Uhg... Flash is being a bitch!
I've been workin' on that Showcase Animation but all of my Action Script didn't work. So, after throwing the standard I-hate-programming tantrum, I decided to strip it down to the simplest version possible. It'll still look nice but it won't have a fancy menu system...

As for my other projects, they're comin' along nicely and I should hopefully have one of 'em done by tonight.

Lastly (and most importantly), Jasen Tamiia is having a sale on all of his nifty music till the end of the month. Click [HERE] to check it out!

Holy carp! I reached the 6000 pageview mark!
I should totally do something to commemorate the momentous occasion... but I probably won't.

Being Monday, my week off is officially done and, frankly, it could have gone a lot better...

Not only did my vacation start with huge wipeout (which gave me a twisted right ankle, a stiff left shoulder & a sore jaw) but I also got surprisingly little done.

So, in an attempt to better explain it and to not take too much of your sexy time, here's each day in 10 words or less:
•Saturday: Face planted & limped the rest of the week...
•Sunday: Searched all day for important documents that I misplaced...
•Monday: Visited parents & passed out on living room rug.
•Tuesday: Passed out at mom's store & celebrated brother's birthday.
•Wednesday: Got up early. Went home. Slept for several extra hours.
•Thursday: Continued to look for those damn documents.
•Friday: Made gluten free shrimp flavored ramen with other brother.
•Saturday: Worked on projects and did a lot of shopping.
•Sunday: Found elusive documents & played ShadowRun with friends.

Come to think about it, my week wasn't all that bad...

Anywho, I'll stop bitchin' & get back to work now...

Stolen from  Waitress

LAYER ONE : THE OUTSIDE
- Name: Alex "J" Cleret (Not my full name)
- Eye Color: Varies but usually blue.
- Hair Style/Color: I have long dark brown hair & it's usually tied in a pony tail.
- Height: Around 5'11''.
- Clothing style: Business casual or, if not at work, jeans & a geeky t-shirt.
- Best physical feature: Almost everything from the shoulders up!

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE
- Your fears: Being helpless (been there once... never again...).
- Your guilty pleasure: I don't really feel guilty about my pleasures, if you know what I mean!
- Your biggest pet peeve: Intolerance towards another person or group.
- Your ambitions for the future: I wish to become a voice actor (while still makin' art, of course).

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS
- Your first thoughts waking up: "AAAAAAAAAAAAARG!!! WHY DOES MY STOMACH ALWAYS HURT!!!"
- What you think about most: People that I might have hurt or wronged.
- What you think about before bed: "Did I set my alarms?"
- You think your best quality is: I want to help people and make 'em feel good and happy and stuff.

LAYER FOUR: WHAT'S BETTER?
- Single or group dates: Both have their pros & cons...
- To be loved or respected: Being loved.
- Beauty or brains: Brains over beauty.
- Dogs or cats: I prefer cats but also like dogs.

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?
- Lie: As little as possible.
- Believe in yourself: Damn straight I do!
- Believe in love: Yesums.
- Want someone: I do...

LAYER SIX: EVER?
- Been on stage: Plenty of times.
- Done drugs: Only for medical reasons (if you don't count alcohol, of course)
- Changed who you were to fit in: Yes and no... (Mostly stopped caring what most people though of me and I just happened to fit in better...)

LAYER SEVEN: FAVORITES
- Favorite color: I don't have a favorite per se.
- Favorite animal: I don't have a favorite per se but I've always been partial to felines.
- Favorite movie: I don't have a favorite per se but Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is definitively one of 'em!
- Favorite game: I don't have a favorite per se but I've always had a soft spot for First Person Shooters and "Metroidvania" style games.

LAYER EIGHT: AGE
- Day your next birthday will be: December 20th.
- How old will you be: I'll be in my late 20's...
- Age you lost your virginity: I can't remember when exactly, but it was either in my late teens or early twenties...
- Does age matter: To some degree, I guess...

LAYER NINE: IN A BOY OR GIRL
- Best personality: Playful but usually calm.
- Best eye color: No preference.
- Best hair color: No preference.
- Best thing to do with a partner: Hanging out, cuddling and many other things... :3

LAYER TEN: FINISH THE SENTENCE
- I love: Making people happy (on my own terms, of course).
- I feel: A wide range of emotions and stimuli.
- I hide: My constant stomach pains & nausea.
- I miss: Being able to eat gluten and not get sick...
- I wish: I can achieve my long term goals.

LAYER ELEVEN: I TAG
- Who do you tag? Anyone who feels like fillin' this out...

Rejoice for, out of the many entries, the winners of the Engrave My Laptop contest have been chosen!

