Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART

Artist's Comments
An animator faces his own animation in deadly combat. The battlefield? The Flash interface itself.
A stick figure is created by an animator with the intent to torture. The stick figure drawn by the animator will be using everything he can find - the brush tool, the eraser tool - to get back at his tormentor. It's resourcefulness versus power. Who will win? You can find out yourself.

-- This took three long months.. i think it's worth it.

link

Campbell Soup's gay ads attacked by American Family Association By Rachel Charman on Pink News

An ad for Campbell's Soup Company appearing in gay magazine The Advocate has been condemned by the American Family Association (AFA).

The double-page ad features two female restaurateurs and a young boy. The text accompanying the picture identifies the women as a couple and the boy as their son.

The AFA, a conservative media watchdog, immediately began campaigning against the ad.

The organisation objects to what it sees as Campbell Soup sending "a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support," and for giving "their approval to the entire homosexual agenda."

On the AFA website, the organisation urges supporters to "Send an email to Campbell Soup Company President Douglas Conant," and "Tell him you want his company to stop supporting the gay agenda."

Draft emails made available to AFA supporters to send to Campbell Soup read:

"I request that Campbell Soup Company stop promoting the homosexual agenda and remain neutral in the culture war.

"I certainly hope you will honor my request by no longer placing ads in homosexual publications like The Advocate.

"Campbell's should not take sides in a political battle, but put your efforts in producing the finest products you can."

In spite of this, Campbell Soup is refusing to give in to pressure and continues to stand by its decision to market its Swanson broth range to the gay community.

Campell representative Anthony Sanzio said: "Our position on this is pretty straightforward.

"Inclusion and diversity play an important role in our business, and that fact is reflected in our marketing plan.

"For more than a century, people from all walks for life have enjoyed Campbell's products, and we will continue to try to communicate in ways that are meaningful and relevant to them.

"Our plans for the Swanson brand include additional placements in The Advocate."

In 2007, Campell Soup was one of 53 major corporations, including household names like Starbucks, Hallmark Cards, Mastercard and J.C. Penney, have expanded their non-discrimination policies to include the gender-based protections.

Photoshop CS 4real on LADG
November 12, 2008 by iNEEDaDAMNgoodJOB.com

by iNEEDaDAMNgoodJOB.com

I love this site intro!

With the Marines... by ~goldenhide on deviantART

Artist's Comments
My first desaturating attempt. I like the way it turned out. Again it looks like a frame from a movie, but this one obviously with an adjusted camera and lens. I like the way they colors came out the most. They have a Kodachrome look to them.

This time we were dressed as Marines of the 3rd Marine Division during Operation Cartwheel specifically Bougainville. Sadly, southern California lacks jungle so it really wasn't like Bougainville at all... More of a dead grass Guadalcanal.

Camp San Luis Obispo, June 2008

Into the Unknown by *kerembeyit on deviantART

Artist's Comments
Personal work...

--
Photoshop CS2, Vue 6 xStream

The NHS was launched with this Halas and Batchelor film, Your Very Good Health, 1947

Make a film and help save lives: Creative Review and NHS Choices want your ideas for a new series of animated public health films



The UK’s National Health Service was launched 60 years ago with the help of a cartoon
character called Charley. Created by renowned animators Halas and Batchelor, Charley and his family explained the fledgling service to the nation in the classic film Your Very Good Health (above).

Through its web portal, NHS Choices, the NHS now makes extensive use of moving image, both to promote public health messages, to explain diseases and conditions and to help those suffering from them. With an ageing population and alarming increases in problems such as obesity, there remains a dire need for effective, engaging communications. Which is where you come in.

NHS Choices and CR are giving our readers the chance to develop a new animated character/s to commu nicate vital public health messages. The chosen entrant will be given a six month contract to develop his or her concept and put it into action.

