The End of the World

So, I said I was trying to develop a documentary about the apocalypse. And over the weekend I've traversed to various scenarios and filming stuff. I'm not sure when I'll get the entire thing together, but I'm rather proud of what I've managed to do so far.
To keep you people happy, I took some clips and formed a kind of promo thingy. I considered making it more trailer-y by adding shots of me hanging from vines or climbing a swing set (and yes, I do have shots of me doing those things. I'm not making all this stuff up about me actually doing stuff. The vines are in my back yard).
Anyways, I decided to keep it short for now. The vines didn't really fit the mood.
If I don't make much progress in the upcoming week, I'll squeeze together another trailer to keep you occupied.
So here's the vid:

I totally had this a week ago, but I needed to convert the files a bunch and it was all confusing. I don't know why it didn't let me upload it as a .mov rather than a .mpg or whatever because I've posted it that way a thousand times before.

Okay, I don't have a sound track, so it's kind of boring sound-wise, but if I can find something on my iTunes that works (or make a track or whatever) then I'll edit it in and replace the video on this post.

Hope you like it!

~Julia

P.S. Love the mask, personally. It made me look and sound like Darth Aardvark or something equally bizarre. Get one before it's too late!

Punnett Llama

We've been learning about genetics.
Dominant traits.
Recessive traits.
Heterozygous. Homozygous.
Punnett Squares.
So I ran some experiments and developed the Shark Llama Genome. So, little children, here's my lesson.
You see, we have the shark llama.

Squarish head, small body, fluffy tail, long teeth.

But I researched all these different traits. For example....

FUR

Fur comes in many shades of brown (ranging to orang-y) 

Dark fur is generally dominant, but you'll notice that it can have codominance with the lighter shades.  A shark llamas fur color is about as predictable as the exact shade of a human's hair - not much.

Short hair is a dominant trait with shark llamas. Long hair tends to come with the darker shades, and tends to get scraggly. You could try buying some shark llama scrubbers, but be careful, there are some really horrible business men out there on the shark llama market.

TEETH

Teeth are important to a shark llama. They are almost always curved. When not, this is generally a birth defect. Teeth can be long or short. Long teeth (generally about 15 feet long) are considered more useful than the more shark-like rows of smaller teeth, but both have served their species well. Teeth tend to be longer towards the front of the mouth. 

Another trait of teeth is the sharpness. Occasionally (and this is definitely recessive) the teeth can be slightly rounded. This does not affect tooth length. These shark llamas are rare as they usually end up dying before they can reproduce. 

BODIES

As well as ranging in size (they are dominant for smaller body size, but this can be rather random) the bodies tend to fall into two classifications of shape. Dominant is the more shapely, rounded rear, while recessive claims a sharp corner in bone structure with only a thin curve at the rump. Sharkllamas tend to be bred for their rounder shapes.

EYES

Eyes can be rather big and spirally or small. Although big is also rather prevalent, small eyes are the dominant. There is a range. As for eyebrows (which grow up to ten feet long), short is dominant, although long eyebrows can be considered a desired luxury for potential owners. It is possible to clips eyebrows if desired.

TAILS

Fluffy is dominant. Round is dominant. White is dominant. Recessive includes bulgy, scruffy, oblong, and tan. No pictures available at this time.

SO. There are some traits about sharkllamas you never knew you needed to know! I recommend mapping out your own genomes for various other lovely creatures such as this one. Contact me with any requests!

~Julia

P.S. Does any one know how to get the video thing working on blogger? I've been trying to post something for days....

The Brother Book

Okay, so I've decided to start a new series called "The Brother Book". I tell what a good brother would do, what a bad brother would do, and what my brother would do (hypothetically). I wanted to start this a long time ago, but it was just too much work to illustrate. Hopefully I can keep this going. I might even open a new tab to store them.
My posts will probably consist of only one at a time, but I'm trying to kick this off with three. Tell me what you think!

SCENARIO:
Your brother is talking on the phone about some unimportant boy thing like stinky socks. They've already covered all their homework and are just chilling. You are filling our an important online form, which asks for some information about you that you don't know. The deadline is in one hour. You ask your brother to use the phone.

GOOD BROTHER:
Brother: (On phone) Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Say, brother of mine, could I possibly use the phone?
Brother: Of course, sister dear! Let me just rap up my conversation with my chums!
Julia: Okay! :)

BAD BROTHER:
Brother: (On phone) Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Say, brother of mine, could I possibly use the phone?
Brother: No.
Julia: Please?
Brother: NO! (flies into murderous rage and murders me with an axe.)

