Pate de foie Manto

Pate de foie Manto, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Liver as a main course. With a whole bunch of stuff to make a collapsed liver even worse. And some stuff to kill a nation.

A fifth of all South Africans have HIV or AIDS right now. And that's just the cases that are known about.

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and her AIDS denialism are responsible for South Africa having such a big problem.

Now she's dead. Can our country recover?

Made in ArtRage 3 on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc.

If you'd like to use this pic for any reason whatsoever, go for it. It's released under a Creative Commons 'Attribution, Share-Alike' license.

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang Dead Dead Dead

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang Dead Dead Dead, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

She's dead and gone now.

Maybe it means South Africa has a chance to recover from the mistakes she made botching our ability to solve the AIDS crisis this country is sinking under.

Verbose? Hey. Not as verbose as Manto. The alcoholic, thieving, incompetent buffoon.

One liver transplant wasn't good enough for her. She had to continue drinking. Just had to do it.

And the first liver transplant was a stolen liver. She jumped the queue.

And the second liver that was scheduled to be given to her? Stolen too. Another jumped queue.

Am I sad that she's gone? Nah.

Am I worried that people will think ill of me for saying bad things about the dead? Nah.

Am I happy that the country might be able to get back on track? I truly don't know. I think there's a lot of evil going on in this place. Our politicians are as corrupt as it's possible to be. I think we're screwed, actually. But hey.

This pic was made in ArtRage 3 on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc.

If you want to use this pic for any reason whatsoever, please go ahead. It's released under a Creative Commons 'Share-Alike, Attribution' license.

South African Santa

South African Santa, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

A while back I had a speaking engagement for a bunch of MENSA types.

One of them... John Hofmeyr... called me a week or so after, and asked me if I'd illustrate a poem of his for a charity publication.

I agreed to do that. And this is the resulting image.

If you have a need for a unique Santa pic, please feel free to use it. It's released under a Creative Commons 'Attribution, Share-Alike' license.

I made this pic in ArtRage 2.5 and PhotoShop CS3 on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc.

How to Get a Tattoo

There are three keys to getting a tattoo:

1. Being certain you want one.

2. Choosing the right image.

3. Choosing the right tattoo artist.

Let's start at the beginning.

1. Being certain you want a tattoo

When I was eleven, I got a tattoo. It was appalling. It was a stylised
drawing of a Chinese Fu Manchu sort of dude wearing a hat. Terrible
artwork. And the 16-year-old dude who did the needlework was really
just incompetent.

When I was in Grade 9, I used a scalpel to try and cut the tattoo out.
I hated it so much. When I was in first year varsity, I tried again to
remove it. What was left was an inky stain with scarring that looked
like a mutant birthmark.

So why did I choose to get a PROPER tattoo late in my thirties?

Well... I'm older. More mature. Have a much better artistic sense. And
an appreciation of individuality.

I've yearned over the years to get something to cover up the mutant
both-job. But I've always had the fear that I'd want to scalpel the
thing out again. I wanted to be certain that if I DID cover the old
tatt, it would HAVE TO be something I could live with and be proud of.

I came up with a deeply ironic and hilarious design. It took the form
of a clothes-label badge that said: 'LEFT ARM: Property of Roy
Blumenthal'. (I'm Roy Blumenthal, just so you're clear.)

A company I do freelance work for is filled with dudes who have
tattoos. They're called MISSING LINK. And they make presentations that
aren't boring.

I showed them my design, and they went crazy. One of them said, 'If
you get that tatt, we'll hire you more often!'

I was going to get the tatt anyway. But that pushed me over the edge.

I scouted a few tatt artists. But all of them looked at the scarring
of the old one from my youth and said, 'Nope. The ink won't hold in
that.'

So I redesigned the tatt for my right arm. And went to one of the most
reputable tatt parlours in Joburg: KEVIN'S KUSTOM TATTOOS, and had the
three artists laughing their heads off.

A few years later, the MISSING LINK dudes brought a tatt artist to
Joburg from Cape Town. And I got my second tattoo. It totally covers
my old mutilated scar, and is in the form of a phoenix rising from the
flames. (The image is a double-image: in the negative space you can
see a bold question mark.)

Do you really want a tattoo? Really realllllly? Sure it's not just
about some perceived 'cool'? Are you willing to live with a permanent
addition to your body? Are you willing to accept that your body image
WILL change one way or another?

2. Choosing the right image.

Once you KNOW a tattoo is right for you, you need to find the right
image. Something you won't get tired of. Something that is you now,
and years and years and years from now.

Dig deep into your essence to find out what your anchor is in the world.

Be sure that you're looking INTERNALLY, not externally. You might
THINK that Jesus or Black Sabbath or The Jonas Brothers DEFINE you
now. But that's deeeeeeply unlikely to pervade after three decades.
Simply put... Our beliefs change. No matter how we cling to them NOW.

In my case, my two tatts represent aspects of my true self. I'm
someone who delights in the ambiguity that irony creates. So my 'Right
Arm' tatt will always be funny. Even if one day it has to be
amputated. Cos the doctors will get a laugh.

The phoenix/question mark tatt represents two major aspects of my
being. I question everything. I'm a life-long learner. The fact that
the question mark is hidden at first in the image shows the value of
probing. I am also a perpetual reinventor of myself. The phoenix is a
bird that transforms when needed. It overcomes hardship. It revels in
the flames.

What defines you? Internally? What are your most solid values? These
are the things I suggest you look to when choosing an image.

Where to find a pic? Well... The internet is the best starting point.
Start collecting pics that resonate with you in a folder somewhere. A
great starting point is Flickr. Or Google Images. Also, go to tattoo
shops. Look at the flash on their walls. But remember that flash is
NOT unique to you.

Print all of your reference pics to take with you in your search.
Something will emerge.

3. Choosing the right tattoo artist.

In my case, I've had three tattoo artists working on my skin.

The first was not an artist. He was a juvenile delinquent. And I
almost became a juvenile delinquent cos of his work on my arm. I was
deeply ashamed of the mark, and never wore short sleeves until I'd
hacked the ink out with a knife.

The second was a competent inker. But she wasn't an artist. My 'Right
Arm' tatt is okay. But nothing glorious.

The third artist is the one I'll go back to for my next tatt. He's an
actual artist. And he helped interpret my finished artwork into a
mighty tatt.

His name is Marcus van der Tuin from Metal Machine in Cape Town.

My advice to you? Find a tatt artist who is passionate about tattoos
and art. Ask to see tatts he or she has done. Ask to see the original
artworks they used as reference. All of the good tatt artists are
proud of what they do. They take photos. They care. And they're not
offended by people asking questions.

This ink will be on and in your body for the rest of your life. EVEN
OF YOU LASER IT OUT. Choose wisely.

I hope this helps you.

Enjoy your journey. Don't rush. And be certain.

Re: Twitter to Pieter Uys about 3G problem

Hi Louisa...

Thanks very much for your call yesterday. I'm pleased that someone in Pieter's office took this matter seriously enough to put a human face on it.

I'm afraid your call came too late for me. This issue should have been dealt with on the day it happened, or the next day. Instead, it took from Friday to Tuesday for me to get absolutely no joy, and no resolution. Your call was the ONLY communication I've had where resolution was possible.

There's something drastically wrong with your problem-escalation systems and procedures if your company will allow a client to get this heated about something so simple to fix.

The matter is simple:

1. I put a limit in place to protect myself from nasty surprises like a R4k bill out of nowhere.

2. I also trusted your systems to deliver the promised SMSses telling me when my bundle was depleted. You are in the business of delivering information. You've been doing it for more than a decade. GET IT RIGHT.

