Our first convention appearance will be in Ohio at Bowling Green State University – it’s a FREE one day event but has many of the bells and whistles of a larger/longer anime convention. I highly suggest coming by!
Animarathon
Bowen-Thompson Student Union
Saturday, March 24, 2012 10:00am – Midnight
Their site is in a bit of a transition right now, so if there are any questions on the event, please leave a comment!
Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy “offline” mode for this site – and as such this post will have to stand in place for a complete blackout of DisjointedImages.
Please take a moment to read more about it HERE and HERE and finally HERE
For everyone who has enjoyed my postings – think about all the ways that someone could claim infringement (didn’t like the review I gave of a restaurant that had pictures of the food) and have me completely shut down with no warning, discussion, or recourse. It’s a terrible thought, and my site is one that I don’t expect goes on many radars. Now think of much splashier well-visited sites that might be considered competition – easily taken down by a liberal interpretation of SOPA’s intent.
Contact your representatives – let them know that this law cannot be put in effect.
This past weekend Detroit hosted the second annual Maker Faire at The Henry Ford. Maker Faire started in 2006 in San Mateo, CA and quickly word spread about how fun and amazing it was and soon other areas organized local Maker Faire events.
It is a weekend long celebration of everything fantastic about learning and teaching, science and engineering, arts and crafts, and everything in between. It gives a place for every DIY’er and home-brew hacker to come together and show off what they love – creating.
Throughout the day I saw people of all ages learning how things work, and seeing new ideas taking shape. Everyone was having fun, and everyone wore their geek titles proudly.
We arrived at 9 am and already there was a good bit of commotion on the parking lot grounds as everyone finished setting up for the day.
They had a very organized ticket pickup process, which left us with 30 minutes to kill.
I’ve been coming to the Henry Ford since I was a child – courtesy of my grandparents who kept a family membership (which includes all kids and grandkids under 18 – really a good deal) and made an annual outing of seeing the museum. It’s been a few years since I’ve been here though, and amazingly my husband has never been.
A photo enthusiast like myself could spend hours pointing the camera at everything no one else looks at, let alone the actual museum installations.
Finally we killed enough time and were let in. They had signs up with QR codes to unlock an app that let you enter a drawing for an iPad (which were heavily in use everywhere, as portable video displays or robot controllers). Droids were also in abundance of course.
While not exactly Maker Faire – I had to get a shot of the old style Wienermobile. We saw the current one just this year during one of our trips to Chicago so it was cool that this was the first thing we saw walking into the museum space. Yes, I bought a whistle.
The second thing was a Rancor head (complete with drool)…
A fantastic reproduction R2-D2 (all metal!)
Displaying the power of the BeagleBoard. Each tiny chipboard is controlling a single monitor and keeping the video perfectly synched across them. Essentially everything an average laptop can do all on a board the size of a floppy (3.24 inches square). Very impressive.
Some kind of recycled scrap installation art piece. Not entirely sure…. I was amused however to notice after getting home that the art got a picture of me taking a picture of the art:
There was an excellent balloon artist entertaining the kids:
Souvenir tee shirt:
The Maker Works booth showing off a laser cutter – and promoting the opening of an Ann Arbor tech shop where members can use this machine and many more for projects that would require far more investment capital than most of us have.
The always popular MakerBot
My fangirl moment (in the middle of all the rest of the geeky stuff of course) were these adorable Daleks (with the rocket ships behind them):
Another interesting display was the mold casting booth. It offered a great variety of colors of hard plastic as well as malleable rubber for masks. This guy was as well made as he was creepy:
I was REALLY excited to turn the corner and see Shapeways had a booth. I’ve been following them since they started (and they have really come a long way in a short time in terms of materials they offer) but never gotten around to plunking down cash for an order. Being able to see the results in person, hold them and stress test them was fantastic. I am 100% comfortable in suggesting their services to friends and will seriously look at placing an order soon.
Another extrusion based 3D printer – this one however kept the head in place and moved the table as it printed.
Next up was some mechanical demon pony robot that spat fire (my husband: “Of course it does”).
The next photo doesn’t really work without sound – but we’d left the camcorder at home so…. The museum staff were showing off this lovely gramophone and even letting you record your voice on a wax cylinder and playing it back! I thought it was wonderful (I want one) and still amazing that something so simple works so cleanly. I actually liked the sound of my voice on this.