First Place:
 • Anuvia - contesti

Second Place:
 • Crookedwolf - J-Neko Laptop Contest Design 2

Honorable Mentions: (In no particular order)
 • Baebunny - jnekologo
 • JasenTamiia - SHCA Titan Ren-Chan
 • Tathi - Smoke And
 • Shapeshifterprincess - Black Cat
 • Beta0200omega - Scuzzy Board
 • Mikakitty - treesketch





And, for those who want to know, here's the judging process!
 • A collection of all the entries was sent to 4 judges.
 • Each entry was then rated on a variety of criteria.
 • Once each image was scored, the results from all judges were averaged out.
 • Then, the scores for each image were averaged out to give each submission a general score.
 • Lastly, of the highest scoring, the winners were chosen!

(First place went to the one that best represents me AND would look the coolest engraved into a laptop.)
(Honorable mentions primarily went to the best of the ones that were made for this contest or to those that would have, according to the judges, looked pretty nifty on a laptop.)

DING!!
Time's up, pencils down!

But, if there are any stragglers left, don't worry!
You have till I go to bed to submit your pieces!
(Which is around 5:00 AM (-5:00 GMT), btw...)

Judging starts tomorrow morning and the winners will be chosen by the end of April 9th, 2011.
Check back in a few days to see who wins!

Also, I'll be working on a nifty animation to showcase the all those cool entries y'all sent in!
No guarantee as to when it'll be done but it'll definitively be posted after the winners are chosen.
(Both because there were a lot of submissions and because it's a big project...)

(Re-posted from the Engrave My Laptop contest's journal)

Quick! There's less than a week left to the Engrave My Laptop contest!

Enter soon or you'll miss your chance to win cool prizes & stuff!

[CLOSED]
Well that was a monumental failure...
I offer what essentially boils down to free art and nobody seems interested...

Way to keep me motivated, guys!
I'll surely continue drawing and holding contests with all this positive energy y'all are showin' me!

In any case, djyiffen wins a free drawing and the rest of you win nothing...
(Congratulations!)

*Sulks off*
[CLOSED]





[CLOSED]
There was a nifty little meme in one of Vaelyn's journals and, since I seem to be addicted to starting contests, I turned it into a miniature contest!

The rules are simple:
 • Contestants must be watching me on FurAffinity
 • Contestants must create a journal linking people back to this journal
 • Contestants must fill in the Mad Gab's blanks and post their answers below
 • The three funniest entries win!

Mad Gab: (Fill in the blanks!)
1. Bunnies are for _______.
2. If i had a _______ for every _______, I would be _______.
3. What would you do for a _______?
4. If I could buy a _______ I would _______ all day long.
5. I once saw _______ on the _______ and I was never the same again.

The three funniest ones win a free two-character sketch (w/ no background) from me!
People can enter as many times as they want but each contestant can only win one of the three prizes.
The winners will be chosen by me based on how funny I find the submissions.

The contest closes at 11:59 PM (-5:00 GMT) on Friday March 25th, 2011.
The winners will be selected shortly thereafter.

Good luck, post funny stuff & have fun!

Note:
I don't have to comment on entries for them to be submitted.
If you followed the guidelines, then it's entered!

P.S.
Don't forget that there's only two weeks left to the Engrave My Laptop Contest!
(So act quickly, peoples!)
[CLOSED]

Although I'm not too big on social media, I finally opted to get a Twitter account...

You can find it here: Alex_J_Cleret

It's mostly so that I can post updates on my contests, sales & other art related things without having to rely solely on FA journals.
That and for haiku... Lots of haiku...

I'll try to keep the boring personal stuff to a minimum but I can't make any promises!
(Especially if it has some sort of impact on one of my contests/sales/etc)

Now, hopefully, this new Twitter account wont lead to other forms of social media...
(Like the dreaded Facebook)

Anywho, enjoy!

CLOSED!!

Damn...
Nobody guessed it...

The number was "43".
(It was originally gonna be "42" but I though that would be too easy to guess...)

Oh well!
There will be other contests!

---

I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100.
The first person who is watching me and guesses the right number wins a free copy (on Steam) of Mafia II Digital Deluxe Edition!

Everyone gets one guess and that guess must be a single number.
(i.e.: no number ranges)

The contest closes on Wednesday March 9th at 11:59 PM (-5:00 GMT) or when someone guesses the number!

Because I accidentally started the contest a few hours later that I wanted and since you guys were getting really close (off by one number!), I've decided to extend the contest to 03:30 AM (-5:00 GMT) on Thursday March 10th.
(Or until someone guesses the right number, of course!)