3. I trusted your people to have the common decency of communicating with me when something went wrong. They did not. They simply froze my account, OVER THE WEEKEND, with absolutely NO WAY for me to get my account unfrozen. Shocking. Disgusting. Pathetic. How would YOU like to have YOUR internet arbitrarily cut off, with a R4k bill thrown in for good measure, and a labyrinthine call centre system that refuses to escalate issues?

4. I made more than 14 telephone calls to get this issue sorted. I spent more than R200 waiting on hold and being told by idiot-like people that they would NOT escalate my call. I wasted more than five hours of MY time trying to sort out YOUR problem. All the while being blamed for it, and being told that I had to pay for your mistake. Yuk. Shame on your guys.

---

I've now gotten my MTN connection sorted out. And I'm back in the land of the connected.

Please cancel any and all remaining Vodacom accounts forthwith. As we discussed on the phone last night, I will not be giving you a month's notice. I want it cancelled right now. This month-end bill must be the last debit order from you guys, please.

---

I apologise for the strident tone and manner of this email. I recognise that you've been thrust into the tail-end of a nasty situation, and that you're really doing your best to help me. But I've really had enough. And I simply want to be clear that I will have nothing further to do with Vodacom.

ACTION REQUEST:

1. Please let me know that my account is being deactivated with immediate effect, and that I won't be paying any more bills other than this final one.

2. Please let me know what you intend to do with the disputed amount.

3. Please let me know what's going to be done to prevent this from happening with other clients in the future.

Thanks, Louisa.

Roy

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 2:56 PM, Louisa Van Beek <Louisa.VanBeek@vodacom.co.za> wrote:

Roy,   You have send Pieter a twitter about your 3G problem.  Can you please give me more info i.e. what the problem is, where do you experience this problem, contact detail that I can give the technicians to make an appointment to come and see you.   I have also left you a voice message, you are welcome to call me at your convenience.   Regards   Louisa van Beek CEO's Office Vodacom Group Limited 082 Vodacom Bouldevard, Vodavalley, Midrand, 1685 Private Bag x9904, Sandton, 2146   "This e-mail is sent on the Terms and Conditions that can be accessed by Clicking on this link http://www.vodacom.co.za/legal/email.jsp "

--
------------------------------------------------
ROY BLUMENTHAL
Visual Facilitator, Illustrator, Writer, Director

Mobile: +27 74 104 6386
Fax: 086 512 2580 (South African calls only)

Email: royblumenthal@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/royblumenthal
Site: http://royblumenthal.com
Illustrations: http://flickr.com/royblumenthal

Professional member of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa: http://snipurl.com/psasa-profile
------------------------------------------------
I use an Asus R1E tablet pc, sponsored by Rectron South Africa

Vodacom 3G Losing Another Customer: Complaint Currently Being Dealt With on GetClosure!

This is the text of my complaint currently lodged with
http://www.getclosure.co.za:

<em>My Extremely Truncated Complaint Against Vodacom</em>

1. My 3G card was locked on Friday 20 Nov without my being informed.

2. When I spoke to a consultant on Friday evening, he told me that my
bill had spiked to just under R4k, and that accounts had frozen it.

3. Approx two years ago, I had Vodacom put a voluntary limit on my
acc, so that it could not spike by more than R500.

4. Consultant informed me that no such limit was in place. He
speculated that an error may have occurred when I upgraded from the
1gig bundle to the 2gig bundle.

5. I've since spoken to, and screamed and shouted at, approx 14
staffers, who refuse to escalate this to decision-making level.

6. My 3G remains blocked. And I refuse to pay for Vodacom's error.

<em>My Proposed Solution</em>

1. I want my 3G card immediately unlocked and operational.

2. I will happily pay my bill up to my R500 limit.

3. I will happily purchase a top-up bundle to see me through this month.

4. Vodacom must absorb the balance of the cost of the spike, and fix
their internal systems to prevent this from happening.

5. I want an apology from the person who cut my account off without
notifying me.

6. I want a written apology from Pieter Uys, Vodacom CEO, explaining
why his staff refuse to escalate issues, and what he will be
instituting to make complaints easier to escalate.

7. I will most likely terminate all dealings with Vodacom as a result
of this debacle.

ARIA -- a short film directed by Guto Bussab, written by Roy Blumenthal

Guto Bussab directed this film, opting to shoot on real 16mm film. I co-produced with him and Rudi Pieterse. And I wrote the script.

We shot the film over two-and-a-half days, using three locations in Joburg. Norman Coombes was an absolute trooper. At this point in his life, he had almost no sight left. He was as good as blind. And he was old. One of the shoot days had us doing an intense and late afternoon/night shoot in an antique shop. At the end of the shoot, Stafford, our Director of Photography, called, 'Check the gate.' This is a ritual in film. The gate is the bit in front of the lens where the film rushes through. If it's clear, it means all's well. If there's a little piece of film stuck in it, it means trouble.

As it happened, the gate wasn't clear. We had filmed for an entire 6-hour period, with NO film rushing past the lens. We had to reshoot the scene in ten minutes, after calling Norman and Frantz back from their car.

This film was the last one Norman Coombes made before he died. He was into his late 80s when we shot it, and he was long dead by the time our unbearably complex edit was over.

This film was a lesson in 'What CAN go wrong WILL'.

The chief catastrophe, from which we almost couldn't recover, was that a good third of our shot footage was processed by the film lab at the wrong ASA rating. And so it ended up not just vaguely unusable but completely unusable. Viewing rushes is a dangerous and scary thing. When you view the rushes and you cannot see anything but darkness and golf-ball-sized clods of misshapen light, that fear becomes bile-like.

Which meant that the film had to be pieced together by Damon Berry and Digby Young. They literally took my script, worked out what we intended with the movie, and then created an entirely new story out of the footage available to them.

They fought another monumental battle in that long edit. As it happens, Guto's 16mm camera had a problem that nobody knew about. The crystal in the camera which keeps audio and picture synchronised was broken. So the film wandered between 23 and 26 frames per second. Which meant that there was NO lip synch. None whatsoever.

So when Digby and Damon delivered us a film, it took me and Philip Haupt about a week in the audio studio getting a salvageable lip synch out of the cut.

Only two things went really well. One was the music by Dan Selsick. He composed the aria specifically for the film. And the other was the post-production funding I secured from the NFVF, South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation.

@docpop's 'Pictureless Comic Contest': Hindsight -- 2009-11-04 -- Joost and Amor

@docpop's 'Pictureless Comic Contest': Hindsight -- 2009-11-04 -- Joost and Amor, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

@Scottstead, a Twitter buddy of mine, and fellow visual thinker, alerted me to an interesting challenge...

@DocPop threw the gauntlet down, asking artists, illustrators, cartoonists, humans, to create a 4 to 40 panel comic strip with NO PICTURES.

Of course, the only medium in which this can be successfully carried out would be radio. Cos all other media use visuals. And visuals are pictures. Even a written or typed word is a picture.

But what the heck? Maybe he just meant, 'Traditional pictures'?

My answer to the challenge deals with the scandalous numbskullery of an ex-Springbok Rugby Playing Hero, Joost vd Westhuizen.

Some time ago, the tabloids broke a story in which Joost was seen in a home video snorting cocaine off an extra-marital ladyfriend's stomach. He was also giving her some of his special Springbok Rugby Love. (You know the type I mean... tonsil massage in the locker room.) All while wearing underpants riddled with holes.

