I'm Going to EA!

Hey, all

I've been keeping fairly quiet about this since I was first contacted about it last week, and I wanted to wait until I got everything confirmed by EA before going public. It's official, EA's travel agency sent me my flight itinerary this morning: I'm going to EA Jan. 11-17 for a "Custom Content Creator's Camp"! I'll be working on some video stuff for the official site, in preparation for the February release of The Sims 3.

I am unbelievably excited. This is a dream come true for me, and I can't wait to see what video-making will be like in TS3.

I'm not sure what details I'm able to give, as far as what exactly I'll be doing, so I'll err on the side of caution and keep mum, for now. I'll just say I am completely STOKED to have been chosen for this.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years. I know you know how much this trip means to me.

YouTube, put DOWN the crack pipe

What the HELL is going on, YouTube?! I went to bed last night and all was well(-ish. As "well" as one can expect from YouTube, these days). But when I woke up and saw my myspace page, I was not a happy camper. I have a bunch of embedded YouTube videos on my page, and every single one now has a hideous search box covering the top portion of the still. LOVELY. I went to the YouTube forums to find I was not the only one with this complaint, it is a new "feature", and there's no way to get rid of it. At least not any way in language that I understand. I've found a couple of workarounds, but they aren't "working around" for ME.

I went to my YouTube channel, and found that all my recent activity was broadcasted in my left column. Of course you can change this in your privacy settings, but by default, they put it up there for the world to see. It's all there: who you've added as a friend, what you've favorited, what you're doing ("VRevis is watching a video!") etc. I unticked that box REAL fast. I DO value my privacy.



I was incensed, and went to post a bulletin, but helloooooooooooooooo! Bulletins have now been removed!! This is another new "feature"!

YouTube posted this entry on these new shinies.

It reads:

"Recent Activity" on Your YouTube Channel

We're happy to announce a couple of new changes to your YouTube channels, based on the feedback and suggestions you've given to us.

The first is the creation of a "Recent Activity" box on your YouTube channel. This box will provide your viewers with a snapshot of recent changes you've made to your public channel, making your channel more dynamic, fresh and timely. For example, if you recently added a new favorite to your channel, visitors can find this favorite in the new Recent Activity box (as well as in the usual "Favorites" box). The Recent Activity box will also consolidate the separate "My Recent Ratings" and "My Recent Comments" boxes into this single activity window.

As always, we give you maximum control over how your channel is configured on the channel design page. And now, the Recent Activity privacy settings page (also available in the upper-right corner of the Recent Activity box) lets you choose what activity you want to appear in the Recent Activity box. It's important to note that we've set your initial Recent Activity settings according to what you already publicly show on your channel today - so, for example, if you're not already showing the Favorites box on your channel, then the Recent Activity box won't suddenly start showing new favorites you make.

Regarding bulletins, we've listened to you, and most of you didn't see the value in bulletins as they are today. So, we're taking a first step to make bulletins more useful. Although the bulletin box will be going away, now you can broadcast a bulletin directly to your channel visitors in your Recent Activity box. This not only provides a fun place to shout out personal updates and news, but also provides an additional way to communicate and engage with your channel's fans.

We hope you like these changes, and are always eager to hear your feedback - so please feel free to share your thoughts with us!

The YouTube Team

My thoughts? The title of this entry says it all.

Only Time: Featured Video on Sim2 official site!

I'm so excited! I just got the notice today that "Only Time" is the current featured video on the Sims 2 official site. Check it out on the home page! As many of you know, Super Star was featured there back in October, so this was a really nice surprise!

There is a new video on my YouTube channel, one I didn't make a big announcement about. It's a personal one. It reused some clips from Only Time, and was originally supposed to be just a remix of clips, to a song that has some important meaning in my life, now. I ended up reshooting some new footage, in the "Only Time" vein. It's "The One" by Elton John. Be sure to watch in high quality!

The One

Thanks to all who have supported my videos. I really appreciate all the great feedback I've gotten.

Problems accessing the site?

Hey, yo

For any members of CJ unable to get in the last few weeks, contact me at acuppajoe@fastmail.net, and let me know what your problems are when trying to get in, any error messages you're getting, etc.

Thanks!

~V

Super Star on official Sims 2 site!

