A bit of silliness, really...

12 Drawings a Day

2011-12-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

I found this little gem a day or so ago (see video below). M. Chapon says of his work "During 3 years (2008-2011) i have been drawing 12 drawing of animation every day, it make one second of film. I had no plans what so ever before starting the first drawing. And then, each of the following days, I took the 3 last drawing from the day before and kept on animating. I use a none erasable pen, and drew on the back side of used A4 paper."
Cool! I always been interested in animation, but have never given it a go. My knowledge is theoretical having only dabbled, as every sixth grader does, drawing stick figures playing baseball or shooting at tanks over the course of a class notebook. Not too sophisticated :) I like how he has random things coming and going, reappearing and appearing, one from the other. It is, in a way, a sort of representation of how thought works -- I think that's why I like it so much. Take a gander, you may be pleasantly surprised :)

12 Drawings a Day - 12 Dessins par Jour from Denis Chapon on Vimeo.

Also the other day I watched The Pixar Story, a documentary about Disney/Pixar. You know, the guys who brought us Toy Story, Monster's Inc., A Bug's Life, and The Incredibles. I kept seeing the title for it on Netflix and elsewhere but for some reason I hadn't watched it yet. I do this thing where I put off watching something even though I really want to see it -- it's super weird, I know. I think maybe I am avoiding being disappointed, maybe? That is all I can come up with anyhow! Well it turns out it was really great! The documentary gives on a good insight into the Disney world and the challenges that computer animators face, while at the same time putting faces and characters into the works that we have come to know and love through this working relationship of the Disney and Pixar studios. I think that people forget that Disney was first and foremost an illustrator and a story teller. This film delves into the modern problem of bringing cool animation and the story together, while continuing the Disney, and now Pixar, tradition, as well as what it takes to finance, via a young Steve Jobs, such a new and expensive company.
When I was a young kid, around 13 or 14, a good friend of our family gave us our first computer. I immediately because fascinated and started doing designs for my mom's embroidery business. These designs were nothing incredibly difficult or complicated, mostly lettering and simple logos, all by trial and error. I liked it though, and the rigorous problem solving it presented. I remember in the those first days he showed me a program that was, I realize now, a very clunky illustrator. In fact, I think it was one of these programs in which you can't really do anything, but which merely showcases an up and coming technology. He told me that if I were interested in such things, I should let him know and he could give me more information and help about it. My mind took flight that day, imaging the things I could draw and animate with such a thing. Shortly thereafter this friend moved with his family and we lost touch. The computer was something I worked on by myself, learning as I went, like many other things I loved as a child, teaching myself. This is the way it always seemed to go, and even now it is hard to find like minded people even among my most intimate friends. It's not something I feel bad about, for the most part, but it does make me wonder sometimes what I would have been. We all can wonder about what we would have been, if we had taken a different path, I suppose, a symptom of human regret. Every once in a while I come across something like this documentary and it stirs up those feelings of fascination and excitement that I experienced when first I saw it as a child. I like that. It's like Proust's madeleines, and it makes me feel.

'Ello!

2011-12-10T14:31:00.001-08:00

Hello all. Hello me. Hello blog :) (Wow, this is a seriously ugly and boring background, what was I thinking?) It has been a while. Graduating from university can throw a person into quite a tailspin. A good year and a half now has passed, and I've been busy getting older and trying to make my way. A little reading, a little painting, a little crying, a little working (read: mostly working) and not much writing. More about that later, perhaps?
Never fear, I have faithfully been reading away each night, keeping up on my blog reading queue, and have even gotten a few honest to goodness books read in the meantime. I sometimes get discouraged when reading about famous people and all the books that they read and that influenced them. Sometimes half the books that they list as being most influential I have never even heard of, and I think to myself how could I ever be at their level? But I also take courage in the fact that I have read loads of "modern" books that they will never read. We can't read all the books in the world, but we can try can't we? Well, as long as we keep reading that is what counts -- until that day in the nuclear waste land when we crush our only pair of reading glasses. Yes, I am a nerd and that episode of Twilight Zone haunts me!

Anyhow, I seriously buy too much stuff from Amazon. Well too much is a relative term here. If wanting something for more than five or more years then finally getting it is too much, then we are in the right realm of the words. At least it makes me infinitely excited about my purchase (Amazon should pay me to advertise lol)! And anyway, you can never have enough books and music I keep telling myself :)
FINALLY bought this 100 Carols for Choirs. It's by David Willcocks and John Rutter (whom I adore) and chock full of favorite Christmas music, mostly SATB with piano accompaniment. Katie's Grandmother had it when I lived in upstate New York a few years ago and I've been dying for it ever since. My sisters were a little less excited than I since they think they can't read music, but they will come around I'm sure. In fact the other day they were calling me in to sing some alto on Once in Royal David's City. The songs they know they will pick up and sing, not realizing they are doing a fair amount of note reading, but if they haven't seen it before it is too much. Little kids just learning to read do this too -- whenever I'm in the library there are always a few students who won't attempt a book because the words are too small and numerous. Sometimes I find the same book for them with bigger print and more pictures and they are convinced to read it. Oh well, they'll get there too :) Speaking of carols, I'm supposed to go do that in 15 minutes, so I ought to get bundled up. Will finish gushing at a later date.

Rivers and things...

2011-02-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

So I happen to like visuals things. Numbers and figures mapped out in shapes and figures. Here is an interesting mapping out of rivers:

"I don’t think people are used to seeing and thinking about rivers this way — realizing their interconnectedness, their importance in the establishment of settlements, or the fact that they were humanity’s original transit networks. It’s not something I’m ignorant of, but I don’t think about rivers like this regularly. I’ve lived in cities that are on rivers without ever noticing. Rivers are to me are often just those thin blue lines lost in the background of a lot of reference maps..."

Check it out, you may enjoy :D

Regnum Beati

2011-01-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

I, residing in the chair of comfortitude and having dominion over this blessed realm, henceforth declare this day and all of the following unto eternity or until that time at which this day shall cease in its existence forthwith to be dubbed and celebrated as Malt Monday.

If there be any herein who shall deny this day in its golden malted glory, let him reflect on the words of Housman, a learned doctor of this realm who boldly said "... malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man..." If such there be who shall desecrate said golden malted glory and its appointed day, let him be anathema.

June Hymn - The Decemberists

2011-01-15T22:27:00.000-08:00

"And years from now when this old light Isn't ambling anymore Will I bring myself to write?..."

Johnny Flynn - The Ghost of O'Donahue

2010-11-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

2010-07-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

As Mark said, is it possible to be funny and annoying at the same time? Yes. Yes, it is. I'm dying laughing. Don't ask me why. Mission Impossible. Hilarious. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. So pathetic it is but gusting.

p.s. I love spoonerisms! ha!

Music: Alexi Murdoch

2010-07-22T15:01:00.001-07:00

Song and Dance

2010-07-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

So You Think You Can Dance is a great show. For one, it has some phenomenal dancing and routines. Second, it often has some great music as well. This season I've already heard several musicians featured that I love! Just a few being St. Vincent (accompanied by a fantastic routine by Travis Wall -- can't find a video though. Sad!), Florence + the Machine and Ray LaMontagne. This week I was blown away by a contemporary routine and the song that accompanied it. I've posted the clip below. The musician is Christina Perri, you'll find the link goes to her youtube channel. Wow. She sounds a little bit like Erin McCarley, but with a more of a raw sound to her voice. Can't wait to buy her album! I'm tempted to post the routine done to Cosmic Love by Florence + the Machine, but I will refrain for now :)... Enjoy!:

Also, here is a link to the full song: Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri, and the lyrics:

No I can't take one more step towards you
Cause all that's waiting is regret
And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore
You lost the love I loved the most
I learned to live half alive
And now you want me one more time

And who do you think you are
Running around leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are

I hear you're asking all around
If I am anywhere to be found
But I have grown too strong
To ever fall back in your arms
I learned to live half alive
And now you want me one more time

And who do you think you are...

And it took so long just to feel alright
Remember how to put back the light in my eyes
I wish I would have missed the first time that we kissed
Cause you broke all your promises
And now you're back
You don't get to get me back

And who do you think you are...
Don't come back for me
Don't come back at all

Who do you think you are

Music: The Moondoggies

2010-06-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

Well, just discovered this band the other day from a free album I picked up from Amazon. I've posted their song "The Undertaker" below for your general entertainment :) Give it a listen! All I know is that they are from Seattle, of course. I would fill you in on more info except that they don't have a Wikipedia page. Anyone who is anyone has a Wikipedia entry. Right? Oh, wait... Well anyhow, the lead guy Kevin Murphy has a beautiful auburn beard, and really, that's all I need to know. I'm just sayin...

Anyhow, who doesn't love free stuff? Especially music :)

Speaking of getting free albums from Amazon, I also downloaded I Love the 80's (the 1880's, that is), which is totally fantastic. Brahms, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak... etc. I love the album cover the most though. Ha!... also I just realized that my listing of some of the composers was pointless because it lists them right on the album cover. Oh well, we will just pretend that I'm efficient. Ok? ok!

Well, here you go:
"The Undertaker" - Kevin Murphy of The Moondoggies live at KEXP in Seattle.

25 Random Things...

2010-06-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

1) I ask questions all the time and then forget to listen for the answer... it drives people crazy.

2) I read The Stranger by Albert Camus at least once a year.

3) When I was a kid I had an orange pair of long shorts and an orange striped shirt that I wore almost every day after school... one day it disappeared... I think we all know where it went...

4) I didn't drink anything on my 21st birthday.

5) I know how to shear sheep.

6) I wear brown with black all the time.

7) I buy new socks constantly.

8) I'm reading Moby Dick for the 5th time.

9) I've probably spent more money on sports equipment than anything else, but have bought more books than anything else. Except maybe socks. Maybe.

10) I have several pairs of shoes that I've only worn once.

11) I jumped out of a second story window at school my senior year... it hurt but I couldn't tell anyone lol.

12) I always deform paper clips... I can't help it...

13) I used to remind my mom that she was supposed to spank us for something we did earlier in the day.
photo: TomNeely
14) I can make a half court shot.

15) I still won't sleep in a house all by myself.

16) I laugh whenever people get hurt, especially if they make funny faces.

17) I work at the Police Department.

18) My first kiss was in Kindergarten.

19) Speaking of Kindergarten, I was suspended twice, and my best friend was expelled for smoking behind the school.

20) For some reason, whenever I tell someone to say something stupid at a drive through window they often do it. It's hilarious.

21) I have a vendetta against the US postal service.

22) One time I broke my toe... running in the house.

23) I also bit through my tongue... running in the house.

24) I still run in the house.

25) but not with scissors.

Neil Young: Philadelphia

2010-06-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

Ah well, missed Monday by an hour or so :) One does what one can. Here is a Neil Young song from the movie Philadelphia.

Water Water Everywhere, but not a drop to drink...

2010-06-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've been following the oil spill thing for the last couple of months, or whenever it blew sky high... just a few things then:

I found this illustration of the scope of the spill; if you add your city and state it places the area of the spill over the area in which you live. Above you can see it over Spokane, WA. It is pretty revealing, since it is sometimes difficult to gage distance in pictures of the Gulf. I first saw this weeks ago, and, of course, whenever I pull it up again to show someone, the area has increased. Check it out:
If It Was My Home

Also here are a few pictures taken along off the coast of Louisiana and then a slideshow of various telling pictures since the explosion:
Wildlife Caught in Spill
Slideshow of Spill and subsequent clean up attempts etc.

