VodKast San Marcos

This is the opening trailer for my weekly video podcast - it is a virtual zine with live action reports straight from the field here in San Marcos, Texas. The text will be changed in After Effects CS4 this week. And Ohh what lovely text trix CS4 has for us video kids!

Beginning in January I'll be recording events in the community via video cam and online subscribers will be able to download our zine via itunes as well as share hyperlinks via social networking sites. We will also be submitting pieces to Newstreamz online newspaper here in San Marcos.

And, since we have community access television here in San Marcos be on the lookout for our show on the tube.

Please hit me via e-mail if you would like to be featured in VodKast San Marcos.

Music by Domes of Silence.

Rough Cuts 4 & 5 Redux - After Effects Post Work

Posters in Process for PALS Membership Meeting - Rough Draft of Concept

Above: Facebook event created for the Transition to No Kill page.


Above: Facebook event created for the PALS page.

Rought Cuts 3 Redux - After Effects Post Work

Flying Brightkite

I am working with brightkite and it is just a blast! I had a difficult time figuring out how to add a specific location. Here is a quick tutorial on adding a location.

Enter the location in the menu bar.





Then, you see the location pop up in the webpage . . .

Click on the "check in here" button. It is towards the top on the right portion of the page.



Then, a photo can be added to post to describe your location. This photo of Wake the Dead from a much more sunny day was added. Here is how the post looks in the feed.


Another groovy thing that you can do is add the location as a placemark for the future.

Just click on the "Add to Placemarks" hyperlink.




When this screen appears type in the location.




The number of characters that one can type is limited.




After the name of the location has been entered a confirmation is presented.

San Marcos Double Dip Cowgirl Kawfee

For a person who loves coffee as much as I do by legend and practice, I pride myself on the time and effort it takes to brew the perfect cup. This is what i call the San Marcos double dip cowgirl kawfee.





Begin by brewing the coffee with the hot water in the pot. Then, strain the coffee once with large strainer into second pot. A final old school "pull" with use of sprouting lid placed over drinking cup of choice. Ohhhwee a perfect cup of hot beverage to warm the heart and inspire the mind to get a werkin'.

Rough Cuts 5

Music by Anthony Neff. Downloaded the CS4 After Effects 30 day fully functional demo and having an absolute blast with tutorials {more info soon} and techniques.

Citizen Outsider - Front Cover Mock Up

Capitol Words: Taking Congress at its Word

Capitol Words provides a twist on rhetoric and Congress.

Rough Cuts 4

Music by: The Domes of Silence, Darryl Morris, Root of the Sick, Zera Vaughan

Graduation 2008 Interviews

...shot, edited and uploaded these videos from today's graduation ceremonies...

Animal Control Ordinance Second Reading - PASSED

micro blog via Ping.fm

the animal control ordinance passed!

Advisor Trading Cards

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php
My colleague Marissa came up with a groovy idea for each advisor to create a trading card and to embed them across our website and have students "collect" them. This is my contribution to our project.

RIP Yazmine

micro blog via Ping.fm

RIP Yazmine - going to Irish wake for North Carolina ferrell cat turned sweetie with Irish/Toltec curandero conducting the service

Animal Control Ordinance Second Reading

The ordinance regarding animal control is up for a second reading. Lots of discussion and some of our City Council members have been awesome regarding dialogue.

Newstreamz has invited me to write an opinion piece and I am so honored by their request. The ordinance was debated quite extensively the last reading and the Council requested that they clean up the language regarding notions of community education and vagueness regarding discretion for animal control officers. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s meeting.

RSS Cyborg

micro blog via Ping.fm

now an rss cyborg connecting via ping, twitter, facebook, linkedin, blogger, intense debate, {and yammer sort of}, myspace

Blog Relocation Complete

The move from livejournal to blogger is now complete.

Rough Cuts 3

I just got my mac 8 core Lakshmi this summer and have just now had the opportunity to play with the video software loaded on the system. Soon we will have Final Cut Pro but I think the functionality of this software is just awesome.

In Vegas master clips digitized would have to be re-edited if the footage captured was to lengthy. In the mac software iMovie one can actually delete unwanted source footage sections within the interface thereby saving hard drive space and ram for when opening the application. For rough cuts and storyboards this is the software for on the fly editing.

