World Of Warcraft Expansion No.2?
This weekend in Blizzcon 07! Here is the link and it is just down the road at the Anaheim Convention Center. I kind of wanted to go but was too lazy on snagging a ticket. The big rumors are that WoW Expansion No.2 is coming soon. Blizzard may try and release one expansion per year which seems like a great move. WoW recently started growing again and topped the amazing 9,000,000 player mark.
Rosedale Says SL Will Dwarf Web In 10
Holy carrumba Batman! Philip Rosedale and others made bold predictions recently on the future of virtual worlds. Here is a link to one of the stories covering the Stanford Summit. I'm not sure if I agree or disagree with Rosedale and need to give it some thought. What do we do on the web most often? In my opinion...we read and communicate. I just always think that "text" based communication trumps many other forms of communication in terms of speed and efficiency. Today, many of us who "love" Second Life and IMVU and Virtual Laguna etc...still heavily use instant messaging and cell texting as our main forms of communication. If everyone was like the heavy virtual addicts of today, how would the web be different? I think we all still use websites, shopping carts, email clients, and Instant Messaging, but there would all be a lot more choices in terms of virtual fun. I personally would much rather shop at an amazon than I would walking around virtually since one is much more efficient. If I wanted to shop for pleasure or fun...then virtual is very cool. I think Rosedale is right in his prediction, but I don't see Virtual worlds ever stomping out instant messaging.
Meebo and IMVU are The Fastest Growing IM Clients
Here is a story from CNET on which instant messaging clients are growing the fastest. IMVU is doing great as well as Meebo which is like a web-based all in one chat system which often gets around work firewalls.
Welcome To The Parker and other TV
I had tears in my eyes when Hidden Palms ended on the CW...it was like "The OC" but out in the desert. I am excited to let you know that there is one more Palm Springs show available on tv called "Welcome To The Parker". It is a reality show on Bravo which follows around the staff of this fancy hotel, out here in Palm Springs. There is a room in the hotel that can go for $5,000 a night! Yikes that is pricey. Here is the official website. The first week they had this Ping Pong tournament of old rich guys who really trashed the place...I felt bad for the parker and hope they charged the lads $10k in damages. lol Sexy Andrea is hot hot. If you dig reality tv, give it a try tonight.
The other show I started watching this summer is web-based series that you can rent on amazon and maybe itunes called 'Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World'...it is hard to describe the show but I would say it is kind of like a lego-man version of a gay southpark. The show has sharp and witty writing. Here is the website.
The Frisky Pirate Vs The Cancer Updates
I have updates on my recent medical adventures; both good and bad news so let's start with the bad...they did find some cancer cells in my leg biopsy, but the good news is that the lymph-node test was negative. This might not sound like great news but it is much better to have cancer cells localized rather than having them swim around all willy-nilly in our lymphatic systems. I go under the knife next Tuesday since they like to remove a little extra tissue as a margin of safety and my doctor also wants to take out a lymph node or two...just to be overly cautious. I'll be in and out on the same day and should be dancing a jig a couple days later. With the type of cancer I have, it's a game of finding cancer sells early and then removing that tissue. I'm pleased with the test results.
Santa Barbara Drawing Class
Last weekend I was up in Santa Barbara attending a drawing class. This was the part 2 of 'Drawing On The Right Side of Your Brain' and the class focused on the skill of sighting (using your hands to scale what you see) as well as shading (learning how to better see lights and darks and midtones). It was fun to hang out with my teacher and old friends and I also made a couple new friends. The class was nice and small...there were only six of us! It was me and the ladies and I think everyone had a good time. We started out with just a styrofoam ball on a table. Next we went to the ball, cube and cone and my damn cone looks like a bottle of Mrs Butterworth syrup haha (not sure what I was thinking). We finished up the first day by sketching a famous drawing of a woman. We did this as preparation for the next day where we would get thrown into the fire...drawing our first live nude model...gulp! On Sunday morning we started out with the classic Wine Bottle and Fruit type drawing. The teacher asked us to bring in a banana for the next day and I think he ended up with twenty of them. Finally we finished with a nude model drawing. Our model was so patient and helpful...normally models sit for 20 minute sessions and she stayed in one spot for an hour! To her, the minutes feel like hours...but to the students...the hour seems like a blink of an eye. That drawing took us about three hours.
I've taken four or five art classes over the years in both 2D and 3D and my very favorite of all the classes is the 'Drawing on The Right Side of the Brain'...if you've ever wanted to learn to draw, or want to draw better, check out these seminars.