Check it out!! Super Star is the featured machinima!

I was told this was going to happen last week, but wanted to wait until I actually saw it before posting it on my site. Very exciting news!

CJ is back up

Yep.

Another Quick Update

I have updated A CuppaJoe Productions, and it is back in action, for whatever that means.

The CJ forum is still closed to new registrations, but we are working on a solution to reopen the forum, safely, again.

This has been "Another Quick Update".

Told ya so.

Quick Update

I know several people have been looking for updates.

CJ registration is closed, temporarily, for personal reasons. www.acuppajoe.net is also offline, temporarily.

Both will be up and running again, shortly.

Mr. Shy "Super Star" - Juan Belmonte Remix

Here it is, the Mr. Shy, Juan Belmonte remix of "Super Star" video I've been working on for the last month or so. FINITO!

INFO:
http://mr-shy.com

"Super Star" (Juan Belmonte Remix) by Mr. Shy. (c) 2008 New Soul Records & ACuppaJoe Productions. Remix featured on "Olivia Valere's Night & Chill by Juan Belmonte", available on Blanco y Negro Records. *

http://youtube.com/mrshy

The Home Stretch!

Wow, what a long, complicated little Sims 2 music video this is turning out to be! We started production in the last week of July, and here we are, three weeks later, and finally the finish line is in sight.

I am exhausted after Mr. Shy and I pulled YET ANOTHER all-nighter. I have to shoot one more small scene, then the final editing begins, which should take us a couple of days to go over everything. We are both perfectionists, and have been going over every single detail of this video, I've reshot half my stuff, Mr. Shy has had to do a few reshoots...but the video should be out by the end of this week.

And expect a behind-the-scenes look when Mr. Shy and I do a VLog together this September. I've saved a lot of fun stuff, which should embarrass us both. Mwahahahaha.

Stay tuned!

Mr. Shy: Unplugged

Just a quick post to let you guys know that Mr. Shy has put up his Super Star: Unplugged performance, from June, 2008. This is the second upload of this video. For those who caught the first one, there's better audio, this time around. Guest Jahn Bonfliglio on guitar. From the upcoming documentary by Lucy Kostelanetz, "We Don't Wanna Make You Dance".

Thanks for supporting Mr. Shy!

YouTube Link

Superstar Update

Hey, folks!

Just a quick update on the progress of Superstar...

But before I go there, I am having website woes. My site's home page www.acuppajoe.net is showing as a blank, black page. To see my actual page, now you have to go to http://www.acuppajoe.net/index.html.

I don't know what happened, I haven't changed anything, haven't TOUCHED my site in months...so if anyone can help me on this, I'd appreciate it. My site is linked to in many places, and it would be a huge huge pain to have everyone change the link. Anyone know how to get the index page to point to the original link???

As for Superstar:

I've done 45 test renders, and it's looking good, coming along very well. Mr. Shy has done a teaser promo for it on his site (click the banner below!), so you can see that this will be a very...unique...video!

Since my last update, which was August 2, a LOT has been accomplished. It's very much a learning process, as well as an exercise in patience, since I'm used to working on my own, and getting videos done virtually overnight. Not this one, no way!

We've switched to a new approach: I am fleshing out the rest of the video, then will have Mr. Shy do the rest of the shots I need. This will be more effective than the old way, because a.) it will save Shy the trouble of redoing shots because I asked for them before realizing the animation I was going for couldn't be done in the game, or I decided to go a different route altogether, and b.) will keep me and Mr. Shy on speaking terms because of the afore-mentioned reason. KIDDING! Mr. Shy is a good sport about all I'm putting him through.

Right now the video timeline is about 75% finished. Much of it is done with 4-5 video tracks layered on top of each other, so rendering this stuff out for the test renders is taking much longer than a single - or double - video track would!

I officially ran out of harddrive space on my macbook pro, yesterday, and had to transfer all the Superstar files to my external drive - 20+ GB, so far. The convenience of my laptop's portability is rendered null when you take into consideration that you also have to "port" along an external drive, multiple cords, an external mouse, and headphones.

I am compiling some clips and pics for an "outtakes" reel, because some funny stuff has been happening. This will come out after the video's release. Right now, things are still pretty much hush-hush as to the video, itself.

