Orvan Ox's Journal

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.

I've been carded. And I've been left holding the bag.

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:37:37 GMT

Ooh, that probably sounds worse than it is. Today I was given a stack of business cards, and not someone else's. These all have my name on them. So I now I have those to... well, give away. I wonder how I'll manage at Penguicon with the deliveries, the ribbons, and now the cards too.

I've wound up using a borrowed laundry bag to carry some parcels at times and that just didn't seem right. That shouldn't happen again. I now a have a big, and I do mean big, yellow ACME sack for that. I said bag in the title but the usual term in delivery usage is sack. It was the same way at the Post Office. Unless the thing could be locked, then it was a pouch.

Ah, the exciting life of a delivery ox, where such mundane things as business cards and a sack are noteworthy. Sometimes I worry that I might be becoming a little like that janitor fellow in UHF who is overly attached to his mop.

Penguicon is almost here.

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:43:52 GMT

I've got a bunch of stuff to deliver at Penguicon. It looks like I might be as busy as I was at Midwest FurFest last November. I might be busy, but Penguicon is a lot of fun (except for that "Brazilian Beef" thing). I hope I can avoid delivering into that this year.

The badge ribbons have arrived, I've been told. I don't have them yet. Arrangements were made and I'll pick them up at the convention.

I feel like I ought to start packing already, even though it is a few days early for that.

Foolery of April

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:10:58 GMT

I've heard vakkotaur rant some about marketing types and now I've had my own experience with such. If you look, you'll find a new version of the April picture on the 2008 ACME calendar. You don't have to tell me that it's wrong in a few ways. I know. I just wish I could have gotten that through a thick skull or three.

I want it known that I have nothing against the photographer. The photographer managed to make things look pretty good, I think. I probably look much better in that picture than I ever do in person. The wannabe art director who set up the design of the shot... could use a clue. Unless the image is meant to be some April Fool's joke, which is just possible, but I wish someone would have told me if that was the case.

What's wrong? I am wearing a yoke, which is normal for a field ox, so that's fine. But it's only there to have ACME's name on it. It provides no pull at all. None. It's just a prop, or rather a billboard. The harness that is connected is less than practical. I speak from experience. Action shots were tried. Whoever came up with that design needs to wear it and try it for themselves. But as bad as the harness is, the real corker is that plow. There's no guide for it and it really, truly does not work. The attempted action shots proved that. It was so obvious even a marketing exec could see that something was wrong. I'm glad that that alleged plow is just a prop and not an actual ACME product.

I can only wonder what other silliness awaits me for the rest of the calendar re-shoots.

Sometimes I don't know how to react.

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:16:45 GMT

When someone addresses me as "beefcakes" I am never sure if it's a come on or a threat.

For those using LiveJournal: You can comment with OpenID.

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:19:53 GMT

You don't need to have an InsaneJournal account to leave me a comment and you don't have to post truly anonymously and deal with the captcha system that makes sure you aren't a spammer's script. Nor do you need to give InsaneJournal your LiveJournal password. I understand that would make you nervous as sharing passwords is a bad idea. NOTE: That option seems to be a goof. Someone didn't change the original LiveJournal text to InsaneJournal in the last system update. Oops.

If you have an account that supports OpenID, you can comment that way. LiveJournal, for example, supports OpenID and you don't even need to do any fancy setup. If you have an account there, you have OpenID. It's automatic.

Here's what you do:

1. Be sure you are logged in to your OpenID supporting account. (That is, be logged in to livejournal.)

2. Check the OpenID button when leaving a comment.

3. Enter the URL of your OpenID supporting account. For example, Vakkotaur's OpenID supporting account is: http://vakkotaur.livejournal.com/ and make sure all other fields, such as LiveJournal username, are empty. You can leave the http:// off if you don't care to type it.

4. Write your comment as usual and click the Post comment button when ready.

5. There will be a page asking about confirming identity. Click the Yes; just this time button to post. Or you can click the Yes; always button so you won't need to deal with this page again.

I've asked Vakko to leave a comment here using OpenID so you can see what that looks like.

Bottle cap icon?

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:35:35 GMT

I was looking around and realized I never put anything in the interests section of this journal, so I added a few things. Nothing fantastic, just that the space is no longer empty. Then I realized there are 300 icon spaces and I use only 14 of them so far. Adding one or two for hobbies won't cause trouble. Deciding on them is another matter.

One hobby or mild interest of mine is collecting bottle caps. I am not all that serious about it. I haven't been looking for any special cap, not gotten involved with trading. Just that if I happen across a crown cap, I save it. Sometimes it's something someone saved, and occasionally I'll see one left as litter, but mostly the caps are off of things I've tried. Some things I only try once, and not just for the cap!

What all this adds up to is that I think I ought to have an icon that is a picture of a bottle cap. But which one? I'd rather it be of something I'd be willing to drink, and not just to get the cap. Something I wouldn't mind trying again. There are few possibilities. It could be from water or soda, thus non-alcoholic. Or it could be a plain color cap which would be rather generic, or it be plainly from some beer.

And those have more choices: Which one? Which color? And again which one? I think I'd like something with some pattern or image, but not much text. That seems to leave out the water and sodas. Acme Ale caps might seem obvious, and don't get me wrong, Acme ales are good. I drink them occasionally when I feel like a change of pace. I just prefer porters.

Of course all the icons I have so far are bovine (most are pictures of me, after all) and maybe I should stay with that. Yet the only bovine bottle caps I know about are for Schlitz. I've never tried that, so I don't have that cap. Evidently there are a couple different colors. I only know of one fellow who says he likes Schlitz, which isn't exactly encouraging. Just how is it?

I am not being very decisive. Perhaps you can help:

View Poll: Bottle cap icon

110 pound (exploding) pinking shears?

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:52:10 GMT

ACME is something like Rodney Dangerfield. Gets no respect at all. Case in point.

How on earth could anyone pack 50 kilos (that's about 110 lbs) into a pair of pinking shears? Even I'd have some trouble just lifting them. Imagine trying to actually use 110 pound pinking shears, explosive or inert. And no, ACME stuff does not "always explode."

In fairness, the disclaimer at the bottom of that page does say that it "is all in fun and silliness; and should not be taken seriously."

Yet it seems I almost always get asked, "Will it explode?" Only if it's supposed to. Or maybe if it's really badly mishandled. People just need to completely read the instructions.

Penguicon: It's official... and other ACME news

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:03:27 GMT

As can be seen on the ACME Delivery web site, on the upcoming events page and my own schedule page, I will be at Penguicon. Penguicon is no longer "prospective" and is now "confirmed." So I'll be there. Unless something really bad happens, but that isn't too likely.

The new March calendar image is in place as well. Is it intentional, or an out-take? I'm not saying.

And I finally have something for the Press page. It's not much, but it's something. How obscure a paper can you get?

The web site is almost done. Or as done as company web sites ever get. There'll be new gallery photos with each event, new press articles on occasion, and of course new products. Oh, and there's supposed to be a picture for the 404 page coming. I really hope it's a normal picture and not me trying, and failing, to find my clothes or something.