It seems that the viral video GM sponsored for Gay Day at the Movies was yanked by upper management because it "hadn't been vetted by all departments." according to company spokesmen. However, even this blink-and-you-missed-it viewing has been picked up all over the auto forums.

You can see the yanked video here. It's about 2 minutes into the report.
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/the-b-cast-gm-yanks-tasteless-youtube-camaro-video-targetting-gay-buyers/20521199

So, fifteen seconds of screen time, and this is what happens...

http://forums.motortrend.com/70/7760774/the-general-forum/gm-pitches-camaro-to-gay-men/index.html

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/08/video-chevrolet-targets-gay-demographic-with-new-camaro-marketi/
It was apparently a promotional tie-in with the Transformer's movie, hence the Bumblebee Boys.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/09/followup-gm-orders-youtube-to-remove-tasteless-gay-camaro-pro/

These guys have been raggin on GM for over six years with their "GM Deathwatch." See them pounce:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/gm-scares-itself-with-gay-oriented-camaro-marketing/

One Camaro enthusiast forum pondered its meaning.
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698042

Fodors member Pugsly posted the story. (Pugsly is the name of my very gay PT Cruiser)
http://www.fodors.com/community/fodorite-lounge/gm-markets-the-new-camaro-to-gay-men.cfm

The horrified mullets came out in force on FreeRepublic.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2289316/posts


Best comment so far:
I don’t want to be seen in a “homo” car either. I was considering the 300 HP 6-speed V6 version of the Camaro, but because of this I’m probably going to be sticking with my Miata.

A few months ago - I had a rather lengthy Facebook/LJ discussion on the topic of online civility and it's role in our political discussions.

These two posts on my LJ created quite the conversation:

- "Treating disrespect with even more disrespect?" (linky)

- "The Era of The Perma-HissyFit" (linky)

Pam Spalding, the amazing blogger behind Pam's House Blend, posted a note recently that I thought - hit it right on the button. She's talking about the recent controversy about the Philadelphia Valley Swim Club's racism, and claims of not being so while obviously being so; but she takes it step further and talks about how civility (while not always easy) is the more reasoned response to racism, sexism and homophobia. There are so many winning thoughts in this article - I just have to share with you the entire thing.

If you don't know her blog - I'm glad to introduce you......

---

Revisiting the difficult conversations that people don't want to have

By Pam Spalding, Owner/Blogger Extraordinaire at Pam's House Blend

For my civility day post, I wanted to connect a few dots...third-rail dots that are quite similar, but often seen as unrelated. In my own blogging I have tried to made it safe to discuss race by saying no question is dumb, and that mutual understanding can be gained only be holding discussions, not shouting sessions. What this requires from me, though, is a lot of listening, and self-censorship to a degree -- with those who disagree or are coming from a place of anger, resentment or fear, I really have no latitude to become angry or defensive. ( entire article behind a cut )

.......to ogam.

Sorry you're not here to celebrate it me. (Note, while I miss you, I'm not missing being in El Paso myself!) Happy Natality my friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GERRY!!

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!", and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your journal, and explain what they mean to you.

From greatbearmd:

• Longhair/Fur: Well, I've been a fan of beards and fur since I was a small boy. It may have had something to do with growing up in areas with a logging economy and dad in the logging business - even when beards aren't "fashionable" in society in general, loggers often have them to protect their faces. I was enraptured with The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams as a kid; I knew well before puberty that I wanted a beard and a hairy chest when I grew up. Fortunately, my genes cooperated - I started sprouting chest fur in Jr. High, and graduated High School with a full beard.
  
  Long hair came later - partly from perennially putting off getting a haircut until it got to the point where I decided I may as well let it grow out. In a way, I think a man having long hair is more "transgressive" to society than a big shaggy facerug because of the surprising number of people who have this idea that long hair is "feminine." I've had Xtian wack-jobs throw that idea at me, and I love the perplexed looks on their faces when I respond with "What about Samson, who lost his strength when Delilah cut his hair? What about all the common depictions of Jesus with hair down past his shoulders?"
  
