2006
Overnight Star
December 21st, 2006
Tips
December 21st, 2006
A sure way to keep from making static, lifeless drawings is to think of drawing "verbs" instead
of "nouns". Basically, a noun names a person place, or thing; a verb asserts, or expresses
action, a state of being, or an occurrence.
EITS
December 17th, 2006
Slick
December 15th, 2006
Le Montage
December 14th, 2006
Scurve
December 11th, 2006
Music
December 5th, 2006
The Future?
November 29th, 2006
Check It
November 28th, 2006
The trailer is a little misleading, possibly on purpose, in suggesting the movie is a comedy. It has some really funny moments, but it's actually pretty serious. That really caught me off gaurd, so heads up.
Also, Maggie Gyllenhaal is super cute.
Fidelity by Regina Spektor
November 29th, 2006
Wallpaper
November 26th, 2006
The above is a wallpaper called 'Light' designed by Corrine Ulmann and Isamu Kandu. It's designed to look like light that's coming in a window, but it's printed on the wallpaper. I couldn't find any pictures of it on a whole room to see what it would look like, but it seems like a great idea.
I Found Some Stuff
November 26th, 2006
1. The quick release part of a tripod, which I thought I had lost.
2. Two sweaters that I thought were ugly before, but now seem alright.
3. A copy of SimIsle. I remember being overwhelmed by the game in 1995, when I was 10 years old. So it'll be neat to see if I can get it running and/or how complicated it is now that I'm older.
Yay for new perspectives on old things!
Innovation
November 18th, 2006
-Digital cameras to have wifi built in and wirelessly transmit photos to a computer, or to a service like flickr
-A bag with more pockets to seperate things
-A universal identification / payment card so I wouldn't need a school ID, drivers license, credit cards, etc.
-A phone built into my shoe, cus I bet chicks would dig that
-Scratch proof surfaces for electronic devices
-Pants that somehow attach to my shoes so they wouldn't hike up when I'm sitting down and reveal my socks
-Wireless earbud headphones, or audio brain implant
-The universal card should also open all my doors annnnd start my car, something to eliminate keys
-Something to reduce the number of cables necessary for electronic stuff
-In the shoe that doesn't have a phone in it, there should be a box cutter knife, cus now that I don't have keys i'll need something like that
-Jetpack
HUMA_ T-Shirt
November 16th, 2006
I didn't come up with the joke, they told me what to draw.
Gmail Feature: UPS Tracking
November 14th, 2006
I noticed this handy feature today. If Gmail robots detect a UPS tracking number in the body of the email it give you a direct link to the tracking page. Killer or what!?
Chasing Unicorns
December 5th, 2006
Science
November 13th, 2006
F.R.B.R.
November 9th, 2006
OMGWTF
November 14th, 2006
Well, last night around 8 o'clock, as I was about to get out of my last class, I started feeling really strange. I'm not sure how to describe it. It was sort of like being on drugs, but at the same time it felt as if I were being altered. As I was walking towards my car I found myself sort of stumbling every few steps and my back felt like it was being pressed on.
Haha, so that was pretty weird. My thought process was still normal, but I was having to compensate for these physical hiccups. I drove home, cautiously, and crawled into bed, but I wasn't able to sleep. My body temperature was rapidly switching between really hot and really cold.
Then it got weird. There was a moment where I started thinking about death, and if I died what I would have wanted people to have known. Not specific individuals, but more of a summation of what I thought was important in life. Sort of advice.
My first instinct was to lay still and not move, but I forced myself to get some paper and a pen and wrote out the thoughts I was having. Something about this act helped calm me down. I think it also forced me to reevaluate the things I think are important to being happy.
Anyway, the rest of the night I barely slept and just sort of laid in my bed feeling this way. I tried to diagnose what was wrong with me and I was almost sure it was a fever, but when I woke up the next morning I felt relatively normal. It also felt like I shed whatever was making me feel like someone else. I guess that sounds kind of dramatic, but I dunno, believe it or don't.
