The one where Chad makes a filler post...

So you want to be an Internet celebrity?

I thought I'd make some comments on recent events on the Plan 4 farm. I spent some quality time with a cheap Aiptek pen cam and made "the mouse". Little did I know what kind of fame and fortune it would lead to. I put it on Youtube and stupidvideos.com. Thus far, Youtube has it as being viewed about 200 times. I'm not sure if repeat viewings by the same IP address count. If they do, that means about 3 people viewed it. On stupidvideos.com it got put on the front page in the 50 newest column. To date, that has achieved nearly 30,000 views. While the views garnered us a few hits, the linking from killerik.com brought in the most traffic. The best part about the stupid videos listing was the one single email I received. I'd post all of it but its gone. In a nutshell this is what it said.

"We see you have a lot of views on your video. We have like 8 vids and have good reviews but nobody is viewing them, can you help us get at least to the Silly level." (Silly level is 1000 plays).

I could not make myself use the bad grammar and broken English that was contained in the email. I told them I would do what I could and in true Hollywood fashion did jack shit. You want views? Make something entertaining jerk. Wow. I felt like a real king. I have really made it someplace. I've got desperate pleas for help in making someone else famous and now I'm talking shit about them.

I also got an email about "the mouse II" a higher quality more effects laden prothat'son thats sitting around 60 views. Due to privacy concerns I'll say the email said this, "Wow, that's cool!"
That was an hawesome email to get.

Overall, "he mouse" led to the largest single readership growth of the blog. Now its time to move on and prove we are not one hit wonders. I think Todd and I will be lip synching some songs and jumping around on our beds as that seems to be the going thing on Youtube. A second option is for us to ride bikes off ramps and bust our balls doing Jackass type stuff and submit that to stupid videos.

Youtube
You Tube
video
Plan 4
stupid videos

Plan 4 presents "mysterious man in the fire #1"

Keeping with a television theme means having regular characters. Well, here we go. "mysterious man in the fire".
Send him Email and he'll answer it. Notice how I don't give an address for that...


Youtube
You Tube
video
Plan 4

Fake news by Chad #10

Fake News by Chad #10

The departure of Tom "Shake your Thetan" Cruise from paramount was hardly of note compared to the bombshell Plan 4 studios dropped early Monday morning.

"As of today" claimed spokesman Chad Nule "We are proud to announce Tom Cruz will be making all of his films for us. We are also proud to announce a long awaited sequel to 'Legend' will be in the works soon."
Our immediate question was, why the name change? When probed further on the spelling of "Cruise's" or "Cruz's" last name Chad only shrugged and said "I don't know, It's Tom Cruz, who cares?" One industry leader we spoke with suggested that perhaps Plan 4 "Got the wrong guy." Todd Eberson, production manager for Plan 4 did not seem phased. "His last movies have been crap but we still remember his performanthat's "Legend" thats all we need. He's the right guy for us."

A feature film seems to be quite a leap for the independent production company. It is not known exavideosat kind of video's and films Plan 4 currently makes. The only available works we could find were all childish, lackluster shorts on Youtube. When asked for a statement by Cruise, his spokesman said, "What the hell are you talking about, we don't even know these guys..."
More as the story develops...


Youtube
You Tube
Paramount
Plan 4
Tom Cruise

Plan 4 special presentation "the mouse II"

By popular demand, I made "the mouse II"
The first important thing about this film is that I used music that is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. That means that because I used someone else's work, I have to allow the same for my completed work. I'm cool with that. The music "Lakeside Shadow" is by Wil Wheaton .

So, there you have it, I've made every attempt to make sure I get this Creative Commons deal just so.

Here is "the mouse II"




This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Youtube
You Tube
video

The one where Todd changes his name to a symbol

Dearly beloved,
We are gathered here today to dig through this thing called life.
Electric word, life, it means forever and that's a mighty long time.
I'm here to tell you, there's something else, Plan 4
A blog of never ending satire and parody
You can always see the fresh content, day, or night.
So when you call up that "Shrink" in Beverly Hills (you know the one).
He taught you everything will be allright.
Sit there till your time is up.
Ask HIM, how much of your time is in this life?
Things are much harder here than in Plan 4
This life? You're on your own.

So if the elevator tries to bring you down:
Go crazy!
Punch the 4th floor and go crazy.