We are looking for a character/s that would work well in both static illustration and short animated films that would be distributed nationally on the net and other media. The aim is to use humour, consis tently strong writing, and a distinctive visual identity to put over health infor mation credibly, with laughs and without alienating the audience by being patronising.


The Modern Guide To Health, also by Halas and Batchelor

How to enter
Send us a storyboard or short anima tion containing a health message which showcases your character/s in the best possible light. We are looking for a strong visual style which is engaging and can be used flexibly across different media. The creative solution should have a universal appeal so please include an outline on how the characters could be implemented and developed over time.

Individual and team entries are welcome from both amateurs and profes sionals. Up to five entries will then be shortlisted and each given a budget of £3000 to produce their short anima tion. These films will be viewed by a panel of representatives from nhs Choices and CR with, in the opinion of the judges, the makers of the strongest film being awarded the contract to make the ensuing series.

The winner’s work will gain huge exposure in a high-profile medium that is promoted nationally. The work may well be syndicated. NHS Choices will retain the copyright in the charac ters and content of the final commis sioned films but in the case of entered storyboards and the five test films copyright over characters and content will remain with the filmmakers.

To enter, send storyboards and a covering note, with an estimate of what each film would cost, to Joanna Rahim, multimedia editor, nhs Choices, 80 Skipton House, London SE1 6LH, by January 19, 2009. 

Please note, we cannot return storyboards. The judges’ decision is final. If you have any queries, contact joanna.rahim@dh.gsi.gov.uk. Deadline: January 19 2009

THT rejects Tatchell criticism and reveals work with blood service By Tony Grew

A leading sexual health charity has said it is working with the National Blood Service on the current ban on men who have had sex with men donating blood.

Terrence Higgins Trust has been accused of colluding with "stereotyped and prejudiced assumptions" that bar gay men from giving blood by campaigner Peter Tatchell.

The NBS claims that it targets sexual behaviour and not sexual orientation, but there is a lifetime ban on donations from men who have had sex with men.

There is increasing pressure for the ban to be lifted in favour of more sophisticated models.

Mr Tatchell said that THT and gay men's health charity GMFA are "dependant on funding and goodwill from establishment bodies, they have joined the establishment.

"Unwilling to challenge a blanket ban that is irrational and ignorant, they collude with the NBS's stereotyped and prejudiced assumptions about gay and bisexual men."

Lisa Power, head of policy for THT, told PinkNews.co.uk:

"Perhaps Peter should stop hurling pointless insults and start considering why an organisation that always makes decisions on evidence rather than wishful thinking is willing to consider a policy which appears discriminatory.

"THT's view is that while we could certainly do with a comprehensive review of the UK restrictions on blood donations (which affect many more people besides gay men) in the light of recent advances in knowledge, we also need to understand that some groups of people are at more overall risk of HIV transmission than others.

"Until we have the technology and the funds to be able to ensure that every donation is a safe donation, some forms of group restrictions are inevitable. The question is not whether restrictions should exist but whether we have the right ones in place.

"THT is working with the National Blood Service to ask those questions, based on evidence and we will abide by the results. Any regulations - and any changes to them - need to be based on facts, not political rhetoric."

Ms Power revealed that THT will be meeting with the NBS in January "to move this examination of the evidence forward."

Peter Tatchell attacks Terrence Higgins Trust over gay blood ban By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk

A prominent gay rights campaigner has said that sexual health charities are colluding with "stereotyped and prejudiced assumptions" that bar gay men from giving blood.

The National Blood Service claims that it targets sexual behaviour and not sexual orientation, but there is a lifetime ban on donations from men who have had sex with men.

There is increasing pressure for the ban to be lifted in favour of more sophisticated models.

In an article on The Guardian newspaper's website, Peter Tatchell set out the case for an end to the ban.

"We all now carry the mark of the HIV 'Anti-Christ,'" he wrote.

"Every single same-sexer in Britain is categorised by the NBS as a potential purveyor of death and destruction.