He denied that it was him in the tape. His spiritual leader, Pastor Ray McCauley, of the money-making Rhema Church, apparently denied it was Joost. (I've just searched the web for the articles I recall coming out at the time, and I'm struggling to find anything about McCauley's role that isn't hearsay.)

Nevertheless... Everybody denied it was Joost.

And his wife Amor stood by his side.

But now he's gone and let the cat out of the bag. It WAS him. He admits it in his new book. And at the same time, he trash-talks Amor in the most ungentlemanly ways possible. (In fact, I hope his Springbok Rugby Pals round on him in a dark alley and give him some scrummaging lessons as payment for the ugly stuff he's revealed about his former love.)

The hidden layers in this cartoon make it a bit convoluted for anyone who isn't fully up to speed with the twists and turns of the saga. But it's clear enough what's happening in the surface story regardless.

I thought a bit of history would be in order.

I made this pic in ArtRage 2.5 on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc. I wore a pair of my own hole-ridden underpants on my head for inspiration.

This pic is released under a Creative Commons 'Attribution, Share-Alike' license. This means you are free to use it as you see fit, without asking for my permission. AS LONG AS... you attribute it to me, and you release it under a similar license. I would also appreciate a note letting me know you're using it. My email address is roy@royblumenthal.com.

Too many examples.... Two more tales of woe for Virgin Mobile South Africa to be worried about. An open letter to Steve Bailey, CEO.

Hiya Steve....

This email is going to you, to Louis Stanford, Lynn McMaster, my Coffee-Shop Schmuck blog, and my Posterous blog.

There are now 23 comments on one of my blog posts about Virgin Mobile (http://royblumenthal.com/wordpress/2008/09/13/virgin-mobile-south-africa-incompetence-exemplified/). Some of those comments are mine. But many of them are from people who've had poor experiences with Virgin Mobile. Experiences which are not being sorted out or solved timeously, courteously, or with integrity.

As you know, I've been forwarding most of the comments to you. And you've sorted many of them out.

But I think it's time for this poor service to stop. It cannot keep going on like this.

The rumours about Virgin Mobile's pending demise continue to circulate on Twitter. No-one from Virgin comments on these rumours. Your PR agency seems not to even know about them. Nor do they seem to monitor the blogosphere.

At the same time, the South African internet-literate public seem to be very active in searching for examples of Virgin's poor service. And they seem to be finding my blog. And leaving comments on it. This is not good for Virgin Mobile. It's not good for the entire Virgin brand.

I really thought you guys would have taken some steps to fix things after the small debacle that led to my first post.

But you haven't fixed things. 

Are things at Virgin Mobile truly unfixable? Is it impossible for some person on the end of a telephone or email to actually take responsibility for the satisfaction of the customer at the other end?

You should not be in business if you are unable to address these issues. And you should not be in business if people have to resort to force to get their issues handled. When people leave a comment on my blog, they are resorting to force. And that should leave Virgin Mobile deeply ashamed and embarrassed. More than that, Virgin Mobile should be leaping into action to make things right. Even if you ARE going to be shutting your doors at some point.

Please read the comment I've quoted below. It's from Louis Stanford:

Louis Stanford April 7, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Hah!

I'm having similar issues, I cancelled my account in October (no phone included in the contract) and money is still being deducted off my account, even more bizarrely, they've handed me over to TransUnion debt collections for an amount of R4784 (which I do not owe).

I have now phone the call center 8 times, and 8 times I've been told that the mythical billing department would investigate and get back to me.

No luck so far.

Tomorrow, I change tactic.

Louis

Now here's one from Lynn McMaster, responding to Louis's comment with a situation of her own:

Lynn McMaster August 5, 2009 at 4:35 pm

Hi Louis,

I have an identical problem.  I have been struggling with VM since June 2008, and eventually returned, in total frustration, the useless handset in December 2009.  I have written and phoned VM so many times, I have lost count.  They do not come back.  No success from Steve Bailey whom I also mailed a while back, using the address you gave.  I tried Virgin Mobile, UK.  They are not interested.  I have tried to contact Sir Richard.  No luck.    I was contacted by one Ivana Japhtha from VM SA, who undertook to sort the matter out and cancel the contract, remove any "debt" incurred by VM even when the phone was back with them.  They just quote their Force Majuer clause in thecontract (No 18).  read it. VM can do what they like, even if they do not offer any service.  Roll on the Consumer Rights Bill.

Then I get demands from Trans Union.  I go back to Ms Japhtha, who says not to worry.  I tell Trans Union I have declared a dispute.  Eventually Japhtha calls me on April 19 2009 to all resolved.  Contract cancelled and "debt" wiped out.  But guess what; she lied.  I kept getting accounts from VM and threats from Trans Union who have japtha's number.  I keep reversing the amounts taken from my account by VM.  Japhtha promises to sort it out.  Nothing happens.  I go away for a month in June and come back to find a company NAEDO NuDebt has removed money from my account by debit.  I don't know who they are; they have stolen the money.  I call them.  They say they were authorised by Cell C to remove the money.  Who is Cell C?  Guess what, Virgin.  I have never signed any permission for Nu Debt to take money from my accounts.  Trans Union say they know nothing  about the illegal removal of money from my account and that my account with them was closed.  I think, Hooray, Japhta sorted it.  But no, she never contacted them.  because the account was in dispute, and nothing was happening, it was closed and "migrated" elsewhere.  I try to get out of Japhtha what is going on.  She doesn't come back to me.    So I go to my Bank, Standard to find out how they can allow the removal of money from my account by an unauthorised company.  They tekll me there is so much fraud, they cannot control it!!!!!!They try to contact VM.  No reponse.  So, today (5/08), I go to Standard Bank by appointment to close the account from which money is being stolen.  We try to open a new account.  No Luck, I have been listed.  No-one has told me of this.  I do not know who has listed me, and since Japhtha has written to me re cancellation of my debt, I assumed she was writing the truth.  Stupid me.  I should know VM is completely incompetent and completely unethical.  I establish that Japhta has never contacted Trans Union as she claimed.  I am still receiving accounts each month from VM.  I write to Japhta and query why...........no response.  I phone Japhtha, and she promises to phone me before 5.30 pm on a day.  She does not.  Standard Bank phones her today (5 August 2009).  She tells them she is sick in bed.  She acknowleges I have been listed, as this happens "automatically"  What does she mean? She promises to fax through stuff to Standard Bank tomorrow.  Will it happen, I don't know.  Meantime, Standard is trying to get permission within their own company to open a  new cheque account.  They don't like it because of the listing.  They promise to phone me back this afternoon.  I have left three nessages with them this afternoon.  No return calls, and no information on the status of my "new" cheque account as faithfully promised by Standard.  Is it possible they are in league with VM?

Can someone recommend what I can do to sort this.  Is there an attorney whom I can use to hit VM big time for fraud?  And I mean big time.  ICASA was contacted by me, and they did nothing.  Advice is desparately needed.

Thanks

Steve... are you still the CEO of Virgin Mobile? If not, please can you tell me who is? And can you forward this message to that person? If you ARE still the CEO, then please take action to make these issues stop. And please let me know what you're doing about it so that I can blog about it.

Also, please contact Louis and Lynn on the email addresses in the header field of this email. They deserve your speedy and decisive response.

Thanks Steve.

Blue skies

Regards

Roy

Internetix Mark Gevisser #internetix

Internetix Mark Gevisser #internetix, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Mark Gevisser's keynote speech at Internetix 2009 in Cape Town, in tandem with a chat I had with him at breakfast, leads me to a significant reframing of the Zuma PRESIDENCY. I've been a pessimist about South Africa's hopes under Zuma. Given the bloke's shady past.

