{ Monthly Archives }
Rather than embed another video and clutter the place up I’m just going to provide a link to this one. It’s the four man DMC (that’s Diso Mix Club, and it’s a really big deal) team world champions. I’m just impressed that someone in a turntable competition is trying eletroclash rather than hip hop. And they’re doing it well, too. That’s important.
The new issue of Ruby Magazine is up on their site. I’m always a fan of magazines being online and ready to go, as much as I like having pages to turn. This one is full of pretty images.
Matt posted this video on his blog, and I made a comment which needs to be continued here. So, watch the video then read. Or the other way around. Whatever, it’s casual. And I’m sorry to hit you with this so early in the day.
I liked at the end when things started to float. I have never understood why programmers stay in the realm of actual physics when designing. I mean, here you have a completely virtual system in which you can create any physical realities that you want. Why would you just create a smaller version of the one you already know? It seems to me like there could be a lot more offered from exploring new physical forces virtually. I mean, the reason we need these programs is because the real-world clutter is inefficient, so why mimic that clutter both visually and physically? Shit, make things float. The resizing of 3-d objects is good. Make things fly from far away in the distance if you’re going to use a 3-d perspective, though. The space you represent is only limited by your parameters. I could have a desktop made to look like islands in the ocean and every plant, animal, and rock could be a file or program. Each island contains files and programs in the same folders. You could even make them mobile but immediately callable so they wouldn’t get lost but would still provide a modicum of interaction by their movements. And there are almost limitless environments based on real-world environments that they could mimic like that if that’s what they are after. Beyond that the fact that it’s a virtual reality means that you can make it whatever you want. You don’t even have to base the environment off of one that exists in the real-world.
I feel like the rush to produce, the razor thin line of competition that exists in the computer programming market is impeding any real creation. And of course that can be said for many industries. But never before have we had the opportunity to create realities to manage data. We are theoretically creating a physical world in which we store a great deal of the everyday items we need, what most would call “my whole life”. There is no need to standardize anymore. Take some risks, programmers. If you can create something truly remarkable and are forced to lose a portion of your market share during the process don’t you think that it would be worth it when you completely revolutionize the way people use their computers and gain back even more of the market than you lost?
And at least one of you needs to know about and understand the basic theories of cognition in order to understand the way that people see this reality and what that might mean they could or could not be interested in from a virtual one. You need to know that a lot of our cognition and recall is based on analogies. That’s why personal virtual spaces work so well, because they allow people to choose what items are analogous to others and what ways they wish to represent that analogy. If everyone could stop only seeing the bottom line we might get the chance to look up and dream about where we could take this. I wish I had the programming knowledge to create what I’m talking about here, but there are people out there who do, and all I’m asking from them is a little less everyday and a little more art, a little more expression. Dream again and the virtual world will know no bounds.
In light of Jeremiah’s philosophical treatise concerning the nature of humanity I am going to post about something inane. Enjoi.
When I turned 18, instead of buying porn and cigaretts (I saw my first porn at 6 and had been smoking since I was 10 [won't mom be proud]), I went out and got a piece of metal shoved through my face very close to my delicate and penetrable eye. Who wouldn’t? And an eyebrow ring had exactly the effect that I wanted it to, namely that it pissed off my parents to no end, asserted my control over my life, which is laughable because at that point my parents paid for everything, and it gave me that extra studly edge that ladies go wild for i.e. puss and blood oozing down my cheek. Win/Win. Since then the ring had become a barbell (age 19) thanks to a kind biker in Statesboro and sat on my face doing nothing much except snagging my comb and making me more vulnerable in a street fight. But today marks my first day without it in 8 years.
A few days ago I noticed that there was a lot more of the barbell showing than normal. My immediate reaction was to assume that my face was shrinking and I would go through life as the tiny-faced man with the huge, pulsating brain. A “butterface” if you will. Do-able. Then I realized upon closer inspection that my face was still the same size but the ring itself was migrating downward and outward. Why it would do this I can only speculate: searching for a lost love, seeking gainful employment in the construction industry, dreams of being a scrotal piercing. I don’t know. But the fact of the matter was that it was on its way out. Rather than wait for it to shred my face open through force I asked my local piercer and friend, Randy, at Pain and Wonder to work it out for me.
He did. And now there is a hole in my face that you could literally look all the way through if you were standing far too close and towering over me. Don’t do that, it’s creepy, and I’ll stab you. The really interesting part (being more interesting than the rest of this story, which is still to say: not interesting) is that I don’t really miss it at all. I think I have gotten to the point where I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. I support myself so my parents aren’t something I’m trying to escape from, they’re my friends and sometimes the people that allow me to do laundry at their house. And as far as the ladies are concerned, well, they know that its always Summer over here, because I am damn hot. Damn, damn hot. The picture says it all.
Gallery 1988 has the pictures up from their new show The Storybook Series: Winnie the Pooh. Kids from the Hollywood School drew pictures of their favorite part of the Winnie the Pooh book and then artists recreated those drawings in their own styles. Not only is it a brilliant idea, but part of the proceeds from the sales of the artwork (the children’s and the artists’ sold together) go to the Hollywood School. Even big name bastards like Disney do something cool now and again. Go check out the photos, maybe buy something if you got the extra scratch laying around.
My favorites are the Greg Simkins, Chris Roth, Jeff McMillan, Mark Bodnar, and Reuben Rude pieces.
