hallopino

Stopping in to give the heads up that I have started a new blog on my redesigned website. Please check that out to keep up on new photos and any other things I might write down.

http://www.hallopino.com

For a couple of months now I've been contributing photos to istockphoto.com in an effort to make a couple bucks back from the photo shoots I do. It's far from a get rich scheme, but can pay out some decent money over years. Thus far I've earn about $60 or so. Pretty respectable.

The site hosts near 3 million photos from thousands of photographers around the world, and processes about 40,000-50,000 images a week (educated guess on those numbers). Every week the site chooses one image out of the entries of the week and features it as the "Image of the Week". This week one of my images was chosen:



I'm very excited to have a image featured somewhere so popular and among such great artists. Kinda wish it wasn't a picture of me though.

Dear Saturday Night Live,

Please do NOT do any N.Y. Gov. Spitzer skits.

Here's the thing. Back in the day you had pretty much an open field of pop culture things to make fun of. It's a live show, and you could pump the joke out there in a timely fashion. That is no longer the case.

The story broke on Monday. By Tuesday it had already be joked and riffed upon by The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Jay Leno, Conan O Brian, Dave Letterman, That Scottish guy from the Drew Cary Show, Carson Daly, and every snarky Tv host, web blog, youtube person, out there. It's Wednesday now and it already feels like beating a dead horse by making a joke out of it. There are still a host of shows that are going to hit the air long before you do on Saturday that will also have their own joke on Spitzer.

So unless you have something spectacular, (which you haven't for several years) back off this story and come up with something else for the skits. Make a reference during Weekend Update, sure. But a skit is going to make you all look like idiots. Don't waste the air time.

Also while I have your attention, why is Mariah Carey the musical guest. No one has cared about her for a decade. If you need musical guests, go find you youngest 3 or 4 writers and actors. Look at what is on their iPods. There is a musical guest that will get you the audience you want.

Thanks.

So here's a shoot from back in January. My NCIS inspired shoot. Dug out a lot of stuff on this shoot. I ordered an very official looking NCIS hat (to the point that we are not sure if it is actually real) Devon had it in some shots that we really do like. She looked smashing through out the shoot. Tina is way in the back there in my stolen Paramedic Jump suit and make up box. One of the lackey's at the store is the corpse.

So, I'm gonna give a free-bee out to all the writers for the Terminator movies, comics, and TV shows here, and I'd like to see this as a season arc in the TV show even. I think it was mentioned very very briefly in T3.

Does John Conner want to stop Judgment Day?

In the future of the Terminator universe John Conner becomes the greatest hero/leader that history has ever known. He's a mythic figure who is known around the world and inspires all mankind into fighting the evil robots and (I assume) winning the war. And all he has to do to have that future is to not stop Judgment Day.



Granted, millions will die. It will be a horrific world wide catastrophe. But there needs to be adversity in order for heroes to emerge. No matter how bad it gets John already knows he'll survive. And he really has no real friends or connections to anyone before the war. So loss for him.

If John Conner does stop Judgment Day, then what? He's been hiding and living under false identities for years. The best the great John Conner can hope for is working retail, or serving fast food.

Given the two options I'd like to see more ethical wondering of what John really wants to happen. Eternally remembered hero and millions die, or eternal poverty and forgotten about.

Gossip news to me is the pimple on the ass of journalism. They make big bucks, and use known resources to find out things about celebrities that frankly are not all that important. Just think of the golden age of journalism if just a fraction of that money and determination when to things like our government and uncovering conspiracies of finding murders.

I do feel bad for some celebs that are constantly hounded by photographers. Fine they are better then everyone else. They have money, they are handsome and beautiful, they are pseudo powerful. That doesn't mean a flock of photographers must follow them around all hours of the day just because they are in the "public interest".

That right there is the key. Public interest. That is the two word phrase that allows these paparazzi to stalk people, cause accidents and other wise be a public annoyance. Recently the most hated of all gossip peeps, TMZ has opened up a spectacular avenue of revenge. They have their own TV show.