I still have a bit of a headache and I'm coughing a little, so I don't know what is wrong.
But yah, that was fun. Also, De La Soul is awesome.
Music Video Wednesday: Knives Out
November 8th, 2006
Recent Dreams
November 7th, 2006
"November 6th: I was in a field, sort of a playground type area and there were a lot of bees. A dark figure in a beekeeper uniform was spraying that stuff at me so the bees would go away. There was also a short dream before that where I cut my own hair but accidentally cut a big part out and it looked really bad."
Bug
November 6th, 2006
Songs for Christmas
October 31st, 2006
Schooling
October 30th, 2006
"The problem with our education system is we've taken this kind of narrow, reductionist, Aristotelian approach to what learning is," he told me. "It's not designed for experimenting with complex systems and navigating your way through them in an intuitive way, which is what games teach. It's not really designed for failure, which is also something games teach. I mean, I think that failure is a better teacher than success. Trial and error, reverse-engineering stuff in your mind—all the ways that kids interact with games—that's the kind of thinking schools should be teaching. And I would argue that as the world becomes more complex, and as outcomes become less about success or failure, games are better at preparing you. The education system is going to realize this sooner or later. It's starting. Teachers are entering the system who grew up playing games. They're going to want to engage with the kids using games."(via Kottke.org)
Trailer: Old Joy
October 27th, 2006
Tonight
October 26th, 2006
Last Week
October 25th, 2006
Fortune
October 25th, 2006
Photos
October 23rd, 2006
On Top of Things
October 25th, 2006
Letchworth State Park
Zach suggested visiting Letchworth State Park, so I went this past weekend, and it was great. I really like train tracks and waterfalls, so it was and awesome scene.
Special Ed
October 19th, 2006
Despite thaaat, I found out I might graduate almost a year early, which is rad city.
Perfume
October 17th, 2006
Nice Paint Job
October 17th, 2006
Ecstatic Sunshine
October 16th, 2006
This weekend I went to the Wham City Round Robin, which was a handful of bands set up in a circle with the audience in the middle. There was then four rounds where each band played a song. It was great because the bands really varied in style from one another.
One of the best performances was from Ecstatic Sunshine. Here are a few MP3s:
Little Dipper Big Dipper
Wavechop
Pocketknife
Beetle
Alsoooooo, here is a clip of their performance on vimeo:click. Enough!
Guys
October 10th, 2006
Flight Club
October 9th, 2006
"We thought all this teaching was to make us smart. What it did was make us stupid. With all the little facts we learned, we never had the time to think."I'm glad I read it. It get's a 4/5.
Dancin'
October 9th, 2006
Channel Four
October 9th, 2006
GIRL Hey god, wanan smoke this with me?
GOD No thank you.
GIRL You Sure?
GOD Smiles.
GOD Yep.
GIRL Don't you wanna take a break? Kick back a little?
GOD I can't really take a break. The people on Earth need my attention.
GIRL Oh... Well, I guess I'm gonna smoke it.
GIRL smokes.
GIRL Hey, god?
GOD Mmhmm.
GIRL How am I doing?
GOD At life?
GIRL Yeah.
GOD You're doing pretty good. You should visit your mom a little more. She misses you.
Slight Pause
GOD And maybe not drive when ever you smoke, it could be dangerous.
GIRL But it's so fun! I love the little farms and shit! ... And reading the names of all the towns!
GIRL trails off.
GIRL How's my mom?
GOD A little stressed about work.
GIRL She's so fucking strung up on making me someone I'm not.
GOD remains silent
GIRL Is it not possible for her to love her slightly overweight daughter!?
GIRL takes another hit
GIRL I know she did drugs! It was the seventies for god's sake!
GOD remains silent
GIRL Have you heard the way she talks about black people!?
GOD opens his eye for the first time. He looks a little shocked at GIRL's statement.
GOD You know she just loves you. She wants to show you that, but is unsure how.
