zenas(prime)

Today I created some Propaganda Poster Art for Blizzard's StarCraft 2 Propaganda Poster Art Contest. I've always been a bit fascinated with propaganda poster art despite the sinister reality of it. UPDATE: It seems that my entry did not make it into the contest for some reason. I don't know why it was rejected but come the day voting was to start, it simply didn't appear in the gallery with all the other entires. What a disappointment. :(

Many things about this contest smelled fishy. From the contest getting a late start to several submitters saying that their poster didn't make it into the gallery. I'm incline to believe that the contest was either rigged or run by incompetent sponsors. Another issue that some people are pointing out involves how votes are cast. The gallery is divided into forty three pages with twelve entries per page. As was pointed out prior to the contest's voting phase, most votes are only occurring on the first four pages, given those entries that appear at the start of the list an unfair advantage to those listed in the pages following. Not exactly a fair system as it guarantees that entries listed on the first four or so pages get the most attention, and therefore the most votes.

While I enjoyed creating the poster, the contest has left a bad taste in my mouth. Ultimately, I should just stick to keeping my creativity focused on my own enjoyment of it rather then looking for some kind of acknowledgment from the world at large. Oh well.

I've been working on some wallpaper depicting one of my favorite computer games Shadowbane. Shadowbane was one of the earlier Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), released back in late 2003. Unfortunately, Shadowbane was shut down for good early in 2009. Well I was traveling down memory lane today and got to mucking about with some old screen shots in Photoshop. What was awesome was that I found that if I used a filter called "Poster Edges" it would make the screen shots look as if they were scenes in a comic book. Check out some of my more favorite ones below...

This past weekend Molly and I went to the Gaian Mind Summer Festival. Gaian Mind is a series of events, based in Philadelphia, that highlight psy-trance. We arrived at the campgrounds on Thursday night and camped there until Sunday afternoon. Unlike my previous two expeditions to GMSF in 2007 and 2008, which were held at the Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary, the event was held at Ramblewood campgrounds.

...well not exactly right. I've downloaded several albums worth of music from one of my favorite music labels, 12k, which are collectively entitled Term. In an interesting statement, the fellow who operates the label, Taylor Deupree, decided to release this music, in it's digital download only format but without any of the trappings of traditional packaging. In his own words...

Last week I took a trip out to San Francisco and discovered a truly beautiful city. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have and the ones that I did take don't do it justice. I think, however, I will be going back for more at some point in the future. ;)

While riding my bike through Pennypacker Park I stopped at the bridge where King's Highway passes over what remains of Cooper River to take some photographs. The bridge, in an advancing state of decay and badly neglected despite heavy use, seems to capture my imagination as I pass by it on my frequent rides on the park trail. There's something unconsciously captivating about the scene that transcends the ugliness of it's littered appearance. Though, I don't know what it is.

Sleep Deprived (Mossy Ego Mix)

A photograph I took back in the fall of a beautiful cloud formation that appeared on the horizon against the fiery orange of the sunset. This is the photograph that I used for the Dreams Sleep on Clouds cover art. (click "read more" for the photo)

Universal Explorer, Sleep Deprived, Dreams Where I'm Walking Quickly But Getting Nowhere, Dark Eyes, & Time Cries

This week we had our first, honest to goodness, snowstorm this winter. I love snow so I went outside for some snowstorm adventuring and took a few photographs. Even though it was bitterly cold out, I was outside for several hours enjoying myself. I even managed to get on my bike and ride it up to town for some hot cocoa. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go sledding, I totally forgot about it. ;) I also captured two really cool videos that I intend to put to some music. Keep an eye out for them. For now, enjoy the photos!