In this show the head people at TMZ are on TV. They put them selves into th public interest! So Brad, Angelina, Britney, Paris, Etc etc. You have the money, lets make TMZ's life hell. Hire the photographers to go after the people there. It'll be spectacular. I'm sure there are millions of dirty little secrets that could be unearthed out them, And now that they are in the public eye, anyone can go out and find them.

So, celebs take on the torch. Bring the burning bright light of fame down TMZ and end it all for the good of everyone.

Monica came out and shot a ton of stuff with me last week. One random idea was the scare from watching a horror film. I'm still picking popcorn out of that couch.

Also you may notice that the image has a watermark. I've been adding that to all the new images. It's pretty faint. I didn't want to it intrude on viewing the photo. But it's something that will be difficult to remove if someone tries to steal my work.

On a side note, if anyone wants a small couch, drop me a line. I'm moving in a few weeks and I don't have room for this in my new place.

According to the Live Journal it's been 15 weeks since last I posted something out here. I'm sure no one really noticed. Been trying to figure out what to do with my web site. I've considered moving my blog to the site. But fear of looking unprofessional stop me. Then what goes on the site, I'm not sure. Open to suggestions.

As far as the blog goes, I'm thinking, for the moment, it's best if it stays here. If there is a link to it on hallopino.com that someone can follow if they really want to. Mainly I need to get back into the habit of trying to write something here everyday. Well every weekday at least. Some posts may end up being private as I'm not particularity proud of them, but it's good for me to get them out.

All I really have for now. I've been shooting alot so there will be a bunch of new Photo Friday's to come. What themes shall the other days bring, I'm not sure. Again, open to suggestions.

With the Writer's Strike going on I felt now would be a good time to feature various TV writers who I think have done a good job over the years.

Ben Edlund


Bio:
Ben Edlund's original claim to fame is the creation of the comic book character, The Tick. Since then he's had his heart set on hollywood and has brought the Tick with him creating both cartoon and live-action series for the character. He has gone on to work on other TV series such as, Angel, Firefly, The Inside, The Venture Bros., and Supernatural.

Strengths:
Ben seems to have an uncanny knock for creating full-fledged, well-rounded, memorable characters even if the character is a throw away bit only on the screen for 3 seconds.

Notable Episodes:
Angel - "Smile Time"
The Tick - "The Terror"
The Venture Bros. - "¡Viva los muertos!"
Firefly - "Jaynestown"

So a back around Halloween, Eli Roth gave the AV club a list of movies he recommends for a 24 hour horror marathon. While it did have a lot of key influential, artsy, important horror films. It also had a lot of hard to find, slow moving films with subtitles. Which sorry to say, I can't handle at 4 am.

So here I am going to offer my own list of horror flicks that I think make for a good 24 marathon, which keep the energy and excitement up through out the entire evening.

Now I'll add my disclaimer right here. I'm not a horror movie buff. I'm not saying these are the most important movies of all time. I think they are fun. Even if they are horrible.

I like Eli's idea of running from Noon to Noon, so I'll do the same. I'm also ignoring running times and will assume everything is 2 hours.

Noon - The Host
I'll start off with a foreign film from Korea. This monster movie does a great job of bringing credibility back to the genre that was lost with Godzilla vs. Hulk Hogan (if that movie were to exist) It's cool, it has a lot of energy, and very likely you and most of your friends have never seen it. It's great way to get things started and bring a lot of excitement to the marathon.



2 p.m. - Bubba HoTep
Was searching through lists of horror films to try and remember what I've seen before, and I kinda forgot this movie was actually a horror film. A very funny movie featuring Bruce "Don't call me Ash" Campbell as Elvis Presley trapped in a nursing home where patients are being knocked off by an evil mummy. The first half of the movie is kinda slow, so I'll suggest it for the middle of the afternoon so no one nods off.



