This weeks post deals with something near and dear to my heart, IDEAS!!!

Everyone has them and some of us even share our ideas with the world. I have shared my ideas even when it has caused people to look at me sideways and question my sanity, which is clearly not there #heheh.

One of my classic ideas that pops to mind because my HS friends remind me when they see me(read tease relentlessly #heheh),  is the Vertical Force Transducer. I am sure if any of them read this they will probably be chuckling right now.  The funny part is that the Vertical Force Transducer is not the idea it is just part of the idea.

The idea is to create a Portable Wall that Blocks Sound

You see I had this idea when I had a band playing in my parents house and they were loud, as bands are. I wanted a simple thing I could set up and break down that would create a break between the band, me, and the house.  Since I was in the room with the band it was not ideal for doing tracking.
At the time I had this idea and told my friends they all thought I was batty, how can you negate sound by sending the opposite sound at it? I am sure most of them now own Bose QuietComfort or more expensive ‘Active’ Headphones. These headphones use the exact idea I had for the Portable Wall that Blocks Sound back in the day.

What ever happen to the vertical force transducer and the sound blocking wall?  The idea didn’t go anywhere, yet. I found out that I needed more space, more computer power, more transducers. This was a fail before it ever got off the ground. I keep this idea in a box as someday I am sure I will explore it more. Oh and that Vertical Force Transducer makes a great bass shaker. Everybody JUMP on the DANCE FLOOR!!!

Years after the wall idea I determined I needed ‘smaller’ computers for my ideas

Having a tower, laptop, or even a tablet was not small enough. I researched and found gumstix computers but I could not afford them.   I kept my eye out and while I was researching computers in schools I came across the Raspberry Pi.  As soon as I found it I purchased one and waited for it to arrive.  It has been 3 years since then and the educationally driven RasPi has a vibrant ecosystem for learning, and did I mention it is small with a small price tag(BIG BANG low cost).

One of the reasons I wanted the RasPi was to record video from multiple angles simultaneously. That led to the TetraPi.  It unfortunately has been a fail so far. I was able to build it and put software on it and make it record videos and images.  The fail happened when I was trying to get the video footage to be the same visually and stitch it together. I was able to manually adjust the images on all 4 Pi’s and get them ‘close’. Unfortunately I was unable to stitch the video as the software to do that is pricey and time consuming.

I decided when I got to this road block to check to see what had come out since I started. I found several options that were pre-baked and worked way better than mine. DIY sometimes is more expensive both in time and money and less gooder(it’s sad to think that engliz is my first and only language). If you are looking to do something that has a 360 degree image and video here are my recommendations, I like the bublcam and I love the 360cam (disclaimer – I don’t own either and I don’t work for or get paid by either for mentioning them).

Now with me discussing my failures you are probably thinking, did you ever make something that works? That is the point to ideas you remember the failures first and they make you work harder on the next idea that comes up.

Never Stop, Never Give Up, just learn how to tunnel or fly over the walls that are put up!

So lets talk success now as that is more funner(engliz what? Oh yeah Skilz!)

The LegacyCd Virtual  from last weeks post was created to help me and the next generation, do what you might ask?  When I was taught, James called it Contact Juggling.  While learning it, Michael called it SpherePlay. When I was watching TV, they called it Fushigi.  So I created my own name for what I do, I call it “Flow of the Round”.  I am a Flow Artist that uses Round Objects and makes them appear to float (aka FLOTR). The LegacyCd Virtual just came out and I consider it’s release to be a success. It is a complete set of free instructions that can easily be downloaded and used. You can update it, add to it, give it away, and expand it on your own journey.  As they say in Vegas Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner.

Another success I really like is the BalanceCam.

I like this success as it took a long time to make it work. Once it worked, it was dead simple, and a great launch point for modders.  My original idea was to mirror what I had used on the LegacyCd for first person shooting.  For that I used a lipstick camera and a fishing pole. Unfortunately my GoPro was too heavy for the fishing pole and other things I tried were unstable.  Then one day I saw a Mic Bergsma video and it literally turned things upside down and the BalanceCam was born.  It is not only a tool for filming it is also a new Prop as well.

What’s Next?

With the introduction of the CHIP $9 Computer all new ideas are flowing.  I might connect it to a game controller for the IoT(Internet of Things) to allow my TetraPi Selfie(Oops I said it) to take selfies in 360.  Since it has a microphone this opens a whole new area of exploration and maybe some old walls will be torn down or built up 😉

Funny enough my latest idea was an April Fools joke on the ThinkGeek site this year.

For years I have been collecting equipment and trying to get the space to create this next idea.

I would rather it was stationary then mobile but the concept is the same. Set up an array of cameras in a 360 degree area to capture a person or people in full 3D. I want overhead cameras as well.

You might ask WHY?

The answer is feedback.  It is key to a Flow Artist or any movement artist to see what they are and aren’t doing. Mirrors are flat and don’t allow you to see everything you may or may not be doing correctly or more importantly incorrectly.

And now for the SHOES!!!

This week I am introducing an ongoing segment based on SHOES!!! Being a Shumaker and sometimes a BootMaker(Thanks Rob) I have thought about shoes a bit in my life and even created a few.  So without further ado here we GO.

So the most important thing that happened this week in the world was Charlize Theron returned to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, #heheh.  As always Charlize did not disappoint as she was straight up Hustlin’ and Pimpin’ by putting Jimmy Fallon in Platform shoes with DICE in them. Jimmy picked some sweet platforms for Charlize to wear on the show as well.  The shoe Jimmy picked was cool and a good try at beating the shoes she wore on her last appearance of the show, but not cool enough.

