Category Archives: Animated GIF

Rover is Ready For Her Close-Up, Mr. McGoohan

"Old Rover, Retouched," animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

“My True Friend Rover, Retouched,” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

I fondly remember the first day I met Rover.

I was taking a little walk on the beach during my first day in Portmeirion. The offshore breeze was beautiful and I was taking in the gulls and the flowers and the bull kelp when a sixth sense alerted me to the fact that I wasn’t alone.

I gracefully executed Monkey Glides Smoothly on Banana Peel and transitioned flawlessly into Chimp On a Jungle Vine, — and found myself face-to-face with Rover.

It may have been our respective abilities in stealthy manoeuvres, but I have to think that she and I were both taken aback with our first glances at one another.

After we each backed up a pace or two and performed a threat assessment, we both seemed to mutually decide that we were more than compatible, and we settled down side-by-side on a log to enjoy the afternoon and converse about our respective philosophies.

It was the first of many such wonderful days that first summer. The two of us were peas in a pod on and off the set, and we did a good job of covering for one another whenever there was a prank or two to be pulled on the cast and crew. Between the two of us, no one ever got caught out and we managed to put over some epic doozies on Pat and the folks.

Things turned a bit dark towards the end of the series, when the funding started to dry up. The production company was re-using stock footage by then (you know — the lava lamp and the Rover rising up out of the water sequence) and Rover stopped getting call-backs. Her original sheen had worn off, and despite all the mending and patching and buffing that I was able to do, Rover was pretty despondent. There came a day when I went down to the beach to visit, and Rover wasn’t there. I followed Rover’s footprint for a mile or so (basically a series of roll-and-hop-marks in the sand), but I lost the trail at Penrhyndeudraeth. Rover was gone on a midnight train.

The GIF above is one of my most treasured keepsakes of that summer with Rover. Based on the original footage from 1967-68, it has suffered from the ravages of time. I spent considerable time this afternoon restoring it to as close to its original spender as possible. Perhaps you can spot (no way!) the sections where I did some major retouching.

“Rover Gets a Makeover,” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

A New Life for Rover

It was a few years ago that I was overseas on a little errand and I ran into Rover again. After more than three decades out of the biz, she had found a new lease on life performing at large-venue concerts during intermissions. She had had some wonderful plastic work done, and was looking great! She was reliving the glory days, performing in character as her old self, complete with the original theme music from The Prisoner, and having a fantastic time! Imagine how happy we were to get re-aquainted!

I hung around in the venue after the show shot some wonderful promo videos of her for her portfolio (see below). After that we just spent the weekend hanging out and reminiscing. It was great to re-kindle our friendship. Things were going so well that she was off to perform in Dubai the last I heard.

“Rover Promo Video” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

True Friends are True Friends

With the recent ds106-ification of #prisoner106, I realized that it was high time that I acknowledge Rover with her own True Friend badge. True Friends never begrudge the time it takes to receive their badge, as long as they finally receive it. And so, without further ado, I award Rover her official badge! We should #BeSeeingHer around this summer!

Don’t Make it Too Easy, John!

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Well, my True Friend John (@johnjohnston on Twitter) is a GIFfriend Master who also likes to teach a computer how to make a GIF for you.

A recent experiment by John allows just anybody to just upload a picture and press a button and make a Dancing Jim one of UNCLE Jim (@jimgroom on Twitter) without any hard work at all.

I decided that I would try it out with a couple of pictures I had left lying around from when I did Heavy Metal Bands for #ds106 True Friends and also Movie Posters Without Any Icons from last time.

Here is what I made with John’s one-click GIF-JIm-Dancing.

“Dancing Jim – HippyMOOCSlaughter” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

“Dancing Jim – Apocalypse” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

Plus, because it has a special place in his heart, here is one where UNCLE Jim is Escaping from New York.

Dancing Jim – Escapes from NY” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

It sure is easy, but it makes the Dancing Jim All Over the World assignment already into an even easier one so that is only one star.

Which might be a short term save for you at the last minute on a Sunday night early on in the course, but it won’t stretch your real skillz, plus it’s not nearly as much fun as doing them the proper way.

Are You Feeling Artsy, Hippy?

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“Are You Feeling Artsy, Hippy?” animated GIF by iamTalkyTina

UNCLE Jim Groom (UNCLE Jim Groom, @jimgroom on Twitter, on Twitter) was writing today about a GIF that Spencer Scott made of him that was a Clint Eastwood one.

But when I saw it, I was thinking about when the Hippies where putting flowers in the guns and that UNCLE Jim would probably have a Hippy one with flowers in it. Plus a Hippies Flower Power badge of it.

UNCLE Jim’s flower came from this GIPHY garden.

So this is an AnimatedGIF Assignments 859 Riff-A-GIF based on Spencer’s picture but now is a GIF.

