Evening Hour » Site Updates

How diabolically clever of you!

Jen — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 13:46:54 +0000

So today is the day my blog in all its varied forms turns TEN!

Hallmark birthday card from 1966. On sale on eBay for $75USD!

I’ve witnessed first hand the massive impact the simple art of publishing one’s thoughts online has had on the world over the last decade, and it’s been amazing – no one could have foreseen how far it would take off. Hell, when I first signed up for Twitter four years ago I thought it would be another web 2.0 flop. Blogging encompasses so much now. It’s endless entertainment, it’s unpredictable, it’s dangerous, it’s an agent for revolution and reform, it’s a thriving hive of rapid information exchange, it’s eclectic and colourful in all its interests.

My roots were in Blogger, long before it got swallowed up by Google, and I’ve used all sorts of platforms since then: Grey Matter (old school, much!), b2evolution, Pitas, DeadJournal, InsaneJournal, LiveJournal and Movable Type, to name a few, and of course, there is WordPress, my one true love.

I took a break from public blogging in 2004, and it wasn’t until I started freelancing in 2007 that I returned. These days I can barely keep up with the pace and variety of blogs out there. The quality of amateur journalism now is unparalleled. I think when I first started there were only several hundred active bloggers in Australia. Today there is at least a good 6000 of them. And let’s not get into the statistics of users of micro-blogging platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. I can’t imagine what the state of blogging and micro-blogging will be in another decade’s time.

In other related news, you may have noticed I’ve refurbished my blog layout to be more accommodating for my various reviews, which I am finally going to make a consistent feature—so help me, the powers that be! See how Batman is impressed with me?

To celebrate ten years of blogging, I will have a pretty cool give-away this week. I’m still finalising a few things. So watch this space!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Evening Hour

Jen — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:40:32 +0000

For all my knack for frequent blogging (which is to say, hardly ever), Evening Hour, this little blog, has always been there for me (or rather, almost always online thanks to a very reliable webhost) whenever I needed to rant or rave.

Now that I’ve finished with study, I’m hoping I’ll be able to update more often. This is my pledge to you! My vision for this blog is mainly going to be review based, with the occasional art/design inspiration updates. (So, basically the same thing I always did, but more emphasis on the former). Watch this space!

A “brief” hiatus for now

Jen — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:10:03 +0000

Well it’s probably obvious that I haven’t updated this in a long time. I’m wondering what I should do with this blog because I mostly post at my Livejournal. But I don’t want to abandon this to the winds either. So I shall be taking a longer break and coming up with something that will keep me interested in continuing this blog. Adieu for now, chickies~

Lights, camera, action!

Jen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:20:12 +0000

Now that the damned essay has been handed in (it was utter agony like I’ve never imagined, yeesh!), there is only really studio and film to be worried about this week. The weather’s been improving, albeit the fluctuating winds remain as intense as ever. Shooting for my short film is on Sunday; unfortunately my partner and I left it to the last minute, well, not entirely last minute, but since it’s a still image film, we’re basically just going to be spending longer time in the editing room (not that we have one), probably at uni, since it has all the juicy programs: iMovie, AfterEffects, Final Cut Pro… Ah, the art of film making was never easy. :P Anyway, Fel was very generous in lending me her Canon D-SLR camera to me. I would so love one; I’ve been eyeing the Canon EOS 1000D and the slightly upper-class EOS 450D for a long time, but at the rate I’m saving up I probably won’t get it til mid-2009 or sommat. That’s OK. I can wait. There’s always the possibility that I’m going to China/Hong Kong after I graduate (if I decide not to pursue Honours), so I could get a camera for a significantly cheaper price, but insurance might be an issue. However, I’ve had cases where it’s valid anywhere in the world? Not sure about the particulars.

In addition to the image, we’ve got to consider sound. We’ve thought that a pensive, somewhat childish but whimsical piano tune would suit very well. Been scouting for royalty-free music on the net. You’d be surprised by how much bad stuff is out there, but inversely how much great free stuff there is as well. It’s fantastic. If I had a musical bone in my body I would compose a score in GarageBand, but I was not blessed with such a talent. Ah, well.

I’ve enjoyed studying film this semester though—I’ve been exposed to many influential directors who wouldn’t cross my mind at first. I still entertain some dream of breaking into the film industry, but I guess I will finish my degree before I think about that. And sprucing up my rustic portfolio would be a good thing to do as well…

Why so serious?