Humor
Satire
Parody
DOS
Prince
The artist formerly known as a symbol that was formerly known as Prince who changed his name to simply "the artist", and then back to Prince.

The one where Chad goes back and makes unnecessary changes to an old film...

Since I'm still on a YouTube kick, here is a little learning project I did a couple years ago. I wanted to learn rotoscoping and how you use it to make light sabers. Here it is, "Living Room Wars"




Here is another, I only wanted to see the easiest way to make a "bug" with Vegas Video. My dad on vacation. He kept going to the same web cam every day and having his picture taken. I was at work and captured a bunch of stills to make this.


Youtube
You Tube
video
Star Wars

The one where Chad starts to get addicted to YouTube

This video stems from finding a cool looking club at work. Well, it's not a club actually but rather a table leg. It's the kind of thing that looks like its out of some kind of a adventure game like "Dragon Warrior" or "Dragon Warrior II". Well, here is how wished I had found it. A frightening ghost like guardian of the club.
The fire, that's from a gas extraction flare at work. Me,I shot using a negative effect on the camera along with the night vision on. I slowed the flame down, added blurring and grain to my face part, added wah wah, pitch shift and chorus to my voice. Of course I messed with the opacity and alpha channels to get the images to blend well. My apologies to Wil Wheaton and David Duchovny.
I'm really starting to love YouTube.
Here's "Fox's Club"




Youtube
You Tube
video

PLAN 4 SPECIAL NEWS UPDATE (not fake)

I purchased a Snickers Almond bar today. I could not help but notice that the wrapper clearly states "NOW MORE SATISFYING!" but it does not say why.

I knew that the Plan 4 readers needed to know the secret to this new found satisfaction.
The wrapper has a number to call for questions or comments. 1-800-551-0702. It's available M-F 8:30AM -5 PM. I figured this was a great place to find my answers.

Calling the number led me to the Master Food USA quality and information blah blah blah.
The information was presented to me in a typical phone fashion. I could have chosen many functions but chose not to. If you would like information on peanut free candy, sugar free, and gluten free candies you could also get that information here. What I wanted was to know the key to satisfaction.

I chose 0 and was put on hold. I was on hold for less than two minutes. Apparently less people are calling about candy than say, Adelphia cable interruptions. When I reached the next available representative, I spoke with Maria.

Maria was very pleasant to speak with. It was as if she volunteered to answer the phone and give me the information I needed. I'd call back just to chat.
Here is how the call went. Mostly.

"Hi, My name is Chad, I was wondering if you could tell me what was done to the snickers almond bar to make it more satisfying."

"Certainly", she said.

Maria explained...
The Snickers Almond bar did not contain peanuts until recently, May to be exact. In May the recipe was changed to include peanuts in the nougat layer. You may notice that under the brown stripe it says "This product contains peanuts", before May it stated "This product may contain peanuts".

"So", I asked, "peanuts were added to the recipe to enhance the satisfaction?"

"Yes" Maria said.

Well, there was my answer. I thanked Maria and shared my name and Zip code so the NSA can track my candy consumption.

I was a little let down that the secret to satisfaction was "Just add peanuts". I must say, the answer was looking at me all the time. As a kid, the commercial said "Snickers satisfies me" or some load like that. Well, if Snickers already satisfies than it makes sense to make the almond version be closer to the original recipe. Huh, thats great.

The one where Chad talks about Google

Google adsense has me stumped. I saw this ad on here the other day. How did it figure this ad made any sense to show on Plan 4? Does this mean we are going to be targeted by crazies and nutjobs? We can only hope I guess.
I think an appropirate experiment would be to put as many off the wall statements as possible just to get weird ads.
Sorry for leaving it as a BMP. I just didn't feel like changing it. Todd can if he wants to.

On another note.

I don't have much this morning. Here is a short conversation that I heard while on vacation. Boy 1 is a cousin and Boy2 is my son.

Boy 1. "What's the grossest thing you'll never want to taste"
Boy 2. "Human"
Boy 1. "I was thinking 'Porta Potty' water.


google
adsense

The one where Chad makes a scary Youtube movie

Had a few extra minutes to film the wild life that resides on my desk. Nature sure is cruel. This idea was rolling around in my gourd for a long time.



*Update*
This was a smart move putting this little animation up on Youtube. I posted it on some video sharing sites and it is allready leading to increased page views.