GIRL It's like she's trying to make up for a time in her life she never had.
GOD Maybe so. Your life is her biggest project. She can't help but want it to turn out well.
GIRL Yeah... I guess.
Slight pause.
GIRL He- Hey, god? Why do you need that telescope? I mean, can't you just sort of see everything?
GOD Oh. Well, this actually does the opposite. My problem is that I see too much at one time. Like you said 'I see everything.' This helps me focus on what needs my attention.
GIRL Oh.
Slight pause.
GIRL Ca- Can I see?
GOD Sure. Come on up.
GIRL climbs the chair towards GOD. When she gets to the top she peers into the telescope. She sees a single car driving on the highway late at night. The vision slowly pulls in closer to the car. The vision becomes perpindicular with the car looking in the passenger window. The window is fogged up and hard to see through. It slowly begins to roll down and she sees a girl at the wheel. The girl's head is nodding slowly.
Nature
October 8th, 2006
I went to Black Creek Park today and there was a lot of what looked like wild cotton growing. I don't think I've ever seen cotton before, so I took some pictures. Next weekend I'm gonna take my friend Zach's advice and try Letchworth State Park, which looks massive. Also, can you see the ant in the picture? I didn't notice until I got back!
Charlie Pate
October 4th, 2006
"Prophecies Fulfilled" and "In The Back Of My Mind" are two current favorites. It's hard to describe Charlie and my relationship, but I often attribute a great deal of how I was accepted in high school to him. Charlie is a really rad dude, and I hope he's successful.
Question #4
October 3rd, 2006
I think if you were somehow granted infinite knowledge of the world and our existence, that it would be difficult situation. I imagine a lot of people's initial reaction would be to tell everyone about what they had learned. To go out and inform others of their potentially incorrect beliefs.
This task would prove to be frustrating, as most people are unlikely to be swayed simply from someone telling them what is or isn't so. This effect is magnified if you were adamant to say that they were flat out wrong or stupid for feeling or believing a certain way.
Additionally, if you were in fact granted infinite knowledge, I'd imagine you'd be pretty enthusiastic about it. It would be difficult to not come off as mildly insane as you frantically raced around trying to convince people of their wrongdoings.
It seems that, given the responsibility of infinite knowledge, it would prove more effective to stay a little low-key about it. Avoid shouting the truth at people, but, if they should seek your advice, help guide them along the path to their own self-realizations.
SMS Debating
October 2nd, 2006
Brother "The only thing that really bites me about girltalk is the lack of originality...anyone who knows their way around a sampler could duplicate his work."My brother, who always had a knack for grammar and writing, ironically sends me grammatically flawed and l33t-speak filled emails and text messages. So, it was fun to get this little "debate" going. I did indeed have a hunch that he was just gassin' me up, but I wanted to try and keep it going, so I intentionally tried to play it straight.
Me "Yah. Anyone could do what Warhol did but it still takes the insight he had to do it."
Brother "Well let's look at Mr. Warhol's achievements; in addition to creating his famous artwork he founded an art studio, created and published a magazine, owned an operated a nightclub, wrote and published his own book, and also shot over 300 experimental underground films. The Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh showcases these accomplishments... I'm not so sure just anyone could do all these things... Will the work of DJ Girl Talk one day be displayed in a museum for the arts? Or will it instead be celebrated in the highly choreographed routines of high school dance squads for years to come? I suppose only time will tell..."
Me "My comment was hardly comparing Girl Talk to Warhol, but rather implying that technicality isn't the only criteria for great art. The context and reason behind art sometimes surpasses the technical aspect of it. Girl Talk, unlike most dance squad top 40 'mega mixes', samples from a wide variety of genres."