Breakdown of the rules:
•Contestants guess a number between 1 - 100.
•The person who guesses the right number wins a copy of Mafia II Digital Deluxe Edition on Steam.
•Only one guess of one number (no ranges) can be submitted per person.
•If someone submits several different numbers, they will be disqualified.
•The number is not a fraction, an imaginary number or any other form of math trickery.
•Contestants must be watching me on FurAffinity.
•Game will be sent to the winner's Steam account.
•If the winner isn't watching me or doesn't have a steam account, the prize will go to the person who had the closest guess.
•If nobody guesses the correct number before the closing date, then the prize will go unclaimed...
•I will only reply to the winning post, legitimate questions regarding the rules (or anything regarding this contest) and/or to silly comments.
•I will not individually tell each contestant that their guess is incorrect...
•Contest ends Thursday March 10th at 03:30 AM (-5:00 GMT) or when someone guesses the correct number.

Only one month left before my contest ends!
^{(11:59 PM (GMT -5:00) on March 31st, 2011)}

Actually...
There's less than a month before the closing date... So, if you want a chance at some cool prizes, then you'll have to get started ASAP!
(And make sure to spread the word to all your friends!)

Also, in related news, I was thinking of making a Flash "Animation" that would showcase everyone's entries (if the contestants want to, of course). 'Cause it would be fun for the viewers and, as an added bonus, it would be good advertisement for the involved artists!
So, what do you guys think? Should I make this Flash?
(Post your answers below!)

Something special happened on Friday...
A hobo tried to mug me.

I had just bought a bunch of groceries and was waiting for the subway to arrive when a short dirty man showed up. He had long hair, wore a torn coat and old pairs of pants (several layers of pants to be precise), was unshaven, smelled of urine and wore a light blue cast on his left arm. He walks up to me and goes for a handshake. I look down at all the grocery bags I was carrying and apologize for my hands being full. The man shrugs his shoulders and his greeting shifts from a handshake to a fist bump. I shrug, lift the big bag of supplies and respond to his request. *Fist bump*

With the pleasantries concluded, he could now proceed to asking for money.

The man opens up the conversation with the standard "Parlez-vous Francais?" (which of course translates to "Do you speak French?"). I nod and he continues on with his plea:

  Hobo: Can you spare some change?

  Me: I'm sorry. I don't carry spare change...

The homeless man seems unhappy with my answer and steps in closer.

  Hobo: I just need a little...

  Me: I understand but I only carry debit. I have no hard cash.

The man gets in as close as he could. His face is but a few inches away from mine.

  Hobo: Then give it here.

  Me: I have no hard cash. Only debit.

  Hobo: Then give me that!

  Me: No.

His expression changes to an angry one and he starts making threatening gestures.

  Hobo: Give me your card!

My expression shifts to "not amused", I take a small step back and I adopt an aggressive stance.

  Me: No. I have nothing to give you. All my money is in the bank and I need that money to live.

He pauses for a moment, looks around at the other people in the subway and snaps back at me.

  Hobo: But what about me?! I also need that money to live!!

I lean in as close as I could get.

  Me: I understand, sir. But, you must understand that...

My attention shifts to something behind the man and he turns to see what I was looking at. I take this opportunity to take my leave.

  Me: ... I have NOTHING to give you.

I get on the train and the doors close behind me.

A few stations later, I finally realize that this one armed man (what with his left arm being in a cast) was trying to mug me...
I burst out laughing and confuse all the other passengers.

The end.

 
 
 
 
 
Today, I had a moment of nostalgia & awesome.

I was at the grocery store (mostly to buy food) when noticed something familiar in the distance. Without a word, I leave my brother standing at the cash with our groceries and walked over to the DVD section of my local supermarket. That's when I found the complete French boxset of "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" for $19.99!!

This might not sound that special to most but this boxset, as of a few years ago, has been out of print here and, if you want to buy a copy, you'll have to import a region locked version from France for the low, low price of $80...

In any case, this really made my day ^ω^





But why get the French version and not the English, you ask?
Well, other than French being the original language (and me being fluent in said language), it's quite simple!
The intro.

French intro:
(i.e.: the original version)


English intro:
(i.e.: the dubbed version or, as I like to call it, the "Trying-very-hard-to-be-the-Flock-of-Seagulls version")


(Also, the dub sucks big time...)
 
 
 
 
 

Guess who's drunk!
(Answer: J-Neko)

Also, here's a fun little fact:

Ugh!!
My new work schedule sucks!

They moved me from the somewhat tollerable 13:30 - 22:00 shift to the super sucky 15:30 - 00:00 shift...