4 p.m. - Black Sheep
Time to get some excitement going again, and I'll follow up with a New Zealand horror/comedy. It's about genetically engineered sheep which go on an evil killing spree (as opposed to a good killing spree). There is nothing scary about this movie, but it's just fun to watch sheep tackle and eat people alive. Also it's a short flick Gives some time to stretch the legs, use the bathroom and order a pizza before the next movie.



6 p.m. - The Descent
Ok, if it's fall or winter, then the sky should be getting dark around now. If it's summer then go out side and go party! But the darkness is a good setting for a more legit horror film. The Descent is a British film (I swear there will be some more American films on this list)about 6 women who are going cave exploring, and run into some very nasty creatures. It's been praised for the all woman cast, and for being scary. It's a very creative and effective film.



8 p.m. - They Live
8p.m. is a prime spot. Everyone is still very much awake and well into the horror movies, and there is a fair amount of food in the system, and comfortable spots have been found. I'm going a bit self serving and suggest a cult film and favorite of mine. The John Carpenter flick They Live. It's an infamous low budget movie with some damned amusing lines. But the topics of commercialism, and subliminal messages are very creepily expressed, and are very interesting to me.



10 p.m. - Slither
Time for some more fun. Slither is an other horror/comedy about space alien mutant slug that turns people into zombies. There is some genuine horror in this one, and some great action to keep the energy going into the midnight hour. Also Nathan Fillian's reactions to zombies are priceless.



Midnight - Evil Dead
We'll keep going with an other very American film, the Evil Dead. Who knew that the guy who films this would go on to direct two good Spider-man films. Evil Dead is experimental ow budget film student work at it's best. It's creative, it's fast paced, it's creepy, and it made Bruce Campbell a cult icon.



2 a.m. - Dead and Breakfast
Right now is the perfect time to check out the horror/comedy Dead and Breakfast. It's 2 am and you've just seen Evil Dead. Breakfast has a strangeness of it's own. Just as weird as Evil dead, but it has musical interludes and a dance sequence. Overall it's just fun, and it has some great cameos.



4 a.m. - Dawn of the Dead
I'll be hokey and suggest Dawn of the Dead at, well, dawn. Doesn't matter to me which one. I know the first one is more into the anti consumerism which I love. But the new one has fast zombies and the music of Richard Cheese which might help keep people awake.



6 a.m. - Wallace and Gromit - Curse of the Were Rabbit.
Ok, not a horror movie. At this time we need a shift in the action to keep the stamina up. Wallace and Gromit cartoons have all been very based off of horror movies, and this one is no different. There is still the carnage, and lighting and the elements that make a horror film. It's just that it's cute, funny and Nick Park is one of the best animators around. It's short so might want to track down a copy of The Wrong Trousers for added fun. Also with the short run time this gives a perfect opportunity for everyone to get in the car, get out of the house and make a donut run.



8 a.m. - Severance
Lets do a trio of British flicks for the end. Severance is another horror comedy that actually had some nice quality scares in the first half. It's a very dry sense of humor that expands and builds on it self as the movie continues.



10 a.m. - Shaun of the Dead
And I'll finish it off with a big laugh with the very popular Shaun of the Dead. The Team of Wright, Pegg, and Frost do a fantastic job with the genre bringing the horror and comedy together with out damaging either. Others have said a sooo much about this movie before me, so I'll leave it at that.


That's it. I think that could make for a fun and enjoyable 24 hours. Go ahead, let your opinions and complaints fly.

It's Friday again. I have to keep going back and looking at the posts to figure out what I've posted or not. Today we have a fav shoot of mine. Lots of prep work and comic books went into it. I even destroyed some comic books to tape to the back wall. One of them was actually worth money.

There were a lot of good shots from this set, and I've never really been able to pin down a favorite. But here is one of them. Enjoy.