Then, in the NYTimes there are a few good articles about the impact on wildlife and the efforts to fix the spill. If you haven't read about it and don't understand why they can't just "plug the spill", they do a pretty clear job of explaining it here, with diagrams etc. Also, in the wildlife tab, it explains why the spill is so harmful to many different types of wildlife. For example, even dolphins are effected, because they tend to be sociable and follow the boats, getting dangerously close to the spill.

Now a solution? I read this article in the FiTimes which I thought was pretty interesting: To Save the Gulf, Free the Mississippi. (btw if it denies access through that link, just google the title and it should come up...)

Finally, here is a video from Nottingham Uni's Periodic Table Vids which talks about the chemistry behind the oil spill and a little bit about why it is so hard to clean up and so dangerous for wildlife, especially birds. It's rather short, but does a great job of explaining:

Music: Alpha Rev

2010-06-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Been listening to this song lately... that's all. Enjoy :)

World Cup 2010

2010-06-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well today World Cup matches start! Woohoo! Or should I say Ole!

Unfortunately I will only be able to watch about one match, since I don't have ESPN. At least ABC is broadcasting the US vs. England match -- of course I'm rooting for the US this time around since the Irish were robbed of their World Cup chance back in November by an obvious hand-ball off of France's Thierry Henry. The US is in group C this Cup season, which isn't too bad because they are expected to make it through, regardless of whether they win against England or not. Thank the good Lord above that they aren't in Group G which included Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire, North Korea and Portugal -- well named the group of death.

Listening to the France vs. Uruguay match right now on ESPN radio, ending in a nil tie. Pretty good game with many scoring chances and a telling hand ball off of Henry's shot. How do you like it Thierry Henry, sucks when a hand ball ruins perfectly good World Cup hopes doesn't it? Anyhow, looking forward to tomorrow's game!

In other sports news, the Blackhawks took home the Stanley Cup on Wednesday after a 49 year drought, the longest in the original six's history. So excited, since I happen to be a die hard Chicago fan. It's about time! Winning in overtime in game six, the Hawks pretty much dominated the Flyers. But I have to say, Philadelphia just kept coming back! Patrick Kane scored the sudden death overtime goal at 4:10, sneaking it past Leighton into the corner of the net. Watch the clip if you so desire, the goal light didn't go on and nobody knew what was happening, except the celebrating Hawks! What a performance! Big hits, big goals, big win! (whoh, the word "big" sounds so strange after saying it so many times... big big big big big big...)

Then again...

2010-06-11T00:02:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Oh. It's just me. ha! I realize that my absence has been relatively prolonged, sorry about that. A lot has happened since I last posted anything of great interest... ok well, at least anything of any interest :P... but we shall get to all that later perhaps. A friend the other day said "so many thoughts, so little time...", which I countered "so little thoughts, so much time...". I will admit I was feeling somewhat guilty about this, but he encouraged me saying that it is natural to feel a bit emptied out after graduation. I think I'm feeling a little more than that, but that is ok. At any rate, I made some changes trying to find some sort of focus for the time being.

As you can see I've been switchin' it up a little bit. Decided it was time for a new background -- but I must say, this isn't turning out so well. The first one (stucco looking) was admittedly a little bland, and well, this new one seems a wee bit over the top. Even for me! We shall have to see how it goes... feel free to yay or nay. Speaking of the ol' blog - Welcome to Vatche for joining the weird world! First came across his blog from The Teacher's View (one of my favorite fyi!)... Anyway, he has some great insights and writings to share over at his blog The Student Writer's Mind. Check it out!

Also I gave up facebook for 30 days. This has given me time to read several books (half way through book four, not too shabby... no wait, make that five, I reread Beowulf...does that count?) and get some writing done, however short. It has not however given me time to clean my room yet. weird. More time to work in the orchard with the irrigation system we are installing, every other day, incidentally, since the rain comes and goes, and to clean up around the place, fixing fences and chicken coops and what have you.

The facebook thing has been a little hard, but this is day ten and I don't think that I will fall short of the thirty days. It gets easier as the days go on, for several reasons. At any rate I stand to gain a book of my choosing if I last the month. Woot!

Well, that is all for now.

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

"We use the phrase 'gave their lives,' but they didn't give their lives...they were taken from them. I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the
lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way-some new religion maybe-that takes war out of our lives. That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating." - Andy Rooney
Read more here

And then a song from Libera, We Are The Lost:

Art Linkletter, RIP

2010-05-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

Art Linkletter died today at 97. If you haven't read "Kids Say the Darndest Things", you should get on it! It is absolutely hilarious :) Here is a little video from his show:

Day is Done

2010-05-21T23:11:00.001-07:00

Music: The Blues

2010-05-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hi there :) Yes, it's Monday. Yay Monday! or something. Anyway, here is a song from Switchfoot -- perhaps my favorite off the album Nothing Is Sound. Well that or "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine"... or "Stars"... ok I like the whole album, nevermind! Anyhow, I'll post the lyrics below for your general perusal.
About this song Jon Foreman said : "Drew's feedback on this track was so great. he had two combos cranked with different pedals chained to each. Noise never sounded so beautiful! But the true hero for me on this tune was Tim. Don't tell him I said this but he's a freaking genius when it comes to parts like this. I walked back into the control room and there was Paul Mc- I mean Tim- making things happen. I tend to write some of my favorite songs on significant days in my life- birthdays and such. Anyhow, here's a tune that was written on new years day 2004. I pulled an acoustic demo of the song together and threw it on the pile of songs we had for the record. We loved the way the vocal sounded on the demo- raw and honest so we kept it. To sing a song about the new year in march just wouldn't sound quite right, so the vocal on the record is the first time I ever sang the song: 1/1/04. This one means a lot to me, like our modern day Psalm of sorts. This would be the next step from the beautiful letdown lyrically and musically- a long meandering song about how the end of the world might actually be a beautiful day. It will be a day like this one when the world caves in..."

Is this the New Year or just another night?
Is this the new fear or just another fright?
Is this the new tear or just another desperation?

Is this the finger or just another fist?
Is this the kingdom or just a hit n' miss?
A misdirection, most in all this desperation

Is this what they call freedom?
Is this what you call pain?
Is this what they call discontented fame?

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in

I'm singing this one like a broken piece of glass
From broken arms and broken noses in the back
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?

You push until you're shoving
You bend until you break
Do you stand on the broken fields where your fathers lay?

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in

There's nothing here worth saving,
Is no one here at all?
Is there any net left that could break our fall?

It'll be a day like this one
When the sky falls down and the hungry and poor and deserted are found
Are you discontented? Have you been pushing hard?
Have you been throwing down this broken house of cards?

It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in

Is there nothing left now?
Nothing left to sing
Are there any left who hasn't kiss the enemy?
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?

Does justice never find you? Do the wicked never lose?
Is there any honest song to sing besides these blues?

And nothing is okay
Till the world caves in

Until the world caves in
_______________________________

Finally, one last thing: I could use some good news, we all could use some good news, does anyone have some good news?
Post it in the comment section!

Music: Soria Moria

2010-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Ok so, today is Monday, and Mondays are now my music day; 1. Because I need to post more often, and somewhat regularly and 2. More importantly, because I love music! I was going to call it New Music Monday, but I'm an old school sort of gal at times. So beware, this could be anything from Gregorian, to Beethoven, to the Beatles, to George Strait. Yes, I realize that makes me weirdly eclectic. Anyhow, now that I have established music on Mondays, be quite aware that I will probably not follow task ha! Also, I'm glad that I already had this song picked out because this morning I had (and still have) Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" stuck in my head, and I wouldn't want to do that to you. I will thank William for this calamity, although his post had to do with another song completely; but you can't be born in the 80's and not think of the Dirty Dancing song when someone says "Hungry Eyes". You just can't.

Well, today is a song by Sissel Kyrkjebø, a Norwegian singer. I first heard this song, and was struck by it, several years ago, when a roommate introduced me to her music. Sissel has a really amazingly beautiful voice, pure and unaffected, especially in her early albums. This title song is from one of her earlier albums (1989 I believe), Soria Moria. Soria Moria is a common Norwegian fairy tale about an askeladden who searches out Soria Moria and becomes a great lord. A short version of the story is available here. I was always struck by this song because of its haunting melody and its beautiful story. I would say that you don't even have to know Norwegian to understand the movement of the legend of Soria Moria. As it is, I only know one word of Norwegian. Btdub, I find the English write-over in this video pretty annoying, but what can you do?

Anyhow, enjoy! I have to go write a paper on St. Augustine and his theory of peace. What joy fills my heart at the very thought. Or something.

2010-04-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

Ha! I am constantly cringing when people use "literally" wrong. I hear it probably every day. It's that bad.

Kudos to xkcd.com, of course :D Oh, and welcome to all the new silly people: Pallav, Elisabeth, Vatche. Have fun! and check out other followers' blogs, but don't check out Stealing Fire; she is not a follower, albeit very, very silly. She probably should be tarred and feathered... I'm just sayin...

Dysfunctional Workshop, and then some.

2010-04-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

A hilariously awesome and accurate post over at Ursprache today: Dysfunctional Workshop. Check it out!

And, for your general amusement, a little Calvin and Hobbes:

Google, Books, yeah.

2010-04-03T00:14:00.000-07:00

"...If you care about the future of books, you need to understand the Google Book Settlement. It's a complicated legal document, but we've talked to some of its architects, detractors, and defenders - and break it all down for you. The Google Book Settlement could easily be the twenty-first century's most important shift in how we deal with copyright in the world of publishing. To understand it, you need a little back story on the previous giant shift in copyright law, which happened about twelve years ago...."

Personally I've used Google Books lots of times, especially when I didn't have the cash to buy books (read: always!) for my classes, or time to sit in a library.

However, I'm unsure about the implications of all this. It seems there are both reprehensible prospects (point 4, having to do with censoring and restriction), as well as exciting prospects (point 5). Furthermore, I sometimes find myself jumping from side to side on copyright issues, often angered at the Mickey Mouse laws and a proponent of open copyrights, yet at other times admitting that authors do have a right to their works and the meagre living which they sometimes provide. The idea that there would be a organization that acted like ASCAP in the literary world is NOT a happy prospect. If only we were in ancient times when the poet was revered and had no need to eek out a living. The trouble here is in the very understanding of the nature and calling of the writer -- it has been lost.

Any thoughts on this article and the prospective laws?

A word on a word...

2010-03-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Some days I wake up with the weirdest words in my head. Today it was "defenestrate". I literally become conscious in the morning with these words repeating over and over in my head, and usually it has nothing to do with the dream I had. As far as I can tell ha! That is weird!

According to the OED it first showed up in relation to the 1618 Defenestration of Prague "the action of the Bohemian insurgents who, on the 21st of May... broke up a meeting of Imperial commissioners and deputies of the States, held in the castle of the Hradshin, and threw two of the commissioners and their secretary out of the window; this formed the prelude to the Thirty Years' War." After that it only really shows up a few more times, once in a letter by Robert Southey ("I much admire the manner in which the defenestration is shown [in a picture]."... Southey apparently had good taste! Ah yes, out of the mouths of...poets), and in 1915, only to mention that "there is no good authority for its use...". Well, Lit Digest of 1915, Robert Southey used it. So there.

I've never actually used this word, except to mentally correct a teacher just the other day. I'm resolved to do two things:
1. use the word in a poem or something publishable (and thereby gain admittance to the venerable OED ;) )
2. use the word in every day speech such as "do NOT defenestrate that gum wrapper, don't you love your country, you Benedict Arnold!"... ok, maybe that's going a little overboard, perhaps "go ahead and defenestrate that banana peel, it's biodegradable, and who wouldn't want banana trees in Idaho...wait, what?"