I'm hoping this will be ready for release within the next week, but I have been saying that for about two weeks, now. But I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, finally.

Where, oh, where has VRevis been?

Yes, I'm still alive. I have totally been slacking on updating my website. I don't even have my last two videos up there, yet!

I'm working on a project right now. Actually, taking a break from it for a few hours because I've been staring at this laptop monitor so long my eyes hurt. This is day 4? 5? I'm doing a lot of greenscreening, so, no kidding, I'm seeing red. Everything has a red tint to it. Hopefully this is not permanent! o_o

This is the project I was supposed to have done with Mr. Shy in NYC in June, but, hell, I was in NYC and wanted to see the city. So we didn't get a single thing done on this video. Now Mr. Shy and I are doing this the hard way, over the internet. I'm filming down here in Atlanta, and he's up in NY trying to get his lighting set up for his greenscreen shots. This is definitely the most complicated video I've ever done, the most challenging, and the most fun. AND the most time and space consuming. I have, so far, about 12 GB of avi files (190 clips), .wav files, .mov files, .jpg, .mp3, .flv, .swf ... and this is without the Mr. Shy footage! I have had to move stuff to my external drive once already because I'm running low on disk space, and I'm going to have to do it again. What's frustrating is that I have about 60 GB of free space on my OS X partition, but my game and all my software is on the Windows partition (believe me, if I could afford to buy everything for Mac, I would!!), and I have a whopping 5 GB of free space left. And anyone who works with .avi or .mov files knows that ain't gonna last long...

I'll post a few shots to show what's going on, so far:

The promo pic (Sim Shy's outfit is a recolor I did, myself, to match real Shy's outfit. I also did the Mr. Shy t-shirt, modeled after the one available on his shywear site:



Overhead shot of all the sets as it looks right now (that is a LOT of green!). There is the set I used for the opening sequence, and I had to build an identical set facing the other direction. The way the light was shining on the greenscreen outside the window was messed up in the original. So the second one is purely for greenscreen purposes:



Some trees with a cartoon effect applied:



You'll see what this is all about when the video comes out:



Shep is a very unhappy camper. And this was all for naught, because I realized I had him in the wrong outfit, and had to change him and redo the shot:



A disgruntled sim-actor has the strength of a thousand. No exterior siding can withstand the power of Shep's fist!



Sim Shy, the star of the video (well, he shares top billing with real Shy):



This is a very trippy video. It's a lot of fun, and it's a LOT of work. But I'm in the Zone, so I'm focused. It's coming along pretty quickly, all things considered.

I'm hoping that this will be ready for release in a week or so. If things go well, maybe sooner. But don't hold your breath on that one!

ZOMG, U Tube Haxxorz!!!11

What is UP with all the freakin YouTube hacker posts? School's out, and the kiddies are bored?

Got these three in the last two days:


1.

if someone by the name of Mark Genesis Gallardo (rugbylegend) wants to add you to their list, don't accept it. It's a virus. Tell everyone on your list because if somebody on your list adds them you will get it, too. It is a hard drive killer and a very horrible virus. Please pass this on to everyone on your list. We need to find out who is using this account. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Copy and paste in a new bulletin for all your friends

Show you care. SPAM YOUR FRIENDS! Hey, it'll save your hard drive.


2.

As you know, there are many hackers on our site. One of these hackers is nickobop918.
He has been removing videos and deleting account by hacking. You do not need to report him because that also sets off the timer which you will read about soon. If you do not repost this in atleast twenty-four hours as "Youtube Hacker" we will delete your account. We have developed a timers sytem that deletes your account when the timer ends. Reading this bulletin sets off the timer and the only way to stop it is by copying this exactly and then reposting it along with this code: >&023vf10jm-1-fbfb2=bd-time=png24hrs<

This code sets off the timer and any attemps to mess with the code when reposting will get your account removed.

Sincerely, The Youtube Service

My account is in trouble. YouTube is run by 12-year-olds.

Edit June 15: 24 hours later. I STILL HAVE A YOUTUBE ACCOUNT.


3.

YouTube has found these dangerous hackers who are messing with the system...repost this to warn everyone about this difficultty...repost this or you will get suggested as the hacker and get banned from youtube forever,,,YOUR ACCOUNT DEPENDS ON IT


Sincerely, YouTube Team




P.S. Because of this technical difficulty...we will be moderating random stream chatrooms and comments for suspicion

Wait...is it the YouTube Service, or YouTube Team? How many monkeys are running this joint?!

