Orvan Ox's Journal

Names and the 'the'

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:29:58 GMT

Someone asked me who this "Orven Ox" (or is it "Orven the Ox" ?) is. I do not rightly know. I am not Orven Ox. I am Orvan Ox. I have been also been called "Orvan the Ox" which is also right, as I am an ox. There are other oxen, and it seems a bit presumptuous to claim that I am "the Ox" myself. I may be the (only?) one named Orvan, but how many Orvans do you know? Not all that many people even know about the late Dr. Orvan Hess, and I figure a doctor that did what he did would easily have been the most famous person with the name.

I don't think that other folks using the 'the' is a bad thing. It's kind of like being put up there with Kermit the Frog. I take it as a compliment.

Happy National Aviation Day

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:10:35 GMT

Since the writing in the icon is too small to read, her name is Amoolia. I don't know just what sort of aircraft that is.

This icon was inevitable

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:58:18 GMT

You just knew that an ACME bottle cap had to appear eventually, right? Well, here it is.

Generic bottle cap icon

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:33:30 GMT

Back in March I was wondering about a bottle cap icon. Now I have one, and it's not anything I thought of then, nor is it the suggestion I got.

It's a piece of candy. I had forgotten about Bottle Caps candy until a few weeks ago when I saw some. I bought a box (the oversized kind you find in movie theaters) just to get this image. Now, here it is. The candy caps are smaller than the real things.

Moose?

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:55:27 GMT

At Penguicon I occasionally get mistaken for a gnu. Considering what Penguicon is and that the Free Software Foundation has a gnu for a mascot, and how a gnu's horns look sort of like mine, that's somewhat understandable. At least at a distance.

What puzzles me is when I'm mistaken for a moose. A moose? Moose have antlers, which my horns look nothing like. How do folks make this mistake? I wonder if Bullwinkle J. Moose ever had the reverse problem.

A couple conventions I will not be working

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:51:06 GMT

Being a Presidential election year here in the USA, there will be a couple big political conventions. I will not be at either one.

It's not a statement, it's just simple recognition that each one prefers to deal with elephants or donkeys, respectively. They both like eagles, too. Since I am none of those things, I'll be sticking my non-convention work. I don't mind. I suspect the security types would be overly concerned about my horns. Also, political conventions are better on TV, as you can leave the set switched off.

Almost, I guess.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:25:33 GMT

Who is this Orven Ox? With a name like that, it's surprising we haven't been mistaken for each other sooner. Assuming that someone didn't just misspell my name, that is.

Changed comment settings.

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:42:58 GMT

I've changed my comment settings here so that anonymous comments are not visible until I approve them. I don't like doing this, but since the last few anonymous comments have been from spammers I think it sadly necessary to make the change. No rewards for spammers; they get to fail even harder now, as I will not be allowing their spam any visibility.

Unfortunately this means that anonymous and OpenID comments from decent folks will also be screened until I make them visible.

Not the final word, uh, image.

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:10:15 GMT

I've been rather busy the last couple weeks. Lots and lots of deliveries, mostly fireworks. Now that that's over I might have some time to deal with other things again. Things like the photos from RCFM for the ACME Delivery web site, which I haven't finished yet. I feel like I only just began and then things got crazy.

I've also, finally, had a day or two to myself and went looking over some bottle caps. Taking good pictures of them is harder than I had expected. I have a lot of photos. I have only a couple good images as a result. One is the icon for this entry.

I haven't settled on a single bottle cap icon, but since I have so much space for icons I can have a bunch. Here's one that vakkotaur found, he claims, on a bottle of apple soda. Apple soda? Well, he is part horse so leave it to him to find such a thing.

The USDA thing is a bit unnerving, considering my species. Organic, I don't mind. Oddly, even though I just ate, I am a bit hungry. I think I'll go eat a Twinkie. And wash it down with some Tab.

It was a setup!

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:29:37 GMT

Remember the white swim outfit for the July calendar image? The one I was told was an early prototype because of the problem with white fabrics being transparent when wet, and not wanting to pull anything from inventory? That was no prototype. It was pulled from stock. But it's not a problem with the white stuff in stock. You can get a regular ACME swim outfit in white and it will keep you properly covered, for what it covers.