Btdub, I was looking for a picture of Russel Crowe defenestrating his desk in A Beautiful Mind, but I couldn't find one! The horror! It's such a great scene... anyway, I came across this picture over at Digging Driftless, and what a work desk! I want to run my hand across that wood! Beautiful.

Templates Yay!

2010-03-16T01:29:00.000-07:00

Finally! Some template functionality! Google announced that they are going to open up the Blogger Template. I've been goofing around with new templates for a while, but have been too lazy to go through it myself, without Photoshop etc. Imagine that, me, lazy! ha!... But I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes the narrowness of the blogger template (in both width and creativity) bugs me. Is that my American Individuality getting the best of me? Maybe, but that's ok :) Check it out!

Oh for a beaker full of the warm South!

2010-03-10T00:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I happen to love poor Johnny Keats. I admit it. I embrace it. I breath it. However, as I was much disappointed with the movie Bright Star, I won't speak of it here, just yet -- I'm leaning towards giving it another chance before forming a final opinion of the thing. Though, I will say that one good thing has come out of it: Ben Wishaw's reading of Ode to a Nightingale. Give it a listen, I hardly think you'll be disappointed:

Good to know...

2010-03-08T18:13:00.001-08:00

Great tip to know about: If you drop a book in water, freeze dry it! Check it out on LifeHacker : Freeze Dry Books, Docs, Photos... In the comments they say it works for books that are moldy, or have insects or whatever as well. Anyways, I've dropped books in puddles while getting into the car many times, so I'm glad to have come upon this ...

I suppose that's more accurately a hare dryer...

2010-03-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

some funny (yes i just said "some funny") from xkcd.com, of course :)

five stars for the Calvin and Hobbes reference! :)

____

The Orchard

2010-02-20T00:38:00.000-08:00

My favorite Clancy Brothers song -- for obvious reasons to some...

When I was nine, in harvest time, I crossed the orchard wall
The moon was bright, the apples ripe upon the garden did fall
We filled our sacks, we made our way back, more adventures for to find.

I crossed the orchard wall again when I was just thirteen
It was, I think, to be my first drink of cider and poitín
I remember well, it tasted like hell; I hoped the pain would end soon,
In an orchard green neath the Comeraghs in that sweet Dungarvan green.

When I was twenty-one years old I married my Annie there
The apple blossoms in the trees were better in her hair
And when the day was over there was a drunk for every tree
In an orchard neath the Comeragh by those sweet Dungarvan seas.

Now I'm forty-five, I am much alive and children I have four,
Three girls and one fine strapping son and I have hopes for more.
I'll teach them of what lies ahead, I have plenty to tell still
In an orchard neath the Comeragh in that sweet Dungarvan breeze.

Now I'm ninety-one, my days are near done, my Annie is long since gone.
Our days they were good as well they should, but it's time that I passed on,
And when I die, I want to lie in the air, land and foam
In an orchard neath the Comeragh by my sweet Dungarvan home.

Wordle! and then some

2010-02-10T23:52:00.000-08:00

^^
Here is a Wordle from the last couple of months from this blog, A Bit of Silliness... Also, since I love word art and calligraphy, I've been looking into typography and micrography a lot lately. You can check out my first go at it here on Cabbages and Kings where I used the text of the I Met The Walrus interview to create a picture of John Lennon. I just used layers and masking for this image, but eventually I'd like to do a real micrography project in which the words themselves make up the image, not just their colors. Obviously this takes hours of planning and work for something that is very detailed, so I'll get to that when I get to that :) For now, check out some truly astounding examples of this ancient form or art from LA Pop Art :

<< This image of The Godfather is created out of the entire script of the film. (click to enlarge)

This one I found over at Hey Ok: Notorious B.I.G and the lyrics of Hypnotize >>

And finally, since I love John Lennon, here is a really great piece done by Dencii over at deviantArt:

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Also: My thanks to Stephen Pael for joining the fray. Hello! and have fun! :)

Quantum Mechanics

2010-02-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

Super Cool! :)

Quantum Mechanics at Work in Photosynthesis: Algae Familiar With These Processes for Nearly Two Billion Years

ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2010) — A team of University of Toronto chemists have made a major contribution to the emerging field of quantum biology, observing quantum mechanics at work in photosynthesis in marine algae.... read more here

Richelieu

2010-02-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

My major achievement on this fine morning (or not so fine as the case may be; come back sunshine!): I happened to know that Richelieu was Louis XIII's adviser. Score. I don't have anything really interesting to say about him except that he was burned into my memory by my history teacher. When I think Richelieu I think France and Centralization. I have long wondered whether my teacher was in favor of Richelieu or against him. He was one of those characters that the teacher goes on about and seems to speak highly of, and yet in the back of my mind there is a seed of doubt as to whether he was truly as great a man as I understood him to be. Perhaps it was the fact that Richelieu sided with Protestant factions in his political struggles for the supremacy of France and that this was in direct conflict with his role as bishop and Cardinal of the Catholic Church. However, that was unclear to me at 14(?)... It may be that I had an innate bias against the Hapsburgs! ;)

There have been several similar things I wondered about throughout my K-12 years; things I misunderstood, or things that were left unexplained. Sometimes I wonder if teachers left us to wonder about these things because they recognized that we did not yet have the sophistication of discernment to understand the small nuances of a subject, and that understanding would come later, with more study. Take Blake's "The Tyger", a poem I learned in middle school. I could not understand how they got the metaphor of the poet out of the poem. Certainly this time they were stretching the whole allusion thing too far. Yet lacking an explanation I just went on about my schooling, only to discover it later. But could not the power of inspiration as represented in the power of the tiger be explained to a young teen? I wonder if it was a failing of the teacher or a failing of the student. We think our teachers gods, and hardly question that they could be wrong or confused themselves. At least I did, and even in my senior year, when I questioned everything, I ultimately believed that they had the answer for me. I wanted to know and I would not accept a sidestepping answer. I think this sort of trust in a teacher is a good thing, even if potentially dangerous. Is it better that a student come out of primary school with a certain set of ideas that will often be challenged in secondary school, than no certain ideas at all? I thinks so.

Perhaps I had too much confidence in my teachers. I see many students who were taught to doubt their teachers almost religiously, and it bothers me that I may have students who come to me with this frame of mind. I want to know the balance between the all knowing teacher and the teacher who can willingly admit ignorance, without compromising authority and respect. I grew to respect those teachers who could admit ignorance of something, but I always trusted that they had the tools to find the answer. But for those teachers who insisted on having no definite opinions I ultimately lost all respect. Perhaps that balance is one which comes with experience. Perhaps it is a certain frame of mind and the way in which one approaches the student teacher relationship. I'm wondering for now.

In the meantime, I knew who Louis XIII's adviser was, and that has to count for something! ha!

Motte's painting of Richelieu is the one which I always remember, reproduced here in LIFE.

embedded photo via Matthias Seifert

Or the pressure of the Earth's core will rise slightly...

2010-01-22T23:42:00.000-08:00

from xkcd.com, of course :D

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Also: Thanks to ShortzMag for joining in the silliness :) Check out the blog!

The Third and the Seventh

2010-01-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

As a lover of photography, architecture and CG animation this video actually brought me to the point of tears. Absolutely brilliant CG vid from Alex Roman :

The Third and The Seventh : "A FULL-CG animated piece that tries to illustrate architecture art across a photographic point of view where main subjects are already-built spaces". Check it out in full screen, you won't regret these few minutes:

... from Vimeo

Note-taking and Other Things...

2010-01-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Over at The Teacher's View I was rereading a post from a few days ago concerning the taking of notes. I was struck by the story at the beginning of the post about a former student's notebooks being left for trash, because I myself often keep meticulous notes and save my notebooks almost religiously. I was trying to put a name to what I felt about this picture of forced abandonment -- sadness? anger? fear? hopelessness? All these things. "Indeed," says Belloc in his Path To Rome , "it is a bitter thing to have to give up one's sword...". I imagine one day that I too will have to leave my constant companions behind -- is it naive to hope otherwise?

Note-taking, its seems to me, is becoming a lost art, much like penmanship. It seems almost strange that I keep precise notes because I am, for the most part, a rather disorganized person exteriorly, but I think that this is from force of habit (and maybe laziness!). Plus my excuse has always been that I have an organization of mind, and that's what really counts ;) Being a pro at taking notes was an infinite boon at university --

who knows how many times I didn't buy the books because I knew I could rely on my notes. Sometimes Economy demands something that Prudence would not otherwise advise. As far as tests went, I knew that if I took the time to listen in class and take precise notes then I would have less to study because it was already there, organized, in my brain. Thus my theory about laziness. A history teacher of mine once asked the class why we take notes. Answering for the class someone said "So that we can remember what the teacher said...(duh)". He shook his head and then enlightened us saying "Incorrect; you take notes so that you can forget what the teacher said." I determined then that I was not wasting my time so that I could forget.

I remember in seventh and eighth grade I had a history teacher who made it her business to teach us how to take notes. There was a very strict way of going about it, what with all the I. and a. and A. and B, indents in certain places, bullet points, numbers, sometimes an arrow or two, stars, and even the occasional precisely drawn map... etc, all very confusing and seemingly pointless at first. And frustrating! It all seemed like a bunch of busy work. I wanted a reason for all this hullabaloo and "you'll thank me later" didn't cut it. Why couldn't we just write what she said? After all, having been accustomed to dictations in the place of spelling tests, we all happened to be relatively fast as scribbling down, in a neat palmer method writing of course, most of what the teacher was saying.

However, as time went on, we could see that her notes were set up perfectly in the same manner and that one point flowed seamlessly to another. Her lecture was ordered, and so was our understanding of the material. Further, in a class like history, when a side point can take up three pages or more of notes, it helped to know that you were still under point "II." etc.... Those were tough years, but wouldn't you believe it soon became a habit to take concise notes like that in class, and to be able to pick out exactly what was important in the teacher's lecture no matter what the class? Learning how to take notes like that provided a framework within my mind, making the categorizing of information much clearer and more efficient. I suppose that makes the student sound like some kind of machinery, but it is true that our brains work in a mechanistic fashion, even if it is a more powerful mechanism than we can explain. I realize now she was teaching us how to think, not just to copy endless information. How to be logical, organized, make connections and draw conclusions. I realize now.

Oh teachers! What a thankless and misunderstood job it seems to be!

I thank you.

Xmas list.

2009-11-26T11:38:00.001-08:00

Ha! it's been a while. Therefore, I have decided it is time for the Xmas list! Of course everything I didn't get last year is still on the list :D

Socks.

Photoshop CS4 -- I'm a student! it's only 200 rather than 1000, I think that's a great deal for you!!!
Nikon d90
Peleng 8mm or Nikon 10.5 fisheye lens
ski bindings
Books
ski boots
music
Harold Evan's book My Paper Chase
A Palm Pre
Inspiration
A Hockey Stick
Boondock Saints
Schindler's List
Chariots of Fire and/or Prefontaine
A netflix subscription ha!
The Sound of Music
The Radium Watch Dial Painters - Dan Butterworth
A Curling Hat
a bed spread
vegetables
socks
cherry pie
snowboarding gloves
sleep

A Wii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha score!
A Decade of Excellence... oh and id like the DVD too :P
Assurance
Zag paraphernalia -- sweatshirt, sweats, car window thing... whatevs :D
AK 100
socks
piano lessons
Ak-47
a tall bookshelf
graduation invitations
James Herriot books
A Light Box

Hairspray

ok. more to come. of course.

Goooogle

2009-08-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

Finally!!!!!!!!!! Now if they only had a road/weather conditions.... Hmmmm...