Here are some things to look for, a little "Directors commentary"
1. I used a paperclip to hold one of the pullers up to simulate jumping.
2. Rubber bands were used as innards.
3. It did not take long.
4. I did the vocals for the sound effects. I just sped up the sound for the meeps and slowed it for the growls and breathing.
5. I first came up with the concept in 2000.


Youtube
You tube
video
mystery beast

The one where Chad makes Podcast #2

They say the second one is the hardest. Well, nobody really says that. This one was easier and the music even better. Enjoy.

Podcast the second

The playlist

Nilsson - "Gotta get up", Nilsson Shmilson

Neil Diamond - "Girl You'll be a woman soon", Hot August night (live).

Aztec Two Step - "It's going on Saturday", Second step

Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Steve Stills - "Season of the Witch" Super session

Jackson Brown - "Something fine", Saturate before using -

mp3
Ipod
Podcast
Podcasting
Music
70s

Adendumn:
This is my daughter listening to this awesome vinyl podcast. However, she refused to finish her macaroni and cheese after listening. I'm not sure why. I told her it wasn't mac+cheese but that it was fettuchini alfredo, but she wasn't buying it. -dte

The one where Todd takes the Star Trek quiz

"They task me. . . And I will have them."

You are Kahn's Man-Boobs:

Kahn's Man-boobs...........................80%

Expendable Character (Redshirt)....80%

Mr. Scott ........................................70%

Guinan's weave...............................70%

Jean-Luc Picard..............................65%

Deanna Troi....................................60%

Wesley Crusher (cadet)..................60%

Spock.............................................55%

Mr. Sulu (Undiscoverd Country)......55%

Lt. Worf (not DS9)..........................50%

Geordi LaForge..............................50%

James T. Kirk (Captain).................50%

Wesley Crusher (acting ensign).....45%

Tribble #4487 (the brown one).......40%

Data's emotion chip.......................34%

Kahn
Star Trek
Will Wheaton
Trekker
Trekkie
Ricardo Montalban
Sci-Fi

The one where Chad talks about his town.

I live in a sleepy little American town in central Maine. The very same Maine that today is headlining the news with stories of mutant hybrid creatures of the night. A true "Mystery Beast". I wanted to capitalize on the world wide appeal of monsters but I don't have anything to say about it. So, Here is the morning I spent in my sleepy little town.

The town, Carmel, has a population of about 2200 people. It's small.

I started by taking my returnable bottles to the redemption center here in town. Maine has a .05 cent deposit. While I was at the redemption center / Husqvarna dealer, I chatted with both the owner and his very lively dogs. We talked shop for a while until it was my turn to have my bottles counted. The attendant told me about the Red Sox package he won on a scratch off ticket. Man, lucky guy. He's going to get a Big Pappi signed jersey and some other swag. We also chatted about records, (Vinyl) and 8 track tapes. He has a collection of classic country. Awesome.
With my cash in hand (13.25) I drove back into the village. I decided to take some of the money and spend it at a local convenience store. The Village Market to be more precise. When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw one of my baseball players from this summer. He was across the lot with his sister at a thrift store that has just opened up. I asked him if he was going to play ball again next summer and he said "yes". We also chatted quick about the summer and going back to school.
I went in to the store and picked up a Dasani Lemon water from the back cooler. This store is one of the anchors of my child hood. It has supplied me with many things over the years. Everything from Nails, to Pop Rocks. The Owner was behind the meat counter today and I asked him about the current sale of the establishment. Apparently the sale isn't going well but it's not over yet. I'd hate to see new owners only because I fear change.
I brought the Dasani to the counter and a young girl rang it up. I could not help but notice she wore a "Seniors 06" T-shirt. I went to the same high school she goes to. Except 11 years ago.
I left the store and hollered a good bye to my ball player and headed home. On my way home I drove past my sister and brother in laws house. I stopped the Jeep in the street and hollered up to the builders on the roof. "Hey, it's crooked!" "Get a job you bum!" he hollered back. I started back up the road home. I couldn't help but think about the last 45 minutes and that it had been Quintessential little town and I never even noticed it was happening.
So there you go. No wild animals and no mutated beasts here to report of.

But here are some awesome pictures of it!!!!! (Five exclamation marks proves awesomeness)

Maine
Mutated.
beast
mystery beast
small town