But the presidency is not the man. The man may be flawed. But his presidency has much more at stake than he has.

These are the key points I took away from Mark's insights:

o Zuma's 'dishonest' past almost forces an honest presidency. He has to be seen to be spick and span.

o He comes from a security background. He's a spook. He has several cellphones on him at all times. Each hooked up to a different 'cell' of his intelligence network. Subsequently, he has a very attuned ear. Knows what's happening.

o He's taking aggressive action against corruption. He's being SEEN to be walking the talk. Gevisser reckons he's potshotting at soft targets for the moment. Easing off on loyalists. But that'll probably change.

o The ANC 'formation myth' crystalises around the inviolability of the South African constitution. Messing with the constitution messes with the formation myth. And messing with the formation myth leads to party instability. Gevisser reckons that the formation myth is our biggest insurance policy against constitution meddling.

Roy Blumenthal -- Edmonton Stories #yeg #iclei

Roy Blumenthal -- Edmonton Stories #yeg #iclei, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

This story appears on the EdmontonStories.ca site. Please click through so you can see the video of me making a complete picture from start to finish.

The story comes from an interview conducted by Elize Smit, a once-upon-a-time South African, now a fully-fledged Edmontonian.

She condensed it down from my verbose ramblings over an hour or two.

She also operated the video camera to capture the footage of me making a pic of one of the ICLEI delegates from start to finish. You'll need to click through to see the video.

Chris thought my visual facilitation might be a fit for the city of Edmonton. He's the IT branch manager and chief information officer of the city of Edmonton. So the deal was if I could make my way from South Africa to Canada, they'd put me up and have me do visual facilitation here in Edmonton.

Of course I wanted to know how Chris knew about me. First time I got to that was in the car from the airport. He told me, "Well, you did a SlideShare presentation on the web about a session hosted by the Disney Institute, and a friend of mine sent me that SlideShare. I ended up printing out every slide and surreptitiously, every now and again, putting up a copy of one of the pages, just to jolt the office around a little bit and generate some interest." As soon as he saw the SlideShare he started thinking about how he could use my skills. He couldn't bring me out just for a City of Edmonton event – he has to be responsible with spending taxpayer money and all – so he waited for an opportunity where there could be a synergy. ICLEI came up. He started negotiating with them, and I’m here!

One of the things happening in the City's IT department is that they're moving towards each individual designing their future. So it’s not about reacting to stuff anymore. It's about taking charge and saying, "This is what I want out of my daily life. These are my interests. This is what I want to do." And the IT Department's making it real. It's not lip service. It's real stuff. To demonstrate that, Chris got me into a Q & A session where the audience got to ask the department directors questions. There were 300 people, all of them working in the department. And Chris and his directors were being really open and honest about who they are, what their plans are, what’s going on in the department, and what the forward planning is. Open and transparent.

I said to Chris, before the session started, that I'm sure this is probably going to be quite a confidential session so if he'd like, I wouldn't put any of the pictures up on Flickr. And he said, "No, we're about transparency and openness. Whatever you create in this session, you can put on Flickr. And we're going to share it with all the staff. We want to be held accountable for what goes on in our department." So the entire session’s on Flickr. People were blown away, because everyone was being totally open and honest, and because it was so interactive. I was drawing on screen, the directors were doing their thing, the audience was asking questions. It was great.

The video below was shot during the ICLEI World Congress 2009 at the Shaw Conference Centre. Watch Roy draw one of the ICLEI delegates visiting Edmonton.

Story Created: Jul. 10, 2009
Written by Edmontonstories.ca staff

RIP: A Remix Manifesto (with a pic of Greg Gillis, aka, 'Girl Talk')

Girltalk -- Colour (After), originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

One of the movies on the Air Canada flight from Edmonton to London was Brett Gaylor's RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO. (Download a remixable copy of RIP 2.0 here: http://www.opensourcecinema.org/project/rip2.0.)

The documentary is a wonderfully immersive introduction to the Creative Commons movement. Well worth seeing.

One of the artists featured in the movie is a remix musician called 'GirlTalk'. (Here's an interview with Greg Gillis, the dude behind the nom de plume: http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/7522-girl-talk/.)

I LOVE what he does. And I HAVE TO get stuff he's done. Buttkickage of the highest order.

On the plane, I hit the pause button on a good shot of him. Whipped open the trusty li'l black Moleskine. And slammed some lines down with my Bic Intensity gel-ink pen.

So the black and white version is what I ended the flight with.



And the colour version is a high res scan brought into Photoshop CS3. The only thing I've done is draw various outlines, and use the colour adjustment tool to get some lovely smooth, flat colours going.

That's made possible specifically because of the fact that I scan at high res, in full colour, with low contrast. This means that the paper texture is part of the black and white picture, even though it can't be seen.

This picture is released under a Creative Commons 'Attribution Share-Alike' license. So remix at will.

Originated in black ink in an A6 unlined Moleskine. Scanned. Then tweaked for colour in Photoshop CS3 on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc.

Roy Blumenthal Making the Amy Goodman Visual Facilitation Pic

Earlier this afternoon I caught the live streaming vidcast of the OPEN VIDEO CONFERENCE held in New York.

I liked what I was encountering. So I did a visual facilitation of some of the keynotes. You can see the pics I made in my Open Video Conference set on Flickr.

Amy Goodman spoke about Democracy Now, a free-tv station that seeks to put views across that aren't curtailed by corporate influence.

I made a pic of Amy Goodman's session.

I though it might be neat to show some of my process in speeded-up form.

So I zapped into www.artrage.com, started recording, and then hit 'Control Y' to redo everything right to the end state.

I brought the resulting AVI file into Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, where I sped it up substantially.

Once I had something that looked reasonable, I found some music. The track I settled on is sourced from the legally free jamendo.com. The track is called 'Minimoonstra', from the album THE FIRST PSYCHEDELIC TRIP VOL 2, by the band Speedsound. The entire album is released for free use under a Creative Commons 'Attribution' license.

I converted the MP3 to a WAV file in Audacity. Brought that into Premiere. And did some minor editing to sync up the emphasis points of the vid with movement in the music.

This is the result. A short, condensed journey into how I do visual facilitation.

This video was made on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc. I originated the pic in ArtRage 2.5. And did all video editing in Premiere Pro CS3. All streaming and uploading was courtesy of the free broadband internet connection in my hotel room in Union Bank Inn, Edmonton, Canada.

Crawford Schools -- DreamFlight Competition -- an animated overview

My girlfriend, Jennifer, is a teacher at Crawford Prep, Sandton. She's also on the Ministry of Creativity, a national body aimed at spreading creativity in the classroom over all of the Crawford schools.

She recently asked me if it would be okay to help her out with a little video explaining the competition to her colleagues. We decided to approach it as a creative multimedia project.

She got photos and video footage of previous winners. I then made caricatures of them on ArtRage 2.5 on my tablet pc. I took my video camera to her classroom to get some moving footage for the vid. We asked the various winners for voice recordings of their accomplishments. We recorded these on my cellphone voicemail. And then tried to make the quality acceptable. I think we achieved that mostly. But some of Sean's talk is a bit lost in the electronic muddle.

I then took the voices and caricatures into CrazyTalk 6 (I'm using the closed beta version at the moment), and powered them to life.

This video is the result.

Sadly, non-Crawford people can't enter the competition. So this is here just so you can see the kinds of stuff they've up to.