Google Maps Adds Traffic Conditions

Walter Cronkite

2009-07-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

I was sad to hear that Walter Cronkite had died. It didn't really come as a surprise as he was rather advanced in years and had become clear that his last days were at hand, however, the death of such American icons is always something to reflect on. It seems that there have been many deaths lately, not that I suppose there has been a spike in death, that, at least, seems always a sort of constant. Of course, Walter Cronkite was not of my generation, but I remember hearing of him from my parents and grandmother. "Most trusted man in America..." That is something special, and I wonder if anyone could live up to that sort of praise in today's twisted and shallow new reporting. I stopped watching the news years ago, literally, in a very deliberate way, because it is everything but accurate. I realize any time something is told or reported it can get lost in translation, spun from different view points, and exaggerated/downplayed, however, I find the deliberate dumbing down and obvious buffoonery of the American people to be sickening and more depressing than anything they could ever show in the news cast. Take this recent obsession with Michael Jackson, when the same week something like the number of Swine Flu cases in the UK was doubling each week, with an outlook for almost the entire population being infected by the end of the summer. You know, you expect stupid news sites, like Yahoo, MSN etc... the ones that just have anything and everything, to be obsessed with Jackson -- its all very mainstream, popular, hit generating -- but CNN, the BBC, the Times, even (but not as much) NPR and other more "serious" newsies were exactly the same. Well, it is bound to happen, I suppose. Perhaps it is too much to ask of people to pay attention to whats going on and to want more than networks telling them whatever they wish to spin. Anywho! Back to Cronkite: I like this article that was in the Times, which has quotes from readers concerning the death of Cronkite.

On a happier note, and completely unrelated, except by era, I have been entirely obsessed with Herman's Hermits lately :) So, for your general amusement, here are some Herman's Hermits vids :) Peter Noone makes me smile, but you can call him Herman if you like :)

Silhouettes:

Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter:

Hide-and- Call the Cops?

2009-07-11T10:46:00.001-07:00

There was a funny story on MSN today about a little girl who was playing hide and seek:

"Two-year-old Natalie Jasmer was playing the game with her siblings Tuesday in their Pymatuning Township home. When the family couldn't find her, parents Dennis and Michelle Jasmer called authorities. Emergency crews and friends frantically searched the neighborhood about 70 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for about an hour. The family's dog, Copper, finally sniffed her out. She had fallen asleep in a drawer underneath the family's washing machine. The little girl told her family she was sorry. Hide-and-seek is now banned in the Jasmer household...."

I think banning Hide and Seek was a little over the top! Ha!

We used to play Hide and Seek all the time as kids, but only in the house if my parents were gone. My brother's tutor used to babysit us sometimes and we would turn off all the lights in the house and play hide-and-seek. Grant it, this was an 100 yr old Victorian home, and it was SCARY with the lights out! Especially to a four year old! The scariest part was running away from him up the stairs -- his three steps to our one. Our favorite hiding place was the dryer! -- We definitely weren't allowed in there, but honestly it's the best hiding place ever!
I still like Hide and Seek, dang it, except I can't fit into dryers anymore...

LOL sounds like our plans every weekend

2009-07-07T20:52:00.001-07:00

Click to enlarge....

Public Enemies

2009-07-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

I went to see Public Enemies, a film about J. Dillinger (I keep saying Salinger...) last night, on a whim. I'm a big fan of good gangster movies, and one can generally assume a movie with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale is going to be good. While the film itself was slightly inaccurate, they did a pretty good job, well excellent really, on certain aspects -- the capture and death scene at the Biograph, Dillinger's Robin Hood persona, etc.

The movie was almost entirely filmed with a shaky cam, which I found rather annoying. This is not because I dislike shaky cam (thought it was good in The Bourne Ultimatum and Cloverfield), but I felt in this movie, with all the violence and action already, it took away from the depth of character. Generally, one of the points of covering a famous story in film is really getting to the heart of a character or portraying him in a different light. Lucky then to have Johnny Depp, because I think the shaky cam took away from this. On top of this, where was the script for character development. It seems Bale's character, Pervis, gets more of a chance for development, while Dillinger is almost a flat character through 3/4 of the movie. This is Michael Mann we are talking about here though, even though he as done great biographical movies - The Aviator, Ali, Last of the Mohicans (not a biography, but arguably a set character nonetheless). I go back and forth.

Furthermore, this could have been a really beautiful film, but, again, this is disallowed for the most part by the filming method. There are, however, some great colours and shots near the end, sans shaky cam. I was especially pleased by Depp walking through the Chicago Police Dept. in rose colored glasses, and Bale in the white suit at the Biograph. Irony sells! (or is that sex sells... I can't remember...) If this were filmed in black and white, I'm not sure Mann could have redeemed himself. On a side note, it would have been interesting to see how it was filmed in black and white, light representing good and dark, evil. If I remember correctly, both Dillinger and Pervis are wearing white in the final scene together. I keep thinking about how much better this could have been with someone like Spielberg (think Schindler's List).

Finally, I don't know if I was just more deaf than usual, but I had the hardest time hearing the script? Anyone else? Strange.

On a pleasant note, Johnny Depp is really a phenomenal actor (and much better looking than J. Dillinger, but that is neither here nor there... :P) and they were lucky to have him for this part. I am unsure another actor could have done so much with so little. Speaking about the movie Depp said
"When I was about nine or ten years old, I had a fascination with John Dillinger - probably not a healthy one - but I think it was something about the twinkle in his eye. There was something mischievous about him and it intrigued me...
In terms of taking on the role - the guy was 'Public Enemy Number One' but if you think about it, he was never an enemy of the public, ever, so that intrigued and challenged me..."

Depp also revealed that the character's Indiana roots helped him find a voice for an infamous American of whom no audio recordings exist.

He added: "With a guy like John Dillinger and where we were in 1933 - which is not unlike where we are now - the banks were sort of the enemies and were taking the knees out from everyone, people's lives were being ripped from them.
"And John Dillinger arrives as someone who's spent ten years in prison for some youthful, drunken, ignorant crime and arrives in the ultimate existential arena and says: 'I'm gonna stand up against these people'....I think for me what's fascinating is the guy who says: 'I ain't taking it. I don't care who you are, I ain't gonna take it'."...

Here's a random piece of trivia: I read somewhere that Depp actually got to wear the trousers that Dillinger was wearing the night he was shot... nice.

I will have to see it again of course. Over all, I think it was worth seeing, despite my whining :) And hopefully I will be able to find some more screen shots once more people have seen it :)

Blah.

2009-06-26T14:32:00.001-07:00

Apparently it only takes one man to bring down the internet. Who woulda thunk.
People are idiots. But then, when haven't we been, and I only add fuel to the fire with this post.

Reflection

2009-06-26T01:44:00.001-07:00

I mentioned it earlier, however the link did not work at that time, so I figured I would re-post this. I was lucky enough to have a poem printed in Gonzaga's journal "Reflection". It is Gonzaga's Journal of art and literature, and they are always eager to receive "anything interesting" from students, etc. You can find it here on Gonzaga's website. There is some really great stuff in here and in past issues, so be sure to take a look if you're at all curious (I personally like last semester's issue better) :)
Support student work! :)

Cloudy ~ Paul Simon

2009-06-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

The sky is gray and white and cloudy,
Sometimes I think it's hanging down on me.
And it's a hitchhike a hundred miles.
I'm a rag-a-muffin child.
Pointed finger-painted smile.
I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while.

Cloudy
My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy,
They have no borders, no boundaries.
They echo and they swell
From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell.
Down from Berkeley to Carmel.
Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill.

Hey sunshine
I haven't seen you in a long time.
Why don't you show your face and bend my mind?
These clouds stick to the sky
Like floating questions, why?
And they linger there to die.
They don't know where they are going, and, my friend, neither do I.

Cloudy,
Cloudy.

Car Talk

2009-05-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry, don't now what my obsession is with XKCD lately. They make me laugh, and so does Car Talk, so there you go :) I love NPR, yes that makes me a nerd, or an old person or whatever, but hey, I happen to like to know what's going on in the world at least a little bit... We live in a world and a society, it's not just all about your little individual world. Anyways :)

Here is a random vid for today. A little Flute, a little beatbox... Enjoy :)

Research Yay.

2009-05-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely exhausted, so I thought I'd take a break from this paper to write a bit, randomly of course :) I've been writing a paper since 6:30 this morning, breaking only at 5 to go take a History final. Now I'm back again to try and finish this "loose baggy monster". It's not that long, only ten pages, but the research was kind of intense and all over the place. Basically I'm positing that Melville's Moby Dick can be considered a continuation of the Romantic Movement. That is, the British Romantic Movement, none of this American Romance novel -- although that would have been interesting since I happen to love Hawthorne, but I feel more at ease speaking about the Romantic Poets and quoting them than I do Hawthorne and other Americans. I am including Emerson in the group though, because his "Nature" and "Self Reliance" fit well. Unfortunately I had to exclude Johnny Keats, which is sad because he's my favorite. But really, I can't go writing a book here! It has the works, from commentary on the inefficiency of language to the Byronic hero, so if I can just get it all on paper in some coherent manner, I may just get a respectable paper out of it. Anyhow, it is going rather swimmingly besides me having trouble focussing. Obviously.
My original research project was about how technology drives the American novel/ life/ ideal/ something... not a very well thought out thesis apparently. It makes sense in my head though. I was going to use the daguerrotype in The House of the Seven Gables and fingerprinting in Pudd'n head Wilson and then something in Moby Dick but I couldn't find ANY sources or work on that subject. Seems ridiculous to me! It seems kind of an obvious connection... I did look up some stuff about the automobile and American Literature, but most of the works referenced were post 1940's. So yeah I scratched that yesterday, which left me one day for the new thesis. Yay.
Well, blah blah blah :) Back to tedium :D

And now, for your general amusement :

Halelujah!

2009-05-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

(Just quickly because I have to leave for class)

Today is the last day of classes! I am beyond excited! I still have finals, and a ridiculous amount of papers to finish by Wednesday, but other than that Im good for the summer. Yay! Also I got my job for the summer all set. Things are looking up for now :) Hopefully Ill finally have some time to post, instead of making drafts and then never publishing them.

Also, I read today that Carol Ann Duffy was chosen as Poet Laureate of the UK. 341 years of the Poet Laureate and finally a female poet -- good deal :)

Oh yeah, one more thing :) I had one of my poems published in Gonzaga's Reflection. Print. yay! Finally :)

Well, off to Metaphysics and Central Europe for one last time!

2009-04-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

XKCD :) lol I've honestly wondered about this before...

Ctrl+z for Email. Yay! :)

2009-04-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

I just might have to switch to Gmail solely because of this feature : Undo Send. Honestly, how many times have you sent a message and then wanted to kick yourself -- like forgetting to add an attachment, or hitting the send button on accident, or just having second thoughts. Another big mistake I have made is CCing to someone instead of BCing. Oops. In Gmail with a little feature from Google Labs you have five seconds to undo a sent email. Awesome!

Also this little feature from Google Labs, called Mail Goggles, made me laugh. Jerry Maguire, anyone? I wonder though, what if you're absolutely horrific at math? Could get sketchy! :)

TEDTalks... Yes another one :)

2009-04-14T10:34:00.001-07:00

And, since I've been adding Education blogs to my blog list lately, i thought this was rather timely :) Its a talk give by Sir Ken Robinson about education and about how schools kill creativity. Rather entertaining, and very insightful.

The Chair Made Him Do It!!!!

2009-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rhea for this one :) Rofl.

