WesGill.net

Drinking Olympics 2008/Red Bull Klunker Rally Clip

admin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:42:27 +0000

Near the end of June this year, we gathered up 16 people and made 4 teams. They competed through 4 events, quarters, beer pong, beersbie and flip cup, for the Drinking Champion title. This video resulted:

While editing the Drinking Olympics, I threw together a few clips I had from Red Bull’s rally and ended up with this:

It’s not near as spectacular, but I figured it was still worth a mention.
In the not too distant future, I expect to be releasing a new Flash short as well as perhaps a few video shorts. I have also uploaded a few random clips to YouTube that I had found on my various computers. They can only really be considered YouTube material since they are basically just 30 second clips, but someone may find them interesting enough to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WESMAN00

Red Bull Klunker Rally 2008

admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:50:38 +0000

Over the past weekend I again participated in Red Bull’s Klunker Rally. This year the rally was more centered around the Winnipeg area and involved a lot less kilometers than the previous year. Teams were given clues to find certain points where they would participate in a series of challenges for points. At the end of the day the team with the most points would win flight lessons for their entire team. Our team placed approx. 5th out of 29 teams with 85/100 points.

Photo Credit: A.J. Potrebka
Bottom:Jordan Rock

Death of the Aspire

admin — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:54:13 +0000

The following video is the slow and painful death of my 1994 Ford Aspire. At about 11:30P the oil pan punctured and eventually over heated causing engine damage.

Back again/Accidents/Photosynth

admin — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:23:03 +0000

After not posting for…OVER half a year, I’m back and hopefully with more content. A lot has happened over the time that I haven’t been posting so you should see a few posts that may have actually happened quite a while ago, for example:
I crashed my new car! Yes, mere months after replacing the Mazda I went and rear ended an SUV. Once again the insurance company decided to write it off. I didn’t agree so I bought it back and got it repaired with the money they gave me. Thankfully everything came up even. I now drive a 1998 Volvo S70, which in my eyes is a nice upgrade.

While on the topic of car accidents, I’m not the only one who rear ends things. One of my good friends, Evan, also rear ended an SUV. However his accident was much more…destructive.

Thats right, it all burnt. Since the Jetta is a lower car, it split the gas tank of the SUV which sparked the blaze. All of a sudden my crashes aren’t so bad, are they?

In a somewhat related note, Microsoft has released a web app entitled Photosynth which takes your photos and creates a simulated 3D enviroment. The app is still in beta and you must have a Microsoft Live account to register. Using the photos that I sent to the autobody shop, I gave it a shot and this is what I came out with.

I think that Photosynth has a lot of potential, but throughout my usage of the app I have already experienced 3 errors so there is definitely work to be done.

Well that’s it for today, hopefully there will be enough content in the future to consider the site active.

External Links:
http://www.photosynth.com

The Drinking Curve

admin — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:38:01 +0000

The consumption of alcoholic beverages is often associated with the physical and mental impairment of the consumer. However in certain situations, a
delicious alcoholic drink may actually heighten your abilities. Through the experiences of my friends and I, we have developed what we call “The Drinking Curve”.

This graph compares the relation to overall talent, such as video games, sports, etc., to the amount of drinks consumed. At point A, for the average person this is around 3 drinks, you have almost hit your peak. If another drink is consumed, you end up around point B. At this point, it is possible to stop drinking and back track to point A. However the longer you do this, the lower the peak will become, essentially eroding it down. If you were to go past point be, you will be past the point of no return, as shown by point C. From hear, its all downhill. It won’t be long before you hit rock bottom and become your average drunk. Luckily, there is hope for you yet.

We have witnessed, and I somewhat experienced, what is referred to as “The Mystical Spike”, shown by point D. This is the point where you have become so utterly drunk, you actually once again become good at the activities you were previously involved in. Not everyone can experience this spike of talent, but those who do swear by it. Whether you choose to believe in the curve is at your discretion, but next time your needing a talent boost, perhaps give it a try.

Please drink responsibly.

