Christopher Range

2010-10-13T05:25:00.001-07:00

Another test post from Ping. Just checking in.

Getting Involved with Film in East Tennessee

2006-01-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

Nearly two years ago I became involved with Tiptoe. That's the Tennessee Independant Production and Talent Organization, East. It's an organization that despite its really long name has the briefly described mission of making movies. About a year and a half ago we had a really fantastic meeting where some great films were featured. I wrote about that here.In the meantime, we've made a couple

Adobe and Macromedia merger - affects SVG?

2005-04-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

Wired runs an article about the merger of Macromedia and Adobe.Adobe and Macromedia certainly do make different products. I’ve used Photoshop for 10 years and Fireworks/Dreamweaver for about 5 years. Photoshop CS is great for publishing images. I still use it for print – and will alternate between Freehand and Illustrator for vector stuff, depending on the requirements of the job. I’ve even used

Copyright Office Considers Reforms

2005-04-12T05:15:00.000-07:00

Wired has posted an article concerning Copyright Reform. The U.S. Copyright office is accepting comments on the topic through May 9, 2005. The Office hopes to promote reforms in copyright law, to better accomodate the use of orphan works - and other works which under previous law would have been public domain by now.This is an important topic. In some cases of the last 10 years even Fair-Use

Neil Armstrong

2005-04-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

Space Ref has an article up concerning Neil Armstrong earning the ACEC's Distinguished Award of Merit for 2005. This is one of countless awards and recognitions for which he has been recognized in the last 35 years. I've always been of the opinion that one reason this hero deserves so much respect is that he doesn't really like for people to make a big deal over him.It was by coincidence

Mountain Lions at NASA Ames Research

2005-03-29T05:35:00.000-08:00

Mountain lions have reportedly been sighted near a golf course at NASA's Ames Research Center. I find this article interesting for the perspective it provides. In orbit or on the moon, an astronaut is isolated from his fellow man in a way that is hard to fathom. But once returned to Earth, astronauts reenter the food chain. We forget sometimes that humans are part of the food chain and that wild

Neat but mysterious manuscript

2005-03-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

This is a text in my posession of a mysterious nature. The paper has a relatively fine tooth and is a bit darker than in this image. The true color of the ink is more towards rusty brown than it is red. It may be the medium of the ink or some other element, but there is a slight halo effect around the character strokes. The fading at the top appears to be from mild water damage. The script is as

MAME Arcade project - Part 2

2005-03-21T14:06:00.000-08:00

The MAME machine is in a very fast and intense phase of development. The picture above was taken after I had finished the primer and first coat of paint. This first coat does several things. It helps give more regularity to the surface of the medium density fiberboard. It also allowed me to see where the largest holidays were in the putty and joinery. After this photo, I went back to all the

MAME Arcade project - Part 1

2005-03-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

My latest project for fun is a multi-arcade emulator or MAME machine. The controls are from X-Gaming (X-Arcade) and I purchased them in 2 stages. First I ordered the buttons and joysticks from an authorized reseller on Ebay. I saved a few dollars over buying direct, but still got the warranty. X-Gaming's controls are as sturdy as anything you'd find in a real arcade cabinet, but they cost a

Printer & IT manufacturers and copyright protection

2005-02-23T07:48:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot of trouble with printers and printer manufacturers since I first began using desktop machines way back in the 70s. If it hasn't been poor performance, the 'Buy this $100 print cartridge and receive a new printer free' mentality, it's been weird schemes like pre-programmed expiration dates for cartridges. My last Canon printer ($100) stopped working entirely on the 365th day of

Larry Burchett and the TomCat Mark II

2004-12-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

Larry Burchett is the main man behind B-Rod or Custom, makers of the TomCat Mark II production hot rod. When the prototype TomCat was under development, I was asked to render some drawings for the dash layout. This was to make life a little easier for the machinists. Previously, I wasn't a guy who got very interested in cars. Airplanes and boats were more to my tastes. But I love building

New Apollo Space Artwork on ebay

2004-12-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

I've got new paintings of the Apollo LM Antares and the Apollo 11 CM up for auction on ebay. Bigger versions of the paintings and details are available there.