Mythbusters return this week with a new episodes. And apparently Adam got a new toy. Adam played with his new iPhone a lot during the opening of the show. Using it as a stop watch and for his calculator. I was debating for a while if this was Adam just simply being fascinated with a new gadget or Apple buying some add time. Guessing by an Avert for the iPhone later on during the ep, I'll go with the later. But Adam looks truely smitten with his new technology.

But then again, what better way to sell a cool piece of tech to thousands if not millions of nerds? The Mythbusters have the cred in the nerd herd, and are a fun place to market. Also note the Mythbusters style Army ad that also ran during the show that featured a guy using a robot to blow up a car.

I'd say if Apple can get Jamie to use the iPhone they'll sell an other million on the spot. If Jamie bitches about Adam's addiction to the iPhone then sales will slow down. Also having the build team use the phone will have no impact what so ever. Well maybe Kari...



On a side note, Jamie also used a digital mircometer which I thought was cool.

I've been a bit quiet lately. I've thought of a couple posts to write, but more I thought on the topics the less I wanted to write them.

Today we have an image I fixed up for one of the models a while back. Started out shooting a demon and decided to do a few shots sans horns and such for sex appeal.

Enjoy.

Had to go for the bad joke. So, not much to report, but felt like writing something. Sat was my second outing legitimately playing poker. Meaning that there was money involved. My buddy Pat hosted a little shindig with a bunch of local theater peeps. Pretty cool people. I took 2nd place in the small tourney style game, and got to walk away with a little bit more money then which I came. Not too shabby.

So I'm reaching the end of my X-Men comic shoots. I got two characters left I want to shoot, and I'm not really in a huge rush to shoot them. Namely Kitty Pryde and Harley Quinn. I think they'll be fun. But I think I want to take my time and make sure I do them right.

Today we have Mystique.She was painted blue with creme make up and I had to go in later a touch up a couple spots in photoshop. In hind sight airbrush would have done a better job, but I really didn't have the access. But alas, I'm fairly pleased with this and our model did a great job.

Continuing the pirate theme this week we have a photo from a pirate shoot I did a while back. Now I showed one from this shoot before of her on a computer. But I really liked this outdoor shot as well. It isn't as pirate-y, no eye patch or hat. But she looks nice here, and I don't do a lot of outdoor shots.

Ok, yesterday was international talk like a pirate day. I did my share. I was going to make a post as a reminder, but I didn't remember. Today I saw this drawing from an artist whose work is always worth looking at, and I couldn't help but share.

Behold... No Luck McGee by MikePMitchell - Link to Artwork - Link to Mike's Portfolio

Wanted to start a new feature here for the 5 people who check this out, and start showing random videos once a week. I know it's not ground breaking, but I want to do it.

This week we'll start off with the new video off They Might be Giants latest CD, the Else. The Shadow Government.

Was flipping channels and ended up on CSI Miami. They are going over some rope they found which had a knot in it. They claimed it was a bowline knot only used by nautical people. I'm sorry, but I think I can safely say that everyone I know has an idea on how to tie a bowline knot. I learned in the boy scouts. Others learned in it during school or 4-H. It's fairly common knot people learn right after they learn to tie their shoe, and a square knot.

So, ok  I'll cut some slack. they need hints in order to solve a case in an hour. Let's pretend the bowline know is only used by people with boats. So they go to visit a guy who is working on a boat, and spot the bowline knot on his boat. They got their suspect. he;s in the middle of a boat yard with hundreds of boats around him! Why him? Argh, fustrating.

On my old site, which still floats out there in cyber space haunting me, I had a lot of Tick news and information, and it's been something I've slacked off on a lot since Sean Wang stopped working on the book. But alas I feel that in the 20th year anniversary of The Tick I should pick up the mantle of reporting random Tick news as I hear it.

Electric Tiki, makers of really cool expensive statues, will be making a Tick statue. The Tick will be the official 14th character in Tiki's Classic Heroes line. Below is the current prototype of the statue.