“iPod” Tax Shows It’s Head Once Again

admin — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:11:00 +0000

Shot down once by the Canadian Supreme Court in 2005, the “iPod” tax has once again come into play. Similar to the levy that is currently charged on blank media such as CD’s and DVD’s, consumers would be taxed on purchases of electronic storage devices.

Consumers could potentially be hit by a new tax on electronic storage devices such as iPods and blank memory cards in 2008.

The federal Copyright Board has given its approval for a special levy on iPods and other digital players because they can be used to copy movies and music.

The proposed levy would range in a fashion similar to the following:
- 85 cents for rewritable CDs and MiniDisc
- $2 for 1 GB removable electronic memory cards
- $25 for a digital audio recorder between 1 and 10 GBs
- $75 for digital audio recorder of more than 30 GBs

The problem with a levy such as this is that you are assuming all consumers are performing illegal activities. Even though there may be some truth in their reasoning, it’s not a good enough reason to implement something as drastic as this. This also is essentially punishment before the crime, which may lead consumers to believe that it would no longer be illegal to download music since they have already paid for it.

The levy has a way to go yet before it will be put into effect, but even the thought of it scares me.

External Links:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071221/copyright_act_071221/20071221?hub=TopStories
http://www.news.com/No-iPod-tax-for-Canada/2100-1041_3-5809117.html

Photo By:
Oliver Lavery

Goodbye Mazda

admin — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 06:22:42 +0000

I recently was in an accident with my 1997 Mazda 626 in which I slid into the rear of a truck. The car was a total loss and has been written off. I cleaned the vehicle out of my personal belongings today and turned in my key. I felt a bit sad when walking away knowing I’d never drive it again. I have had the car since 2005 and have many great memories with it. Some of these including Prairie Drift, the Klunker Rally as well as the first episodes of Overdrive.

I will be receiving approximately $4100 for the vehicle which I will be putting towards a new set of wheels. The Mazda will now be sold at a salvage auction where the buyer will do what they will with it. I have been doing a bit of looking into what I shall be purchasing now and so far I’m leaning to perhaps a late 90’s Jetta, but we’ll see.

Redbull’s Campus Klunker Rally

admin — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:27:37 +0000

This past weekend I participated in the Campus Klunker Rally hosted by Redbull. The rally involved over 6 hours of driving throughout southern Manitoba making stops in towns such as Starbuck, Holland and Neepawa.

The Rally began in the parking lot of Earl’s restaurant where teams filled out a few papers and were given their first clue. Teams were also provided with a gas card and a cooler containing Redbull Energy Drink.

Teams worked their ways around the province and returned to Winnipeg where they met up for the after party at the Orbit Room. Throughout the day, I put on almost 1000km’s on my car and only spent $10 to decorate my car. Overall, I had a great time and will hopefully enjoy this event again next year.

Rube Goldberg Machine - Turn On A Radio

admin — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:06:47 +0000

My younger brother, Cory, filmed a Rube Goldberg machine that he built for a grade 6 project. At his request, I’m posting it here for others to enjoy.

Great job, I look forward to seeing more videos from you.

I’d Rather Die Than Accept Your Fortune Cookie Request, Thanks Though.

admin — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:12:32 +0000

Third party Facebook apps are one of the many great features of the site. They are also the worst. There are plenty of great apps that can do useful things like show your latest photos from your Flickr feed, or stories from your Digg feed. There are apps to help you organize your life so that you can be more efficient. If you can think of it, there’s probably an app for it. The problem is there are thousands of useless apps that make your Facebook profile seem a little bit more like Myspace.

I am guilty of having one of these useless apps I must confess, but LOLCats have a special place in my heart. I have no problems with having one or two of these “bad” apps since they are somewhat comical. But when you have the Vampire, Zombie, and WereWolf all installed to your profile for example, it just looks like utter shit. Each of these apps are absolutely useless and only annoy your friends when you request that they join you in destroying their own profiles. When I have to scroll up and down the page 5 times just to find your wall, there’s a problem.

In closing, use Facebook apps sparingly and responsibly. If you develop these crap apps, give it a rest. Please.