Oh, Sir. (a tumblelog by Gian Cruz)

“Say It To Me Now” Cover, originally by Glen...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:06:00 -0500

“Say It To Me Now” Cover, originally by Glen Hansard

It’s been a long time… but I’m recording again :) This is my favorite song from the movie “Once”.

I have new recording equipment, new sound absorbers, the whole nine. Hopefully the videos will sound much better from this point on. I tried my best to remove the noise and lower the peaks in the loud parts of this vid. I hope it doesn’t sound too overprocessed because of it. I’m still learning how to use this stuff, so bear with me.

I’m going to GDC! What began as a random weekend flight...

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:28:00 -0500

I’m going to GDC!

What began as a random weekend flight to San Francisco has now turned into a “work-from-anywhere” trip to Texas, LA, Oakland, and SF. And during the last week of my trip, I’ll be attending Game Developers Conference 2010!

This wasn’t something I had ever dreamed of going to. (Me? A game developer? C’mon now…) But since this is the first year that GDC is holding an iPhone Games Summit, Kris and I decided that it would be best if we shared in the fun. So I will be there representing Feel Every Yummy, and hopefully we’ll be able to make some connections and learn lots of new things for our platform.

I’m looking forward to hear the lectures from some of the ngmoco:) guys, and I’m especially excited to listen to Eric Johnson’s postmortem on Canabalt. On top of that, I’ll be exploring the Independent Games Festival to check out the crazy new games people have been cooking up.

If you can’t tell already I cannot wait to go to this thing. It’s our first step (of many) in becoming real game developers. It feels like we’re our own company now, and I’m stoked about it.

Comic Books on the iPad? Yes, Please. → This would be the...

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:33:00 -0500

Comic Books on the iPad? Yes, Please. →

This would be the reason why I would get an iPad for myself. I don’t think iPads can replace netbooks (I use Photoshop on my own netbook to design on the go — yes, it can actually run Photoshop). But when you look at the iPad more as a ‘SuperKindle’, it becomes more compelling.

Sure, movies are cool, and web browsing is fine (if there’s no Flash, that HTML 5 stuff better come quick), but the killer feature in this thing is the way it can handle what is traditionally print media — the newspapers, magazines, comic books — all in glorious full color and on a large screen. Personally, I will always prefer a comic on the printed page over digital, but when you’re traveling, nothing can compare to having all those books without any of the extra weight.

Panelfly’s iPhone app is my favorite among all the comic book readers in the App Store. They still haven’t perfected page/panel navigation on the small screen (no one has), but with an iPad screen, it shouldn’t be a problem. If they can get the right content for it (none of this back issue nickel & diming — I want to see trade paperback collections and graphic novels), then it’s going be killer. Sign me up.

Melissa Polinar, “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder I...

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:19:00 -0500

Melissa Polinar, “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder

I can’t get enough of this cover. She gets better and better with every new video she puts on YouTube. I saw her play at Jammin Java back in October, and dare I say she’s even better live. Subscribe to her if you haven’t yet.

I miss doing covers. NEW GOAL: put up a new video on YouTube before I leave for my trip on the 11th.

Man, I better follow through on that…

I want to buy these books for my future kids I stumbled upon...

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:49:00 -0500

I want to buy these books for my future kids

I stumbled upon this collection of Octonauts books through Matt Smith’s blog. He calls them “quite possibly the most flawless children’s books,” and from what I can see I think he’s right. The artwork is stunningly beautiful; crisp, clean lines and great choice of colors. I’d love to have these lying on my coffee table (although that be weird since they’re books for kids).

If you’re a parent you should considering getting some of these. You’ll probably enjoy looking through this book as much as your kids will.

I have been obsessed with Words with Friends for the iPhone over...

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

I have been obsessed with Words with Friends for the iPhone over the past few months, thanks to my friend Alisa. It’s one-on-one Scrabble on the iPhone, but the kicker is its asynchronous gameplay, which means the you don’t have to coordinate with friends when you want to play. You just take your turn at your convenience, and you get notified when the other player finishes their turn.

It’s pretty genius when you combine asynchronous gameplay with the iPhone interface, as I can have multiple games going on at once, and it provides me with a couple minutes of fun throughout my day. It’s there when I want it to be, and that’s what has me hooked. My only problem is that the home interface is a little sluggish, especially when there are a lot of games listed.

The guys over at NewToy are doing big things. I’m excited to see what they do next. If you have Words with Friends, start a game with me: username Gianorama.

Now I wonder if there are other games you can do asynchronous gameplay with… :)

The Village at Shirlington

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The Village at Shirlington:

This has quickly become my favorite place to hang out since being able to choose where I work everyday. It has a small but modern library with plenty of desk space, nice places to eat or grab a drink while I do work (Bear Rock Cafe, Busboys & Poets), a great movie theatre that showcases a lot of indie films, and free wi-fi everywhere. Even better, it has my FAVORITE cupcake place in the whole DC area, Cakelove.