Sustainability

2009-04-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

Fascinating stuff yet oh so logical.

Apples to Apples

2009-03-31T23:17:00.000-07:00

I thought this was well done, and slightly fascinating. I love simplicity :) Also, having lived on an Apple Orchard, this lil vid holds a special place in my heart. Enjoy :)

The Seed from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

A Type of Fire

2009-03-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

I read today with sadness that Nicholas Hughes, son of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, had committed suicide. What he must have gone through. You can read the story in the NYTimes or on MSN. I like the MSN article better because it speaks about Mr. Hughes, not just his parents. Anyhow, any suicide is a tragedy, no matter who it is. It reminded me of this poem by Taylor Mali :

Edit: Thanks to JH for posting this article My Friend Nick

Google Tools

2009-03-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

Search Google Images by Color

*edit* Google has now added a little box on their Image Search in order to search by color! lol so much for my little hack secret!!! :)

Also:

Search Google Images by Dimension
This is really great when you're looking for wallpaper of high quality images.

Color

2009-03-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here are two videos from Sony Bravia... The first I love the song, and the video had me hunched over like a five year old, smiling ear to ear. Sheer Joy :) The second is great in its own right, I love the inside shots, and always the red :) Color. John Ruskin said "The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most" Sony must have some children working for them :) It reminds me of a few Chesterton excerpts ...

"Rich colours actually look more luminous on a grey day, because they are seen against a dark background, and seem to be burning with a lustre of their own. Against a dim sky all flowers look like fireworks. There is something strange about them at once vivid and secret, like flowers traced in fire in the grim garden of a witch. A bright blue sky is necessarily the high light in the picture, and its brightness kills all the bright blue flowers. But on a grey day the larkspur looks like fallen heaven; the red daisies are really the lost-red eyes of day, and the sun-flower is the vice-regent of the sun. Lastly, there is this value about the colour that men call colourless that it suggests in some way the mixed and troubled average of existence, especially in its quality of strife and expectation and promise. Grey is a colour that always seems on the eve of changing to some other colour; of brightening into blue, or blanching into white or breaking into green or gold. So we may be perpetually reminded of the indefinite hope that is in doubt itself; and when there is grey weather on our hills or grey hair on our heads perhaps they may still remind us of the morning." (From "Daily News")

"I do not know if other people are made like me in this matter; but to me it is always dreary weather, what may be called useless weather, that slings into life a sense of action and romance. On bright blue days I do not want anything to happen; the world is complete and beautiful, a thing for contemplation. I no more ask for adventures under that turquoise dome than I ask for
adventures in church. But when the background of man's life is a grey background, then, in the name of man's sacred supremacy,I desire to paint on it in fire and gore." (From "Tremendous Trifles")

On a side note, you can watch the Making Of in this video, which leads me to say how much I love advertising -- you know, its about the product, a very practical matter, and its also about humanity. The really good advertising is the one that can connect on a human level. I suppose if I had gone into Graphic Design like I originally intended, I might have ended up in advertising -- technical and creative, good stuff :)

Impossible Dream

2009-03-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

Brought to you courtesy of XKCD: A Webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language. Perfect :)

Baaaaa-studs

2009-03-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

Baaahahahhaaa!!!!!! Awesome on so many levels lol.

The Life and Opinions of Moby Dick, Whale, Mon.

2009-03-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

The strangest thing happened today. Well, ok, so it wasn't that strange, but I just love when this happens, and it fascinates me every time. Maybe I can turn it into a research paper... Anyhow, so there I was checking Recently Banned Literature for anything new, and generally if I have a bit of time Ill pick a blog link at random and check it out. Tristram Shandy caught my eye, and I moseyed on over there to check it out. (Btw, did you know that "mosey" either means to stray leisurely or to leave quickly... love words like that, especially since in this case, being the internet and all, it works perfectly both ways! Anyway, back to the happening...) So, I read a bit, skip around, not really familiar with this work, but I know Defoe so I have a general idea of time frame and all that, checked out William's poem, dusted off a place for it in my mental library-- trying to pseudo familiarize myself with the work. After all if it's "most hated", I'm bound to run across it at some point. So you're probably wondering what is so awesome about this -- well, nothing yet because I realized mid-mosey that I have a paper on Melville due soon and I should probably be thinking about it. So off I go (no wonder I never get anything done...) So off I go to Melville's Marginalia, which my prof. told us about the other day in class. I'm thinking about doing my Moby Dick paper on Moby Dick and Pop Culture (don't ask, I really have no idea yet, except the little nugget of knowledge that Starbucks company name comes from Moby Dick...I'm nervous about that getting me ten or so pages though). Anyway, this Marginalia is awesome! Basically it's a catalogue of books borrowed and owned by Melville, and his inscriptions/marginalia. So obviously I can't search current pop culture for marginalia within Moby Dick as that would be backwards and wouldn't garner any results. So randomly I just type in "music" into the keyword search. Wouldn't hurt to see what Melville knows about music, plus it could always make a nice paper topic if I happened to find any music connections in Moby Dick. (Don't worry, I'm almost to the awesome part...) So I'm reading through the works that Melville owned or borrowed with music in the title or something like that. Most of them are books his father-in-law borrowed while Melville was visiting --hmmm, I wonder what Melville's father-in-law was so interested in music for. So I quickly scroll to the bottom, because by this time I'm remembering that I have a midterm History exam this afternoon, and I should probably go study. There at the bottom of the page what do you think I find?! Sterne, Laurence, 1713-1768 "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent."

The very last entry. Weird! I mean of course it makes perfect sense that Melville would have read/owned this book since it was pretty popular. But really, how random that I run across it today and while searching a keyword like music. Now how cool (and anticlimactic) is that!!!! :)

craigslist and a random find

2009-02-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, now how cool is this? Craigslist is great when you need to find things -- whether you need them cheap, or fast, or like the keep money in the area, or like to barter, or are looking for something unusual, or free ...you name it :) I really like Craigslist, but I'm not gonna lie, I find their search tools inadequate at best, annoying to say the least and really, just not aestetically pleasing. Well today I ran across the CraigsList Reader over at Lifehacker.
Simple program, with a pretty nice interface that makes Craigslist more efficient and better looking. And of course, its free! I love it :D Of course, I havent tried it out yet, so we'll see :)

Also this has nothing to do with the above, but i ran across this weird yet strangely intriguing website today : ManBabies... That is weird.

And finally, I love Passive-Agressive Notes and this one on the Vending Machine made me kill myself laughing today:

Venting Machine :

Also, this one is genius: Broken Glass

Rives on TED

2009-02-16T13:49:00.000-08:00

TED.. Watch it. Learn it. Live it.

V for villian

2009-02-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

Dr. Faustus - Chistopher Marlowe...
So I'm reading this play for Renaissance Lit. I studied it already in tenth grade, and its funny to use my old book because I have comments in the margin such as one in a passage about waxen wings that very eruditely states "like the greek guy, Icarius [sic]", which I don't even know why I wrote that, because there is a note explaining that it is in fact referring to Icarus... maybe those were the days when I was resistant to foot notes. Who knows! Anyhow, my professor is driving me crazy because she is trying to force me to find some kind of subversive meaning to the play. Now, don't get me wrong, I love subversiveness and will be the first one to jump on it, and perhaps there is an element of it to be found in Christopher Marlowe. However, I think there is something more important going on here. This is a renaissance text, and supposedly a commentary on humanist thinking. R.M. Dawkins is famously quoted as saying that Dr.F is the story of a Renaissance man who payed the medieval price for being one. Sure this is a completely orthodox reading, but I think one cannot throw it out completely, even if you think there is some kind of subversiveness going on here.
So Faustus is basically after knowledge, and sells his soul to get it. Fast forward 24 yrs and Dr. F gets dragged off to hell. Poor S.O.B. that he is. But what if Faustus' downfall is not so much his yearning for knowledge as it is his intellectual dishonesty? What if Marlowe's play is not making a hero out of Faustus as the quintessential Renaissance man, but rather condemning him for not being a good enough Renaissance man? Herein lies the subversiveness as far as I can tell. I don't think that Marlowe is reduced to either writing an medieval end for Faust in order to hide his subversive ideas regarding knowledge and heroism, nor do I think that Marlowe's purpose is to merely tell the story of the Renaissance man who pays the medieval price. I like to give Marlowe more credit than that. I mean come on, the man is rumored to have been a spy among other things and the English father of blank verse; gotta give him extra credit, right? Well, I do anyhow.
So you might ask what else is there then for Marlowe to be doing here. Well, let me compare it to Utopia, by St. Thomas More, another Renaissance man. Now Utopia is one of those books that people read and think its some kind of early socialist manifesto or something. There are some, however, myself included, who believe it to be rather a picture of a dystopia. A place where humanist and renaissance thinking, taken to its logical and full extent can only end in an idealized place that discounts human frailty, human individuality and essentially human nature. It is the ideal of Aristotle -- if a man but know the good then he will choose the good. Herein lies the Humanist downfall -- intellectual dishonesty. If More's contemporaries take their theories to their inevitable end, they cannot help but fall into the pitfalls of Utopia, no matter how good it sounds on paper. I think the same thing is going on in Marlowe's Dr. Faustus.
Here we have Faustus, a learned man, and more, the most learned, and yet he lies to himself. He possesses all the knowledge worth possessing (the bounded knowledge of the classical texts was to the Renaissance man, the foundation for all other knowledge, scientific or otherwise), and yet he convinces himself that its not enough and that there is more... So again we have a renaissance man who is being intellectually dishonest. By placing knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge above wisdom, the renaissance man lies to himself. If Faust truly knows all there is to know, and thus, the good, should he not then be able to choose the good and to know that he possesses all the knowledge worth knowing, the foundation of all other knowledge?
Truth be told, I'm supposed to be writing a paper about this at the moment. So I suppose I ought to go do that. Boo.

Keyboard Education

2009-02-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Ok so this probably marks me for life as a nerd, but I actually got excited reading this post over at LifeHacker. It's mainly about keyboard shortcuts in Firefox (which if you're not using, you should be :)), which is awesome because I'm one of those people who would rather not use the mouse if I didn't have to. Also, using the touch pad on a laptop is rather annoying, and every time I reach, claw-like, for my cellphone, I really think its time to stop using a mouse :P. So, Keyboard shortcuts become intriguing and useful :). On top of it, I have a theory: Keyboard shortcuts improve memory in an era of technology that allows you to let memory shrink into oblivion. Furthermore, I think using keyboard shortcuts foster creativity and logical processes. Now, I know that seems a bit at odds, but I assure you its not :) Just try using them, you'll see. I know its difficult at first, but after a while it gets faster and makes perfect sense. Sort of like learning to type; you think you do just fine, and even well, and learning to type seems tedious and in fact pointless, but eventually, with some persistence and practice you have the epiphany. Start with the easy ones:
New Tab: Ctrl+t
Switch Tabs (1-9): Ctrl+(1-9)
Search Bar: Ctrl+K
You'll find them making your time on a browser just a wee bit more productive :) And if you're anything like me, someone who multi-tasks like the devil, this will be a wonderful thing.
Alright, alright, I'm finished :) But really check it out :) Even you Katie!!!!! :P

"Death will dance for him, they say..."