The music in this rough cut story-boarding clip is from my favorite Austin band The Black Angels. The footage is from randomly assigned tapes "1" and "2" and "3" and "4".

Praxis Attaching Camcorder to Bike, {Part 2 of 2}

Daniel suprised me at Jower Power with this awesome "turn your mind" camera mount for bike.

Rough Cuts 2

Rough Cuts 1

Just experimenting and learning the software on my mac. These are a few clips from randomly assigned tapes "1" and "2" music by Darryl Morris.

SXSW Web Awards Deadline Soon

2009 Web Awards
Final Entry Deadline: Friday, December 19
Application fee until December 19 - $25

I am still working on the blog import from the campaign documentary livejournal site. Soon all the content available at the old blog will be located here at blogger. There will be new content as the rough cuts from the documentary are getting edited. We also have located additional articles from the campaign to be posted. And, there is the project of scanning in noteworthy artifacts encountered along the campaign trail.

We will also be reporting on the bike movement(s) here in San Marcos, our Transition to No Kill, Film San Marcos and report for San Marcos Watch -- Because it is YOUR Dime! via video and camera phone.

Dan McCarthy Speaks about Machines on Campus Early Voting

I am not sure why the video is so dithery. I've uploaded it to both youtube and blogger and the end result is the same. The source i am uploading it from is working just fine on my desktop.

Actually, this is one of my favorite scenes shot on election day. Here is Daniel "Dan the Man" McCarthy speaking about his experiences polling citizens during early voting on campus at the LBJ Student Center.

In this clip, Dan discusses his concerns {responding to ours which occurred on election day} regarding the machines in terms of feedback that he received from students on campus who punched straight ticket during early voting.

Daniels Voting Machine Malfunction

These are a couple of clips from rough cuts that we assembling perusing thru some of the footage. This material was filmed on election day, which is when we always go vote.

In the segment, Daniel is totally bummed that he did not get to cast his ballot for me. And, I was a little disappointed too! We are well aware that many voters are often perplexed by the machines. I know I am. This is all the more reason for a campaign to educate the citizens of San Marcos how these voting contraptions work.

Dan McCarthy for Mayor

These are a couple of stills from one of my favorite shots in the documentary. Here is Daniel "Dan the Man" McCarthy Mayoral candidate campaigning on election day in Victory Gardens.

This is a still from a clip in which Dan discusses straight ticket early voting feedback on campus at Texas State.

Blog Relocation

There is a blog import in process as the functionality of livejournal just aint happening for me so im old school importing the documentary blog and just love the results. The blogger interface just rules! And, the widgets ADD much more functionality. About half way through which aint half bad considering I started this morning.

Research on Attaching Camcorder to Bike, {Part 1 of 2}

While The Hub is getting my bike ready to roll on the streets of San Marcos, I am researching how to attach camcorder to bike.

Building a Bicycle Camera Mount

Camera Mount Youtube Video

Best Bike Camera Mount EVAH! – Bikehacks.com

Camera Mounts for Bicycles - Bikehacks.com

Homemade Bike Camera Mount Youtube Video

Wordle.net

http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/
had a feature on http://www.wordle.net/create and I think this is just the grooviest!

CS4 30 Day Fully Functional Trial

3D object created in Vue and then final composite in the trial version of CS4 with some Photoshop brushes. Click on image for larger view.

Facebook Page for PALS

Check out the new facebook page for PALS.

Playing With Animation Settings in Vue

"The World United Music Conference & Festival" Thread on 78666.com Getting Hot

THREAD:
"The World United Music Conference & Festival" VIEW THREAD
32 replies 810 views

FAVORITE QUOTATIONS:
"So, is LMC connected with this debacle?"

"I'm serious. She started the thread, so I want to know, especially if she ever decides to run for office again."

"jaysus, semi, for a "moderator", you sure are a rude and crude dude.
Your attacks on LMC have crossed the line way too many times.
Did she kick you in the man-berries or what ?"

PAGE VIEWS:
Check out the page views and replies comparison on the threads:
http://www.78666.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6

78666.com - Discussion Forum Threads - "Online Debate {place holder}" Hoopla Continues

The discussion at 78666.com is heating up even post election regarding the online debate that I challenged the incumbent in which he first agreed and then refused. His rejection of an online open forum following a series of phone calls attempting to line up the debate {all recorded on video} aired for 24 hours on online at youtube and I posted the link to 78666.com while the video was available. The clip will appear in the documentary.

