PicturesWhen I first built this site, it was intended to house my rants. However, I’ve been lazy and have fallen behind. This rant is about the commercialism of social media. I’m a little fed up with it all. D. Out.
- Duane
Leinninger.com
February 3rd, 2009:
I go on a rant. My first full article in over a year.
February 2nd, 2009:
Theater Project Update
My brother, Christian, has been working on the complicated framing in our basement for our game room, bar, and theater. It has progressed a great deal in the past few weeks and I must say that I am rather impressed and intimidated by the amount of work that has gone into something nobody will ever see once the drywall is in place. You really get a feel for the layout of the rooms now that the framing is nearing completion. I can wait to get things wired (which is coming next).
In related news, we have a rather nice interim home entertainment solution in our den: a 52-inch Sony Bravia LCD screen, THX-certified mini-surround speakers, Vista Media Center, and a Sony PS3. The PS3 has especially worked out well. It’s features, ease-of-use, and aesthetics make it an obvious choice for the basement theater when it’s complete. I even watched the Super Bowl this year (something I’ve never done before). In the dozen-or-so pro football games that I’ve watched in my life, this was by far the most exciting. Seeing the whole thing in 1080i (limited HD due to broadcast quality) made it even nicer. I just might do it again next year!
- Duane
January 5th, 2009:
Happy 2009, everyone! My resolutions and upcoming projects.
Well a new year is upon us. I scheduled some vacation time over the past few weeks and am enjoying a streak of clarity as a result. I had some time to catch up on sleep, work on side projects, and think about some of the things I want to accomplish this year.
- Get my 2 side projects launched. I’ve been working on the aesthetics for an online application as well as a website for Angry Sheep Motorsports. I’d like to get the first phases of these 2 projects out the door before the end of February.
- Practice my guitar playing. Over the past few years, I’ve found little time to play guitar unless I’m at band practice or preparing for band practice. I like to blame my school responsibilities for this. Now that I’ve graduated (finally), I’d like to spend more time doing the creative things that I truly enjoy.
- Racing. I may not have the budget for more than 2 or 3 race weekends, but I’m going to try to make the most of what I can afford. I’m not making significant performance changes to my race car, but I hope to make some of the safety changes that I compromised when originalluy building it: a FIA certified seat, removable steering wheel, and maybe even a head and neck restraint.
- Artwork. Much like my guitar playing, my interest in creating art (not just design) was limited by my school and work schedule. Now that I actually have my BFA, I’d like to apply it. I have a drawing tablet for my computer that I’ve been experimenting with . The next step is to actually create some electronic “paintings” and composite images.
- Read. I used to love to read. However, for the past few years, I’ve had to read a lot of things that I had little interest in… yep: school. I’m looking forward to finishing the 3 books that I’ve started as well as a new book that I was given last night: The Art of Racing in the Rain.
- Duane
December 12th, 2008:
All classes at Wayne State complete.
I’ve spent that last 15 years as an on-again, off-again (mostly) Fine Arts student at Wayne State. On Wednesday, I attended my last undergraduate class ever. I’ve self audited myself several times and have made sure that everything is covered. There were no objections when I filed for graduation earlier in the year, so fully expect my diploma shortly. Finally: Bachelor of Fine Arts – Interdisciplinary Electronic Art.
- Duane
December 8th, 2008:
The Wilhelm Scream
For a while, I had aspirations to become a movie sound designer, which later evolved into aspirations to create special effects. An inside joke among sound designers is the “Wilhelm Scream.” It’s a bit of stock audio used in a lot of Lucas, Spielberg, and Disney movies as well as hundreds of others. A complete catalog of it’s occurrences is here, and a montage of examples can be found here.
- Duane