  I've also been known to suggest that people expressing such an idea do so to a long-haired Hell's Angel and see how far they get with that. ;)
  
  In any case, I think long hair and a big beard go together well, and I like how I look in both. And of course, I love bodyfur as well; I'm hairier than average but I sure wouldn't mind having more. I've encountered a few guys with really LONG, dense, silky fur that I wish I had. ;)
  
  I've said it many times, but may as well repeat it here - face fur is my one absolute requirement for sexual interest. I love body fur and long hair - but they're additive. I'd take a short-haired, naturally non-hairy man with a handsome beard over a fur-rug longhair who was facially shaved in a hot second.
  
  
• Ceegars: I've never liked the smell of cigarettes, but cigars (and good pipe tobacco) are a different story. I don't recall what specifically spurred me to try cigars, but I found myself rapidly gravitating toward fairly large cigars with maduro wrappers, which I've been happily puffing and chomping ever since. I really do enjoy the smell and taste, and despite that there are women who enjoy cigars the fact that it's generally considered a "masculine" thing to do is an add-on appeal. There are guys for whom a cigar is a primary turn-on; that's not me. But seeing a hairy bearded man I find sexy pull out a cigar and fire up - that definitely adds to the attraction for me!
  
  
• Bikes: Given my generally risk-averse nature, I'm a little surprised I've wound up on a motorcycle. I've gotten the occasional bit of static for "overplanning" trips, such as my ride to Sturgis in '06, but the simple fact of the matter is that when I'm out of familiar territory - that's just what I have to do. Would such people want me to not go on the trip at all? I'd rather "overplan" and find out it wasn't necessary than go off the cuff and find out there's no available motel rooms for 100 miles when I'm too tired to ride much further.
  
  Anyway - sometimes riding can be a bit of a chore, like when dealing with a lot of clueless cagers, but there's always a reward to be found somewhere. The haul up 99 to Fresno in September is flat and hot and pretty dull - but the ride from there up into the mountains to where the Badger Flat motorcycle run is held every year is simply gorgeous and more than worth the rest of the trip.
  
  When I got my first bike, I didn't think I'd be doing much long distance riding - but I discovered I really do like it - both my 2002 trip up to Seattle and back, and my 2006 trip to Sturgis.
  
  And while riding a Honda doesn't give me quite the same entree to the Biker World that another H-bike might, I have gotten friendly reactions from some surprising quarters despite that fact. It's certainly not universal, but given the Rich Urban Biker phenomenon - the attitude that it's that you ride rather than what you ride seems to be getting more common. There was certainly no comment on the make of my bike when I went to the HAMC SFV swap meet some weeks ago.
  
  
• LEDs: One of those amazing things where Details Matter. The basic concept of how Light Emitting Diodes work is pretty simple - but the way the substances and additives can be tweaked for various effects, some of the breakthroughs in manufacturing to increase efficiency - it's quite exciting to watch this development proceeding at such a pace. Right now, "white" LEDs are blue diodes with a phosphor coating to give the impression of white light; one of the goals of the industry is to improve the efficiency of UV diodes so they can tweak existing fluorescent-bulb phosphor blends and get better color rendition. If that makes color temperature and luminance more predictable, LEDs will take off even further in general lighting applications. While they have their challenges - when properly used, their extremely long lifespans are very useful in situations where changing bulbs is difficult or expensive.
  
  And of course, no one who's paying attention would buy a common incandescent flashlight any more; there are some specific applications for high-power incandescents - but power LEDs have taken over the general-purpose flashlight market, and rightly so. A decent LED and regulation circuit will provide more light for longer off the exact same batteries than will the familiar incandescent Maglite. (Mag has finally "seen the light" and now has LED versions of some of their lights... though there are other manufacturers who do it better, frankly.) Want a good flashlight? Check out the offerings at 4Sevens; my favorites are the Fenix and Quark brands - though I would also love to have a Zebralight headlamp. (The H50-Q5 model, in case you're curious.)
  
  I'm fascinated by the multi-core LEDs that have come out - from the 4-core Cree MC-E and Seoul Semiconductor P7 to the 6-core Osram OStar. I've yet to see a model that I've just "gotta have" yet, though; if I'm going to drop ~$150 on a flashlight - plus a couple sets of 18650 lithium-ion cells and a good charger - I want it to be a really excellent light with truly impressive output. ;) (The Ultrafire RL-2088 I posted about a while back looks good - but I want to hear from one of the gurus on CPF what its real-world output is before I spend that kind of money.)
  