Thanks once again to Antony Raijekov for his awesome Creative Commons licensed music. The track you hear is a slightly modified version of 'Fidder (2004)', from the 2007 album JAZZ U. It's licensed as CC 'Attribution, Non-Commercial'. Go grab it for yourself at Jamendo -- http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/3777

Three of the photos that appear briefly in the vid are from Flickr, also released under Creative Commons licenses. They are: 'Dream' by Ravichri (CC By-Attr-ND), 'Innovate' by Uncleweed (CC Attr-Share-Alike), and 'Yourself' by Ami Harikoshi (CC Attr). All other pictures are fair-use to illustrate the public topics they deal with.

All of the illustrations and animations are mine. As is the DreamFlight logo. I designed it using Creative Commons licensed illustrations that I modified.

Enjoy!

Roy Makes a Picture -- A Video of How Roy Works

Roy Makes a Picture -- A Video of How Roy Works
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal

As part of a pitch for Missing Link to win a gig for Coca-Cola South Africa, I made a pic of the head honcho, Ilan.

As part of the pitch material, I documented the making of the picture.

I used the free and open source FREEZ SCREEN CAPTURE to record everything happening on my machine.

I set up my Sony VX1000 behind me on a tripod to catch the over-the-shoulder footage.

And I slammed it all into Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, and sped up all of the footage.

All of the painting is done in ArtRage 2.5 on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc.

[Missing Link won the pitch. As a result, I did a wonderful day of visual facilitation at the Coca-Cola Conference in Sun City.]

Redi Direko vs Floyd Shivambo -- The Animated Summary by Roy Blumenthal 320 x 240

Redi Direko vs Floyd Shivambo -- The Animated Summary by Roy Blumenthal 320 x 240
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal

On Wednesday 13 May 2009, Redi Direko was hosting her talk show on 702 Talk Radio. During the show, she took ANC Youth League Spokesperson, Floyd Shivambo, to task. He was on record accusing DA leader, Helen Zille, of 'sleeping her way to the top'. He also suggested that the male members of her cabinet were her 'concubines'.

Shivambo phoned the station, outraged at being taken out of context, and demanding the right to reply, to explain what he meant.

Listen to the podcast for the full version of his incompetent idiocy. Or watch this animated summary to get a sense of what listeners and Direko had to go through. Here's the podcast link: is.gd/zKir.

I made the caricatures using ArtRage 2.5. I used Audacity to edit the audio down to an acceptable length of time. The animation was made using a closed beta version of CrazyTalk 6 (I was asked by the developers to be one of the beta testers of the software).

The music used in the end credit is by Antony Raijekov. It's released under a Creative Commons 'Attribution, Share-Alike' license.

The computer I'm working on is sponsored by Rectron South Africa. It's an Asus R1E tablet pc.

Re: Fw: REF METOC64270/1

Hiya Steve...

I really am getting loads of these emails. From people hopping mad.

They seem to think that I work at Virgin, cos they address them to me
as 'your company blah blah blah'.

I really don't mind being a 'smooth the ruffled feathers' kinda dude.
But heck... Something's not lekker.

And I'm hearing these rumours from people who know a thing or two.

I don't wanna tell you how to run things. But I *do* wanna mention
that it's probably best to either squash the rumours by taking them on
directly, or be open to whatever truth component there is, and take
public responsibility for whatever's going down.

From my side of things, I'd really prefer it if Virgin Mobile stays in
business. And I really hope you can find a way of getting your
processes sorted. I *love* being s Virgin Mobile customer.

I have to say that even though I had a 'bad experience' with Virgin
Mobile, it was *nothing* compared to the crap service I subjected
myself to for a decade or more with AutoPage Cellular.

Having said that, you've got two challenges that must be dealt with:

1. These rumours are loud and clear and 'authoritative'. People on
Twitter are claiming that Virgin Mobile is pulling out of South
Africa, that Cell C is taking over the company, that VM is bankrupt.

2. One stupid blog post (mine) is getting a steady stream of EXTREME
disgruntlement from people being treated horribly by Virgin. This has
to be the tip of the iceberg. People who write to me must be a tiny
fraction of those who are being messed around.

Thanks for taking action on this woman's kid's party present, Steve.
It's really cool of you. And thanks for communicating it to me.

All the best.

Regards,
Roy

On 5/15/09, Steve Bailey <Steve.Bailey@virginmobile.co.za> wrote:
>
>
>
> Dear Roy,
>
> Thanks for the alert, I will deliver the phone to the customer today, in
> time for her daughter's birthday. We have taken the liberty of
> enclosing a birthday card from all of us at Virgin to.
>
> Regards
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: schmucknews@gmail.com [mailto:schmucknews@gmail.com] On Behalf Of
> Roy Blumenthal
> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 11:39 AM
> To: Karonie Ramsamy; Steve Bailey; post@posterous.com; go@blogger.com
> Subject: Re: Fw: REF METOC64270/1
>
> That is PATHETIC of Virgin Mobile! Yeoooooow!
>
> I've cced Steve Bailey into this email. Hopefully he can sort
> something out. He's the CEO of Virgin Mobile. (Or was, the last time
> we communicated.)
>
> Steve...
>
> I'm getting way too many emails of this nature. Virgin HAS TO pull its
> socks up.
>
> I've been hearing strong rumours on Twitter that you guys are packing
> it in. But until you've packed it in, your doors are still open for
> business. It's best if you actually DO business.
>
> This is not great, Steve.
>
> Please respond to this message. I'm also posting it on my blog.
>
> On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 11:19 AM, Karonie Ramsamy
> <karonie@serendipitytours.co.za> wrote:
>> No The Customer Service Manager said she acnnot do anything and she
> will
>> cancel my contract and if the phone arrives tomorrow I must send it
> back
>> with the courier company
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roy Blumenthal"
>> <royblumenthal@gmail.com>
>> To: "Karonie Ramsamy" <karonie@serendipitytours.co.za>
>> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 11:05 AM
>> Subject: Re: Fw: REF METOC64270/1
>>
>>
>> Oh man! What a runaround! You must have been so disappointed! Yikes,
>> Karonie! I can see how horrible this must have been for you. Did you
>> eventually GET the phone? Virgin really should get their act
>> together!!!
>>
>> Thanks for writing to me. Would you mind submitting this as a message
>> on my blog? That's the blog post you would have found my details on.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Regards
>> Roy
>>
>> On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 11:01 AM, Karonie Ramsamy
>> <karonie@serendipitytours.co.za> wrote:
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: Karonie Ramsamy
>>> To: notthathappy@virginmobile.co.za
>>> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:43 AM
>>> Subject: Fw: REF METOC64270/1
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: Karonie Ramsamy
>>> To: maweni@virginmobile.co.za
>>> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:38 AM
>>> Subject: REF METOC64270/1
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi
>>> My name is Karonie Ramsamy, I am so disappointed with the bad service
> I
>>> received from your company, I was hounded for a week with your
> special
>>> Sony
>>> Ericson w350i phone and eventually I got another call from Dean i
> decided
>>> to
>>> take the phone on 7 May , I Called Dean he was not in so another
> person
>>> assisted me and promised I would get the phone before Thursday 14May
> as
>>> this
>>> was my daughters 13 birthday present which is tomorrow 15May . I
> called
>>> daily and I spoke to Precious and Notlonga on Tuesday and Wednesday
> and I
>>> was told I would definatley get the phone before Friday as it is
> already a
>>> week from the order date. I called again this morning as i received a
>>> message from the courier company and was advised I will not get the
> phone
>>> today I called your office again and spoke to the manager of customer
>>> service who was absolutely of NO Help. I cannot believe the calibre
> of
>>> staff
>>> that you have . I am so disappointed with your company , She could
> not
>>> assist at all and did not offer any alternatives. You have not put me
> in a
>>> position wereby I was relying on this for a birthday present for
> tomorrow
>>> and now I do not have the phone especially after your company hounded
> me
>>> for this phone with false promises.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Kind Regards
>>>
>>> Karonie Ramsamy
>>> Tours Manager
>>> Serendipity Tours
>>> T : 031 3015230 / 0861 STOURS(0861-786 877)
>>> F : 086 679 42 62
>>> E : karonie@serendipitytours.co.za
>>> W : www.stours.net
>>> A : 9th Floor, Mercury House, 320 Smith St, Durban, 4000
>
> ------------------------------------------------
> ROY BLUMENTHAL
> Visual Facilitator, Illustrator, Writer, Director
>
> Professional member of the Professional Speakers Association of
> Southern Africa: http://snipurl.com/psasa-profile
>
> Mobile: +27 74 104 6386
> Fax: 086 512 2580 (South African calls only)
>
> Email: royblumenthal@gmail.com
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/royblumenthal
> Blog: http://schmucknews.blogspot.com
>
> Visual Facilitation: http://snipurl.com/visualfacilitation
> Illustrations: http://snipurl.com/SchmuckGallery
> ------------------------------------------------
> I use an Asus R1E tablet pc, sponsored by Rectron South Africa
>
> Steve Bailey
> |rocketseedSenderPhone@
> Fax: 011676 5448
> Cell: n/a
> Email: Steve.Bailey@virginmobile.co.za
> Website: www.virginmobile.co.za
>
>
>
>
>
> ©Virgin Mobile South Africa (Proprietary) Limited
> Directors: C.R. Berry (British), J. Hedberg (American), N.R. Kunene, F.
> Mambrini (Italian), G.D. McCallum (British), R.W. Samuelson (British)
>
> Disclaimer: 1) Confidentiality: This email, sent from
> Steve.Bailey@virginmobile.co.za to royblumenthal@gmail.com on Fri May 15
> 08:48:03 2009
> , is confidential and may contain privileged or copyright information. You
> may not present this message to another party without consent from the
> sender If you are not royblumenthal@gmail.com please notify
> Steve.Bailey@virginmobile.co.za and delete this email, and you are notified
> that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on
> the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. 2) Liability: This
> email is not a binding agreement and does not conclude an agreement without
> the express confirmation by the sender's superior or a director of the
> Company. 3) Viruses: The Company does not certify that this email is free of
> viruses or defects. 4) Requested: The Company does not consent to its
> employees sending un-asked for emails which contravene the law. In the event
> that you feel this email is such, please notify the Company in order for the
> appropriate corrective action to be taken. 5) Advice: Any views or opinions
> presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not
> necessarily represent those of the company. Any actions taken on the basis
> of this email are at the reader's own risk. 6) Other: The sender of this
> email is expressly required not make any defamatory statements. Any such
> communication is contrary to company policy and outside the scope of the
> employment of the individual concerned. The company will not accept any
> liability in respect of such communication, and the employee responsible
> will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising.
>
>
>