A cyber robot snowman (duh):
Some of the best things were all the hands on demos. For instance – they had a “learn to solder” booth set up where you made this cute little Maker SHED robot for just a $1. I’ve never soldered before and found it a little too small and fiddly for me (especially in a crowd, in the heat, I get frustrated easier) so Chris had to help. They DID have staff helping out of course, but a husband is a better handler of heat induced meltdowns I think. 
By now we were pretty hungry and more than ready for some air conditioning time (temps were in the HIGH 90′s, and we’re in a parking lot with no shade) so we headed in to the Michigan Cafe’.
There was a fairly long line (but it moved fast) so I busied myself taking artsy photos:
They have a nice setup to deal with crowds – the full menu board is in sight of the line, and broken up by salads, hot items, and deli things. With a cafeteria style pickup spot for each. Folks know what they want and can go straight to the counter without having to mill about deciding.
Chris got the pulled pork and a side of potatoes. The pork was good, with a slightly sweet tangy sauce to it:
I got the broccoli quiche (with potatoes) which was fantastic. There was a spice that I can’t quite name but gave it a tart citrus kind of flavor that was different. I’m not sure if they make this in house or if it’s brought in, but I’d buy a whole pan!
Revived and cooled for the moment – we ventured back outside. Right into a couple of Stormtroopers. “We support the Empire – honest!”
The always fantastic 501st Legion – Great Lakes Garrison division.
Demonstrating electricity generation by people power:
Sadly, we didn’t get to see the Imax video – but seeing the Tornado Intercept Vehicle in person was awesome.
We have a LARGE yard. We own a piddly push mower with a wonky back wheel (though we’re grateful for it, as it was a hand me down, else we wouldn’t have one at all) that takes many many passes to tame our lawn. So I was not surprised when this made Chris’ eyes light up like it was his birthday:
Uhm, hmmm… okay….
Tusken Raider!
Nyan Cat! Yes – it was animated too, and he sang the song. This guy never was without a crowd whenever we went by (I also saw him playing videos from The Simpsons).
For the last event of the day we stopped to watch the Life Size Mousetrap game:
It was a very cool thing to watch (and yes I tipped him).
That was our day at Maker Faire. There was a ton I didn’t get photos of (just far too hot for me to deal with – even the camera was almost too warm to touch) but hopefully I’ll have more photos to feature next year. Who knows, maybe we’ll be there SHOWING an invention?
The Hot Air Jubilee is an annual event that takes place in Jackson, MI. Over the three day event they have daily balloon launches, an arts and craft fair, a children’s carnival with small rides, inflatables and games, and various other entertainment. The balloon launches happen (weather permitting) twice each day – once early morning and again in the early evening.
According to their website:
In 1983 a group of Hot Air Balloon enthusiast who lived in and around Jackson came up with the dream of a family friendly event for the Jackson Community. The Hot Air Jubilee was born. Since then the Jubilee has grown to an event that thousands of people attend every summer. 35-40 Balloons come in from around the country to participate in the friendly rivalry of the contests.
There was definitely a large crowd of people there when I arrived, and it was a bright hot July day to be sure. There was quite a bit of shade afforded by the trees and as long as you stayed hydrated it was tolerable. They had the usual carnival games like water guns and shooting hoops.
I was tempted to play if it meant winning this fuzzy guy.
The Jackson RC club was also out – showing off their confidence with their planes with barrel rolls and nose dives.
I caught this dragonfly taking a break on a car antenna – no doubt letting his wings cool in the slight breeze.
It was equally entertaining watching what goes into getting a balloon set up as it was the actual launches.
This little girl was having a blast with her bubble gun.
The obvious fan favorite was Sugar Bear of course.
I highly recommend if you’re within any reasonable driving distance that you check them out next year.
View the full gallery HERE.
GlassCityCon was a lot of fun. The new banner seems to be getting good attention, as well as advertising the prices better. This is our favorite small time con because they give you TONS of room behind the table AND they have cushy chairs/couches so your butt can un-numb from the normal chairs.
This year I want to start adding a selection of photos and highlight my galleries more from my traveling, so enjoy!
Click for more: GlassCityCon Photos
I couldn't help but laugh - these guys did a GREAT job on an unorthodox cosplay...
The hallway on Sunday - watching the people walking through.
Our table - showing off the new banner on the left.
These are so adorable - I bought one at JAFAX, and had to admire them again. Great quality!