2009-01-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

I'm wading my way through this piece of work: Henry James' Midnight Song by Carol de Chellis Hill, and what a piece of work it is. It's not really a difficult read, but its fragmented style doesn't exactly make for quick reading. Anyhow, I am, inevitably, behind, and trying desperately to catch up (thus the logic of blogging instead of reading...well the book is open next to me and I'm in the library -- it's a start...). The number of main characters in this book is a bit head swirling, but the historical aspect helps a bit as far as keeping them straight. (Freud and co., James, Wharton, Klimt, Fleiss, Jung, Dreyfus... just to name a few) On the other hand the historical aspect confuses things because I'm never sure how much I can rely on my historical knowledge to really link things together and explain motivations for characters, spacial ambiguities, and general thematic situation. I know, big words that have little meaning. But sometimes that's how this book makes me feel! Furthermore, thats just counterintuitive to me, history being a rather important part of my schema.
Also, this book relies heavily on Freudian theory. Now, we all know at least some Freudian theory, since, after all, our society and American thought has been inundated with Freud for the last century or so without much of a check. I find that slightly handicapping because familiarity without authority often leads to false conceptions. So here I am reading along, and the very thought of Freud being a main character leads me to basically psychoanalyze everything! Again, this does not lend itself to quick reading, nor to very brilliant side notes... Now I just know when I get to the end it will all make sense, but in the mean time, I'm busy reading into things that may or may not be pivotal, writing things in the margin like "it was sheer coincidence... or was it...???", and blogging about nothing in particular except that I should be reading and not writing.
Bravo, Carol de Chellis Hill, I have now been drawn in... after all this is a song, and midnight, and Henry bloody James, for god's sake.

2009-01-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

Excommunications to be lifted tomorrow!

Deo Gratias! I haven't time to post, so Ill just put up the link

Gifties

2008-12-27T04:00:00.001-08:00

Ok :) It's past Christmas (day) so I will begin to post again and you shall no longer be accosted with my Xmas list :) So, in the spirit of Christmas, however, what did everyone receive? I love hearing what people get for Christmas, don't you? It gives me hope in the world and belief in the good. Unlike teachers who don't really give a damn, even though they pretend to. Well perhaps teachers do give a damn. I don't know. But that's another story :P Well? (you may wait until Epiphany if you are expecting more :P)

Xmas List

2008-11-17T15:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right I said "x"-mas. X, which stands for CHRIST so there all you haters. So Ive decided to make a Christmas list, because well, I want to :D Ill add things as I go along and as I think of them. When I was a kid (ok fine I admit it, I still do it) I would tell my mom alllll year what I wanted for Christmas. It was never the same thing (except socks, I always want socks), and was usually pretty random. I never expected to get any of it, but hey, in those days I had hope, and I figured it couldn't help trying :) I don't know if my mom ever listened to me. I don't ever remember getting something that I had asked for but I never cared :) How does that happen? Shouldn't I have been sad and weepy :D lol. I liked what I got because at least it was something :) And that other stuff, meh, I ended up getting it for myself :D So either way, I win :D So I decided to keep up the tradition
Ehem.

Socks
Computer Case
Mp3 player
A partridge in a Pear Tree
A tattoo
Socks
A new car
A coat
A sweater
Notebook Paper
Books
A Fountain Pen
Snowboard Socks (different from socks mind you)
Decals
~~A Room of my Own~~
A scooter
A Hockey Stick
Books
A Life *please include a gift receipt*
A 4.0
A chain saw
A white Subaru
A hug
~~A sweatshirt~~ A Gonzaga Sweatshirt
A Beanie
A teddy Bear
A Blanket
Bernini.
A cord of wood (ill chop it)
A Baseball Mitt
Socks
Henrietta Hen
Publication
Absolution
A tree
A fly swatter
A wooden Rosary
~~A quilt (home made)~~
~~Captain Morgan~~ Sailor Jerry *check*
Canned Peaches
Confidence
An Aloe Vera plant
A gym partner
A boat
A spork
A Red Blackhawks sweatshirt
Cd's
A Candle
Socks
Divinum Officium
A cooling thingy for Laptops
Remittance of debt
Binding for my Liber
Silver Bells
Cockel Shells
~~Eye of Newt~~ Toe of Frog
Help with Tuition
Bedspread and sheets
A frame for my Windmill
Gift Cards for Food and Books
Eduardo Verástegui
A Guitar
A Bulletproof vest
A Scarf! how could i forget a scarf!

Richard Nixon Killed Kennedy!

2008-11-16T01:39:00.000-08:00

I have already mentioned, oh once or twice, how Stephen Colbert makes me laugh. And I love to laugh :) Here's a bit from his Oct.30th Episode. Flawless logic according to the "DaColbert Code":

"I don’t believe in polls, and 62% of Americans agree with me. No, I make my predictions by looking for superficial connections in seemingly random information. Its a power I call the "DaColbert Code.
Let me remind you how it works. Say I wanted to know who killed president Kennedy. Ok, let’s see. The movie “JFK” was directed by Oliver Stone, which leads us to the Rolling Stones, Rolling Rock, lobster boat, man overboard, waterboard, watergate, Oh my God, Richard Nixon killed Kennedy! My apologies to Fidel Castro, the Dallas Police, the Mafia, the FBI, the Masons, LBJ, Ike Turner and the Hamburgler. I never should have subpoenaed any of you.
Now let’s use the code to answer the question on everyone’s mind. Who will be our next president? The race is clearly going to be won by the biggest patriot. So let’s start with the New England Patriots, whose quarterback is Tom Brady, Greg Brady, Greg Allman, Almond Joy, Lemon Fresh Joy, Farm fresh eggs, farmer in the dell, There was a farmer had a dog and bingo was his name O-bama! No! Nonono! That can’t be right.
I just started it off wrong. Let me start again. Ok, there’s a race for the white house, so white house, white guy, Guy Smiley, smiley face,horse face, horseshoe, shoe shine, shoe box, Johann Sebastian Bach, baroque music, Baroque Obama - NO! Stupid code.
Ok, I got it. The next president is going to be a maverick, and the character Brett Maverick was played by James Garner, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Lopez, George Lopez, George of the Jungle, In the jungle the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight, Bobby Knight, Bob Hope, Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama - SHOOT!"

Well he goes on of course... you get the idea. Funny stuff :)

Shipping Containers... Home Sweet Home?

2008-11-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

Innovators:

Radical architect Adam Kalkin '84 designed something called Quik House, a kit home built around five recycled shipping containers—"the chicest weekend retreat one can buy for $99,000," according to Vogue magazine. Winner of the P/A Young Architects Award in 1990, Kalkin created a customized version of the Quik House for an exhibition at Deitch Projects' Wooster Street gallery in SoHo last year. "Suburban House Kit" featured skylights, mahogany sliding doors, a stainless-steel kitchen, custom-designed carpeting, and a stainless-steel hearth.
Quik House is all the rage among the design elite (fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and interior designer Albert Hadley are among his clients). But Kalkin envisions another use for his Quik House, as well. He is currently collaborating with the Pingry School (Kalkin is an alum) on a year-long project to build a disaster relief housing prototype on the school's Martinville, New Jersey, campus. "Our objective is to create an inexpensive, quick, and environmentally sustainable architectural system that could be used by millions of inadequately housed people around the world," says Kalkin. Students will work with Kalkin and faculty in the fine arts, computer science, and biology to address economic, agricultural, energy, health, and social issues relevant to disaster relief in addition to participating in the construction of the prototype. 'This project will benefit the student community at Pingry," Kalkin says, "but more importantly it will contribute to the discourse surrounding the issue of adequate housing throughout the world.' "

What do you think?

More: http://www.aavc.vassar.edu/vq/articles/Containing-a-Home

Random tribute

2008-11-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

My sister and brother: I love them, I'm proud of them and I miss them something fierce.

Guy Fawkes

2008-11-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

Remember, remember the fifth of November...

2008-10-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is a really powerful video shot with just a cell phone in two cities, NY and Sydney. I think this issue is really rather complicated, nevertheless this video does a good job of removing it (a bit) from the political sphere etc...

linked from Mark Kaske

2008-10-04T02:40:00.001-07:00

Ok so wow, I'm really sorry about all these videos! I swear, I have constructive moments! Anyway, speaking of Colbert... did anyone watch Thursday's show? It is hilarious as usual, however it hits a soft spot in my heart because of the Shakespeare references (yes I know lately I've been hating old Will, but its all in good conscience...or something like that) You can watch the whole episode or just the Shakespeare half... either way its hilarious....watch the whole episode on Colbert Nation

Stephen Colbert

2008-10-04T00:55:00.000-07:00

So I happen to love Stephen Colbert, even though I don't get to see his show as much as Id like (or at all, as it generally seems to go). I ran across this old video on Colbert on the Late Show, and i just love how they talk about his "new show" and he says he is going to "change the world". You know what, he did. :) And that is some real truthiness.

p.s. I particularly like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert @ the Emmys. It is ridiculously funny, and always makes my bad days better. Plus Stephen Colbert uses the word "pablum"... it has to be good ! :D

2008-10-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Ok so maybe Im sheltered, because I get the feeling that I missed the boat on this one lol. Anyway! I found this while I was supposed to be writing a commentary on Will's Sonnet 79, so it has to be worth some sort of interest :P

Ok ...well here is the video I wanted to post Conan and Pilobolus but it wont let me embed it, and I assume NBC is going to make them take it down soon... so heres another:

2008-09-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Death of a Giant

"...If Marlon Brando and James Dean defined the defiant American male as a sullen rebel, Paul Newman recreated him as a likable renegade, a strikingly handsome figure of animal high spirits and blue-eyed candor whose magnetism was almost impossible to resist, whether the character was Hud, Cool Hand Luke or Butch Cassidy.

He acted in more than 65 movies over more than 50 years, drawing on a physical grace, unassuming intelligence and good humor that made it all seem effortless.

Yet he was also an ambitious, intellectual actor and a passionate student of his craft, and he achieved what most of his peers find impossible: remaining a major star into a craggy, charismatic old age even as he redefined himself as more than Hollywood star. He raced cars, opened summer camps for ailing children and became a nonprofit entrepreneur with a line of foods that put his picture on supermarket shelves around the world.

Mr. Newman made his Hollywood debut in the 1954 costume film “The Silver Chalice.” but Stardom arrived a year and a half later, when he inherited from James Dean the role of the boxer Rocky Graziano in “Somebody Up There Likes Me.” Mr. Dean had been killed in car crash before the screenplay was finished.

It was a rapid rise for Mr. Newman, but being taken seriously as an actor took longer. He was almost undone by his star power, his classic good looks and, most of all, his brilliant blue eyes. “I picture my epitaph,” he once said. “Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown.”

Mr. Newman’s filmography was a cavalcade of flawed heroes and winning antiheroes stretching over decades. In 1958 he was a drifting confidence man determined to marry a Southern belle in an adaptation of “The Long, Hot Summer.” In 1982, in “The Verdict,” he was a washed-up alcoholic lawyer who finds a chance to redeem himself in a medical malpractice case.

And in 2002, at 77, having lost none of his charm, he was affably deadly as Tom Hanks’s gangster boss in “Road to Perdition.” It was his last onscreen role in a major theatrical release. (He supplied the voice of the veteran race car Doc in the Pixar animated film “Cars” in 2006.)

Few major American stars have chosen to play so many imperfect men.

As Hud Bannon in “Hud” (1963) Mr. Newman was a heel on the Texas range who wanted the good life and was willing to sell diseased cattle to get it. The character was intended to make the audience feel “loathing and disgust,” Mr. Newman told a reporter. Instead, he said, “we created a folk hero.”

As the self-destructive convict in “Cool Hand Luke” (1967) Mr. Newman was too rebellious to be broken by a brutal prison system. As Butch Cassidy in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969) he was the most amiable and antic of bank robbers, memorably paired with Robert Redford. And in “The Hustler” (1961) he was the small-time pool shark Fast Eddie, a role he recreated 25 years later, now as a well-heeled middle-aged liquor salesman, in “The Color of Money” (1986).