--
------------------------------------------------
ROY BLUMENTHAL
Visual Facilitator, Illustrator, Writer, Director

Professional member of the Professional Speakers Association of
Southern Africa: http://snipurl.com/psasa-profile

Mobile: +27 74 104 6386
Fax: 086 512 2580 (South African calls only)

Email: royblumenthal@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/royblumenthal
Blog: http://schmucknews.blogspot.com

Visual Facilitation: http://snipurl.com/visualfacilitation
Illustrations: http://snipurl.com/SchmuckGallery
------------------------------------------------
I use an Asus R1E tablet pc, sponsored by Rectron South Africa

Re: Fw: REF METOC64270/1

That is PATHETIC of Virgin Mobile! Yeoooooow!

I've cced Steve Bailey into this email. Hopefully he can sort
something out. He's the CEO of Virgin Mobile. (Or was, the last time
we communicated.)

Steve...

I'm getting way too many emails of this nature. Virgin HAS TO pull its socks up.

I've been hearing strong rumours on Twitter that you guys are packing
it in. But until you've packed it in, your doors are still open for
business. It's best if you actually DO business.

This is not great, Steve.

Please respond to this message. I'm also posting it on my blog.

On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 11:19 AM, Karonie Ramsamy
<karonie@serendipitytours.co.za> wrote:
> No The Customer Service Manager said she acnnot do anything and she will
> cancel my contract and if the phone arrives tomorrow I must send it back
> with the courier company
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roy Blumenthal"
> <royblumenthal@gmail.com>
> To: "Karonie Ramsamy" <karonie@serendipitytours.co.za>
> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 11:05 AM
> Subject: Re: Fw: REF METOC64270/1
>
>
> Oh man! What a runaround! You must have been so disappointed! Yikes,
> Karonie! I can see how horrible this must have been for you. Did you
> eventually GET the phone? Virgin really should get their act
> together!!!
>
> Thanks for writing to me. Would you mind submitting this as a message
> on my blog? That's the blog post you would have found my details on.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Regards
> Roy
>
> On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 11:01 AM, Karonie Ramsamy
> <karonie@serendipitytours.co.za> wrote:
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Karonie Ramsamy
>> To: notthathappy@virginmobile.co.za
>> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:43 AM
>> Subject: Fw: REF METOC64270/1
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Karonie Ramsamy
>> To: maweni@virginmobile.co.za
>> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:38 AM
>> Subject: REF METOC64270/1
>>
>>
>> Hi
>> My name is Karonie Ramsamy, I am so disappointed with the bad service I
>> received from your company, I was hounded for a week with your special
>> Sony
>> Ericson w350i phone and eventually I got another call from Dean i decided
>> to
>> take the phone on 7 May , I Called Dean he was not in so another person
>> assisted me and promised I would get the phone before Thursday 14May as
>> this
>> was my daughters 13 birthday present which is tomorrow 15May . I called
>> daily and I spoke to Precious and Notlonga on Tuesday and Wednesday and I
>> was told I would definatley get the phone before Friday as it is already a
>> week from the order date. I called again this morning as i received a
>> message from the courier company and was advised I will not get the phone
>> today I called your office again and spoke to the manager of customer
>> service who was absolutely of NO Help. I cannot believe the calibre of
>> staff
>> that you have . I am so disappointed with your company , She could not
>> assist at all and did not offer any alternatives. You have not put me in a
>> position wereby I was relying on this for a birthday present for tomorrow
>> and now I do not have the phone especially after your company hounded me
>> for this phone with false promises.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Kind Regards
>>
>> Karonie Ramsamy
>> Tours Manager
>> Serendipity Tours
>> T : 031 3015230 / 0861 STOURS(0861-786 877)
>> F : 086 679 42 62
>> E : karonie@serendipitytours.co.za
>> W : www.stours.net
>> A : 9th Floor, Mercury House, 320 Smith St, Durban, 4000

------------------------------------------------
ROY BLUMENTHAL
Visual Facilitator, Illustrator, Writer, Director

Professional member of the Professional Speakers Association of
Southern Africa: http://snipurl.com/psasa-profile

Mobile: +27 74 104 6386
Fax: 086 512 2580 (South African calls only)

Email: royblumenthal@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/royblumenthal
Blog: http://schmucknews.blogspot.com

Visual Facilitation: http://snipurl.com/visualfacilitation
Illustrations: http://snipurl.com/SchmuckGallery
------------------------------------------------
I use an Asus R1E tablet pc, sponsored by Rectron South Africa

Inspired Bicycles - Danny MacAskill April 2009

My mind is blown. This redefines the word 'unbelievable'.

