So, this has been my project for the past few days...
http://chaos.aeto.net/post/82857976931
I really like the way this ended up looking. Need to get SnakeFriend done now, though.
The blink rate and approximate intervals seem pretty decent to me. I think you have a nice balance between blinking too much to be subtle and not blinking enough to get attentions. Once attention is gotten with the blinks, I think you need to catch people with a colour change then right about when they are getting used to the blink, to further rell them in. So maybe a colour change cycle that is shorter or on demand if that is possible.
Link
Emberz
It looks amazing!