May the Best Man Win!

This is not a video I intended to showcase, but I'm doing it, anyway! All over the frickin' place. Gotta get those views, somehow.

I write a blog on Sims99, voiced as my Bogus character, Shep, and it's been quickly gaining in popularity. Shep won the very first Sims99 "Blogger of the Week" award, last week (shout-out to Dwelliford!). Shep's shtick is to be as vocal as possible, but never have anything to write about. So he makes something out of nothing.


For my...er..."Shep's"...latest entry, "Oh, It's Been Broughten!", I had been, as usual, stuck for material (Shep comes by his "shtick" honestly). And I have this self-imposed deadline that was creeping up on me. I knew I *had* to do something with the fact that Shep's feature video, "Only", had won Best Film in February, and his twin brother, Scott's video,"Only Time", had won Best Film in May over on Sims99. There was already some fraternal competition brewing because...well...Scott married Shep's girlfriend. SO, the idea of a contest of Olympic-sized proportions, to win the love of a girl, was born. Let the drama ensue! Or the comedy, as the case may be.


This was not made with the intent of ever being reviewed, so it's not polished. I literally did this, from conception to final render, in 9 hours, max. I didn't even make a proper credit roll. I accidentally left out the name of the artist who did the music, Bill Conti. I made the video just for the blog entry, but was talked into submitting it, because - hey - I'm a sucker for flattery.


Here's a link to Shep's "award-winning" blog (*wink wink*), for the background story:

Of Angst and Shepitude

Hope you enjoy!

Long time no blog!

Sorry, I've been SLACKIN'!

I'm still in slack-off mode, but I did want to update everyone before the Val/Quintessential Glamrod/Brynne/VRevis is Dead rumors start.

Haven't done a project since Only Time, but it's doing well at YouTube, so I'm still riding that wave for a while. Going through a bit of a dry spell, waiting for inspiration to strike again. I do have a couple of things in the early planning stages:

1.) I'm going to be doing my first collabo with another machinima director, who is a great friend of mine, and I'm really excited. I'm not sure if he wants his name out, so I'll leave that out for now. He's a brilliant director, and I'm extremely excited to be working with him. This will definitely be a HUGE departure from anything I've ever done before! I'm listening to his ideas and just saying "Woooooooooow."

2.) I'm really getting into this independent music thing, so I'm in talks with another very good friend o' mine, Mr. Shy (link in the banner below), about doing a video for one of his songs (to be announced). Again, very exciting, because I will be doing some things with this video that I've never done before, working with live actors, fun stuff! I'm flying out to NYC in June and we'll do some filming up there. It will be a Sims video, but there will be a few surprises, too. Big shout-out to ya, Mr. Shy, and folks, check out his stuff, fo sho. And pass it along.

In other news, I have been slacking on this blog, but I've been working on another blog that's getting some notice over at Sims99: Of Angst and Shepitude. Bogus front man Shep is taking over the helm on this one. He's making a splash, and I'm having a total blast with it.

That's it for now. I need to wrap this up because I have more slacking off to do. CuppaJoeProductions needs to be updated, when I'm done procrastinating. Only Time isn't even up there, yet!

I'll get around to it.

Eventually.

Ciao.

Transatlantic Jam

I have to show you all this. It's so awesome. I've watched it probably 15 times, already, sent it out to my entire friends list on YouTube, and I'm still amazed, and want this guy to get VIEWS! Subscriptions!


(I'm digging the whole "promoting YT artists" thing, can you tell?)

This is my friend, screenname Kansaslo, linked to in a previous blog entry. Here's his link, again:

http://www.youtube.com/user/kansaslo

And a transatlantic KICK ASS jam collabo with prboyd

The Making of Only Time

I had a lot of questions asked about the "Only Time" video, because I'm now in with a new circle of non-simming YouTube friends. Musicians, artists, awesome folks. They've been so wonderful with the encouragement, the support, putting my video in their VLogs, sharing them with their friends lists...wow. I'm amazed at the reaction I've gotten for this video!