Now, I wouldn't normally mind finishing at midnight but, unfortunately, my office recently moved to THE OTHER FREAKING END OF THE CITY!!! So, when my shift ends, I have 20-30 minutes to get to the nearest subway before the last train passes. If I miss it, I either have to take 2 night busses (which takes minimum 2 hours) or I have to pay for a long & expensive cab ride...

To make matters even worse, there are more calls in those last two hours than any other time of the day! (And they're almost all from really mean & stupid people...)

So, when I finally get home, it's super late and I'm super tired TT_TT

Although, on the plus side, I receive a bunch of extra cash (night bonuses) and, according to my Supervisor, it's only for 2-3 more weeks!

Anywho...
I'll keep y'all informed & stuff...

*sad face*

 
 
 
 
 
That's right!
Jasen Tamiia's Superconductor 2.5.1!
(Featuring artwork from J. Leigh-Ann Lear & Alex ''J'' Cleret as well as the musical stylings of Jasen Tamiia)

Click [HERE] to buy yourself a copy!
 
 
 
 
 

Woot!
My ad finally went up!

Now people will be all like "Oh! A contest! I should participate!" and then people will participate!
(The perfect plan!)

The first 10 people who comment on this journal will be featured here, along with three submissions chosen from their gallery by myself.

If you answer, you'll have to do the same in your journal! (or not, I'm not forcing you) Putting me on the first place, completing the list with 9 other people. The idea of this is not to get a free feature, it is to spread art around for everyone.
(Copied from Whitesleet's journal)

01. whitesleet
    • http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3942523/
    • http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4282929/
    • http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5000634/

02. djyiffen
    • http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4708419/
    • http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2349632/
    • http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3612621/

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Due to some important & urgent expenses (as well as some technical difficulties with advertisement), the closing date for the Engrave My Laptop contest has been pushed back from January 31st to March 31st.

As unfortunate as this is, it had a to be done or I wouldn't be able to afford both the laptop AND the prizes...

Of course, the contest is still very much open but you now have 2 extra months to submit entries & to spread the word!

 
 
 
 
 
Happy New Year, everybody!
(Albeit a few days late...)

Hope y'all had a fun New Year's Eve!
My NYE involved getting accosted (at the stroke of January) by a drunk hobo in the Montreal Subway system...
(Good times!)





I don't remember if I accomplished my old resolutions but I probably did... What with being so awesome and all!
Anywho, here's the new batch of resolutions:
  •Be more active on FA.
  •Remember to eat on a somewhat daily basis.
  •Draw and/or animate more.
  •Go to AnthroCon 2011.
  •Grow a Handlebar Mustache
  •Punch a car.
 
 
 
 
 

4 items to cover in this journal.

1. Today's my birthday!
Yay me!

2. Don't forget to check out the Humble Indie Bundle 2!
It's an amazing deal and it won't be there for long. So act fast!

3. I recently downloaded the new Legend of Zelda - Threshold of a Dream album from OC ReMix and it is simply superb!
It's a wonderful cover album of the classic title The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening and is well worth a listen!
Nostalgia ahoy!

4. My brother & I made a cool Asian-Italian fusion dish last night. It was "General Tao Spaghetti & Meat Balls" and it was delicious!
Here's the breakdown:
•Meatballs:
├> Made with ground beef, gluten free bread crumbs, some eggs & a little bit of store bought General Tao sauce.
└> Cooked in the oven at around 350°F for roughly 50 minutes.
•Spaghetti:
└> Pad Thai noodles...
•Sauce:
└> Drizzled some General Tao sauce over the dish in a semi-decorative fashion.

Remember the Humble Indie Bundle?
Well, it's back for round two!

Get 5 great DRM-free games, help out 2 cool charities & pay what you want!

The Humble Indie Bundle
Games Include:
...•Braid
...•Cortex Command
...•Machinarium
...•Osmos
...•Revenge of the Titans
Charities Include:
...•Electronic Frontier Foundation
...•Child's Play

Make sure to check out this awesome deal before it ends!
(And remember to give the bundle's creators a nice tip!)

4 Items to cover in this journal.

1. TeeFury is having having their December Grab Bag special!
Today only! $5 a shirt! Get 'em while they last!
http://www.teefury.com/

2. Speaking of TeeFury, I might be submitting a t-shirt design in the next few days!
It'll be a updated 6 color version of this image: Sonic - Chili Dogs
If it gets chosen, tons of people would have a cool new shirt and I'd get some well deserved exposure!

3. My birthday is in two weeks (December 20th) and, due to some well timed overtime, I got that day off!
*Dances*

4. Don't forget about that nifty contest I'm running!
It's a Black&White art contest with lot's of cool prizes! Spread the word!
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1909859/

That's all for now!
See y'all next time!