This guy was showing her a dance step, and I loved the bright red against the sunny windows.
JAFAX was delightful as always. It really highlighted the need for new boards, as just a single table really requires some creative editing of what we can put out. Unfortunately, it means no MahJong House on display, nor a good 30 button designs.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by, especially those who are our repeat “we have to find you every year” customers. My favorite moment was listening to someone trying to direct their friend by phone to their location to meet up: “We’re at DisjointedImages. The fun table!”
Our next convention is in Ohio – http://www.glasscitycon.com/ Please come see us!
I recently had the pleasure of renting the Canon 70-200 2.8 L IS MK II from BorrowLenses.com. Like all their rentals – they try to provide everything that would have come with the item had you bought it. In this case that means a lens case, hood, front and rear caps, tripod mount ring, and they also throw on a UV filter for those that prefer them.
The very first thing you notice upon taking the lens out is the weight – a hefty 3+ pounds! My current heaviest lens is at a paltry 1+ pounds, so it was quite a dramatic difference for me. This was especially notable as I was renting it for a wedding, and new I’d be hand holding the entire day. No tripod mount for me! At one point in the day I remember letting the lens hang at my side and shaking out my arm. I felt that sucker all through my bicep.
Next was the size. This certainly was the largest/longest lens I’d used and it felt solid. That’s what an L lens is about though – and why they get a red ring to instantly stand them apart from other lenses. (For those who wondered – the L means Luxury.) They are very high quality, weather-proofed, and built to be a long haul lens for discerning professionals (or hobbyists with deep wallets).
The hood has a button you need to depress to remove/mount it on the lens, which I found nice. You knew that it wasn’t going anywhere after bumping around at your side for an hour. It also had a flocked black interior, to prevent light bounce causing flares.
Since the lens arrived on a Thursday afternoon, and I left early Saturday morning (with a day job on Friday to work), I didn’t get a whole lot of practice time with it. I basically just jumped in and started shooting. I was very pleased with the results. Sharp images at both ends and excellent bokeh results. I was able to get the close intimate shots without being annoyingly on top of my clients.
I shoot with a crop camera (30D and 50D) so my reach is slightly altered, but after years of shooting EF lenses on a crop sensor I easily compensate for it with footwork. I’ve never had any performance or quality concerns doing so, and that held up with this lens too.
Verdict – I LOVE this lens. It is everything everyone says it is, and the only thing keeping me from owning it is the hefty price tag that goes with it. . . $2500 retail. If you’re doing this as a business and can make that money back, I say rent it and see if it is for you. Odds are you’ll have lens envy pretty quickly. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
DisjointedImages and DisjointedCode will be in the Artist’s Alley at Anime Central all weekend: May 20-22 in Rosemont, IL.
Come see us for high quality buttons and our solitaire game MahJong House.
I recently purchased a year membership to Kelbytraining.com – an online video based training site started by Scott Kelby. The site covers photography techniques, as well as the full range of Adobe Creative Suite products.
Scott Kelby is a well known photographer, who is also President of the NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals), as well as editor of Photoshop User magazine. He’s written a slew of best selling technical books on a variety of photography techniques and photo editing software tutorials (several of which I own).
So there’s a good background to support that the content on the site is of a good quality, with solid information – which is comforting as some might find the price tag daunting: $199 a year or $24.95 per month. Considering that I am serious about taking my photography, and Photoshop skills, further both personally and professionally, I felt it was a worthwhile investment.
If you ARE concerned that the content might not be worth that to you, they graciously give a large number of videos for free viewing. Watch and get a feel for whether the style and topics meet your needs before committing.
For me, it was most definitely worth it. I’ve watched 6 videos since signing up (all of them roughly an hour long) and felt the time spent gained not only new knowledge, but new inspiration. Each instructor is highly regarded in their field, and well known for their work. You’re taught by someone who not only knows the application, but uses it daily. I found each video engaging, easy to follow, and nicely broken up in to chapters (as most of us only have so much time to spare each day).
I highly recommend going to the site and seeing what they offer. Check out the sampling of free videos, and hopefully you’ll be as happy as I am with them!
Animarathon was – as always – great fun. Our new Artist’s Alley room was perfect in size and location (thanks Amanda) and we got lots of traffic this year.
It was great seeing all the new faces, and getting great ideas for buttons for next year.
Can’t wait for 2012!