Ah, but that's the regular item. There are other items. The things not in the catalog left on the coffee table, but the stuff of the catalog more likely to be hidden in a dresser drawer. That catalog. What I was given was an item from that catalog. Perhaps one of the more tame items, but still. It was a setup. And I got caught by it. Blast. It does explain why that session went on so long. They were waiting for the "perfect wave" and it didn't happen for some time. I won't be filing a harassment suit, but I am now wondering just how to respond or reply to this.

New icon

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:54:40 GMT

I'm no artist, or at least not much of one. But I do have an art icon now, thanks to Brainerd, Minnesota's promotion featuring Babe, the legendary ox that did the real work for that Bunyan guy. The logo used by www.theoxtrot.com was too good to pass up. It needed some work since I am not blue. It's a pretty crude modification, but it will do.

I like the name oxtrot, but I hadn't heard of it before. Then, I'm not much of a dancer either.

New July and August calendar images

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:44:34 GMT

ACME 2008 Calendar Index

The new pictures for both July and August are in place now. July wasn't too bad, but I was wondering what all the waiting was about. That's the nice picture for the public to see. There was another one taken a moment or two later, after the wave hit. Water and white swimsuits don't mix, at least not that one. I wasn't given an actual finished product as that would have had to be pulled from inventory. Instead it was some early prototype, done before the problem with wet and white was caught. I suspect there are a few copies going around that I'd rather did not exist. Also, it's not easy to hold a "wink" for a long time.

August was more active work, but easier to do if that makes sense. Much less fiddling around for that picture. The "rope" has a steel rod core so going downhill isn't a race against the wagon it looks like would happen. And the back of the harness is more complicated that the front suggests. I'm not sure why the wink is there in this one, but the photographer and art director both wanted it.

I'm a bit concerned about the September picture. I overheard a mention of a transparent beach ball. And a lot of giggling. That can't be good.

For catwoman69y2k

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:58:55 GMT

Since she loves Tux here is the one photo of Tux I have from Penguicon 2008.

June calendar

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:09:04 GMT

The new June calendar image is ready and in place. And now I have the afternoon off, which suits me just fine. Those crates were not props.

Sometimes ya just gotta

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:16:09 GMT

Moo.

Suit Contest?

Sat, 31 May 2008 11:49:53 GMT

Evidently someone nominated me for some sort of suit contest. Why, I have no idea. The idea of me being in a suit contest is a pretty silly one. I don't even own a suit. That's probably why I didn't make it past the first round.

Back from RCFM

Tue, 27 May 2008 22:45:21 GMT

Finally got back from RCFM. I had a good time, and only had one last-minute delivery but that one was quite memorable. Alas I did spend some considerable time trying to find a couple recipients. I misheard one name and a parcel was therefore mislabeled. It got delivered to the correct person despite that, and according to the RCFM "Wheel of Blame" it was all his fault anyway. I do hope the delivered item compensated a bit for that dubious honor.

There was almost a second unscheduled delivery, but by the time I got the call about it, I was well on my way back. I can only wonder who wanted what delivered to whom. I wonder if anything much will be happening before MFF in November. That's the next scheduled convention, at least that I know about.

Arrived Huntsville.

Thu, 22 May 2008 22:03:19 GMT

Arrived Huntsville. Am checked in. Mostly unpacked. Officially I don't have any deliveries until tomorrow, but if I recognize some folks after supper, I might get a head start. Or just offer candy to the crowd or something.

Long day, more to do.

Thu, 22 May 2008 02:16:03 GMT

I'm more than halfway to Huntsville, which is good. It was a long day and the result is that I am somewhat tired. And I'm not sure, but it looks like there could be an added delivery. That shouldn't be a big deal, either way.

I should get to Huntsville sometime in the afternoon tomorrow. And then I can start working/recovering/both.

Rocket City, here I come!

Wed, 21 May 2008 00:43:30 GMT

The parcels to be delivered at RCFM are all ready, or as ready as they can be without the convention having started. I'm all packed up and ready to go, and will be heading for Huntsville starting fairly early tomorrow morning.