OR

Brother: (On phone) Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Say, brother of mine, could I possibly use the phone?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah.
Julia: Hello! Brother! Could I use the phone, please?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: BROTHER! HELLO!
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Oh my gosh you are scaring me...
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Can I please use the phone?
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: ....
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: AAAAGH! (Attacked by giant bird)
Brother: Blah blah blah blah
Julia: Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (Carried into distance and eaten.)

MY BROTHER:
Brother: Blah blah blah
Julia: Brother of mine, could I please use the phone?
Brother: Blah blah blah
Julia: Benjamin!
Brother: No.
Julia: It's important!
Brother: No.

Then I would end up pulling out commanding big-sister authority and oust him from the phone.


SCENARIO:
You have a top secret diary.

GOOD BROTHER:
Brother: Julia, what is in that book?
Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.
Brother: Okay.

BAD BROTHER:
Brother: Julia, what is in that book?
Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.
Brother: Why not? What's in it?
Julia: Nothing.
Brother: Let me see!
Julia: Eep!
Brother: Ha ha! (Grabs diary and runs into room. Locks door)
Julia: :(

OR

Brother: Julia, what is in that book?

Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.

Brother: Let me read it!

Julia: No.

Brother: WHAT? DIE! (Goes into murderous rage and kills me with an axe)

Brother: Hehe (reads diary)

OR

Brother: Julia, what is in that book?

Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.

Brother: Okay. Hehe.

At night

Julia: Zzz

Brother: Hehe (steals)

MY BROTHER:

Brother: Julia, what is in that book?

Julia: It is secret. Please do not read it.

Brother: Let me see....

Julia: No.

Brother: Let me see....

Julia: No.

Brother: Okay, fine. Hmph. (Walks off)

SCENARIO:

You have a bathroom. It is a nice bathroom, but your brother often leaves it in bad condition. Let's say he doesn't flush, hang up his washcloth, cap the toothpaste, or... drain the bath. You confront him about his habits. 

GOOD BROTHER:

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: Sure. What do you want me to do?

Julia: Well... (you list the things)

Brother: Okay! (Goes and cleans up)

BAD BROTHER:

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: No.

Julia: But brother, you are being very sloppy!

Brother: WHAT? DIE!!!! (Goes into murderous rage and kills me with an axe)

OR

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: No.

OR

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: EAT MELON! (throws melon at me and runs away)

MY BROTHER

Julia: Brother, could you maybe clean up after yourself in the bathroom?

Brother: I do!

Julia: No you don't... (explains problems)

Brother: Okay

After a while he probably forgets and I remind him again.

Animation Paper

My New Toy

Today I got a brand new toy as a belated Bat Mitzvah gift.

                                       
                                       
DUM DUM DUUUUUUUM
That's right. A turret.
For those of you who do not know, turrets are mechanical devices in Portal and Portal 2 (computer games) that shoot you. They may be evil but they are SO DARN ADORABLE. Especially plush ones.
And it talks! It says quotes from real turrets, if you turn it on.
The little eye-laser thing lights up. [That's called an optical sensor.] If it sees you (if you move in front of you) it can say:

• Target Acquired.
• There you are.
• I see you.
• Preparing to Dispense Product
• Activated

Followed by a smattering of bullets (oops. you die. hehe.)

If you knock it over from behind or shake it it says:

• Critical Error
• Shutting Down
• I Don't Hate You (I remember that one from the game. So sad. Those turrets are pretty forgiving)
• Hey! Hey! Hey!
• Malfunctioning.....

I keep it turned off most of the time. It's still pretty cool. It came from THINK GEEK, which has all sorts of geeky stuff like space time watches and pi-shaped ice cubes makers. ThinkGeek also has plush Companion Cube and a GlaDOS potato battery (long story) science kit.

I wanted to spiff up this post so I made a little video. It's short (really short) and kind of lame, so I just threw this together in the 15-something minutes that I had. I wanted to post this today. I do have a drafted script of a more elaborate film-ish thing involving Portal and Turrets that I may or may not be able to compile with Benj this weekend.

Anyways, here's the filmy thing.

There you go!

If this stupid video finishes loading, I'll post it. If not, I'll try again tomorrow with an apology. 

Love y'all!

~Julia

P.S. I see you....

P.P.S. That "FOR NOW" was supposed to come at the end. Sorry. I'll fix it tomorrow.