  
• The Big Bang Theory: I'd almost given up on the idea that broadcast TV could produce a sitcom that would appeal to me - but I was glad to find out they can. The show is brilliant and funny, and I love the way it manages to poke fun at nerd tendencies in what I can only describe as a loving way. How rare is it to love a character like Sheldon because he's annoying?!
  
  And yes, I identify both with Sheldon and with Leonard. Sheldon's more like me as a young child, and Leonard more like me in college and later, when I'd learned to socialize a bit. I don't think I was ever quite as snarky as Sheldon, though - it was more that I was oblivious to the fact that not everyone saw the world in the way I did.
  
  Oh, and I have to mention Penny. It would be way too easy to present her as a stereotypical "dumb blonde" - and they resisted that. She's just ... "normal," as compared to our very bright but socially inept quartet of nerds. It's a less stark - but much more interesting - contrast.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HBTY
HBTY
HBDsweetsmartogam
HBTY!

And many more.

I have been searching through my Lovecraftiana, as well the Necronomicon and come across some interesting things.  Apparently, H.P.L. based his Cthulhulian Speech on Sumerian and Babylonian texts which were valid languages and thus had regular sentence structures.  Unfortunately, both Lovecraft and the anonymous Writer(s) of the Necronomicon have a strange mixture of English and Sumerian / Babylonian /
Pseudo-Sumerian and the sentences are unwieldy things.  A large portion of the Necronomicon is devoted to the 'Descent of Inanna', which is re-interpreted with different slant and I wonder to what extent these ancient texts informed H.P.L.'s Cthulhu Mythos.  He also freely borrowed from Egyptian and Greek Myths as well, as he mentions Bast and Hypnos and 'Nyarlathotep' is a distinctly Egyptian sounding name. There are also Mayan / Aztec deities mentioned.  The Necronomicon also borrows from Crowley as well, adding to a grand stew of influences as have the subsequent influences of all the other Authors who put in their own slants to the
Mythos, both during Lovecraft's lifetime and certainly well beyond it.  So I don't think that adding my bits to the Mythos is out of place at all.  I'm giving Cthulhu a brother whom he doesn't get along with to wreck a little havoc.  

The book is moving again, after I was stopped for a week by the need for the language.  I'm letting it stew a bit in my own brain to see what will come out.  I'm going to keep it to a minimum, although it looks like it will have to come soon as Ash does his best best to rescue the other dreamers that have been snatched. 

Brandon reminds me of Idol's Adam Lambert in this way: Every week and can't wait to see what he'll do with the material his is given.  The competition is his to lose.  His partner, Jeanette may be his only competition.  When the pairs split next week, it will be interesting to see if they are as good with other partners as they are with each other. 
I keep wanting to like the Vaudevillian Even.  But he lacks passion.  Every week he dances as is he afraid his partner Randi's husband is going to kick his ass for touching her.  Touch her, dammit!  Show some passion!
I think Jason or Chbeeb is out this week.  They are getting lapped by the other dancers and surving only on cuteness and personality.  Not sure about the girls.  But I think J and C's partners would shine more if they got to dance with some of the other men.

Recently, MSNBC did a bit of a "facelift" of their on-air graphics, and this seems to have been when they decided to take their video netcasts of Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show to 16:9 widescreen. Of course, I didn't discover this until after the first evening when I wound up with a distorted image on my TV - since my automated processing script was still crunching the image down to a 4:3 NTSC format.

So now, instead of sending out a 320x240 video, they're sending 424x240. After some futzing with various approaches, what seems to work best for me is to resize to 472x240 (thus doing no vertical resizing, yet still getting NTSC aspect) and then do a little padding to accommodate the peculiarities of my particular CRT television. [Despite my general loathing for HDTV and all the associated nonsense - going to square pixels as the standard was the ONE thing they got absolutely right.]

For those of you who are wondering about this - in the NTSC world, a "pixel" is actually slightly taller than it is wide; this is by nature somewhat approximate as there were no "pixels" when NTSC was invented. A common approximation is that an NTSC pixel is 10/11ths as wide as it is tall. Thus, in comparison to a square-pixel version intended for computers, the horizontal resolution for an NTSC video will be higher - 352x240 versus 320x240, for instance.

In this case, I worked the math to figure out how much I'd have to stretch horizontally to avoid doing any vertical resizing. While it's generally not a good idea to blow up digital media, the small increase is not going to produce a lot of blockiness - and it's only to adjust the aspect; the same amount of screen area will be used as if the original were played on a comparable display with square pixels, so I'm not really losing much image quality here.

