I finished my own version of Paul Bae's Third Rail segment

This will not be public though, I'm only sharing it to a select few (that would include The CityNews List staff).

It was edited and shot in HDV (huge step up from their current DVCPRO 25Mbps setup. They plan to at least get DVCPRO 50Mbps soon). The camera I used was a Canon HV30 and the chroma key was surprisingly good after I blurred the chroma.

Hmmm...... OK... I can tease everyone with one screenshot of the video:



The graphics for the bottom headlines is in SD cause I don't have the original images for that and making one from scratch would look too cheesy. Besides, Hockey Night in Canada uses Widescreen SD graphics for their scoreboards...

Now do you see the potential of working in HDV, James Donison? Downconvert the HD image to SD and it would look so much better than a DV25 chroma key (BTW, I used a blue screen (wall), not a green screen.)

Launched a Steam Community Group for The CityNews List

Since no one has yet joined the group, I thought it would be appropriate to announce it on my Blog.

If you're a fan of The CityNews List and game on Steam, I just created a "The CityNews List Gamers" group on Steam here.

So if TF2, L4D, CS or CS:S, or even Unreal Tournament on Steam is your thing, and you watch and follow The CityNews List, why not talk to others that share the same interests?

Just logon to Steam and in the Steam Community tab, search for "citynews". The only one to pop up will be The CityNews List Gamers. (And don't worry, it's a public group.)

Just click "Join Group" and you will soon be gaming with your fellow The CityNews List fans and know which games they're in and join to have a good time!

My disconnection to Insomniac

Man, it's been so long since I've had official contact with people at Insomniac. Even with today's podcast, I've lost my enthusiasm towards IG.

It's still in the back of my mind, but of FAR lower priority than before. Maybe I'll have to wait 2 years before anything more can happen...

And still, It was not an impulse reaction when I said Jack's Angry dance is on Hiatus indefinitely. It is still on hiatus indefinitely right now.

But, with the loss of interest in Insomniac comes a huge interest in The CityNews List. That could be a new short term goal, to volunteer for them after I graduate from South.

Just got back from Graham's LIVE "Stop Podcasting Yourself" show

And... I'm featured in it.

WARNING: This podcast will contain tons of profanity and mature subject matter.

But, make sure to check out the 63rd episode of the "Stop Podcasting Yourself" podcast coming soon!

Graham was a really nice guy, and was very polite about my *fill in the blank (will divulge in podcast)*. And yes, I did a "You're the Best... Around! Give us some muscles to look at Graham!" before I left.

Make sure to listen! (if your discretion allows it...)

Edit: It's up! Make sure to listen for my voice in it!

http://stoppodcastingyourself.blogspot.com/2009/05/episode-63-live-with-jason-bryden.html

For a final reminder, Listener discretion is strongly advised before listening, as it is listed as an explicit podcast on iTunes.

I will also warn that the page I just linked to has an obscene hand gesture. View at your own risk.

Paul Bae: Burnaby South Grad of '87

That's right, Paul Bae is a Alumni of my school!

In fact, his grad picture is still up at the school (had quite the buzz cut...), The Associate Producer James Donison even requested a scan of it in a call I made to him. (Talked also about local stations and HD and using the HV30 to do the Third Rail segments)

I'll try to dig up the 86-87 grad yearbook at school to scan it. If not that, I'll try to take a picture and send it over to James.

And I'm still listening to "You're The Best Around"...

Graham Clark gets around 144 votes

That's the top non-major candidate score for Vancouver-Fairview. Looks like The List's marketing has worked!

Though it is nowhere near the thousands that the major parties got, and I was really disappointed that all the news channels didn't even mention Graham tonight...

In "The List" related news, I'm now addicted to the song "You're The Best Around" from the 80s movie "The Karate Kid". All because of Paul Bae's recent "Third Rail" rant.


Link to Paul's Third Rail segment (I will not use the YouTube embed to prevent privacy issues due to cookies)

On the heels of the ultra-depressive event that happened in the previous post...

...I won't be making videos for a very long time.

The Jack's Angry Dance series is On Hiatus until further notice and the same goes for my Vlog and the planned "Flight of the Conchords New York locations tour" video.

I'm not sure anyone can offer me a pick-me-up to get my spirits back up again. And I highly doubt any sympathy from anyone...

Edit: And the Canucks' loss only makes it worse...

Will Perform FOTC Songs for Spare Tickets...

...was the slogan I hoped would get me into the Centre in Vancouver to catch Flight of the Conchords.



Alas, it did not. I am in a huge bit of depression and can't snap out of it.

I'm listening to Sonia Evans' cover version of the Skeeter Davis song "The End of the World" (the one in the Tom Clancy EndWar ads) continuously right now.

Flight of the Conchords gave me so much confidence in front of camera lenses when filming my Angry Dance series, and now that I've missed my final opportunity to meet them in person, I have lost all self-confidence on camera and off camera.

The glass is neither half-empty or full. It has shattered. :'(

Edit: First image has surfaced of a confirmed Meet and Greet (from whatthefolk.net):



I just want to cry until my tear ducts run dry... WHY!?!?! *tears* (and I'm dead serious when I say this.)

Damn you N. Tuccori!

OMGTheCityNewsListBBQ

A picture is worth 1000 words, and only a Vlog video can explain what has just happened...

Jack's Vlog: OMGTheCityNewsListBBQ from Jack Zhang on Vimeo.

The CityNews List drawing is Done!

http://jack-y-zhang.deviantart.com/art/The-CityNews-List-Family-Guy-121826134

Hopefully the guys at Citytv will pick up on this...

In fact, contribute to this being more widely known by spreading it on Facebook and Twitter for me. I'd appreciate that.