Indeed I should not have left you all without a dope beat to step to. It has been a while, but I’ve returned with a new post designed both to enlighten and to silence those who would have you believe that I’m a slacker when it comes to posting. So I’ve been seeing these two guys around our apartments and the other complexes in the area lately. From their dress and general demeanor, I’m pretty sure that they are missionaries going door-to-door. I suppose that they’re Mormons, although I think it’s becoming more and more common for traditional Christian denominations to do the door-to-door pitch thing. At any rate, they seem like nice fellows and although I’m not sure if they themselves even enjoy or believe in what they’re doing (though I certainly hope that they do), I’ve taken a liking to them and have a lot of respect for people like them. Of course the average person, yours truly included, will give a quick “No thanks” or just turn off all the lights and pretend that no one’s home when they see someone who wants to speak with them approach their door. Still, it’s very admirable to see these guys who undoubtedly know that the better part of their day will consist of greeting complete strangers and subsequently having a door politely shut in their face keep at it and get up each and every day to do it again. I’m sure that sometimes they are successful and that it’s very rewarding when they do manage to get through to anyone; yet, I just can’t imagine being strong enough to actually embark on a mission in life, even if only for a short time. I’m not exactly jumping on the bandwagon to show people the path to salvation, but the purpose behind what missionaries do is so much more meaningful and significant than what most of us do in our daily lives. I guess that’s the fascinating and respectable thing about the two guys that I’ve noticed: they have a purpose, and say what you want about their methods, it’s ultimately an honorable one. I don’t even spend half of each day being completely selfless in the service of something greater than myself. Even disregarding the religious intent of missionary work, in the simplest terms these people are sacrificing their time and energy for any and all who will listen to them because they believe that it is the best thing for those people. I know I may be idealizing the whole thing a bit, but you get my point. So why is it that our cynical modern world looks at these people and wonders what’s wrong with them? Why are they wearing those ridiculous clothes and speaking to us about things that (supposedly) don’t concern us at all? Why do we always pre-judge things that we don’t really know about? It’s because we love being disillusioned and judgmental. We all have at least one thing about our character that we’d like to change (I’m excluded any superficial considerations of physicality for obvious reasons), yet we typically never quite get around to actually trying to change ourselves. Even if we do manage to improve ourselves, we almost always take a moment or two to rest on our laurels, looking around with undeserved self-satisfaction and silently criticizing everyone who hasn’t yet ascended to our grand level of being. Why not recognize that we’re never going to be perfect and neither is anyone else and not leap to the conclusion that imperfection is a horrible thing? How are we supposed to improve if we aren’t first aware of our shortcomings? It’s pitiful when someone doesn’t realize/believe that they are even capable of change; it’s completely abhorrent when they’re aware of this truly amazing ability and then don’t change because they’re afraid of what might happen. That’s the point I’m driving at: If there were a person who’s only mission in life was to constantly improve themselves and other people, that person would be ridiculed by their contemporaries. It’s happened countless times in history, look at the way both Socrates and Jesus were persecuted (and ultimately killed) for simply trying to improve the world around them. We all have at least some notion of what a truly good person is, but we’re reluctant to allow either ourselves or anyone else to actually be that person. It’s self-defeating at the level of the individual and altogether crippling for humanity qua humanity. I’d like to think that the two missionaries I see almost every day are great people and are relentlessly selfless in their actions. And maybe they aren’t, maybe they’re just another example of good intentions gone awry and maybe they’ve become jaded and bored with what they’re doing. I don’t know and neither does anyone else. It doesn’t really matter either way, what’s important is that it’s possible that they are, or may become, completely altruistic. What’s more, it’s possible for absolutely anyone to do this. It’s not our place to be the cynical cosmic judges of human nature just because we happen to be disappointed by our daily lives and interactions. Being an idealist and always hoping for the best may indeed be foolish, but it’s a lot more rewarding when something amazing happens if you always believed that it could happen. So I leave you with a mission statement: (if only for for five minutes) do us all a favor and be a bit less cynical (yes, that means no melodramatic blogging about how your day sucked in your own amazingly unique way) and a bit more receptive to the good that’s actually there.
By the way, Smoosh fucking rock hard.
You know, internet, somedays you just bore the living hell out of me.
Lucky for me Raymi posts great videos.
Also enjoy this picture of my best friend, Chris, and his best friend, Beer.
Has anyone watched the show on ESPN2 called The Viking? It’s actually a Japanese game show, but it’s athletic enough that ESPN2 has decided to use it to fill their afternoon lull. I don’t know what exactly the prize is, but I know the winner must go home with the satisfying knowledge that he is the stupidest athletic man in all of Japan. They like to throw in mental challenges just to trip the players up. I only saw the second round but there were two very hard questions, and they were: What do you get when you combine red and yellow? and What is 54 minus 27?. AND ONE GUY DIDN’T GET THE COLOR QUESTION IN TIME!!! Apparently Japanese people have to work so hard to build their muscles that they have absolutely no free time to intake any knowledge of any kind. I wonder if they have someone to feed them, change them, stop them from eating drain cleaner or each other, etc.
You can Click Here to learn more about the obstacles.
And speaking of the ludicrous and absurd this page is loaded with people overthinking hip-hop. People who have obviously surgically removed large parts of their brains and replaced them with huge chunks of crazy. God Bless Americuh.
For some really great product ideas Click Here to check out Alice Wang.
For her blog Click Here. My suggestion is to click everything that looks like a link. They all lead to something remarkable.
Found her via Josh Spear.
Skaters have and are and will be involved in pretty much every great cultural movement since the creation of skateboarding.