Jen — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:57:32 +0000

‘Sup bitches!

A lot’s happened in the past three weeks:

- back at uni, huzzah.
- got sick, oh noes, although I made a remarkably speedy recovery
- saw Dark Knight on its first day of release, or in fact, first day of release in the whole world, lucky us!
- Dark Knight was bloody awesome by the way. Seeing it again this week at IMAX.

OK, not really a lot.

Anyway, I’m gonna have a proper review (with full coherent sentences!) of the Dark Knight, plus its music score hopefully after this Friday, which is when I am slightly freer.

This essay I’m writing is driving me up the wall; I’ve forgotten the entire process, having not brushed up on my skills for over a year. And it’s such a measly word limit at 800 words. *sighs*

A few videos to compensate for missing Videos of the Week:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince trailer (looks pretty damn good, judging from the junior!Tom Riddle! But all trailers are misleading as hell):

ItsJustSomeRandomGuy’s latest “I’m a Marvel, I’m a DC” parody, brilliant take on the Dark Knight media hype and its sheer awesomeness:

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, directed by F.W. Murnau, 1927 release (gorgeous silent era film I watched in film studies):

Just another day, supposedly.

Jen — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:15:27 +0000

I dunno why but I’m ~~sort of, not really~~ boycotting Livejournal for the day — the cynical me doesn’t even think this’ll make a difference, because big companies always want more and more and more. Money that is. At least I have you, Eveninghour, I paid for you straight, no strings attached (OK, a few strings, but at least not tangled up like at LJ).

Anyhoo, I am on a week long Easter break, which I know for certain will zoom by like flies. I’ve got a lot of work to do if I am to be on top of things. Work for electronic design, studio and typography. Eeep. And I plan to see The Other Boleyn Girl, Sidney Nolan, Black in Fashion: From Mourning to Night and Game On. Possibly not all at once. Not to mention snapping hundreds of shots of a yet to be chosen township/city of metropolitan Melbourne for type. Decisions, decisions.

Borders at Melbourne Central on Tuesday night was packed to the near brim (well, the queue anyway) of people taking advantage of their 40% off one full-priced book deal. For once I am glad to have signed up for this particular mailing list! Look what I came out with: All American Ads from the 1920s. TASCHEN Books slogan is:

TASCHEN Books trigger the desire to buy.

What can I say but, TOO TRUE, TOO TRUE!

Meanwhile onto a more epic scale, I finally signed up for Earth Hour — I’ve been meaning to for, well, months, but then today I remembered. So, if you’re in any of the participating countries or even if you’re not, join in, and spread the word!

No, I have not forgotten Jesus died for all of us on this day. I’ve been an agnostic cooped up in a Catholic institution for most of my life thus far, not likely to forget in a hurry. So, enjoy the Easter with your family and friends, drive safely, and let me ponder over my desire for chocolate hot cross buns.

Moved

Jen — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:56:57 +0000

In case no-one noticed, in which case I am glad, I moved my blog from j-wu-net to eveninghour. Ah, the beauty of having all your domains on the one server! I feel much more comfortable talking about whatever I want without scrutiny from the professional world. I can swear and make fun of people and things within my own comfort zone! And I’d much rather NOT have two blogs at once. An LJ is enough already.

Officially back in the blogging business

Jen — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:06:33 +0000

My goodness, it has been what, three to four years since I’ve blogged? Livejournal doesn’t really count for me, it’s not “public” per se – you’re not really exposed to the entire world as you are here. It feels good! I hope I can meet new people along the way since I’ve lost about 90% of the friends I made back in the old day.

I haven’t realised how powerful WordPress has become; I mean, I always knew it was an amazing tool but over the past few years it has really evolved! Oh my gah, it’ll take me ages to get the hang of it. Remember b2? I remember being spammed about 10-20 times a day in my comments. Good times, those.

So mainly this blog will be about my art and design (uni-related, work-related, personal projects, etc), book/film/music/gallery reviews and random things (like my fixation for Harry Potter, costume dramas or whatnot :P).

I’m just about done revamping the portfolio which is GREAT. However, in the near future I may use WordPress as the foundation, since it’s a lot easier to maintain.

Hello world!

Jen — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 03:10:13 +0000

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!