Brother "Exactly! His decision to work beyond the top 40 barrier and incorporate a wide array of songs from many different genres is precisely what positions him for success inside all competitive dance circuits; In fact I couldn't agree with you more, for years many cheerleading and dance squads have had to structure their routines around the all too common 'mega mix' as it were, until now! Girl Talk has introduced his vast new arrangement of songs stitched together with unorthodox methods of production. His radical new interpretation of the traditional megamix concept stands to create improvement among teams and squads all over the world. Promoting diversity throughout the dance community and encouraging all its participants and spectators to increase their perception and explore these new and different avenues of sound. The groups who are successful in their efforts of doing so will be able to achieve a new level of performance, enriched directly by this progressive advancement in mega-mixology!!! Honestly, can you think of a more appropriate application? The fact of the matter is the earnings girl talk currently makes from his gigs and album sales would pale in comparison to the amount of revenue that can be made with the right proprietary licensing and distribution of his work (which is largely made up of other artists work) for use in dance competition..."
Me "I disagree. I think the main genre's he draws from, southern rap, indie rock, and 90's alt-rock, are musical tastes that strive from their exclusiveness. I don't see why you're forcing the idea that Girl Talk is mega-mix music. His demographic seems to be the indie rock scene, not high school dance squads. I hardly think he's a musical genius, nor in the future will his art be looked upon by the masses as generationally profound. However, I think it warrants the attention for signifying an important point in time. The rights and ownership of music are being tested more than ever. I think your sentiment about his music's potential to make more money is flawed in that he would never be able to clear all the samples used. As things are now, he is able to slide by, however if music corporations have their way, who knows if this sort of music will be able to exist in 5 or 10 years."
Brother "*laugh* man I don't really believe that. I was just clownin' dogg... Pretty much the whole dissertation. I just like fuckin' with you kid, u oughtta know that"
Me "Well duh - just seein' if I could justify my own enjoyment of the music - holla"
Brother "Don't play, i totally had u..."
Me "Prolllyyy"
I didn't realize how rediculous his second, long discourse was until I was typing it up.
Small Victories and Giant Fuck Ups
September 25th, 2006
A week or so later, I drove past a car parts store. I had walked by it several times before, but this time it jumped out like a beacon of light. I opened my owner's manual, checked out the section on replacing bulbs and did it.
When I started the car and the previously busted light was on the level of pride I felt was excessive to say the least. It got me thinking about how good it feels to accomplish something in an area that you perceive yourself to have no skill in.
P.S. Always check to see how often your callbacks are made. Always.
Words
September 24th, 2006
"How singular is the thing called pleasure, and how curiously related to pain, which might be thought to be the opposite of it; for they never come to a man together, and yet he who pursues either of them is generally compelled to take the other."(via Karen)
Big Hands
September 20th, 2006
The central action in "Be Kind Rewind" takes place in a car junkyard. In the movie, Jerry, the character Jack Black will play, accidentally becomes magnetized by a power plant. His magnetic field erases all the tapes in a video store where his best friend, Mike, played by Mos Def, works. The duo end up re-enacting and refilming their own versions of movies like "King Kong" and "Ghostbusters."
Book: Killing Yourself To Live
September 26th, 2006
A Conversation With Mary Beth
and
Kid A as the soundtrack to 9/11
I'm only about halfway through, but it's great so far, and I would definitely recommend it. I guess if the second half is really terrible I'll take this post down, but that seems unlikely.
Dogme
September 18th, 2006
1. Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being filmed).
3. The camera must be a hand-held camera. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.)
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen. (Originally, the requirement was that the film had to be filmed on Academy 35mm film, but the rule was relaxed to allow low-budget productions.)
10. The director must not be credited.
From the Wikipedia entry
Dinosaur By Trince
September 9th, 2006
The Motel
September 10th, 2006
Seagul
September 2nd, 2006
Press
August 30th, 2006
Ya Heard
August 29th, 2006
Digicom
August 28th, 2006
Futurama
August 27th, 2006
Pay Per View
August 13th, 2006
Nerd
August 10th, 2006
Will Wright and Computer
August 8th, 2006
Four Helpful Guidelines
August 1st, 2006
1. Give yourself time to reflect - don't immediately get excited about a new project.
2. Do research - cast a wide net into different fields.
3. Enjoy being obsessive - hope it spreads to others working on the project.
4. Aim to change your audience.
Note: I jotted these down as I listened to an mp3 of his talk, they are not word for word.