That performance, alongside Tom Cruise, brought Mr. Newman his sole Academy Award, for best actor, after he had been nominated for that prize six times. In all he received eight Oscar nominations for best actor and one for best supporting actor, in “Road to Perdition.” “Rachel, Rachel,” which he directed, was nominated for best picture.

“When a role is right for him, he’s peerless,” the film critic Pauline Kael wrote in 1977. “Newman is most comfortable in a role when it isn’t scaled heroically; even when he plays a bastard, he’s not a big bastard — only a callow, selfish one, like Hud. He can play what he’s not — a dumb lout. But you don’t believe it when he plays someone perverse or vicious, and the older he gets and the better you know him, the less you believe it. His likableness is infectious; nobody should ever be asked not to like Paul Newman.”

But the movies and the occasional stage role were never enough for him. He became a successful racecar driver, winning several Sports Car Club of America national driving titles. He even competed at Daytona in 1995 as a 70th birthday present to himself. In 1982, as a lark, he decided to sell a salad dressing he had created and bottled for friends at Christmas. Thus was born the Newman’s Own brand, an enterprise he started with his friend A. E. Hotchner, the writer. More than 25 years later the brand has expanded to include, among other foods, lemonade, popcorn, spaghetti sauce, pretzels, organic Fig Newmans and wine. (His daughter Nell Newman runs the company’s organic arm.) All its profits, of more than $200 million, have been donated to charity, the company says.

Much of the money was used to create a string of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, named for the outlaw gang in “Butch Cassidy.” The camps provide free summer recreation for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. Mr. Newman was actively involved in the project, even choosing cowboy hats as gear so that children who had lost their hair because of chemotherapy could disguise their baldness......

In an industry in which long marriages might be defined as those that last beyond the first year and the first infidelity, Mr. Newman and Ms. Woodward’s was striking for its endurance. But they admitted that it was often turbulent. She loved opera and ballet. He liked playing practical jokes and racing cars. But as Mr. Newman told Playboy magazine, in an often-repeated quotation about marital fidelity, 'I have steak at home; why go out for hamburger?'....."

~By ALJEAN HARMETZ

A Few Quotes:

“We are such spendthrifts with our lives,” Mr. Newman once told a reporter. “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”

"If I ever feel like I'm doing something I've done before, I scrap it and start over again..."

"When I realized I was going to have to be a whore, to put my face on the label, I decided that the only way I could do it was to give away all the money we make. Over the years, that ethical stance has given us a 30 per cent boost. One in three customers buys my products because all the profits go to good causes and the rest buy the stuff because it is good."

"Every time I get a script it's a matter of trying to know what I could do with it. I see colors, imagery. It has to have a smell. It's like falling in love. You can't give a reason why." Reminds me of when open a new book for the first time (or an old one... lol)

"I never ask my wife about my flaws. Instead I try to get her to ignore them and concentrate on my sense of humor. You don't want any woman to look under the carpet, guys, because there's lots of flaws underneath. Joanne believes my character in a film we did together, 'Mr. and Mrs. Bridge' comes closest to who I really am. I personally don't think there's one character who comes close . . . but I learned a long time ago not to disagree on things that I don't have a solid opinion about."

"I've repeatedly said that for people as little in common as Joanne and myself, we have an uncommonly good marriage. We are actors. We make pictures and that's about all we have in common. Maybe that's enough. Wives shouldn't feel obligated to accompany their husbands to a ball game, husbands do look a bit silly attending morning coffee breaks with the neighborhood wives when most men are out at work. Husbands and wives should have separate interests, cultivate different sets of friends and not impose on the other...You can't spend a lifetime breathing down each other's necks." Thanks Paul! At least someone shares my opinion! Here I thought I was being a feminazi ...

"I've been accused of being aloof. I'm not. I'm just wary..." Bingo, more people should be like this...

"I picture my epitaph: 'Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown.'"

"Once you've seen your face on a bottle of salad dressing. it's hard to take yourself seriously."

The Fourth Screen

2008-09-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

Nokia Nseries Commercial... creatively good idea, yet simple:

P.S. If you liked this, youtube some more of the Nseries commercials. Theyre quite good. I am Nokia, Listen ... also if you like the song, its In My Heart by Moby (for whome I have a soft spot in my heart on account of his ancestry :) )

2008-09-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

Out of the thousands of hilarious things i come across over at List of the Day .... here's one from the archives that really made me laugh...

Obituarys CNN has already written:

Roy Horn
When a tiger tries to rip your head off, it generally succeeds ...unless you're able to withstand its attack through the powers of magic, like Roy, one-half of that Ambiguously Gay, German Duo, Siegfried and Roy. Whether Montecore, the tiger, was truly trying to attack Roy or merely use him as a Pez dispenser remains a matter of some dispute. What can't be disputed, however, is that CNN is still ready to publish their Roy obituary the second he finally takes a Lufthansa flight to the Great Wienerschnitzel in the Sky....

For the Rainy Days...

2008-09-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

Because sometimes you just need a little Miles and Coltrane....

2008-09-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

Now would be the time I would like to write -- when I need to write, to get all these things out of my head and onto paper in some sort of a cohesive fashion. Get something flowing; anything, whatever it is. A poem, hiding in those deep recesses, waiting to be treated properly, brought out in the light where it belongs. A thought that has been hibernating, but never has the chance to see the spring or summer. But now is also the time when I can't write, because I haven't the time. I haven't the clarity. There is always that paper, those papers, in the back of my mind, due tomorrow, but against which my very being rebels. I don't really have the time to write it, because I'm tired and it's been a long day, but if I did have the time, would I write it? I don't even have the will. What happened to me? When did I stop loving this? It was all I had left... and now? That idealism that used to be my fuel is all but turned to cynicism... I don't know. And winter is come again...

More Firefox stuff

2008-09-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

I love when people figure things out....

Block Facebook Adds

...more to follow on this subject when I get a minute to think...

2008-09-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

The Onion is great :D

Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jacksonville Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life

Totally reminiscent of one of my favorite Monty Python Skits:

2008-09-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

WoRdLe!!! lol ok, this is just some silliness, but kind of fun. Ive always been a calligraphy fan, so this kind of caters to that hankering for word art :) This is a wordle from CaughtintheDawning

Image created by: http://wordle.net/

I Met the Walrus

2008-09-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Beautifully done and thought provoking... besides the fact that I love the Beatles :)
In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace :

Also, here is an interview with the Josh Raskin, I couldn't find it the other day, but i ran across it accidentally again. Yay!

Editing John Lennon: Josh Raskin on Making I Met the Walrus

You're Insane! No one uses Microsoft Works!!!

2008-09-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry this gets cut off GRRRRR... go watch it here: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1823766

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Periodic Table

2008-08-21T22:48:00.001-07:00

Hahaha YES!!!! Why didn't we have chem teachers like this? So these guys have a video for every element on the periodic table and then some :). Bloody brilliant if I dont say so myself :D

www.periodicvideos.com or their Youtube channel http://uk.youtube.com/user/periodicvideos

MLK

2008-01-21T14:59:00.000-08:00

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Martin Luther King Jr.

a thought about summer...

2007-11-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

So, have you ever been in one of those places where you feel like you belong. Like you've grown up there. Where you've spent countless hours running through the woods and walking down the lanes. Where the sun shines a bit brighter and the rain falls a bit softer? "Perhaps," you think, "I might stay forever here and be happy always?" There's something bewitching about the way the shadows fall across the tire worn path out to the back field, the way the crooked fence stretches down beside it, holding back the pasture on its side, the way the leaves rustle in the still breeze. Something bewitching, and yet so real. My life away from here seems like the dream. The busy life in which we do so much, seems like it means nothing. Rather these lazy summer days seem so much more full. I long to photograph every shadow, every rock, every blade of grass, the field, the tree, the bird, the wind...but they are nothing in these pictures. I know this. I know that we can but live beauty like this; we can but let it raise us to higher things. We cannot keep it for ourselves, can we? Can we become part of it without making a god of it? In it is the glory of God, but it is not the glory of God. I lose sight of this. I would lie down in these green pastures never to rise again if i could. If only i could grasp even the tiniest bit of existence with which they overflow. Man is so much more alive, and yet i feel that we do not know it. We do not grow tall and grand like the maple, nor do we bow gently and beautifully like the hay; we dont even know the length to which a man can grow. There are so many possibilities, and yet, we can't even see one of those possibilities. These things are in possession of the fullness of their nature and yet they know nothing. We, we clever men, do not, at times, even know our own nature. How very ridiculous it is. How we fail to live up to the natural dignity of mankind, let alone to that dignity to which Christ raised us when he assumed our nature. I would stay here forever if it were only to remember this always. But I know man's place is not alone. Why do we like a tree better when it has a swing, a river better when it has a boat, a garden better when it has a bench? The very fact that a worn path and a fence can be poetry to me, speaks admittedly of our social nature. We must go back, if only to keep these things sacred. ...."I go to the hills, when my heart is lonely..." but it is not the staying in the hills that heals one. It is the coming back down that finally mends the heart. It is not the sleep before the big game that gives us glory and worth, even though it is essential. Likewise, it must be the work that we do when we come down from our 'real' world that purifies us, and the time spent among the beauties of the world, is that which refreshes us. I would stay here forever... but then I would long for my mountains and pines. And this place would become my world from which I would want to escape... The shadows would grow oppressive because of the sun that made them, the lanes would become confining because they lead always to the same places, the fence would turn bothersome because it needs attention. No, i will not stay here. But I will return so that I can remember. "My heart is restless..."

07-30-07

How can i keep from singing?

2007-11-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

" My life goes on, in endless song, above earths lamentations, I hear the real, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife I hear its music ringing. It sounds an echo in my soul; how can I keep from singing?" Some people inspire us through action, some through words and thought, others through music, and still others through art; each of these are noble in themselves, but the person to whom I would like to pay tribute has influenced me through all these mediums. Daily through her actions, her encouragement, her perseverance and her constant cheerfulness she taught me and other students what it means to live a life worth living. She showed us what it really means to live our Faith and to live it well.
In the boarding school to which I went we called the nuns mother. Seems a bit weird at first, but truly you realize that really they are your mothers, for they give to us the life of the intellect just as our biological mothers give to us the life of the body, and a boarding school is just like a family. Mother Gabriel of the Sacred Heart was the Prioress of our school for nine years, as well as its founder. Out of the depths of the Idaho forests she made it possible for a magnificent school and chapel to be raised from the granite mountainside. In 1990 she came to this country with six other nuns and started our school in a small green house with just five boarding students and a few day students. Now, some fifteen years later there are five buildings with row upon row of desks in beautiful classrooms and bedrooms aplenty. They are now bursting at the seams with over 30 boarding students and 200 day students. And what else has she to her name? A girls choir, which has produced two CDs of polyphony, one sacred the other Christmas, and which some say is the most beautiful they have ever heard. But besides this choir being so beautiful, she really gave us something by teaching us music. She gave us love, and desire, she gave us the will to give ourselves completely to something. She taught us unity and discipline, and helped us to understand that " Sacred music is a double prayer," and that " Next to silence, music comes closest to expressing the inexpressible."
All this and more she has given us, and all the while very sick with a heart condition, yet never did I see her complain or be unjustly angry, or just plain grumpy. Always a smile, always a twinkle in her eyes. How, then, can I keep from singing, when, like a mother, through song and her example she has given me the wings to rise above the lamentations of this world?