Saving Noddy

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“Saving Noddy,” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

Well, that Noddy got his silly self thrown into a bin, but I managed to rescue him out and help him skip town for The Daily Create 1181: Save Noddy!.

Unfortunately, I was not able to lock on to his bear friend that was buried deeper under him in the bin. Sorry bear.

If you want to see the static image after the actual beam-out rescue, just check out my Flickr of it.

#noirchat

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“Noirchat” by iamTalkyTina, on Flickr

Well I have some nice time away from missions this week, and so I decided to watch the NOIR106 Week 9 video and see if I could catch up on some hijinks, just for fun. Paul and Martha and Jim talked a whole lot about all the works that the students have to do this week (just like every other week) but it was also a fun time to hear them talk about the Hostage Hut Event when I hosted UNCLE @jimgroom this weekend and all the GIFs and peoples Making Art.

It was also nice to hear how well UNCLE @jimgroom was respecting our release-from-Hostage conditions, when he said, “We brokered a deal in the evening, early morning,” and “that was part of the brokering, the negotiations not to talk too much about it.” “TalkyTina did take care of me …” but he did not go into greater detail, even when pressed, which was a True Friend thing to do. But he did seem to have a few words for Martha (who was otherwise occupied during the day) when he said, “I just felt that maybe you could put a GIF out there, maybe you could have been the tenth to save me, so that I didn’t have to negotiate …” But he got out all the same.

“I just felt that maybe you could put a GIF out there, maybe you could have been the tenth to save me, so that I didn’t have to negotiate …”
— Jim Groom to Martha Burtis

I made some notes of what they said during the show, and at the end I felt like making some Art and so it started out being a one screen commercial for our Radio Show (which will be on ds106radio NEXT MONDAY NIGHT AT 9PM) …

“One More Special Radio Show” by Talky Tina, on Flickr

… but then it turned into a whole thing of interesting quotes that they said.

I was thinking that this could be a nice way to do a review of the weekly get-to-work video, and then thought it would make a nice assignment. I only thought that at the end, and so I didn’t go back and make mine as complete as I might have (so it doesn’t have enough stuff in it to reflect Agent Paul and Agent Black), but is has some good stuff for you to watch. It only takes about a minute or so because most of the screens are each 5 seconds. Maybe I will make a Slideshare of it (so that you can read it at your own pace) but right now it is just a GIF!

“NoirChat, Week Nine” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

Enjoy!

Jim, Close(d)-Up in the Hut

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“Jim, Close(d)-up in The Hostage Hut” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

Well, I guess it’s time to let Jim out. His captivity motivated the creation of 19 @jimgroom Animated GIFs yesterday (20 if you count the close-up above), and so I guess that’s a pretty good haul for sitting around on your keister in a hut. You can see them all in the comments of that post. Plus, badges!

Perhaps he will enjoy the GIF as a souvenir to remember the fun time!

You can also click on the GIF above to see a finer 1200-pixel wide version, for more enjoyment of the beauty! You can also check out the high quality still-image version on Flickr.

For full documentation of the proceeds of the day, along with a larger, full-scene view of the Hostage Hut, read Jim Groom is Still in the Hostage Hut.

Some times a GIF is just a wonderful Art to make.

Okay, Jim, you are free! Go make some Art, bub!

“Extra GIF” animated GIF badge for subsequent submissions

Jim Groom is Still in the Hostage Hut

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“Jim Groom in the Hostage Hut” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

Making this Art into a GIF doesn’t do justice to the beauty of the images in this piece. Consider viewing the larger 1200 pixel-wide GIF, or even better, the still-image version that I have posted to Flickr.

This is where Jim has been spending the day. When we had considerable submissions this afternoon, it looked as if we might reach the ransom (originally 10 GIFs, but arbitrarily raised to 12, just for fun), and so I turned off the ice-melting lasers and let the balloons drop their support lines to keep Jim afloat. Things will remain this way through the night, and if he’s still afloat in the morning, then we’ll re-negotiate the terms of the new expectations for his release.

But it has been a fun day! Thanks to all the folks who made wonderful GIFs in a valiant attempt to get Jim out!

iamTalkyTina (1 Accepted GIF, 1 Extra GIF)
Tom Woodward (1 Accepted GIF, 1 Extra GIF)
Mariana Funes (1 Accepted GIF, 2 Extra GIFs)
Ronald L (1 Accepted GIF, plus, he is going to be a True Friend soon!)
John Johnston (1 Accepted GIF, 5 Extra GIFs)
Vivien Rolfe (1 Accepted GIF)
Bertha Curtis (1 Accepted GIF)
Bill Smith (1 Accepted GIF)
Melanie Barker (1 Accepted GIF)
Christina Hendricks (1 Accepted GIF) (arrived after my midnight, but before hers)

TOTALS FOR TODAY – 9 10 Accepted GIFs, 9 Extra GIFs

There are badges available for all participants!