Hydrogen Extraction Improvements

2004-12-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65936,00.html WIRED has an article about a company using a photoelectric process to extract hydrogen from water at a much higher efficiency than electrolysis. Nanotech plays a big part in the process which is touted at 10% efficiency, and doesn't use expensive materials like palladium. This development matches my instincts about how technology in the

Blogging and financial health

2004-12-06T05:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65912,00.html Wired has an article up concerning people's employers getting upset over the contents of their blogs. Mainly it's in regards to direct references to the employer. Depending on the particular situation, I can understand both employer and employee concerns. It isn't right for an employer to clamp down on private speech -- I don't know how many

2 Hour Kennedy Assassination Special

2004-11-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

There was a 2 hour examination of the Kennedy assassination on Discovery channel the other night. It was really the most interesting documentary on the subject I have ever seen. Instead of spooky music and a stream of "unanswered questions" -- the people involved did some real examination of the subject. These guys in Australia who do ballistics & forensics staged a recreation of the 2nd shot

Tel-Star Motel, Mid-Century Neon Signage

2004-09-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

Great Mid-Century Signage in Myrtle BeachThe Tel-Star Motel Well, like I promised weeks ago, here comes the mod signage I've been hunting down of late. The Tel-Star Motel in Myrtle Beach, SC has a mid-century sign that's out of this world. It's on 5th Ave about 2 blocks from Ocean Blvd. and has been there at least 35 years because I remember it as a child. In July 2004, the family went down to

Knoxville Hope Clock Fundraiser

2004-09-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

Help Replace a Downtown Knoxville, Tennessee TreasureThe Hope Clock The original Hope Brothers Jewelers street clock was a fixture on Gay Street from the moment it was installed in the late 1880s. It gracefully served down- town Knoxville, TN for over 100 years until it was relocated to a suburban shopping center earlier this year. In July 2004, Knoxville business people David Dewhirst, Ginger

Tennessee Independant Film meeting tid-bits

2004-08-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

At least once a month we have a meeting of East Tennessee's independant film association (with the problematic acronym TIP-TOE) at the New City Cafe` in Knoxville's Old City. Did you follow that? Knoxville's historical district, called the Old City, suffers from 3 main problems best I can tell. Inadequate parking and vehicle access combine with petty crime such as runaway panhandling to form an

The Stutz Blackhawk as promised

2004-08-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

As promised yesterday, no actually the day before, it's the Stutz Blackhawk. The one above was owned by Evel Knievel. I don't know if his cousin Aweful Knaweful ever had one. They're either the ugliest or coolest cars ever made depending on your tastes. For more information about the Stutz you should visit Madle.org which features a full history. The obvious reason these were at the Elvis Week

Quick notes about the Graceland trip

2004-08-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the 14th I traveled with the family down to Memphis for the 50th Anniversary of Rock-n-Roll and Elvis Week celebrations. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my painting of Elvis was exhibited as part of the events. We toured Graceland, perused the art exhibits, took in a car show and generally had a fun time. I bought a Lansky shirt which I had always

My art is on display at Graceland

2004-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Currently I have this painting on display at Graceland. It has been exhibited in one of the hallways since August 1st, and will remain on exhibit until Monday the 16th. After that the painting becomes part of the estate's archives. Paintings that go into the archives are exhibited from time to time, can be used for promotional purposes and are sometimes auctioned for charity. It was really

First Up

2004-08-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

This is the first home for ChrisRange.com which is intended to be a showcase for my artwork and writing. After writing and acting as Executive Editor for CelticGrove.com for the last 5 years, I decided it was time to get back into my own projects. Related to this site is VideonGames.com where I am promoting some of my older games and primarily my brand new game called Lunar Ranger 2D, which is a