Charlize Theron wore some sickmazing shoes on her last appearance of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

 

 

 

They were Christian Louboutin, Laurence Anyway Shoes.

 

 Here is an image of just the shoes.

Yes they have RED bottoms.

Not sure what shoes Charlize will wear the next time she is on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon but she has set the benchmark high for herself.

Ideas Come and Go

Grabbing them while they are here is the key. This is why I have a Dream Machine to help me collect them and expand them.  In my last post I discussed the LegacyCd Virtual which was created with the Dream Machine Powered by TiddlyWiki.  I am working on an updated Dream Machine for 2015 to allow anyone with any dream to reach it.

So I ask you my reader

What ideas have you had?

Have you ever been laughed at for something you thought or did that was Amazingly Awesome?

What do you do with your ideas, and do you keep a journal on your journey through life?

Thanks for reading my post and don’t forget to share this blog with your friends and frenemies.  Also check out my YouTube Channel, Twitter and Instagram for what I have been doing during the week. Oh and if we really must be friends for some reason I have a FB, #heheh.

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Be Awesome, Make Awesome, Watch Awesome, You Are Awesome. Find that inner SuperHero and Fly with it (or whatever your Super Power is).

Rich Shumaker

So this week’s post has a bit of everything. A Mall, a Computer, a Dream Machine, a few new Facebook Groups, a Throwback Video and of course a Cookie Bar.  So lets get started.

For Throwback Thursday I posted a video from CJC2001, it includes some fantastic stuff for all types of Contact Jugglers and Round Prop Peeps as well as some of that ‘throwy’ stuff thrown in.

I especially like what we called the Chandalier by Ferret & Marco.

I created a new name for what I do in the video above and started a new Facebook group for it. Thanks Deb for the idea for the name which is Flow of the Round or FLOTR.  I had to add a letter for Facebook to recognize it and I think it made it even more gooder(mad phat engliz Skilz). Check out this new group if you are on Facebook and like round object flow, FLOTR.

Next up it was Cinco de Mayo this week.  Cinco de Mayo has been a very creative time for me over the years. Here is a self portrait I did several years ago aptly titled ‘Cinco de Mayo’.

This Cinco de Mayo I released the LegacyCd Virtual. If you checked it out during my BETA you may need to FORCE Refresh your browser to load the new version.  That leads to my other new Facebook group that I set up this week and it is for the LegacyCd Virtual.   The LegacyCd and the Virtual version have been something that I have built over the past several decades with the idea to help myself and others. The Dream Machine(new version in process) powered by TiddlyWiki is the basis for the LegacyCd Virtual. It is designed to help anyone on their journey just as Marco from the Throwback Thursday video helped me in 2001. He said you have to keep a journal of your journey. So I started a Moleskine and I found that I needed a place for more than just words, I needed pictures, sounds, and videos. So the Dream Machine was born out of the need for a Multimedia Journal.

Next up this week is the Granite Run Mall. This is a mall I spent MANY hours in over the years, at a Comic and Game shop actually. So it is weird that it is being TORN DOWN SOON. Hopefully not before Kevin Smith uses it to film Mallrats 2, “Mallrats Strike Back”(my imaginary title for the film). Funny enough I predicted that Kevin Smith might use Granite Run Mall a few weeks ago but didn’t know there was already an article about it.  I heard Mallrats 2 was being made in an interview by Kevin Smith and was reading about Granite Run Mall being torn down. Seemed like Peanut Butter and Chocolate if you ask me.

Side Note about Candy – Why don’t they make ‘Left Only’ Mixed Twix – One Peanut Butter and One Caramel Stacked on top of one another in the Left side of the package?  Come on TWIX get with the program.  I am sure I am not the only one that thought about this TWIX conspiracy.

Back to the Mall, it would be cool if Kevin Smith DESTROY’S it because he would not have to worry about it being put back together. Since Granite Run Mall is a Tri Sided Mall(yes that would be a Triangle) he could destroy 1/3 at a time and then film an implosion for the ending. It would be EPIC. Side Note to Kevin if he reads this – I think he needs that cool tunnel kid from Mad Max to rove the duct work of the mall (It makes as much sense as needing a GIANT MECHANICAL SPIDER in a movie if you know what I am saying).

I hope everyone has an amazing week and don’t forget to check out the LegacyCd Virtual and download a copy for yourself. Mr. Kevin Smith give me a ring if you need a tour of the Granite Run Mall, of course I would need a ride over to the mall as I live right near you in Los Angeles now, #heheh.

Final Note: Just as I was typing this up a new computer named Chip popped up on my Radar.  It is from my Old Cali Stomping Grounds in OakTown and it is $9. Yes I said $9 and it is a computer. So for the price of one Raspberry Pi 2 you could get almost 4. I am checking to see if you can create a Media Center and stream video from it.  If you can I hear VIDEOFEST at PHIL’s, #heheh. Of course the plane tickets to set this up makes it the cheapest / most expensive MovieFest ever.

Don’t forget to share this blog with your friends.  Also check out my YouTube Channel and Twitter for what I have been doing during the week. Oh and if we really must be friends for some reason I have a FB, #heheh.  You can also subscribe to this blog, check out the email sign up in the sidebar Over There – – -> .

Be Awesome, Make Awesome, Watch Awesome, You Are Awesome.  Find that inner SuperHero and Fly with it(or whatever your Super Power is).

Rich Shumaker