Since the machinima thing is new to the majority of them (as is the Sims 2 game, itself), it was suggested that I do a "making of" video, just to give an idea - a very basic idea - of how a video like this is made.

This is not a "how to make a Sims 2 video" tutorial, I don't go into technical aspects like video editing, camera techniques, or anything like that.

As an explanation, in the comments for this video, I posted this in response to one viewer who is fascinated by the whole thing, but is still confused about how it's done, even after watching this video:

About not understanding any of this: I'm not showing the technical stuff, like what goes on in the editing process; that would be a whole different video! My main point of this video is to show how much illusion is involved in these. Anyone who's played this game knows it doesn't play like this. But if you develop an eye for subtle animations (rather than stock), you can convey just about anything. Developing that eye is THE most important thing in making a convincing video.

Hopefully I've shown that it's like any form of visual art, from photography to filmography to painting. You have to have an eye for composition, for lighting, for angles, for timing, for nuance. Those subtleties make a big impact. For example: pushing in close to a character's face tends to draw the viewer in, and brings more emotion to the shot. There was a lot of that in this video.

Here's the "Making Of" video for "Only Time". Special thanks go out to a few great YouTube friends: Kansaslo, encinitasmel, and Twirretwarre. Please check out their channels. There's some great stuff on YouTube!

Edit to add:

I certainly didn't expect honors on this one!

VRevis is back in the game!

Yeah, I actually make videos, too! I've been slacking in that, preferring to gush over other people's videos, instead. Not that I mind that at all!

This one is to Enya's "Only Time". Thanks to encinitasmel for passing this along to his friends on YouTube!

Gotten a couple of honors so far (I always take screenshots, because these honors are so fleeting...)



Edit:

Heh. Yeah, see? Already changed. And it says I have 3 honors. Where's the third??



Edit:

The mysterious third honor has appeared, today:



Edit: April 21

Woot! Down to one honor, but it's a weekly one:



Enjoy!

Spreading the word for a funny guy

I've been a fan of OneManSho's since I saw his "Simpsons Character Impersonations" video months ago. He's doing a series that is so much fun, called "What song is this?". He actually memorizes the song backwards, tapes himself singing it (yes, backwards!), then runs what he just sang forward, revealing the song. All the while using props. It's amazing. I wish I was that coordinated!

Here are the three videos in the series, so far, and the fourth is a thank you video, and he put the link to my and two other YouTube channels up with a special thanks for getting the word out. That is so incredibly awesome of him, and I so appreciate it. So, I'm giving him this entire blog entry! Be sure to check out his YouTube channel.

What Song Is This 1



What Song Is This 2



What Song Is This 3



"A Thanks and A Post-Filming Apartment Tour"

Digg it: Spreading the word for some friends

Just doing my part in getting word out! Be sure to check these guys out. I had a Digg account, but it went 'splodie, and took all my "diggs" as well as the submission I made for "Push". Sorry, Jack! Digg hates me.

I guess I'll just embed the vids, here, since I can't use the Digg link.

This has become one of my favorite Jack Conte originals. When I first heard it, I liked it a lot. Now I find myself listening to it from my YouTube VLog several times a day, and I already know the words by heart. I cannot wait until he makes these new songs available for download. Killer stuff.




This is one I just submitted, then it went *poof*. Jack's first videosong, "Push". Love it. Raw emotion.



ETA April 10, 2008

The latest in the series. This one is wild. Gonna c/p the title, cuz it's long and I'm too lazy to type it all out: Radiohead's Exit Music for a Film matched with a prelude by Chopin, Op. 28, no. 4



And another mondo-talented friend...Daniel Lee. I originally had blogged directly off of the Digg page, but since it gives a seperate blog entry for each one, I thought I'd just keep adding to this one. I'm sure Jack won't mind. ;)

This is Daniel Lee's cover of Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah". I posted some links for dleeoriginals on my links page at acuppajoe.

Check them out! He's got a very smooth sound, and I see some big talent emerging.

WTF, TOM?!

Eau N'eau! Say it ain’t s’eau!

I just got a popup when I logged into Myspace tonight, saying something to the effect of "Now your myspace friends can be notified when you install an application!"

Say WHAT?!

Applications on myspace? Isn’t that a Facebook thing?

