First Flash Experiment in a Long Time

Here it is. My first real experiment in Flash 9.

Click to play.

Because, first and foremost, Flash is a trip toy.

Code for this experiment here:

package {
 import flash.display.*;
 import flash.events.Event;
 import flash.geom.*;
 import flash.filters.BlurFilter;
 public class BitmapRotate2 extends Sprite {
 private var _graphic:PolyStar;
 private var _graphic2:PolyStar;
 private var _bitmap:BitmapData;
 private var _image:Bitmap;
 private var _m:Matrix;
 private var _blurFilter:BlurFilter;
 private var xSpeed:Number = .9;
 private var ySpeed:Number = 1.1;
 public function BitmapRotate2() {
 _graphic = new PolyStar(0,0,7,false,50,30,0,0xff0000,100,0x0000ff,100);
 _m = _graphic.transform.matrix;
 _blurFilter = new BlurFilter();
 addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,registerStage);
 }
 public function registerStage(event:Event) {
 if(stage) {
 removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,registerStage);
 _graphic.x = 0
 _graphic.y = 0;
 _bitmap = new BitmapData(stage.stageWidth,stage.stageHeight,true,0xff000000);
 _image = new Bitmap(_bitmap);
 _m = _graphic.transform.matrix;
 _graphic2 = new PolyStar(stage.stageWidth/2,stage.stageHeight/2,9,true,stage.stageWidth/2-20,stage.stageWidth/6,0,0xff0000,100,0xff0000,0);
 addChild(_image);
 addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,onEnterFrame);
 }
 }
 private function onEnterFrame(event:Event) {
 _graphic.rotation+=5;
 _graphic.x = mouseX;
 _graphic.y = mouseY;
 _m = _graphic.transform.matrix;
 _bitmap.draw(_graphic,_graphic.transform.matrix);
 _bitmap.draw(_graphic2,_graphic2.transform.matrix);
 _bitmap.applyFilter(_bitmap,_bitmap.rect,new Point(),_blurFilter);
 }
 }
 }

The “PolyStar” class is here:

package {
 import flash.display.Shape
 public class PolyStar extends Shape{
 public function PolyStar($x:Number,$y:Number,$points:Number,$vertical:Boolean,$outerRad:Number,$innerRad:Number,$lineW:Number,$lineC:Number,$lineA:Number,$bgC,$bgA:Number) {
 var points:Number = $points*2;
 var angleDelta:Number = (Math.PI*2 / points);
 var angle:Number = 0;
 var anglex:Number = 0;
 var angley:Number = 0;
 graphics.lineStyle($lineW,$lineC,$lineA);
 if(typeof($bgC)=="number") {
 graphics.beginFill($bgC,$bgA);
 } else {
 graphics.beginGradientFill($bgC.type,$bgC.colors,$bgC.alphas,$bgC.ratios,$bgC.matrix);
 }
 if($vertical != true) {
 graphics.moveTo($outerRad,0);
 } else {
 graphics.moveTo(//change orientation of polygon
 Math.cos(angle + (angleDelta/2)) * $outerRad,
 Math.sin(angle + (angleDelta/2)) * $outerRad
 );
 }
 for(var i=0;i<points;i++) br=""> angle += angleDelta;
 var temp:Number = (i%2) ? $outerRad: $innerRad;
 if($vertical != true) {
 anglex = Math.cos(angle) * temp;
 angley = Math.sin(angle) * temp;
 } else {//change orientation of polygon
 anglex = Math.cos(angle + (angleDelta/2)) * temp;
 angley = Math.sin(angle + (angleDelta/2)) * temp;
 }
 graphics.lineTo(anglex,angley);
 }
 x = $x;
 y = $y;
 }
 }
 }

Enjoy!

Festival 2007

070604_festival

Our performance was a great success. We had a large, eager crowd, the weather cooperated, and between our various photographers we have easily over a thousand photos documenting the event and the practice sessions leading up to the big day. The above photo (and around 800 others) was taken by the amazing Anisa, who once again has outdone herself as our unofficial official photographer.

Look for a LOT of photos to be uploaded over the coming weeks. I opened a Flickr account just for this occasion.

All of this new material will be a great starting point for a re-design and re-deployment of Master Lee’s website. Look for something new as time progresses.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and especially everyone, family and friends, who took the time to travel here to Grand Rapids to watch our show.

Memorial Day Breakfast

Breakfast for two:

appetizer:
1 thinly sliced apple
several small pieces of Amber Valley Sage Derby cheese

main course:
many stalks of asparagus, sprinkled with chili powder and grilled on a George Foreman grill
a five-egg omelet with roasted bell pepper, wilted spinach, and peppercorn Gouda cheese
two cups of toddy

…all eaten out on the porch while watching the sun cross the sky.

So It Begins

This morning I spent a couple of hours planting the last of my salsa plants for the year. I have twelve pepper plants in the ground, and three tomato plants in containers.

070520_peppers_1
I have eight plants in my front bed, six of which are visible in this photo.

070520_peppers_2
Four more plants are in the back, near my recently-planted Arborvitae at the north end of my property

070520_tomatos
The tomatoes were a spur-of-the moment decision, and will supposedly thrive in the pots.

The pepper plants are as follows:
1 Red Cherry
1 Kung Pao
1 Hungarian Wax
1 Concho
1 Serrano
1 Pimienta “Cowhorn”
2 Anaheim TMR 23
2 Super Cayenne II
2 JalapeƱo

The tomatoes are as follows:
1 Amish paste tomato
2 San Marzano paste tomatoes

That’s right: twelve pepper plants this year. I had three last year, and they did amazingly well in containers. This year I wanted something a little more aesthetically pleasing, as well as manageable, considering my limited space. I do not expect all of them to thrive, but the ones that do bear fruit at the end of summer will help me to learn where to plant things next year.

I have a couple of unused containers left over from last year, so if I find any more interesting/promising pepper seedlings, I may put them to some use.