Far be it from me to storm in and start changing things but perhaps a hazelnut burger would be more fitting. The Clock Crew annals will also have to be changed.































Annals I said

I became estranged from the ClockCrew tribe quite a while ago, but recently my ClockCrew-shaped birthmark started glowing and upon answering the call, I

Quick there's still an hour and forty five minutes to wish Yo Yo a Habbababba.

{{{yoyoclock}}} you're a good one we'll keep you in our hearts

and you look everywhere, and it's a mystery, and you wonder where it could have gotten to, and you think it can't be anywhere it must be? I'm quite certain that my book is in Normandy. It was in my living room, on the sofa, two nights ago, and now i'm sure that without my help it is in Normandy. I couldn't even get to Normandy if I wanted to, and yet this book, by its intrinsic qualities alone, has made it there. What does a book do in Normandy? If I placed an apple outside on my window ledge, would it travel farther than an orange? If I went back two nights and placed the book on the coffee table, would it still be there now?

I just skipped to last page of my reviews history on Newgrounds and started reading reviews I wrote in 2002, aged 14. I'm proud that I appear to have had SOME taste, but a lot of the stuff I liked was extremely trite.

I had to laugh at my first review of a clock movie though. It's the prototypical "Most Clock movies stink but THIS ONE is pretty good". It's my review of OrangeClock's Scream:

Quote"About the most decent clock movie i've ever seen" (overall score 6)

                                      submission: Scream
                                  date: September 6, 2002
                                        Im sure there are other good clock movies too, but most stink. This was good.
  Cool sound & animation, it was kinda funny at the end too....

I think I joined the CC BBS a few days after posting that review.

I gave this flash a bad review although now I think it's pretty great:

Quote"Yes, well..."
                                                                        submission: Fingertips #9 (overall score 2)
date: May 31, 2002
                                        How is this a daily feature? It sux and couldnt be funny unless you were totally out of your head.

I'm quite stunned by how clearly some of these short, throwaway animations have remained in my mind. Even this arnold schwarzenegger soundboard is intimately familiar after over 8 years.

I'm working on an installation based around a machine which triggers the synchronized release of the sounds and smells of my translation of a poem. The poem is in turn an evolution of another text -- the contents page of a scientific cookbook. More info & an audio sample at my blog

I became interested in translation at university when I analysed German translations of Shakespeare's sonnets. I felt that the best translations were the ones that did not try for rigid fidelity, but essentially created a new work from the source text. They let the original work evolve from within themselves (the poets/translators) so that their translations were imbued with their personal histories and language.

I think a good project would be to collectively hone a draft page for "The Clock Crew" that we could eventually jimmy into place on wikipedia.org.

FUclock once made a thread in which he drew your clock as an old man. I am copying that idea!

Well I guess after the initial gassing it doesn't break any precedent.

We're not going to police anyone on what to say. Unless we disagree with it -- that's different!

Are the following philosophies on clock crew group dynamics improvements or not? If not, why not?

1. Independence from the outside. Not in a cultish "you may not communicate with the outside" or vice versa, but in more of a self-respectful way: in practice, it would mean a general silence regarding outside influences which do not bear any importance or influence on matters which began within.

Example: you can post a youtube video if it references an idea that began within the community, but if that video is simply something that's doing the rounds in general society, then it is regarded as irrelevant. Likewise for discussion of politics -- and possibly video games and music (these things could be discussed in the chat room or IM but not on the forum).

Why all this? What's the advantage? To keep the Clock Crew unemulsified with the greater society and in doing so promote independent, alternative thinking and originality, and to maintain the sense of humour, tradition and unique community experience as opposed to that of "just another forum".

And equally important, if not more important: to encourage a greater sense of mystique surrounding our individual clock personas. I think when our knowledge of one another is based more on our actions and creative output rather than on our general tastes and social prowess, we are bound to be much more appreciative of one another and this should result in less animosity and more group cohesion and collaboration.

If we keep a distance from eachother's personal lives -- using our clock characters as Venetian masks -- I think we are more likely to want to express ourselves through our animations. And to express ourselves more freely. Not only because it becomes one of the only modes of expression available to us in the group, but also because we drop the restrictions of our social self image.

Naturally we can still be friends on instant messaging or skype or what-have-you; the masks are for community-level interactions. It doesn't matter if you already know many clocks personally, as new members will fill the gaps of the illusion in time and lead to increased productivity and a group generated Clock Crew identity.

I think if this one-way cultural valve were installed, the rest would gradually fall into place.