One In a Million
July 25th, 2006
Roof Sex
July 20th, 2006
Radars and Scanners
July 19th, 2006
Copy Cats
July 17th, 2006
#$%@#$
June 26th, 2006
Waves
June 22nd, 2006
Hey T-Mo
June 18th, 2006
The Eraser
June 8th, 2006
Human Vs Machine
May 30th, 2006
RHCP
May 30th, 2006
WMP11
May 25th, 2006
- Song previews in URGE (the built in music store) don't abruptly stop when you continue browsing around.
- Because the player is connected to MTV, VH1, etc. a little icon appears next to tracks with music videos. Click it and watch the video!
- Pretty slick look and feel
- Navigation is a pain.
- Video content has ads.
Advice
May 24th, 2006
Balboa
May 19th, 2006
Song Challenge!!!
May 13th, 2006
- Hank and Max
- Patrick
Will Wright
May 13th, 2006
Slick
May 9th, 2006
Dear Steve
May 9th, 2006
Update: It'd also be nice to add songs to existing playlists.
No Prog
May 7th, 2006
Planes and Trains
May 4th, 2006
Vidblog
April 24th, 2006
Great TV
April 23rd, 2006
WOTD (via Zach)
April 10th, 2006
n.
An excessively intense enthusiasm, interest, or desire; a craze.
Excited
April 10th, 2006
Uh Oh
April 4th, 2006
Impact
April 1st, 2006
Hektor
March 30th, 2006
Chalk It Up
March 25th, 2006
Crateman
March 25th, 2006
NES Zapper
March 25th, 2006
Kick Push
March 24th, 2006
Universal Database
March 22nd, 2006
The idea is basically building dynamically created flash movies based on various factors. This particular execution takes into account the viewer's location, weather, and a few other factors to create the video.
I think they did a really great job with the idea, but seeing their version confirmed a few concerns I had with the technology. So, we'll see...
Lo Fi
March 20th, 2006
Current State
March 19th, 2006
"And that's really the problem, isn't it? There are these industries of middlemen - RIAA, MPAA - that claim to "protect artists" but what they're really protecting is themselves. Artists (and I include myself in that word) need to rise up and tell these people to go get stuffed. We can decide when a mashup is perfectly fine with us. We can decide to embrace file traders to build awareness of our work. We don't need you anymore. You're just holding us back."
Check it out.
Transparent Butterfly
March 18th, 2006
Colorful Faces
March 16th, 2006
Drawing Restraint 9
March 16th, 2006
Mixed Reality
March 15th, 2006
Gamehendge
March 2nd, 2006
Video Game Fever
March 2nd, 2006
Remix!!!
March 1st, 2006
Rock On Rock On
February 20th, 2006
Good Use of AJAX
February 20th, 2006
The Lego Suicides
February 1st, 2006
Artie
January 22nd, 2006
Graugelb
January 21st, 2006
Slammin'
January 17th, 2006
Search By Sketch
January 12th, 2006
Too slooow!
January 11th, 2006
Update
January 11th, 2006
Tele-VISION
January 9th, 2006
"The new color capabilities of the LED models reverse a half-century trend, with TVs now exceeding the capabilities of the broadcast system and requiring the latter to catch up. In Vegas, Sony got around the problem by showing on its 82-inch LCD special video clips that provide a wider color gamut, including a copy of Spiderman 2 that was re-scanned from the original film print in order to capture a fuller palette. For the long term, Sony is pushing for a new color standard -- known by the ungainly acronym XVYCC -- to pump up the colors captured by video cameras and broadcast to TVs."
Sadly, this is sort of exciting to me...
HD
January 3rd, 2006