THREAD:
Online Debate {place holder} VIEW THREAD
31 Replies 888 Views

FAVORITE QUOTATION:
“LMC proved one thing beyond the shadow of a doubt, Chris Jones is a liar. Her recording of him was perfectly legal in Texas and 37 other "one party" states. I still think Jones is a "professional politician" treading water on the city council until an open seat at a higher level is available. That he is rather dull, unimaginative and incompetent makes him somewhat likeable (or at least acceptable) to us no-growthers.”

PAGE VIEWS:
Check out the page views and replies comparison on the threads:
http://www.78666.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

Last of Election Coverage - San Marcos Daily Record

"The Deciders Voters make their voices heard Tuesday" - This is the last article prior to election and still no bio or questions for the public to evaluate the candiates

"Narvaiz wins another term: Jones holds onto council post"
"Returning to the city council with Narvaiz will be Council member Place 4 Christopher Jones, who defeated challenger Lisa Marie Coppoletta by a vote of 6,165 (55.60 percent) to 4,923 (44.40 percent)."

"Narvaiz keeps majority: Provisional ballot check leaves mayoral election results intact"
The election breakdowns from my race not reported, but what is new with the Daily Record?!

World United Music Festival Cancelled - Newstreamz

World United Music Festival cancelled
Posted on November 16, 2008 at 10:24 pm

"Music fans who were looking forward to three days of fun found a rude shock as the World United Music Festival was abruptly canceled. Festival staff were told by Jerry Payne, the organizer of the WUMF , that the remaining lineup of musicians would no longer be allowed to play and ticket holders were to be refused entry. People already attending the festival were asked to leave."

Story is located here:
http://newstreamz.com/2008/11/16/world-united-music-festival-cancelled

City Council election becomes official - University Star

City Council election becomes official
Posted on Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Page Two 2008 election San Marcos

"Susan Narvaiz maintained a majority vote in her bid for a third term as Mayor of San Marcos following a review of provisional and overseas ballots Monday by the Early Voting Ballot Board.

The election will become official following the canvassing of election returns by the City Council on at 5 p.m., Monday.

Out of 201 provisional ballots cast in Hays County, 14 qualified to be counted and five of the 14 were City of San Marcos ballots. In addition, 16 ballots were cast by residents who were out of the country, including four who were counted in the city election.

The San Marcos City Charter requires a majority vote (50 percent plus one vote) to elect a member of the City Council.

Following the review Monday, the City Council races in the Nov. 4 election had the following results:

Mayor: Susan Clifford Narvaiz: 6,451 (50.08 percent) Daniel Dan McCarthy 2,563 (19.9 percent) Dave Newman 3,868 (30.03 percent) City Council Place 3: Fred Terry 8,822 (100 percent) City Council Place 4: Lisa Marie Coppoletta 4,925 (44.40 percent) Christopher Jones 6,168 (55.60 percent)

Of the votes counted Monday, Narvaiz picked two additional votes, McCarthy gained one vote and Newman gained one vote."

The rest of the story is located here:
http://star.txstate.edu/content/city-council-election-becomes-official

Guest Coach - Texas State Football - Video Clips

The Jumbotron


With our mascot BOKO

Guest Coach - Texas State Football - Stills

This would be my first actual football game.  I went to a half of one once in high school.  I had an absolute blast.  We got a tour of the facility, had an awesome dinner and got to see Texas State win!

Mayoral candidates invest finances toward campaign - University Star

Mayoral candidates invest finances toward campaign
Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 10:18 am 

By Theron Brittain
News campaign financing San Marcos elections

"Campaign expenditure reports show mayoral candidates spent thousands of dollars in the months leading up to the Nov. 4 election.

The reports, filed Oct. 27, reveal how much the two candidates, Susan Narvaiz and David Newman, invested in their chances. A third candidate, Dan McCarthy, pledged in August to spend less than $500 during any given reporting period. State law exempted him from filing regular financial reports because of his pledge.

Newman reported $870 in total political contributions for the period roughly covering the end of September to the end of October. He spent $1,351 on his campaign for the same period. Narvaiz, whose election was confirmed Monday, outspent Newman, taking in $4,455 in total political contributions and spending $10,261 in the same period.