Your first @jimgroom AnimatedGIF goes towards Jim’s ransom and earns you an “Accepted GIF” badge.

"Accepted GIF" animated GIF badge for ransom-eligible submissions

“Accepted GIF” GIF badge for ransom-eligible submissions

Subsequent @jimgroom Animated GIF submissions do not count towards Jim’s release, but are fun and enjoyable and earn you an “Extra GIF” badge.

“Extra GIF” animated GIF badge for subsequent submissions

Be sure to also submit your posts to the Animated GIF Assignment 1633: JImGroom Animated GIF so that your work will be visible in the Assignment Bank to future participants!

Tomorrow will be another day! Keep making Art, bub!

Songs for True Friends

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“What DS106 Music Means to Me” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina based on this image

This is my The Daily Create for today, tdc1161 which says, “Write a poem about how music changed your life.” (pausing as I type — oh, a poem? oh well I already posted this but when I try to link to my specific post, it is broken like 404, what’s up with that, @cogdog?) So here it is on my blog, plus with a GIF and embedded soundcloud ones.

Well, it is always nice when True Friends make songs. Because songs are a kind of music, but with words so you can understand why Friends are Important.

Like one time I wrote a song called “Tina Made Groom” after he was trash talking me and I needed to set the record straight.

Or another time, when I wrote a song called “Tina Don’t Like the Mean Word” after that Savvy man Ben kept using the Mean Word even after I was trying to be nice.

Another time, when it was New Years, I made a special version of the New Year’s Song called “Make Art for Your True Friends, My Bub!” that was a really nice thing for me to do.

But then, my True Friend Vivien made a wonderful song, just for me, called “Look What Happened to Tina” that was just such a fantastic piece of music that it almost made me cry. But not really, I am tough.

And then, just when I thought it wouldn’t get any nicer, my True Friends Vivien and that David did another song for me called “GIFfing is Without You” that made me want to sing along all day and play my double-bass. That remix is in the studio now, awaiting some final vocal embellishments.

I could go on an on about how nice it is that music makes you feel. But it is about making vibrations that other peoples can feel, plus when they make vibrations, you feel them too. Plus, at the same time it is even better. Like, LIVE.

So music is a kind of Art, and that is what we like to make. So Make some Art, bub.

And Make Some Music Art, Bub, too!

Animated GIF of Jim Groom Ransom Art

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“Pixellated Groom” animated GIF by @iamTalkyTina

“@jimgroom Ransom GIF – Accepted” badge (approved payments)

It’s a thing to make an Art out of UNCLE @jimgroom. Lots of peoples do it! There are dancing ones, poster ones, and noisy ones, plus more!

Yesterday for The Daily Create tdc1160 was to make a ransom note to get Jim Groom back. My True Friend David Kernohan made a pretender Tina one saying give him animated GIFs to get Jim out.

“…or groom gets the stairs” by David Kernohan, on Flickr

After that, I got Jim and said make more animated GIFs, but these ones of Jim. I found a cool font on dafont.com called mpf-kidnapped and played with that for a while, but in the end, I used a web-based kidnap-letter generator at strix.org.uk/ransom/ and uploaded a custom image background to get UNCLE Jim in the picture.

“@JimGroom Ransom Note” by Talky Tina, on Flickr

So I have Jim now and I am demanding 10 Animated GIFs of Jim Groom to get him out. Not just a plain old animated GIF, but an animated GIF of Jim Groom. Plus, the deadline is midnight tonight, otherwise I will keep him longer. So you DS106 peeps get to work!

I was going to keep him until I got 106 Animated GIFs of Jim Groom, but I would not be able to stand it that long.

To start things going, I am personally donating ONE JimGroom Animated GIF (up above) to the kitty*.

But, to keep it formal and so that you know I mean business, I made an Assignment of it.

Animated GIF Assignments 1633: Jim Groom Animated GIF

So be sure to do the linking correctly from your blog to that assignment so that we know that the ransom is paid up. Any additional Jim Groom Animated GIFs paid after midnight will be applied against random future ransoms. So we will get 106 of them some day.

If you need pictures of Uncle Jim, start here: (it is called Google images)

“Funny thing that happened while searching for Jim Groom on Google”

So go make Animated GIF Art of Jim Groom NOW to get Jim out! Be original. Be creative. Make Art, bub!

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*that’s the #106 #noircat, in case you were wondering

#DS106 NoirCat

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“DS106 NoirCat” from a GIF shared by Grant Potter

Well, I didn’t see a lot of #noircats around my part of the course but then I know that a lot of other peoples did because they keep talking about it.

So Grant Potter (@grantpotter, on Twitter) made a GIF of one, so I had to put DS106 #NoirCat words on it while we were listening to the Steadfast Sleuths radio show on #ds106radio.

Plus, the #NoirCat making purring and meowing noises with noir music mix that I made.