2. Actually that's all for now.

TLDR: I don't want to see what you look like or hear about your favourite band. I'm more likely to like you based on your actions and creative outpourings. Which is certainly the case for every great or iconic clock I can think of -- they don't reveal an awful lot about themselves and we love them all the more for it.

ps i love you

ZenClock contacted me a while ago and together we came up with this alternative:

http://clockgrounds.org

plz? xxx

and as if for a last hoorah, they stain your bedsheets or walls with your own blood when you finally destroy them.

http://www.11secondclub.com/home/FAQ/

This is a website for people who cannot last longer than 11 seconds.

Actually it's a monthly character animation contest, and I thought ye might find it interesting to participate and/or spectate.

http://www.11secondclub.com/competitions/october09/winner/

is the same word, pronounced shem-POH!

that's all

I made a thread a few months ago about my digital sketches ('ere), and I was prompted there to explore traditional painting, i.e., not digital.

And I did! Here are some of my first steps with watercolours (all from observation).



First test


a sketch on plain paper


pretty rigid and uninspired poop


saplings



quick sunset sketch before the light disappeared



sheep lazing in a shed



another characterful shack (i don't know why i find them so appealing)



a sketch of a wheelbarrow that i tore up



but later appreciated

Despite what people say, I did find a lot of helpful overlap with technique between digital and watercolour painting. I still have an awful lot to learn (these few images document almost every brushstroke I've made with watercolour), but I'm enjoying it so far.

I've just moved to a city environment, which is less inspiring to me visually than the countryside environment of before.


So myeah I haven't found time to do any painting recently because i'm looking for a job. But check back here or at my blog if you're interested to see my progress.

I thought i'd share some of the sketches I've been doing here, as a means of motivating myself to do more. Any feedback is encouraged.

This was my first experiment with my new Bamboo pen + touch. Drawn from observation, it's unfinished:



My second foray is also drawn from observation and is also unfinished (the light changes too quickly!):


I experimented more with textures and colours in this one.

The following one is another one drawn from observation, but this one is more or less finished as the midday light is less temperamental and gave me plenty of time to work:



I think this last one is let down by my lack of attention to lighting/colours but I do like the messiness of it, because the shack itself was very messy and tumbledown too:

I decided I'd like to learn how to knit and this is what happened. That small cloak took HOURSSS and I'll probably never knit anything ever again. Fun though!

It's my pleasure to announce the start of the cc film club! An opportunity to share films you admire (for whatever reason) and, optionally, to discuss them.

Whether you're an aspiring filmmaker or an established forumwhore, I look forward to your taking part in the club discussions. You may participate whenever you like, and contribute as much as you like.

The film club will begin immediately and hopefully continue to take place every week in 2010. The leader of the club -- the person who determines the film -- will be different each week, according to the following calendar:

Friday the 1st of January 2010: Losperman (American Psycho, 2000)
8th: Topkatyo
15th: Poltergeist
22nd: Biblo
29th: Satellite
Friday the 5th of February: Dwarfinator
12th: Munglai
19th: Gir
26th: Thor
Friday the 5th of March: SillyPutty
12th: Astronaut
19th: Patriot
26th: Tabasco
Friday the 2nd of April: LeekClock
9th: RobClock
16th: TequilaClock
23rd: GameslaveClock
30th:

If those dates are inconvenient for any of you, you may swap amongst yourselves.

(Moderators please add people to this calendar upon request. People can lead as often as once a month, or whenever they like if there is no competition).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keep an eye out in the film forum each week for film club discussions, which will be labeled like this:


Some guidelines for weekly club leaders:

• This is not about you and your favourite films -- it's about your favourite films and us. You can present any film, but pick something appropriate to the clock crew and explain to us why you like it and why we will like it (or at least what we can hope to gain from viewing it).

• Please consider presenting some kind of discussion along with your chosen movie. Focus on something you find interesting or which you yourself do not fully grasp, perhaps. Optionally you may entertain people's blind responses to the film and see if that goes anywhere.

• Club leaders can set their featured film at any time after their date on the calendar (by making a thread in the film forum) but not before. After the first week, it may be the case that multiple discussions are taking place at the same time.

• It should go without saying, but don't give any spoilers in the first post unless you're utilizing the spoiler tag.

• Don't condone piracy on the bbs or link to sharing sites. People must acquire the films themselves by whatever means they individually choose.

For everyone else:

• Even if you've seen the film in question before, it may be worthwhile watching it again in light of the discussion. Then you will be able to make more interesting observations and maybe appreciate some aspect of the film you were not receptive to before.