I know people argue vehemently for both sides: myspace vs. facebook. They do it with just as much passion and conviction as they do for other important social issues: politics. Religion. Nvidia vs. ATI. But the reason I came back to myspace and took my facebook account inactive was because of those daggum apps. Okay, it’s not so much that I mind the apps, themselves, as I didn't exactly have a gun to my head when I added all gazillion or so on my profile; it’s the OVERWHELMING GUILT I feel when I see I have 597 pending requests, and I know I will never finish shooting teddybears and hugs at people before dawn, so I skip over them, then wonder if my karma will be shot to fucking hell...

And, oh. my. god. My poor animals. I went on an adoption spree and adopted about 15 cyber pets. I hired a babysitter before I ran screaming for the hills. I hope she’s treating them well. My giraffe and my goldfish must MINGLE!

OY VEY, My conscience cannot handle facebook!!!

I do have to admit Pirates and Parking Wars are pretty killer, though. I played Pirates for about 48 hours straight, long enough become a level 223 Corsair Pirate (#4 in most levels gained in a week!!!), talk several friends in a chat room into getting hooked on it, and to develop a reputation as a vicious, evil, gold-stealing, bomb-throwing maniac. I found bombs personalized with my name on every island. Arr, matey, they be swabbin’ the deck with me face! But they’ll ne’er get me buried booty!!!!

Then I just quit playing. Ha.

And Parking Wars. What is it that is so interesting about it, anyway? I made $500,000 and got a new car! It’s...it’s...a towtruck? Still, it’s fun ticketing my friends. Currently none of my cars are parked legitimately. Will my towtruck get towed? There’s something to ponder...

I keep thinking maybe I’ll activate my facebook account just to see what my friends are up to over there, but the whole thing is so mind-blowingly overwhelming to me. So I play on oldschool myspace, even though many of my friends have abandoned it for facebook.

I don’t want apps on myspace! No apps! NEU! I shall whine and stomp my feet and shake my fist, bitterly. CURSE YOU, TOM!!!

So, wassup witchoo?

Just a brief update on things:

"Only" won the Best Film of February, 2008 on Sims99, so that's had me pumped. I finally got my "star reviewer" status on 99, as well. All that binge-reviewing paid off! I need to get back into it, though. I tend to review a whole slew of videos at a time, write up these in-depth reviews, and burn myself out.

Been getting into the improv thing, so that's been keeping me busy, and offline. So has a really, REALLY bad router/mac issue.

That's about it for now. I tried to be as boring as possible in this entry. I think I did a bang-up job.

Random Ridiculousness

It's a slow news day, and I'm in a self-deprecating humor kinda mood, so I'm posting to bring you this inanity/insanity:

First, a love poem. "Ode to Val (Eau de Val)", by Shep Broke-Bayfield:



Hallmark Cards, call me. We'll talk.

Next, a happy-happy joy-joy pic of the Broke-Bayfield boys.



A little behind-the-scenes action, showing what it took to get that picture. I call this one "Sim Whack-a-Mole". The final "Kab frabbat!" kills me, every time.



In other uninteresting news (yet a departure from the potty humor), I changed my YouTube layout to match my site!

So I lied.

I am reviving this blog, because I need a non-Sims outlet.

I have nothing to say at the moment, unfortunately. I'll ponder a bit and see if any of those ideas I had running around my brain when I decided to reopen this blog will make a return appearance. Right now, they're AWOL. So, you're stuck with this.

Am I rambling? I feel like I'm rambling.

ACuppaJoe Productions

Anyone visiting my site in the last couple of days probably saw a lot of pages being yanked, put back up, redesigned, etc.

Obviously, ACuppaJoe has undergone a pretty drastic makeover. Not only did the name change to ACuppaJoe Productions (to focus more on the videos), but it now has a whole new look. Once I finally got the index page the way I wanted it, I got to work on the rest. CJ Cinema is done. Links...almost done. Still need some formatting. About Me is done. Ask Joe is making me want to pull my hair out. That page is not public, yet.

I'm tired, a bit cranky, and a lot headachy, so, before I finish up the "Ask Joe" page, I'm going to pop a few Excedrin and lie down.

I have to give a shoutout to Sinfully Liz for helping me out with the css!