"We are all reckless liars, who can never be trusted to behave with sexual responsibility or to tell the truth about our sexual history and HIV risk factors.

"Every last one of us – including gay doctors, priests and HIV educators – are prohibited from giving blood, now and forever."

Mr Tatchell, who is a parliamentary candidate for the Green party, also attacked gay charities for siding with the NBS.

"Oddly, this unscientific, irrational policy is backed by gay-led HIV charities in the UK, such as the Terrence Higgins Trust and Gay Men Fighting Aids (GMFA).

"Now dependant on funding and goodwill from establishment bodies, they have joined the establishment.

"Unwilling to challenge a blanket ban that is irrational and ignorant, they collude with the NBS's stereotyped and prejudiced assumptions about gay and bisexual men.

"Scientists, doctors, HIV organisations and gay rights campaigners in many other countries take a different view.

"They say that a total ban on all blood donations from men who have sex with men lacks scientific credibility and medical justification. They are right.

"The NBS gay blood ban is based on the ill-informed, homophobic presumption that all gay and bisexual men are 'high risk' for HIV, regardless of their individual sexual behaviour.

"This is nonsense. Most gay men do not have HIV and will never have HIV."

Terrence Higgins Trust, a leading HIV and sexual health charity that provides services across England, Wales and Scotland, backs the National Blood Service.

"We support the current attitude of the NBS but we do think they could go a lot further to explain themselves," Lisa Power, THT’s head of policy, told PinkNews.co.uk in May.

"I don’t blame people who don’t understand the ban and who think it is all about prejudice.

"99 times out of 100 when someone is told they can't do something because they are gay, it’s prejudice.

"What the blood service does is something they have been afraid to admit in the past - they play the odds.

"They look at how much blood they need and they look at how many risks they have to take to get the blood, and they do not take any more risks than that.

"And although the risk is relatively low, there is a risk there.

"When we talk to people about this, they are surprised to find out that nobody from England can give blood in America.

"The odds that they play in America mean they do not need to take English blood and there is a tiny, and not dissimilar risk, of BSE from English blood.

"It wouldn’t matter if you were a vegetarian, they will not take the risk.

"For a vegetarian to be refused the chance to give blood in America is pretty much the same as a gay man would feel.

"We support the blood service so long as they regularly review the evidence."

Last month the National AIDS Trust accused the NBS of not doing enough to challenge the ban on gay donations.

"NAT is not convinced by the justification put forward for the current lifetime ban and we are campaigning for the National Blood Service to review it," said chief executive Deborah Jack.

"The test for HIV used by the blood service is not the most reliable test currently available.

"Furthermore, the only two options considered as an alternative to the current lifetime ban are no restrictions at all and a one year ban – but there are alternatives such as the New Zealand five-year ban.

"A lifetime ban becomes increasingly indefensible when, for example, there would be next to no one alive with undiagnosed HIV fifteen years after they were infected.

"The National Blood Service has said it is willingly to review the ban if there is any new evidence. But it should be doing more.

"Instead of an essentially passive approach it should be proactive in questioning this outdated policy and looking for an alternative to a blanket ban.”

The NBS said in a statement:

"While safer sex through the use of condoms, does reduce the transmission of infections, it cannot eliminate the risk altogether. The reason for this exclusion rests on specific sexual behaviour rather than the sexuality of the person wishing to donate.

"There is, therefore, no exclusion of gay men who have never had sex with a man, nor of women who have sex with women.

"The policy would only be changed on the basis of clear evidence that patients would not be put at jeopardy. In addition, scientific advances in virus testing and inactivation are monitored."

Similar blanket bans have been abolished in South Africa, Spain and Italy.

The Book of OZ (1949) was a commemorative volume celebrating Cooper's typographic achievements.

The Rules:
* Grab the book closest to you.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Post it as your status.
* Copy these rules as a comment on your status.
* Dont look for your favourite book or the coolest one - but stick to the one which is closest to you.