This Week's Rant

[littlesammy]

So, we pretty much all agree that Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo has great hands, right? Strong hands, nicely shaped, just made for holding... things. Or thighs. Or... well, you get the picture.

His hands can use any number of descriptors of awesomeness.

But the one word that does not work for them is "calloused

Comments

[proseac1]

First thing that popped into my head when I read your post was that scene from Gone With The Wind, when Scarlett goes to visit Rhett Butler in jail and he looks over her hands and figures out that she's lying about all being well because he sees the callouses on them.

I can't say I've ever noticed anyone writing about Tony having calloused hands, but I agree that it doesn't really sit right for me with the character. I don't see him getting manicures either, though.

Those lovely long fingers...mmmmmm....*gazes dreamily into space*

[littlesammy]

I don't see him getting manicures either, though

Oh, that I do, actually. He spends an insane amount of money on his haircut. He values the finer things in life, like good clothes and well-made shoes. (Remember him fondling dad's cashmere tuxedo!) In my head, that works. ;)

[proseac1]

I can see your point of view. But in my mind, Tony would see getting a manicure as an effeminate thing to do, something he might actually tease McGee about.

Does he like the finer things in life? Absolutely. But would he go so far as to get physically pampered? I'm not so sure...

I also think recent encounters with his father have made him a bit more aware of the shallowness of that attitude, and he seems to be putting less emphasis on appearances than he used to. Remember his little rant in the shower in SWAK about how they're burning all his designer clothes? I can't imagine today's Tony going on like that.

JMHO...

[littlesammy]

But in my mind, Tony would see getting a manicure as an effeminate thing to do

I guess in my mind it isn't too much of a stretch because I was with a guy once who was as masculine as they come - like, Gibbs would look like a big ol' softie next to him.

And once every couple of months that same butch, buff guy went to get his nails done so his hands don't look like crap. ;)

[proseac1]

Just had a *lightbulb* moment. Maybe this is a European vs. North American dichotomy? Although one doesn't like to generalize, it seems that European men are much more open to that sort of thing than Americans.

Just as in Europe men were using skin care products YEARS before guys here ever adopted the idea.

So, we're each looking at Tony through the lens of our own personal experience with men. Make sense?

[littlesammy]

Yeah, I agree, and it does make sense. Also, it makes me giggle because I never had a more appropriate use for that particular icon. ^^

[proseac1]

Yup, I LOVE that icon!

Makes me want to learn more about how to make them myself - you make it look like so much fun! Where do you get your screencaps?

[littlesammy]

It *is* fun - at least for me, but I'm a Photoshop freak, hee. I make the caps myself - bought the DVDs and ripped them to my harddrive so I have the eps easily accessible, and usually, while watching, I tend to just snap whatever looks good or silly or interesting. Sometimes, the shot itself makes the idea for the icon totally obvious. Sometimes, they sit on my harddrive for a while until I know just what to do with them exactly. (Like the Ziva princess icon. Had that shot lying around for months and just knew I wanted to do something with her silly-happy face there, hee.)

[proseac1]

Do you think it's worth investing in Photoshop if you're a newbie to icon-making? Or would it be ok to just start with something like Gimp? Would you recommend taking a course?

So far all I've been doing is taking print-screens of the DVD's, pasting them into MS Paint and then putting text over top, then saving as a .png file to get the best quality I can. Pretty basic. The icon here is an example of one I recently did.

[littlesammy]

Goodness, there's certainly no need for starting out with the big guns - trust me, if you want to just fiddle a bit, you certainly don't need Photoshop. GIMP is actually a very good choice. Another program that I used with love and adoration before I learned how to work with Photoshop is PaintShop Pro by Corel - it's commercial, but less expensive, and it does almost the same things PS does. These days, I'd also recommend Photoshop Elements, the "little sister" of the Creative Suite, which is better suited for average users because you can use it intuitively. Both PaintShop Pro and Elements offer 30 day trial versions so you can look at them and decide which one you find more to your liking. But really, GIMP works just as well for a start

[proseac1]

Wow! Thanks for all the great info!

I did stumble across icon_tutorial awhile back, but I haven't had time to sift through to find the most basic information. Most of the questions on there seem quite advanced and are way beyond me.

One more question, and I promise that's it: is there any trick to ripping the DVD's onto your hard drive? I've tried copying the files, but they were all protected and I couldn't get anything to open. The only way I've been able to do it is to just pause the DVD and then hit "printscreen" to capture the shot.

Thanks again for all the great advice!

[littlesammy]

Hey, ask away, I certainly don't mind. :) Copying the files doesn't get you something you can use. There are proggies that help with it, but it's nearing midnight over here and my head is really, REALLY fuzzy by now because I had to take painkillers for my back. So I'll write you a PM tomorrow and get some info together, 'kay?