Only

It's funny how I'll get into a rut with videos, think I've lost the inspiration to do any more, and then BAM! I'll get into the zone. Right out of the blue. That's pretty much what happened with my latest video, "Only", by Nine Inch Nails.

This is a video I'd been envisioning for some time, but didn't get past the planning/brainstorming stage until day before yesterday. I was in a bit of a blue mood, and feeling restless, so I decided to try to film a few clips and see where it went. I wasn't committed to it, and thought I'd scrap whatever I did. Instead I stayed up all night working on it, from 8:30 pm until 9 am the next day. I uploaded the video to YouTube, and posted it at Cuppa Joe.

Then I took a nap.

When I awoke, I watched the video, again, and knew it wasn't as good as it could have been. So I yanked it off YouTube, took the link down from my forum, and did some more editing. This is typical of me. I work until I can't see straight, and prematurely put up a video. With a fresh perspective, I reshot a few new scenes. I turbo-charged it.

I think I'm done.

Only, by NIN

Only from VRevis on Vimeo.

A Sim's Life updated

I have added a few entries to my Sim's Life blog. You can start here, with Scott and Val's wedding. Yes, that's right;I've decided to make my sims have a more "traditional" relationship. Which isn't to say it's without its quirks, of course. The quirks make it interesting!

Be sure to read the "accidents happen", honeymooners, and cheesecake entries. You definitely don't want to miss those!

I really hope to get a new video out, soon. There are two that I'm itching to make. I seemed to have lost my creative spark, however. Hopefully it will reignite, soon. Going through a bit of depression, so that's put a damper on things.

Maybe I need another trip to Zaxby's?

The Return of Cuppa Joe

New forum is up, registration is open, Cuppa Joe is BACK! Membership is by admin approval.

The NEW Cuppa Joe

I am really enjoying the new forum. CJ is back to the way it was when it started. The mood is great, very upbeat and friendly, and the people are as crazy as ever, but in a GOOD way. And it's been hopping!

I have taken on a few more admins to help out until I get the hang of SMF. I have a great team of moderators, as well, who will help keep CJ in the spirit in which it was formed, over two years ago. It's great to see some old faces coming back, and I think everyone feels this is a fresh start for CJ. The heaviness of the old forum is gone. The drama of the past few months has been completely obliterated. It's unbelievably freeing.

We're still getting things shaped up, and I have much more I want to do with the forum (host downloads, for example), and it will be a while before I get everything hammered out. But, so far, so good!

Eau N'eau!

I got my forum's anniversary wrong. It's actually the 7th. Hold the fireworks one more day, folks.

Insomnia still sucks!





To make up for my egregious error, I will post one of my favorite comedy bits of all time. Fnorky!

News flash!

It's 7:12 am and I've been awake most of the night. Insomnia sucks!

Just a quick note on a couple of things:

I was notified by a friend, yesterday, that A Sims 2 Christmas won Honorable Mention for December's Movie of the Month at Sims99. I didn't even know I was in the running, so I'm pretty excited about that. Warhawke's Snow White Queen took top honor as Movie of the Month, and deservedly so, and taizhu's Sweet Dreams of Silent Earth also took Honorable Mention. Congrats to Warhawke, and taizhu!

January 6 marks the 2nd anniversary of the A Cuppa Joe forum. Two years, and still going strong. Wow. I never would have thought it would ever have taken off like it did. Thanks to all the great forum members who have made it a place many call "home". And happy birthday, CJ! Here's to at least two more great years!

Back to Business

A friend of mine has asked me about collaborating on a video. It will be a big departure from anything I've done, before. She's not a Sims 2 movie-maker, but she is an awesome set designer! She is going to design all the sets, and I'll be working the video end. Sounds like fun, and I'm open to the challenge. I hope to get started on this soon. I haven't even heard the song, yet, but she gave me the general idea. Should be lovely. At least, I hope so!

I also will be switching forums, soon. I'm just waiting on my databases so I can convert. I'm not taking new registrations, right now (in fact I've had to prune down to 415 members), but once the new forum is set up, I'll have the link on my site. I'm very excited about the move. I'm not thrilled with Invisionfree, although their tech support has been great. It's easy to use, but it doesn't have enough features, as far as the admin/mod cp goes.

Happy New Year, and here's to a great 2008!