Via Facebook, a new Photoshop meme (well, new to me; according to my friend Jenni, it’s actually about a year old): create your band album cover from the amazing randomness Wikipedia, Quotations Page and Flickr.

1. For your BAND NAME, go to Wikipedia. Hit “random article”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. For your ALBUM TITLE, go to “Random quotations” on Quotations Page
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3. The last one to five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3. For your COVER ART Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7daysThe third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use Photoshop or a similar program to put it all together.

5. Send it to me and I’ll post it here!

Easy, right!

Up first is my album:

Then my brother’s:





Lisa Ann also sent in hers:





As did Jenni from Above:





It’s like being Sonny Malone, right?? Send in your cover creations!

UPDATE I: Joveth sends us his russian death metal album cover:

So, it’s Christmas break and you’ve consumed all the ham you can usefully take in in one day and watched more football than is necessary for someone who isn’t on the coaching staff, so you need a new distraction. Well, distraction provided! This is a new Photoshop exercise that shows you the “good” and “evil” sides of your face.

Here’s what you do:

1.) Have a friend or other loved one take a picture of your face straight on. Transfer the picture to the computer with Photoshop. Open the picture.

2.) Use the select tool to select half of your face. Copy it (don’t cut it).

3.) Create a new canvas (it should be the same size as the image you just copied, so be sure to double the width).

4.) Paste the image into the canvas and nudge it to the right or left margin (depending on what side of your face it is).

5.) Paste the image into the canvas AGAIN.

6.) Go to EDIT then TRANSFORM then FLIP HORIZONTAL. The second image should now be the second half of your face. Line up the two images, then flatten them. Don;t forget to save!

7.) Repeat for the other side of your face.

Mine came out like this (regular face, right face, left face respectively):

When you’re done, look at yourself and write an evaluation of what you see – what each personality is. Ask your BFF/lover/husband/wife/FB/whomever what they think. Type it up. For example:

The right side of my face is definitely my Irish side. It has a nonplussed, “yeah whatever” expression and leprechaun-like ears. It has dark, stoned eyes. This is the “fiana sidhe” me.

The left side is my Russian/sleestack side – buggy eyes and an almost pointed head. It looks judgmental to me, like it’s about to say “You’re SO wrong, and let me tell you why…” then laugh in your face for being so obtuse. My brother called the look “jaundiced”.

OK, your turn. Send me your pics and your evaluations and I’ll post them on my site in the next few days.

UPDATE I: My brother’s faces.





The left face is that of a person who seems to be thinking something like “What? Really? Really? You don’t fucking think that, do you? You know where you’re wrong about that? (supplies reasons for other person’s argument being bullshit)” This face is that of a person with absolutely no time for foolishness or stupidity. Oddly, this face looks like that of a fairly capable athlete, too.

The right face is that of a sensitive, thoughtful, rather worried person. Neurotic. Hesitant. About to speak but wondering whether it’s the right thing to say. An entirely tentative individual. This is the face of…I’m not sure. What kind of job could you see this person doing? Janitorial work on a cruise ship?

From my brother, “Dude, Do We Have a Magic User Back There?” is a confection whom several guys (and some women) I know wouldn’t mind meeting in a dark alleyway against the better advice of their party members, flaming sword and feet that don’t touch the ground or no.

Prints are available in time for Christmas!

…because memes are the bane of everyone’s existence. They’re somewhat worse than spam because a.) they’re just as prolific as anonymous spam, but b.) they’re sent by friends. So, the question becomes, “Do I fill out another survey of my ‘fave’ things and then recruit five to ten more hapless friends into this miniature disruption of our day OR do I ignore it and risk looking like I can’t be bothered to communicate with my friends?” (Of course, the third choice is to ask the sender, “Why can’t you send me a personally typed email to show me you actually care enough to bother?”) However, my friend OMGLawDork caught me being a bad blog buddy last night after Body Flow class. She mentioned the photomeme on her blog and how fun it was to create, and I know I was staring stupidly at her because she asked, “You don’t read my blog as often as I read yours, do you?”

Guilt is such an effective weapon with me.

So tonight I caught up OMGLD’s blog (which, using her own word, is LOLarius), where I saw her work:

• name: OMG
• favorite food: pasta
• hometown: Dallas
• favorite color: red
• celebrity crush: David Hewlett
• favorite drink: red wine
• dream vacation: Canada
• favorite dessert: chocolate mousse
• what I most want to be when I grow up: at peace
• what I love most in the world: my family (blood kin and otherwise)
• one word that describes me: happy
• my username/email handle/gamerID/whateves: OMGLawDork

And seeing that I was convinced this was a worthwhile exercise, mostly because it takes some time and talent to put together. Here’s what I came up with:

• name: Sean
• favorite food: pizza, wings and beer
• hometown: Erie, PA
• favorite color: red
• celebrity crush: Neil Patrick Harris
• favorite drink: strawberry margarita
• dream vacation: Ireland
• favorite dessert: chocolate cake (because i couldn’t say “pizza” again)
• what I most want to be when I grow up: Dark Phoenix, so WATCH OUT!!!
• what I love most in the world: knowledge
• one word that describes me: bookish
• my username/email handle/gamerID/whateves: stseanoftheknife

If you read this blog and want to create one and send it back to me, please do and i’ll post it here.

UPDATE I: Joveth sent me this today:

• name: Joveth (Japheth)
• favorite food: italian meats and provolone on hard bread (not shown)
• hometown: San Jose, CA
• favorite color: currently, I enjoy the color combination of light blue and brown
• celebrity crush: Kyle Chandler
• favorite drink: dirty martini
• dream vacation: Italy
• favorite dessert: smores…mmm
• what I most want to be when I grow up: travel writer
• what I love most in the world: discovery and exploration
• one word that describes me: fluid, flux, etc etc
• my username/email handle/gamerID/whateves: tazzgonzo

UPDATE II: My brother Scott sent in his photomeme:

• Name: Scott
• Favorite food: Kimchi chigae
• Hometown: Erie, PA
• Favorite color: Green & Purple
• Celebrity crush: Alyson Hanniagn
• Favorite drink: Coffee
• Dream vacation: Vienna
• Favorite dessert: Cheesecake
• What I most want to be when I grow up: Someplace Else
• What I love most in the world: Knowledge
• One word that describes me: Monkish
• My username/email handle/gamerID/whateves: daedalusrose

UPDATE III: From friend Michael, the latest and most choiceful of the photomemes:

• name: Michael
• favorite food: Gram’s chicken soup
• hometown: Baldwin, NY
• favorite color: I’m particularly fond of jewel tones (deep burgundy, blue, green, etc).
• celebrity crush: tie between Alex O’Loughlin and Jensen Ackles
• favorite drink: Captain and Coke
• dream vacation: my upcoming first trip to Europe in April!
• favorite dessert: Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream
• what I most want to be when I grow up: a rock star, of course…
• what I love most in the world: my family
• one word that describes me: Scorpio
• my username/email handle/gamerID/whateves: gemmin

UPDATE IV: From the Fraternity of the Undead, Nick sent me his revelatory collage:

• Name: Nicholas
• Food: Pizza
• Hometown: Austin
• Color: Maroon
• Celebrity Crush: Hugh Laurie
• Drink: Wine
• Desert: Pecan Pie
• What I Want To Be: Filmmaker
• One Word: Humorous
• Username: MuteAnt