Danny MacAskill -- thank you for sharing your art with the world.

CubeCart CSS definitions list -- helping you sort out your CubeCart design

Here's a resource for people who use CubeCart to drive their e-commerce. 


I've recently adopted CubeCart 3 as the tool to sell my services as an illustrator, visual facilitator, and animated-summary creator. Check out my fledgling EaselEmpire.net site for my baby steps.


This post is a verbatim comment on http://www.scriptygoddess.com/archives/2006/12/28/cube-cart-vs-zen-cart/. 


Ben Moffett:
February 8th, 2007 at 12:27 pm

I have had pretty good success with Cube Cart in the Past. I am definately going to check out the Squirrel Cart.
I noticed some of you were looking for definations for the CSS on Cube Cart. Here they are. It took me some time to find them….

• .searchBtn — The "GO" button for your search box.
  
• .searchBox — box that you write in for search
  
• .textbox– The number that shows up in the quantity box from the view cart page
  
• .submit — The "Join Now" button for mailing list, and the "Add" button for adding product codes to shopping cart.
  
• li.bullet– little bullets that show up for the catagories
  
• li.bulletLrg — bullet for "tell a friend"
  
• li.num — numbers for products in sale and popular products
  
• .txtSession — text for "Search for" "Welcome Guest" and brackets
  
• .txtCopy– text in info box "products 2, catagories 1, prices: US dollars"
  
• .txtSiteDocs– text "subscribe to our mailing list" and "Email"
  
• a.txtSession, a.txtSiteDocs– "Login" and "Register"
  
• a.txtSession:hover, a.txtSiteDocs:hover– mouse over for "Login" and "Register"
  
• a.txtButton– "add to basket" button on product pages, and "buy" and "More" butttons on Catagory pages
  
• a.txtButton:hover– rollover for "add to basket" button on product pages, and "buy" and "More" butttons on Catagory pages
  
• .txtOldPrice– This is the price which by default appears with a line struck through when the item is on sale.
  
• .txtSale– Price that shows on Catagory Page and product page
  
• .txtOutOfStock– Text that tells a product is out of stock.
  
• .txtSiteDocs, a.txtSiteDocs — links at bottom of page"about us, contact us . . ."
  
• a.txtSiteDocs:hover– rollover for links at bottom of page"about us, contact us . . ."
  
• a.txtDefault– text for categories box "Homepage, sale items", text for products names in Popular Products box and Sale Items box
  
• a.txtDefault:hover, a.txtLink:hover, a.txtLocation:hover — rollover text for categories box "Homepage, sale items", text for products names in Popular Products box and Sale Items box
  
• .txtContentTitle– Main Titles like "Welcome to Cube Cart" and Catagory Titles
  
• .txtBoxSave– color of the text in the Sale box that says how much they save
  
• .tblList– main area on catagory pages where the list of products is
  
• .tdListTitle– text inside the main area "Image Description Price"
  
• .tdEven– background color for the first product listed then every other one
  
• .tdOdd– background color for the second product listed then every other one
  
• .txtCartPrice– text for dollar amounts that show up in cart box on homepage- per item, items in cart and total prices-
  
• .txtCart — Text "items in cart" and "Total" in cart box on homepage
  
• .cartTotal– included dashed line that appears in cart box on homepage
  
• a.txtCartProduct:active, a.txtCartProduct:link, a.txtCartProduct:visited– text for Products in cart box on home page
  
• a.txtCartProduct:hover– roll over for text for Products in cart box on home page
  
• a.txtviewCart:active, a.txtviewCart:link, a.txtviewCart:visited — text for "veiw basket" button in cart box on homepage
  
• a.txtviewCart:hover — roll over for text for "veiw basket" button in cart box on homepage
  
• .cartProgress — text inside cart that progresses as you go through check out "Cart— Address— Payment — Complete"
  
• .txtcartProgressCurrent — this is the text color that shows up for the page that you are on in the progression of the cart, for example when you are on the address page, address is this color and the rest are the color you specified for .cartProgress
  
• .quickBuy– Inside cart txt that asks " Want to add more items? Enter the Product Code:"
  
• .tdcartTitle — txt Inside Cart at the top "Qty, Product, Code, Stock, Price, Line Price"
  
• .tdcartEven– background color for second product inside cart and every other one
  
• .tdcartOdd — background color for the first product inside cart and every other one
  
• .tdCartSubTotal– includes line above subtotal
  
• a.txtCheckout– text and box for "continue" button on cart pages
  
• a.txtUpdate — text and box for "update cart" button on cart pages
  
• .txtStockWarn– text for when an item is out of stock
  
• .txtError — text for when someone messes up while filling out information during cart process
  
• .txtCopyright, a.txtCopyright — text for Copywrite info at bottom of page
  
• a.txtCopyright:hover– roll over for Copywrite info at bottom of page
  
• .dropDown– width of drop downs
  
• Layout.CSS for Classic Skin
  
• body — entire window attributes
  
• #pageSurround– large floating window inside window
  
• #topHeader– top section of page surround
  
• .boxTitleLeft, .boxTitleRight — top area of boxes in left and right columns where title appears
  
• .boxContentLeft, .boxContentRight– main area of boxes in left and right columns
  
• .colLeft — left column attributes or positioning
  
• .colMid — middle large column attributes or positioning
  
• .colRight– right column attributes or positioning
  
• .boxContent– middle columns box (where to change colors, background, borders, and some text)
  
• .colLeftCheckout — check out pages positioning for left column
  
• .colMainCheckout — checkout pages positioning for main column
  
• .siteDocs — positioning and attributes for box at bottom that contains "About Us | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions"
  
• .pagination — main large box on catagory pages
  
• .regSep– the "need to register?" box in checkout
  

Alan Stevens makes me an entire marketing tip in an article in SPEAKER, March 2009

SPEAKER March 2009 -- Roy mentioned, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

London-based media guru, Alan Stevens, honours me with a huge mention in the latest issue of the American magazine, SPEAKER. (To navigate to the story, use the 'Contents' tab on the magazine page, and go to page 32.)

In his column, BEYOND BORDERS, he offers eight marketing tips that he's picked up from his travels around the world.

He says, 'Consider using cartoon portraits or graphics to market yourself. They can make you stand out from the normal head-and-shoulders shot. I was "cartooned" by artist Roy Blumenthal in Durban, and have used the graphic very effectively.'

Not bad! Thanks for making me an entire marketing tip, Alan!

I've composited the cover, and clips from Alan's article into the top half of this picture.

The illustration at the bottom is a visual summary of a talk Alan gave at the annual conference of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa last year.

If you know of anyone who might want to make use of my visual facilitation skills, please head for my portfolio and pricing page at http://royblumenthal.com/portfolio.

And remember that every new client of mine is entitled to a one-third-off discount as my special introductory offer.

Act now! Book me by sending Jennifer an email at bookings@royblumenthal.com.

Roy's Rate Sheet for Visual Facilitation, Animated Summaries, and Illustrations -- valid until 30 June 2009

The Easel Empire -- Roy Blumenthal Visual Facilitator -- Roy's Rate Sheet till 30 June 2009 LQ, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Here's my latest rate sheet for my illustration, visual facilitation, and animated summaries.

You can download the high res JPG (valid through 30 June 2009) from Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/royblumenthal/3311164932/.

Or you can get the most up-to-date version in PDF form from my website. This link is the shortened 'snipurl', for convenience. It's at: http://snipurl.com/royratesheetpdf.

