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Double the pleasure? Double the fun?
It's been a year since Steam Studios artist Steve McCain stepped up to the plate as Ad2's Communications Director. (And in case
you've forgotten, Ad2 is the "under-32" branch of The Orlando Advertising Federation.)
A lot of fun was had, a lot of great graphic design
was created, and, most importantly, a lot of lessons
were learned. Number one being: Steve needs help!
No man is an island, and Steve was really close to burning out by year's end. So this year, not only is Steve continuing on as Communications Director, but
Steam Studios' other half, Samson Cranford, will be joining up to be... um... Communications Director!
They'll be teaming up as Co-Chairs (or, as we prefer to call it, "The Wonder Twins") of Ad2's Communications Committee. Half the workload for each
artist, double the creativity for Ad2, and quadruple the hilarity for all involved!
Yup. "Wonder Twins" sounds about right.
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We be trippin'!
Samson Cranford has just recently returned from a
trip to Chicago where, for five days, he was in attendance
at GLOBALCOMM 2006 (one of the largest electronics
tradeshows in the country) on behalf of Steam Studios'
sister company, IP Media. Unfortunately, due to time
constraints, he was unable to do any of the things
on his Windy City Wish List: eat a slice of real Chicago-style
pizza, catch a Cubs home game, and check out landmarks
from "The Untouchables". Hang in there, man. There's
always next year!
In
other news...Sam was't the only one travelling recently. Steve McCain visited Arizona for four days in May to attend a friend's wedding and to hang with the coolest roller derby team this side of the Grand Canyon, The Arizona Derby Dames! Oddly enough, 105° desert heat + cute girls on roller skates = a really, really good time.
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Serif and Sans-serif Fonts
If you've had any experience with letterforms, typefaces or just plain ol' fonts, you probably already know the difference between serif and sans-serif type. But just in case...
Serif fonts, like Times Roman, make use of serifs
(duh!). Serifs are the little extra strokes at the
end of main vertical and/or horizontal strokes of
a letterform. Sans-serif fonts, like Arial, don't
have these extra strokes. Serifs have been around
almost as long as the written word itself, having
been derived from cursive forms in handwriting (and
since man first wrote with rock, chisel or brush,
all modern type is derived from handwritten forms).
The next time you read a book, pay attention to the typeface being used. Chances are it's a serif, because it's long been understood that for large bodies of text, serif fonts, with their extra horizontal strokes (like at the ends of the virtual strokes on an "H") make it easier for your eyes to flow from one word to the next. This cuts way down on eye strain, making it an enjoyable experience to fly through a hundred pages of the latest Harry Potter installment in one sitting.
Sans-serif fonts, long thought to have been suitable only for display type or headlines, may not be the best choice for typesetting an entire novel. But that doesn't mean large amounts of copy can't be set with a sans-serif typeface! Thanks to the popularity of the internet, and the limited choice of "web-safe" fonts available to programmers, Arial, Helvetica and other sans-serif fonts have become ubiquitous, popping up in print layout like brochures, catalogs and magazines.
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Fact Monster
: www.factmonster.com
Don't let it's kid-like interface fool ya, 'cause Fact Monster kicks some serious knowledge. Combining a dictionary, encyclopedia, almanac and more, this is the perfect resource for helping your younger siblings research that history paper. Or getting yourself edumacated! Library, schmibrary, right? |
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Japander
: www.japander.com
Ever wonder why you don't see A-list stars hawking products here in the States? Because it's beneath them, that's why! But apparently that doesn't hold true in Japan, where stars like Brad Pitt, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts routinely pitch products for mucho dinero. Japander collects the best of the best (or weirdest of the weirdest, whichever you prefer) of these commercials. Our personal faves? The ones starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as some sort of weird genie-superhero-court jester that magically appears out of a soda can. (We only wish we'd made that up.)
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Urban Dictionary
: www.urbandictionary.com
Having trouble telling apart your "ice" from your "floss"? Can't distinguish between "bling" and "blang"? Well, fear not! Street cred is a mere click away thanks to Urban Dictionary! Just watch a few hours of MTV, jot down the words you're not familiar with (we're assuming that'll be a lot) and before you know it, you'll be able to understand the conversation patterns of your average, everday 16-year old. (Which, come to think of it, may or may not be a good thing.)
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As much as we're fans of webcomics, no strip (at least not yet) has come close to the wit, charm and outright hilarity of Calvin and Hobbes. And thanks to the Searchable Calvin and Hobbes database, the entire series is within clicking distance.
Now, normally we'd have slapped this link into our Cool Sites section, but there is one little quirk: The search capabilities flat out SUCK! And to add insult to injury, the only way to find strips is by searching. (Typing in "hi" will get you 200+ strips that are out of sequence, with not a single one of them having the word "hi" actually in them.)
But if you've got some time to kill and want a good laugh, nothing beats a Calvin and Hobbes gem. Even if it's completely random.
Let the treasure hunt begin!
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