Narvaiz received 50.08 percent of the 12,878 votes casted, Newman 30.03 percent and McCarthy 19.89 percent.

Narvaiz and Newman’s campaigns spent the majority of their funds on advertising. Gloria Salazar, campaign treasurer for Narvaiz, said she hoped the extra capital helped make the campaign more effective.

“One of the largest expenses for the campaign was getting the new signs,” Salazar said. “And then we did something that we had not done as much of in the past campaigns — we did continuing advertising with The University Star to try to reach out to the students. We were doing ads weekly.”

Salazar said she was pleased with the financial support the mayor received over the last year, which totaled around $68,000.

“It’s just a real wide range,” Salazar said. “It came from business people. It came from individuals. It came from everywhere. We tried to reach out to all parts of the community.”

Dan Praver, Newman’s campaign treasurer, performs financial services for clients in San Marcos and said there was a one-to-one correlation between advertising and market share. Praver said Newman spent most of his financial resources on advertising, and he listed campaign buttons, printing supplies, paint and hardware as expenses.

“We spent money on spray paint and hardware to put together signs,” Praver said. “We bought some signs from Sign Crafters, and we bought some signs from a company called Super Cheap Signs. In fact, for the first accounting period, that was about a third of where the money went.”

Newman said he spent between $6,000 and $7,000 on his campaign. He provided $3,000 to $4,000 from his own finances.

“I received about half of my campaign finances in contributions and about half of it I put up myself,” said Newman, who ran on his own finances through the end of the election. “I spent about $2,000 in television ads and about $1,000 in printing costs. I spent about $3,000 on campaign signs.”

Newman ran ads on a variety of television channels, including CNN, FOX, ESPN and a few on MTV. Newman said he never had a proper fundraiser but might have held one if a runoff occured.

“We ran a pretty financially-tight campaign,” Newman said. “I was hoping the word was getting out there through the debates and media coverage. I didn’t have the money to saturate the print media like I wanted to. There are some things I think we could have done differently, but within the time frame I think we did most of what we could.”

Chris Jones won re-election to Place 4 on the City Council with 55.6 percent of 11,088 votes cast. Jones reported $3,800 in contributions and spent $854 on his campaign for the month of October. Jones’ opponent, Lisa Marie Coppoletta, operated under the same state exemption as Dan McCarthy. She received 44.4 percent of the vote.

Salazar said funds left over from Narvaiz’s campaign would be used to help defray costs resulting from the mayor’s duties and could be used in future campaigns.

“When you’re in office, and especially for our counsel where they do not get paid, there are expenses they have to incur throughout the term that are not covered,” Salazar said. “There are either out of pocket expenses or, for certain things, they are able to cover them through any monies they have left over from their campaign.”

Newman said he used all his contributions in the race."

Narvaiz keeps majority in provisional vote tally - San Marcos Mercury

Narvaiz keeps majority in provisional vote tally
Posted on 10 November 2008
From the city of San Marcos

"Susan Narvaiz maintained a majority vote in her bid for a third term as the San Marcos mayor following a review of provisional and overseas ballots Monday by the Early Voting Ballot Board.
The election will become official following the canvassing of election returns by the City Council on Monday, November 17 at 5 p.m.

Out of 201 provisional ballots cast in Hays County, 14 qualified to be counted and five of the 14 were City of San Marcos ballots. In addition, 16 ballots were cast by residents who were out of the country, including four that were counted in the city election.

The San Marcos City Charter requires a majority vote (50 percent plus one vote) to elect a member of the City Council.

Following the review Monday, the City Council races in the November 4 election had the following results:

Mayor
Susan Clifford Narvaiz: 6,451 (50.08%)
Daniel Dan McCarthy 2,563 (19.9%)
Dave Newman 3,868 (30.03%)

City Council, Place 3
Fred Terry 8,822 (100%)

City Council, Place 4
Lisa Marie Coppoletta 4,925 (44.40%)
Christopher Jones 6,168 (55.60%)

Entire story is available at this link: http://www.sanmarcosmercury.com/archives/4930

78666.com - Home Page

The story at the home page of 78666.com was just awesome and appreciated as the election was unfolding.