Please feel free to download it and spread the word about my services.

And remember, all first-time clients of mine get a ONE-THIRD-OFF introductory discount so they can sample my services.

Discount voucher is downloadable from http://snipurl.com/OneThirdOff.

Easel Empire Introductory Discount Coupon Card -- One Third Off!

Easel Empire Introductory Discount Coupon Card -- One Third Off!, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Here's a special discount voucher for you to print out and pass on!

Feel free to hand this voucher to whoever you feel might be interested in using my services.

The voucher is valid for the entire duration of 2009.

Here's how it works...

If you've never engaged my services before for illustration, visual facilitation, or animated summaries, you get a full ONE-THIRD knocked off my usual price.

(For my current price-list, please head for http://royblumenthal.com/portfolio.)

Spread the love. Let people know.

I'm pretty darn confident that if people use me once, they'll use me many more times at my full price. The discount is my way of helping people overcome their uncertainty about what exactly it is I do.

Give it a go. Use the coupon. It's here for you!

(Thanks to Jennifer for writing the sales copy on the coupon. And thanks to Keith Wilmot of The Coca-Cola Company for the glowing testimonial.)

This voucher is made up of loads of elements. Sketches in my Moleskine. Original paintings created in ArtRage 2.5. Original paintings made in PhotoShop CS3. All on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc.

Roy Dressed by Habari Media Direct

Roy Dressed by Habari Media Direct, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

This past Saturday, I wore one of Habari Media Direct's soccer shirts on television, as a bit of guerrilla marketing.

It's all part of an offer I've made to whoever wants to send me their company cap or tshirt.

Graeme MacPherson (otherwise known on Twitter as @greymacpherson) was the first to take me up on my offer.

I prepped this drawing as a possible picture for the show to end on. The director was cool with it. But for some reason, the producer said, 'No. We need the previous pic on screen. Sorry Roy.'

So here it is.

When I package the clip for Graeme, I'll pop this pic into the video.

This painting was made in ArtRage 2.5 live in the studio of CNBC AFRICA's weekly magazine show, Kaleidoscope before we recorded the show last Thursday. I tweaked it in PhotoShop CS3. No crew members were harmed in the display of my naked body.

Success -- What You Need -- Some of the Icons for Anthony Iannarino's New Book

Anthony Iannarino (http://twitter.com/iannarino) is a Twitter bud of mine. He approached me recently about creating some icons for the chapter headings of his latest book on how to succeed in sales. 

When I'm done, there'll be twenty icons in total. 

Anthony has been good enough to give me permission to share the pictures with you before the book is done.

Please visit any of Anthony's websites, and support him when his e-book comes out...

Website: http://www.santhonyiannarino.com
Blog: http://www.thesalesblog.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/iannarino
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino
Public Speaking: http://www.speakersite.com/profile/santhonyiannarino 

Ray Wicksell on 'How To Build a Brand'

Ray Wicksell's Voucher, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Ray Wicksell appears on tomorrow's episode of 'Kaleidoscope', the business magazine show on CNBC AFRICA. (It's at 8:30pm Central African Time. In South Africa, it's on Channel 410 on DStv. In Africa, it's on several satellite channels.)

Ray's a long-distance runner turned marketer. His long term sponsor -- Nike -- converted his running shoes into the footing for a massive career in South Africa. He's the guy who headed up the South African Nike team when they first came to our shores.

In the show, he talks about what a company needs to do in order to keep a brand alive and kicking.

What he doesn't talk about on air is the fact that he's also a property developer. So if you're in the market for ultra-luxury lving, you might want to look at his website -- http://www.living4u.co.za or http://www.living4u.com -- and pick out your apartment in one of his golfing estates.

Oh... if you're wondering about the 'I am not Arnold' quote... Ray is a dead ringer for Arnold Schwarzenegger. He even had a bad spell with a stalker. She simply wouldn't believe that he WASN'T Arnie. Wild stuff.

The painting this coupon is based on was made live in studio during the recording of this week's episode of Kaleidoscope. I painted it in ArtRage 2.5 on my Rectron-sponsored Asus R1E tablet pc. I took it into Photoshop CS3, and did my manipulations there.

Rolex gets the time wrong before a global tennis audience!!!

Rolex gets the time wrong before a global tennis audience!!!, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Marcos Baghdatis is standing in front of the Rolex clock in Melbourne.

The analogue clock says it's five to one. While the digital counterpart says it's five to two.

Maybe it's not a real Rolex? Maybe it's a fong kong Bolex, R0lex, Nolex?

(Subtext: if you're gonna do stadium marketing, get it right, huh?)

Visual Facilitation R500 Off Voucher -- Anton Crone, Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town

Visual Facilitation R500 Off Voucher -- Anton Crone, Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Anton Crone was one of the guests at today's live recording of the tv show I'm part of... CNBC AFRICA's weekly magazine show, 'Kaleidoscope'.

He's a Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town.

He was in the studio to talk about an incredible Guinness commercial that should start flighting in Europe shortly. It features a whirlwind going about its whirly business, demonstrating the elements required to make a great glass of Guinness.

I'm not a fan of alcohol advertising. In fact, I'm an opponent of the entire discipline of advertising alcohol. I believe it's one of the key causes of alcoholism. (Apart from the dumbfuckery of the alcoholics themselves, of course.)

But in this case, I'll probably have to make an exception. It's a brilliant ad, brilliantly made. And if I were still an advertising whore, I'd wish I'd written it.

This is the blank version of a voucher I'm sending to Anton to make use of my services. It's part of a self-marketing drive to leverage my presence on Kaleidoscope.

The components of this painting were all made live in studio this afternoon on my Rectron-sponsored ASUS R1E tablet pc, running ArtRage 2.5. No alcohol was consumed during or after the making of this voucher.

Bring your meetings and presentations to life with Roy Blumenthal’s Visual Facilitation

Roy offers two key products that’ll help you power up your message...

VISUAL FACILITATION:

He creates live, on-the-spot, painted interpretations of talks, projecting his original artworks on a big screen. All paintings are digital, and are available to delegates at the end of the event.

Book Roy today by emailing Jennifer at bookings@royblumenthal.com .

VISUAL FACILITATION PRICING:

• 8-hour day: R12 450 (US$1 245, GB£845, €945).
• 4-hour half-day: R7 950 (US$795, GB£535, €595).
• Up to 2-hours: R4 470 (US$445, GB£295, €335).

ANIMATED SUMMARIES:

He produces custom-made animated caricatures which deliver summaries in the speaker’s own voice. These movies make ideal promos to put on your website. They’re also excellent as client giveaways.

ANIMATED SUMMARIES PRICING:

• A base-price of R7 450 (US$745, GB£495, €560) plus R740 (US$77, GB£47, €57) per running minute.

Here are some examples of animated summaries I've made:

Here's one I did for Rich...! at Missing Link:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=endJF_KqZdU

Here's one I did for Warwick Cairns, summarizing his book, HOW TO LIVE DANGEROUSLY:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqS53JTFyZg

And here's one I made for Paul du Toit, a public speaker:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-GnZtWPZo4

Finally, here's an animated testimonial of what I do from Keith Wilmot, Global Director: Insights, Ideas, & Creativity for the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykvtGmiBgDc

Can you picture it? Roy can!

And here's my portfolio of publically viewable paintings from visual facilitations I've done for companies and on television.

An assortment of Pictures from Roy's Visual Facilitations:

If you'd like to book Roy for your next event, please feel free to email Jennifer at bookings@royblumenthal.com .