flickr so you all could see it.

I hope you like it as much as I had making it. And the circumstances surrounding it, too.

The beautiful frame around my picture in my image is cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by rubyblossom on Flickr.

And the beginnings of the engraved plaque was sourced here.

Well, bye!