[CLOSED - CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO WON!]
DING!!
Time's up, pencils down!

But, if there are any stragglers left, don't worry!
You have till I go to bed to submit your pieces!
(Which is around 5:00 AM (-5:00 GMT), btw...)

Judging starts tomorrow morning and the winners will be chosen by the end of April 9th, 2011.
Check back in a few days to see who wins!

Also, I'll be working on a nifty animation to showcase the all those cool entries y'all sent in!
No guarantee as to when it'll be done but it'll definitively be posted after the winners are chosen.
(Both because there were a lot of submissions and because it's a big project...)
[CLOSED - CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO WON!]





[CLOSED - CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO WON!]
^{(Updated February 2nd, 2011)}

I recently decided that I needed to get a new laptop and, after shopping around a bit, I decided to buy a fully loaded Alt-15 from Maingear. The really cool thing about this particular manufacturer is that they give you the option of laser engraving the back of the screen (for a small fee) with whatever design you want! After a few days of thinking it over, I decided that it would be really nifty to see what the people of FurAffinity (and its sister sites) would suggest. Also, since I was spending a lot of time & money on this machine, why not spend a little more and make it fun for everyone? Long story short, it's an art contest that will determine the permanent look of my new hardware!

Contestants create Black & White images and send me a link to those images for the chance to win some cool prizes!
(See below for full prize list)

The image can be whatever you want!
Want to draw a popular video game character? Go ahead!
An ASCII render of a famous painting? Sure!
A geeky reference, a Droste effect or cool calligraphy? By all means!

The only requirements are that the images are Black & White, Safe For Work (it can be suggestive but not Adult), the image's canvas must be around 8 by 12 inches (but the image itself can be as large or as little as you want), that the image must be made by you (or you must have the consent of the person who did) and that you have fun making it!
Also, there's no limit on entries so submit as many images as you want!

To submit an entry, simply link it in this journal and/or send me a link via Private Message.

Once the contest is over, the winning entries will be chosen by a panel of judges and prizes will be sent out accordingly.
When the laptop (and, by extension, its engraving) arrives, pictures will be posted for the people of the Internet to see!

The panel of judges includes Quadra, myself and a few others.

Good luck & have fun with it!

The contest closes at 11:59 PM on March 31st, 2011. (GMT-5:00)
The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges by April 9th, 2011.
(Due to some technical difficulties, the closing date was pushed back.)

=====THE BREAK DOWN=====

THE RULES:
   • Submissions must be Safe For Work (it can be suggestive but not Adult)
   • Submissions must be Black & White.
   • Submissions must be drawn/painted/photoshopped/etc by the submitter or they must have consent from the person who did draw/paint/photoshop/etc it.
   • The submission's canvas needs to be roughly 8 by 12 inches (preferably in landscape orientation) but the content can take as much or as little room as you like!
   • To submit an entry, post a link to it in this journal or send me the link in a Private Message.
   • People can submit as many entries as they like!

FIRST PLACE PRIZES:
   • $50 USD (sent to your Paypal account or sent to you in the form of a gift certificate of your choosing)
   • A custom wearable yarn tail (made by my local yarn & knitwear store)
   • A furry inspired tuque (a winter hat made by my local yarn & knitwear store)
   • A free digital bust commission from Quadra
   (Prize package valued at over $150 USD)

SECOND PLACE PRIZES:
   • $20 USD (sent to your Paypal account or sent to you in the form of a gift certificate of your choosing)
   • A furry inspired tuque (a winter hat made by my local yarn & knitwear store)
   • A free commission from me (Full color with 2 characters or a Medium animation with 2 characters)
   (Prize package valued at over $75 USD)

HONORABLE MENTION PRIZES:
   • A free commission from me (Line art with 2 characters)
   (Prize package valued at over $15 USD)

_{(Updated February 2nd, 2011)}
[CLOSED - CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO WON!]

5 items to cover in this journal.

Item 1
As of today, the 2 for 1 Sale is closed.
It will have another run in a few months (probably) and it will actually be advertised this time (probably)...

Item 2
I'm adjusting my commissions prices.
Some are going up and some are going down.
(Click here to see my Price List & Commission Information).

Item 3
There was a slight hiccup with the planning for the 2010 AnthroCon trip and we'll have to start planning from scratch...
It shouldn't take long to have a functioning plan again.
More on this at a later date.

Item 4
I'm considering
Getting a Twitter account.
For Haikus only.

Item 5
My new contest starts today!
It's called the "Skin My Laptop" contest.
Go check that out, y'all!
(Click here to see the Contest Journal)