The padding I mentioned is to compensate for an old NTSC/CRT thing called "overscan" that's no longer really necessary in the digital realm, but must be attended to in this case. If I don't pad the sides, part of the image will be lost behind the bezel of my television. As the show is still shot and composed so that nothing of great importance will be lost to those watching on a 4:3 set cropping off the sides of the image, this isn't such a big deal, but who knows when they might decide there's few enough people left watching cropped (as opposed to letterboxed) and start making more use of the whole image area.

What would really be nice is if the DVD player I use had a mode to compensate for the pixel aspect difference when playing back square-pixel media - and to adjust it for that particular display's overscan characteristics. But given that HDTVs natively use square pixels now, and the trend is away from CRTs - I don't expect to ever see a DVD player that does this. (Maybe a home theatre PC setup could be tweaked like this....)

HBTY
HBTY
HBDsweetsmarthotmuchmissedchickenfarmerbill_bill
HBTY!

Wherever you are.

So I get a message on one of the meat-market websites... check the guy's profile and find he's got no face shot available. His profile says that he's basically shaved from nose to toes. (He's a bodybuilder type.)

Now, my profile there says I won't respond to profiles that don't have a face photo, and also says that face fur is my A#1, absolutely gotta-have-it sexual turn on. (I describe a "bold moustache" as being the minimum.)

So I admittedly violated my own rule and sent him a note asking if he'd actually read my profile... the response was "ya and I wnat [sic]..." (going off into what he wanted.)

So guess who just got his profile blocked? Dratted Epsilon Minuses....

I respect what people put in their profiles; if I see an intriguing photo but then find out he's looking for guys 20-35, I move on - I don't send a note arguing that I'm not SO far out of his range. I don't understand the age limit thing, but it's not for me to argue about. I really don't think it's so much to ask that people comprehend that when I say "This is non-negotiable" I mean it and that they don't try to argue, or even worse in this case - just ignore it.

like? dislike? love? hate?



this is a concept I am working on for KDFC's program ads.
(e.g. the ad in the Symphony Programs for 2010....)

The 'US Government owned' auto company is trying out some unusual targeted marketing for the Camaro.



EDIT* The video has been removed from YouTube. Guess it got the wrong kind of attention.
You can still check out the high-larious comments on HuffPo from the link above.

I have spent the day feeling like I've hit a creative wall. Nothing seems fresh or original or exciting. The reason I became a graphic artist was to push my creative skills and imagine new and exciting things. and I feel like I'm walking in circles. (*megasigh*) There is no budget at the office to get trained in whatsnext. I'm not sure whatsnext. I just don't feel like I'm innovating at all. and that worries me.

I walked 14 Kilometers today, to and from Westerland, Sylt's main town. Most of the journey was along the bike path, but I did take a detour through the dunes so that I could walk along the beach for a while. It's all quite gorgeous. And once in town I took a stroll down the main drag like any other tourist. eventually I found Woyton's the local, semi-funky wifi equipped coffee shop. I have the homing instincts of my tribe. that being the tribe of louche caffeine-swilling screen gazers. I didn't have the laptop with me, but as I sipped my latte and ate my sandwich I saw my fellow patrons intently pecking out their various communications. The laptop has replaced the blackbound artist's book that so many of us regarded with great seriousness in previous decades. Then the joke was that we were all working on masterpieces of solipsism, projects so twee they would never be published. Now everything is published, and to what effect?

This post could have been written there, while I was looking out at the encroaching storm clouds, but instead it's being written here, back in my tidy apartment. I managed to beat the rain back and I'm about to grab some dinner.

As a side note - I've decided to take this journal friends only from here on out. Those of you who look in on me here from outside of LJ, can continue to follow me at http://naylandblake.net/wordpress/. There's no dramatic reason for this, it just feels right now.

I want to Thank everyone for their comments, make's ya not feel quite so isolated...

Yesterday, Duke was doing better than I was! But then I'm three days behind him on the flu ...

He still asleep, but we plan on driving out to Gureneville late this afternoon to pick up his meds and get the mail.

Now that we're getting over this, moving around good. My butt and back are tired ...

I have a chiropractic appointment tomorrow morning and acupuncture Friday afternoon.

I hope were completely over this.