Here are some of the comments posted prior to November 4th:

Name: Walt
I see a clear choice in this election. This is between the two opposing philosophies that underlie life; service to self and service to others. Chris Jones is not a bad person, but he's in service to himself first and the electorate second. I think he'd support anything that would get him more votes. Lisa Marie has a long record of service to others. I don't think she would change an iota for any number of votes. To her, victory is achieving the goals she has set for this city and it's citizens. To Chris, victory is getting reelected.

Name: Lawrence
I've heard a rumor that the University Star will not print Lisa Marie's essay because Jones can't/won't write one. Anyone know more on this? A new "unfairness doctrine"?

Name: real jupiter
brad, its whinning meely mouse "know it alls" like yourself that make me want to eat dirt! Whoo hoo 1270!!! Man do you have to wear cork stoppers in your ears to keep all that mega gray matter from seeping out? I did not see your name on any ballot, wat up law dog?! Whom is wasting others time? How long have you been practicing and how many pro bono hrs. per month do you log?

Name: Brad
Sorry real jupiter, I am not a surrogate of Chris's and never went to this school. I actually scored above the Schools low standards on the SAT and went to UT Austin. Yes, it did take me 4 1/2 years to graduate from there but again, my 1270 SAT was to high for the SWTSU 850 minimum for attendance. I am an attorney here in San Marcos that is simply getting tired of the wasted seat that Chris Jones has held in place 4. As you have probably already figured out by now, my real name is not Brad.

Anyway, I am sincere in the fact that Chris Jones works harder to get elected than after he has been elected. He has done nothing since being in office and we have 3 years wasted in him already. I really wish that Lisa was just as serious about defeating him but that does not seem to be a reality. She is making a documentary on the political process and that is a shame. Between her and the idiot Dan Macarthy, they are wasting all of our time.

Name: James
Regarding yard signs - If you are serious LMC, put some signs out or quit yanking our chain for your documentary!



The total number of replies for this thread was 37-38 comments {they have changed the format since after the election and the stats are not appearing in interface} compared to the few comments on the incumbent for Mayor threads as well as those on her challenger Dave Newman with 8 comments on the story featuring his race.

Leaflets - Home Stretch! Neighborhoods

This is one of the neighborhood leaflets from the final stretch of the door-to-door campaign. These were printed 4 to a page and then had a hole punched at top for rubber band. With the glossy hard stock, the leaflets can be rolled to fit into the pervasive screen door handle rather than rubber band on doorknob method. A leaflet with various uses!

Leaflets - Home Stretch! Student Voting Box at LBJ

These particular leaflets were created for the LBJ Student Center box as "push cards" for when speaking to students one-to-one during the four days of early voting on campus. There were two days for two weeks in which candidates campaigned on campus.

The second week, I continued my door-to-door campaign walking throughout the various neighborhoods in San Marcos. My campaign manager, Daniel scales worked on campus at Matt Young and Daniel McCarthy's awesome food event.

Film San Marcos - New Web Presence

Created these pages for promoting the arts here in San Marcos. We have lots of fresh artistic energy manifesting in our community and one more outlet to organize/publicize events is always helpful. 

We are interested in creating some instructional workshops, facilitating creative projects and promoting San Marcos for all things filmmaking.
Film San Marcos Blog
Film San Marcos Main Facebook Page
Film San Marcos Facebook Group

Digital Citizen Watch Groups on Facebook - New Web Presence

 Below are two pages created for facebook users to facilitate a digital citizen watch group here in San Marcos. Since the campaign, we are studying various methods of interaction via facebook. And, as of yet, have not reached a decision which is more functional the "group" or the "page" option.  

These are the links and please be sure to hit us on facebook:
Main Facebook Page
Facebook Group

University Star Omits Figures in Race

Texas State alumnus wins City Council Place 4
Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 12:29 pm
By Emily Bradford

"The Burleson family invited guests to “make themselves at home” around the television as results came in announcing their friend Chris Jones would serve his second term on City Council Place 4.

Jones beat opponent Lisa Coppoletta by approximately 900 votes.

“I’m excited about this Nov. 4 election because the things I talked about three years ago as a student are becoming reality with Obama on the ticket,” he said.

Jones said the presidential election helped stimulate the election process at all levels.

“I was at the fish hatchery earlier and the voter turnout was a lot of students,” he said."

The rest of the article is located here: http://star.txstate.edu/content/texas-state-alumnus-wins-city-council-place-4-0

Stills from Doc - Election Day - Daniel and I discuss how his machine had a malfunction