It’s only a couple of minutes away from my apartment, so I’m there multiple times a week. If you find me there, come say hello.

La Roux - Bulletproof This has been my JAM over the past month....

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

La Roux - Bulletproof

This has been my JAM over the past month. British, funky, Electropop. Just my style. She’s coming to 9:30 Club in February too, but I think I’ll be out of town when she’s here. I want to see her live one of these days, though.

A Year of Big Changes, New Experiences

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:55:00 -0500

Today marks a very important day for me.

As of the new year, I am no longer an employee of AOL. I decided to take the voluntary package that they were offering, so that I can take some time to try new things and pursue new ventures.

This was a very hard decision for me to make. I loved working with the AIM team, and it was a dream of mine to be able to work on such big projects for the web. But I realized that I had an even bigger dream than that — and that was to start my own company, and work on my own terms.

It sounds like a crazy thing to do given the times that we’re in, but sometimes crazy is what’s needed. It feels like the right time for me. I’m young, I have my whole life ahead of me. What better time than now to give it my shot? If it all goes bust, that’s okay, because I tried. It’s a decision I know I won’t regret.

So starting today, I will be working full-time in an iPhone venture I’ve started with my good friend Kris Zabala, Feel Every Yummy, LLC. (Quirky name, yes? Quirky is how we do.) I feel very lucky to be working with such a multi-talented guy like Kris, and I’m super excited about what we’ve been working on. We have a lot of fun iPhone games and apps in the works, and hopefully I can show them to you guys very soon.

Here’s to the new year. Let’s do it big in 2010.

Starting 2010 off right. Breakfast with the best men I know....

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:42:00 -0500

Starting 2010 off right. Breakfast with the best men I know. 2100 for life.

My desk when I first started working as a designer for...

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

My desk when I first started working as a designer for AIM.

It’s been a blast, AOL. I’ll see you around.

Holiday with the Sibs Another video for you all! My sisters and...

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Holiday with the Sibs

Another video for you all! My sisters and I decided to sing a song together over the holiday break. Here’s our version of “Falling For You” by Colbie Caillat.

VJ & Kareena’s First Dance: ”If I Ain’t...

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

VJ & Kareena’s First Dance: ”If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys

Sung by me and Therese Enad, with piano by James Senson.

Photo by Hino Banzon I love love. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs....

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:46:00 -0500

Photo by Hino Banzon

I love love. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Macasaet!

What a crazy weekend, snowstorms, rehearsals and all. I wish all of our friends could have been there, but Mother Nature had other plans.

My friend Mark had the crazy idea of streaming the wedding live online, since he wasn’t able to make it. And believe it or not, it actually worked! I had my netbook with 3G on me, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. I got permission from the priest and positioned the netbook to show the front of the altar. I spread the link to anyone who was online, and a good number of people (even my friend Mike who’s currently in Afghanistan) were able to watch the ceremony, up until my battery died. All of this was possible because of Ustream, Twitter, Facebook, and a netbook with 3G connection. The future at work, people.

I’ll be posting a video of the first dance real soon.

Kathryn & Jakob, “At This Moment” Nerd...

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Kathryn & Jakob, “At This Moment”

Nerd alert… I was completely hooked on So You Think You Can Dance this season.

I can’t dance to save my life but I fricking love this show. This might have been my favorite dance of the whole season. I don’t really know what they’re doing, but I do know that I get chills when I see it. I think it’s beautiful.

Also, the Michael Buble track has become my favorite in his new album.

I’ll be honest… I used to kind of hate Richmond. But...

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:49:00 -0500

I’ll be honest… I used to kind of hate Richmond.

But it’s things like this that are making me start to actually love the place. Chistine and her friends showed me this park last night. It was in the middle of the city, completely covered in Christmas lights, in the form of trees, snowflakes, and reindeer. Quite a sight to see.

I think I’ll be visiting Richmond a lot more next year.

"Big decisions, big changes. 2010’s gonna be an interesting year."

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

“Big decisions, big changes. 2010’s gonna be an interesting year.”

- Myself

Utah Jazz to rock throwback green uniforms I must admit, the...

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:15:00 -0500

Utah Jazz to rock throwback green uniforms

I must admit, the green jerseys look pretty sweet. I wouldn’t mind owning one of these myself. Let’s hope the change of style helps them with their record. They’ve been up and down this season, and it doesn’t help the stress level of us fans.

Ok, it’s decided. I’m going to have two kids, so I...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Ok, it’s decided. I’m going to have two kids, so I can dress them up like this for Halloween.

“Low Rising” by The Swell Season They were pretty...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

“Low Rising” by The Swell Season

They were pretty damn fantastic last night. Some of the best pure music I’ve heard live. Thanks to Ren for accompanying me to such a great show. (I think we can officially call ourselves concert partners now.)