There fewer parcels to be delivered, so far, than I had at Penguicon so maybe I can take it a little easier. Of course, more could be be added to the list at any moment, so I'm not counting on anything.

And it looks like breakfast is included with the hotel stay, so that will take care of one meal. And I'm not concerned about the menu since hotels always have cereal. I'm an ox, I like grain, OK?

In a 'cast -and- What, me giant?

Fri, 09 May 2008 02:08:57 GMT

The Penguicon folks have released their first podcast, or as they call it the SMOScast. A bit over halfway through they get around to warning about the language that is apt to be used. Due to a relevant delivery to one of the hosts, ACME is mentioned and so am I. A little over 34 minutes in, there when it takes place if you care to listen. If not...

[...discussion of podcast rating and presence of cussing...]

34:46 Jer: ...I think I'm restraining myself reasonably well

34:50 Jess: Yes, you are. You've only said the f-bomb once.

34:51 Jer: That's pretty awesome.
34:52 Jess: I think

34:53 Jess: Wait, you know... let's drop the F-bomb you guys.

34:54: Jer: I actually have the F-bomb here. *SOUND* which I'm ready to drop..

34:59 Jess: Which he got from ACME.

35:00 Jer: Yeah, Orvan, Orvan the Ox. Awesome. But, uh, there's.. there's gonna be some swearing.

And from LJ:hmcstudios:

I accepted some kind of strawberry-cream candy rope from a giant furry ox.

Finally, as we begin to resolve the problem, that [redacted] giant ox appears out of [redacted] nowhere to give Randall a package, containg[sic] a stuffed bobcat.

Giant and somewhat stealthy? Me? I do not think of myself as either.

Ribbons again

Sat, 03 May 2008 20:50:18 GMT

Recently I realized that the whole ribbon problem might not be over. Sure, I managed to give away all the misprinted "ACME" ribbons. And I figured next year I'd only need to have those and it wouldn't be apt to get screwed up. Except... there can now be a third ribbon. To "ACME" and "ACME Customer" could be added "ACME Supplier" which brings up a couple questions. Obviously, one is how to keep the same screw-up that happened this year from happening again. The other is the matter of what color scheme to use for the new ribbon. Fortunately there's several months before those become very pressing.

ACME Site updated today after all

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:54:53 GMT

I thought it would take longer, but once I had the pictures ready things went pretty quick. I've got the schedule pages, product pages, gallery updated, and even the new May picture for the calendar. I'd have been able to finish the rest sooner if hadn't been for that picture. Only a few photos could be taken at a time and then it was wait for the plane to come around again.

Oh, links? Very well:

Penguicon 6.0 Gallery

Product page

That calendar

I'll have more to say later, but right now I'm getting away from all this for a while.

Penguicon updates still pending

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:17:55 GMT

I know it's been over a week since Penguicon and the ACME Delivery web site hasn't been updated about it yet. That will happen soon. Probably not today, but certainly this week. I think I've finally gotten all the photos edited and ready, but there's more to web pages than just photos. I'll have a bit more to say about Penguicon when I have the web site taken care of.

Penguicon: Tiring and Fun.

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:45:54 GMT

I had fifteen or sixteen deliveries to make at Penguicon, though some items would be supplied once there. One recipient wasn't there and the item was therefore not supplied. A couple other items fell through, but there were a couple late additions as well.

I'll post in more detail once I have the photos up in a new gallery on the ACME site. The short version is: the business cards were a good idea. The big yellow sack was an excellent idea even if it only saw limited use, and the ribbons were a hit though they're hard to handle with hooves. And the plain ACME ribbons were misprinted to also read ACME Customer, so I wound up blacking out the word Customer on them. Annoying, but I found I wasn't the only one that had ribbons that weren't quite as ordered.

I didn't hear anything truly negative. I think the lady who I saw in a hallway last year who wanted to get her and her baby closer to me was there again this year. This time the kid didn't mind getting closer.

About the only bad thing I can recall is that one of the pirate crew out Saturday night should have been pushed overboard for a while, with several pounds of soap. Pheeeeew!

On the other hand, I got to meet Beastie, the BSD daemon or demon! I saw Tux, too.