12-06-06

hanging by a thread

2007-11-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

Pain is an interesting thing. A strange thing. It seems so ruthless and raging when you are consumed by it, yet, it's so hard to remember. Of course there's always a little red sign in your head to remind you of the time, but if you really try and think about it, think about how bad it really hurt, it's almost impossible to remember. For me anyhow. I guess that's the genius of our creator? Our mind can do so much more than we know, especially with pain. If we don't realize that it's painful, we tend to shirk it off, say it's not so bad. If the worst physical pain you've ever felt was a broken arm or something, then who are you to say it's the greatest pain one could have? I think sometimes you can measure it by how much it takes your breath away? I dont know. It is so hard to concentrate though, when you're in pain...i'ts like there's a sick feeling in your gut besides the actually hurt; your throat sticks, and your tongue cleaves to your jaw. You realize after awhile that your shoulders hurt too because your body is trying too hard to deal with the pain that everything else tenses up to try and support the part that's not doing its part. Your teeth are clenched, and finally you end up with a headache too because of it. Pain.... it's so real when it's there...but when it's gone, it's so easy to forget. I can remember all these things, but the pain itself, my mind trys to forget. And when it comes raging back...it's a nightmare all over again -- if only I'd remembered....
But this isn't for the body only...pain in body, soul, mind, heart...it's all the same...if only we could truly remember....but then maybe we'd all feel this way...maybe forgetting is a mercy given to us....

01-15-06

Perhaps...

2007-11-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

Define: Worthless
Its a funny life we live. Would you agree? At times we feel compelled to do one thing, while at other times it seems so completely futile to pursue it. I try at times to convince myself that the good far out weighs the bad, but does it really? I understand that it does because it is so much more valuable... "one ounce of virtue practiced in tribulation is worth more than a thousand in times of peace and joy...", but its so hard to believe. Knowing is not believing, unfortunately. And yet in between the fire of good and the bad, the joyful and the sorrowful, the hopeful and despairing, there is a no man's land, a land of ice, and fog, and emptiness. Have you ever been on the prairie in the middle of winter? The fog is all around you, your voice sticks in your throat and as it closes in, it's swirling thickness seems to hand you over to the calls of the coyotes? It's like that in that no man's land. No fire to light you in love or hatred... and yet you continue, because you seem to have a vague recollection of a warmth once felt, a fight once fought, a faith once real.
There is something more, you remind yourself. And yet, so often that hope is flung away and shattered like an icicle upon the frozen ground. You rely on one person to show you the way, you see in another the strength to continue, you find inspiration in another, but you are all too often reminded that they too are human. When one stronger than yourself fails, what then are you to think? Perhaps it is not a failure for them, but in your eyes... and suddenly, without any particular reason, you do feel worthless, you do feel good for nothing.
Who has not felt this way? And sometimes I wonder if that is the lot of man, to feel worthless, to realize he is nothing and in perspective that he does nothing? "Comrades, I call upon you now to bear me witness, when have we felt ourselves happy men?" Of course there is some happiness and joy, but it doesn't last... but the sorrow, that seems to last... but i wonder... perhaps it's ok to be sad? To feel empty deep down inside. If we are not bitter, then perhaps sorrow is only natural to man. An indefatiguable smile on your lips, yet sorrow in your heart... perhaps this is the true meaning of man. What is it Tennyson wrote of Ulysses...:

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Perhaps that is what makes him a man..."He is the sane man," says Chesterton, " who can have tragedy in his heart, and comedy in his head..." A friend once said "for those who can hold the memory of the past in an insane world, that heart stands fast." Must we hold then, the memory of the past in our hearts... for it is a sad memory -- an irish story of sorts --, a memory of what we could have been, what we should have been, and realize, there is only one mistake in life...?

01-20-06

falling down, double meanings...

2007-11-21T18:39:00.000-08:00

He is in my every thought. When I wake in the morning and before I fall asleep at night there he is. He is in my every smile and my laugh, and when I'm sad it's because I have forgotten about him. It is for him I do those little things which perhaps normally I would be loathe to do. He is there when I feel alone, and he takes my hand to show me the way. It's for him that I work when I feel like doing anything but work. When I feel like walking, He pulls me into running with him. He bids me catch up with him when I lag behind. For him I smile when I feel like sighing. He is the reason I come home late when I'm tired. He makes me laugh when all I want to do is cry. He is the reason I keep breathing when I no longer want to. He is my reason. He is my everything. I would give of myself completely for him, if only he asks it of me.... Will he ask it of me?...and... does he even exist?

10-07-05

green sweater days...

2007-11-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Hmmm sooo what to write..... But lets see. Sometimes, dont you just feel like swearing? Yeah it's been one of those days. And not just regular swearing, you know here and there when you're mad, but one of those days you just feel like every word deserves an expletive. It's as if it just started out wrong the night before. When you're tired but can't sleep because your bed is uncomfortable, and you're freezin your ever lovin feet off....how ones feet are everlovin, I'm not quite sure..but anyhow...yeah and when you get up you can see your breath...well I mean that's not really a horrible thing, but I dunno it seems to allll come together at some point. You're kind of mad for no reason, the day is cold and grey, here comes the rain to top it all off. It's your day off, but there's a lot to do, and out in the cold, with no one to help. Fences to build and fix, leaves to be picked up, apples to be dealt with, and all the while when you're making this mental list, you look up into the disheartening sky and remember that it's supposed to snow that day, and nothing is done. One consolation is that with the coming of snow comes a beautiful thing called snowboarding. However, as this thought is slowly warming you up you find out someone is not doing what they are supposed to be doing, what they should have had done weeks ago, and they whine at you about how cold it is. At that point, it's all over, and suddenly every noun must, by all means, be accompanied by an utterance of seemingly monumental sorts. Flooding into your mind comes a million other reasons to be ticked off, from no food in the house when you're starving, to no dry wood when youre freezing. You look banefully around the room for anyone who will venture into your destructive path. Fortunately they are all out of sight... fortunately for them anyhow... The day looks more dismal by the second.
But you know, then there are those little things, those little rays of sunshine that seem to break through, and remind you, with a few expletives nevertheless, that really the world is not ending, the sky is not falling, and that mankind is not irremediable, contrary to ever-so-recent staggering substantiation of these facts. Like my youngest neice for example. There she was sitting quietly on a sheep skin in front of a fire, wearing a green sweater that her dad, and all the rest of us wore when we were ten months. You know, ten months, heck that's nothing! and already there she is with a little personality, and not a demon either, thank god. And when she sees me out goes her little hands and a little smile lights up her serious face. Maybe my days are not that bad after all when God can make such a beautiful little thing happy even when she has to rely completely on others who may or may not be responsible enough to do what needs to be done. It's a beautiful thing, a child playing by themselves. Maybe I should do the same thing and quit being selfish thinking someone always has to be there to keep me company and help me out. Maybe that's why children get so many graces...God helps those who help themselves, eh?...
Well, it's still one of those days when I feel like swearing, but now I guess I can swear about things because I'm a little content, even if things aren't going the best. I said to my friend the other day that there are only three times I swear. When I'm furious, when I'm scared, and finally when I'm overwhelmed. Whether that's overwhelmed in a good way or not, those words still seem to begin to suffice, to begin to describe the indescribable. Hmm, call my vocabulary stinted, but sometimes the familiar needs to be described by the familiar. And those green sweater days, those are the days that we should keep familiar......

11-05-05

she said write about the rain...

2007-11-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

Every now and then the sound of rain and road brings me to a place I have long forgotten. I remember lying in my bunk, hearing the cars go by, seeing their lights slide around my bedroom walls, wondering about their world, safe in mine. A child’s comfort. The appeal of the rain is in its simplicity – the sounds, the smells, the peaceful insistence. Like the snow, or the river, it just keeps coming and coming – threatening, perhaps – but also perfectly lovely even in violence. To stand in the rain, face to the gale, eyes closed, is a phenomenal feeling. All power and submission; meaningful yet insignificant, we feel the place of man -- somewhere between heaven and earth, it would seem. We haven't the raw power of the beast nor the beauty of the heavens, yet there is something there that calls to us and bids us take a place among them. Can we ever? Can we fall gently like the rain or howl like the wind, or do we only dream of such perfection? To be like the rain -- to fall and never hurt -- that would be a blessing; and yet I wonder: perhaps we are like the rain. Must we always fall from such heights to shatter into a million pieces, only to rise again for another fall? But maybe too, like the rain, our fall can be a blessing, for in breaking ourselves what beauty can blossom out of the muck, if even a single flower? Perhaps some day we will be able to stop falling, to stop breaking. Perhaps some day we can join the heavens and not have come down again. A child’s comfort, safe and full of wonder.

01-08-07

Darwin and Random Shite...its really not fair at all

2007-11-21T18:33:00.000-08:00

ok so. not much is going on but i shall post a blog regardless :D... bunch o random shite :)
lemmmmme seeee. So. I graduate in May. Yeah i know, totally cool, kudos to me :D lol woohoo now im a dork with a degree... what else..oh i think we should pronounce yahoo "ya ho ho" much funnier that way, no? ho ho? lol jeez i crack myself up...oh btw i love the headliner on yahoho " Was Ferocious Dinosaur a Chicken?" Good God! its come true, the dreaded T Rex was merely a chicken pumped on steroids...i wonder how many home run records he holds...anyway though, thats a relief, next time im being chased by a T Rex ill just crush his self confidence " Go away you big chicken! pick on someone your own size!" That of course is after i get him into water....errrmm...but really i think thats unfair now! A chicken got to be a T Rex and all we got was monkeys! seriously, whos running this thing! Gosh! But for all you lizardkingaphobes, rest assured, we now know the dreaded chicken dance will bring this daunting poultry to its knees, which interestingly enough might make him (or her) fall on his (or her) head. If you can sing da da da da da da da, then no chicken, be he small or mighty, can disturb ye! You will prevail!...ok yeah....So if a tyrannosaurus rex lays an egg on the roof of a barn....i dont know....this puts a whole new spin on the Subservient Chicken... oh and btw, stay tuned for under species of "Gallus Domesticus" the entry, tyrannosaurus rex.
What else? oh " Lennon's Son Sells Rights to Pops Tunes"... Good Job Julian :) nice. I love how everyone owns the rights to the Beatles tunes, except the beatles themselves RIP JL. Seriously now, i love how MJ and im not talking about Michael Jordan (who btw is set to have the costliest divorce in history, Good Go MJ way to be a role model. ....wife:"I want half your fortune, and btw, you suck at basketball! Pffft wannabe, why cant you be more like John Stockton" Good Go, Good Go), owns the rights to Beatles music. Thats great. So every time we listen to a Beatles song, we pay for MJ to have all pedophile charges dropped....lalala Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous....*woohoo rock on*
Ok so enough about them eh? I could go on and on...that would be sort o' fun though...hmmm...so sad how nothing goes on. Except the weather...freaking gorgeous *knock on wood* oh and just for a kicker, since we're on the evolution bit of things : http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/chimpsspottedusingcaveslikeearlyhumans
Good Lord! an animal found shelter in cave! Crazy, its like planet of the Apes *shivers*... Again, i say we must have evolved from at least Bears right? They live in caves! i mean come on how fair is that : either way you swing it, the chicken gets off with the better deal *huge and scary lizard* to little chicken but * with feathers and wings* and all we get is an opposable thumb and good posture??!!! im calling the no fair police on this one....DAMN YOU SALAZAR!!!!!!

Disclaimer * i came up with all this crap on my own...no chickens were harmed in this experiment, except the one that realized it got the short end of the stick with the whole feathers and egg thing* *and no i didnt read this over, so excuse the sppppelllling misstakes, two s's ? i dunno* ok going to class now. Out.

04-13-07