Before long the end
Of the beginning
Begins to bend
To the beginning
Of the end you live
With some misgivings
About what you did. --Samuel Menashe.... Amber mentioned something about the "begining of the end" middle-age wise and made me thought of this little piece I hadn't thought of in a whie...
--An Alien Bill I commissioned from Madam Luna -- also, there was a version with a pink background.
Nice Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy) influence!
Heh, 8/02/11 -> 802.11 day. Cute Wifi joke! (That won't come around too often!)
Damn it I'm already sick of reading "double dip". Sometimes I think I'm just addicted to fretting. Feed the need, economy!
--I was reading TV Tropes about this game.
The song is kind of amusing, but mostly I liked seeing how the objects in a game I knew looked sans textures or even color... it's amazing how simple some models can be and still be convincing...
In the basement of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Sam directed us to a nicely arranged display "A World of Beetles"... but then invited us to look more closely...
Beautifully, there is no hint of anything amiss on the exhibit's placard, it's played totally straight, a lovely bit of scientist humor for the attentive to discover or the gregarious to have pointed out to them...
Best things in Cleveland: vintage store Big Fun, the superfast "gourmet sandwiches" of Jimmy John's, DIY froyo toppings at Menchie's. The latter two are franchises that Boston totally needs.
Woman's sufferage, abolishment of slavery, winning WW2, the moon landing: those are things I'm proud of the USA for, but I don't think they would have happened under a Tea Party-led USA.
Sunday we watched the Puerto Rican Parade and Fair (big community in Cleveland) which was near the Free Stamp, one of my favorite bits of public art ever:
Then we went to Fairport Harbor and did some kayaking and swimming, and I fooled around with my waterproof camera...
This was from Saturday night actually, taken from the pier at Edgewater...
"What I value more than all things, good humor." --Thomas Jefferson"Love is like hash. You have to have confidence in it to enjoy it." --Bob Hope"I don't believe in an eye for an eye. Oh no, I believe in an eye for two eyes... Or better yet... an eye for two eyes, and an ear, and a spleen, and maybe a new shirt because this one is COVERED IN ENTRAILS!" --Bas Rutten"Yes, when love goes bad, it can fill an apple with yelling." --Patton Oswalt
At gameloop, an "unconference"... feel like a bit of a poser! Wonder if any other processing.org wonks here...
Gameloop unconference had neat everyone introduce yourself via 3 hashtags... like twitter's limits, brevity can be wonderful #gl11
"Thinking that 'Hey, I like playing games, so maybe I'd like making them' is sort of like saying, 'Hey, I really like taking baths, maybe I'd like to be a plumber.' " --Jesse Schell
For the time being, the world remains its own drawing; we walk a tightrope above an abyss, and the grace of the walk does not deny the artificiality of the wire.
I now know that there is no straight line that you can draw around a circumstance to take its shape away; there are only marks, made underhand, that you erase and adjust and erase again, over and over, until the black dog barks and the afternoon is over, and you close your pad and call it life.
-Adam Gopnik, Life Studies, his experience as an art critic learning to draw. He has a lot of smart things to say about drawing realistically, and the meaning of being able to capture an authentic image but still attach meaning to what is left in and out by the pencil.
I'm often tempted to seek out a drawing class, partially because of excuse to study naked people, but also just because I wish my own works weren't so doodle-ish. Still, I'm not sure if learning to draw what's before me is what I'm after, but being empowered to come up with more compelling original scenes... illustration, I guess. Like Shary Flenniken's easy lines, or the effortless grace (really, just watch a video of him doing stuff freehand) of Winsor McCay
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we're uncool. " --Lester Bangs, "Almost Famous"http://www.slate.com/id/2301312/ - intelligent hatin' on the classics
"if there's one thing i've learned how to do in this life, it's disappoint women"
"And, really, who blindfolds an owl??" --Samantha S. on today's video
I just read Penn Jillette's "God, No!", his kind of big atheist libertarian and tons of crazy story bombastic screed.
He tells entertaining stories. When it comes to philosophy, you have to take it with a grain of salt... he's a big believer in using the "fallacy of the excluded middle"... he figures if you would be unwilling to kill your kid if you thought God told you to (ala Isaac and Abraham) then you're pretty much an atheist, because your faith isn't total.
Still, he comes up with his own version of the 10 Commandments, or "One Atheist's Suggestions", printed here along side the Biblical ones (a lot of people don't realize that you do have to specify which version of the 10 Commandments you're referring to... there's some disagreements between faiths and even as it's printed in any given copy of the Bible.)
1.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
The highest ideals are human intelligence, creativity, and love. Respect these above all.
2.
Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
Do not put things or even ideas above other human beings. (Let’s scream at each other about Kindle versus iPad, solar versus nuclear, Republican versus Libertarian, Garth Brooks versus Sun Ra—but when your house is on fire, I’ll be there to help.)
3.
Thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain, for the lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Say what you mean, even when talking to yourself. (What used to be an oath to god is now quite simply respecting yourself.)
4.
Thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain, for the lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Put aside some time to rest and think. (If you’re religious, that might be the Sabbath; if you’re a Vegas magician, that’ll be the day with the lowest grosses.)
5.
Honory thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy god has given thee.
Be there for your family. Love your parents, your partner, and your children. (Love is deeper than honor, and parents matter, but so do spouse and children.)
6.
Thou shalt not kill.
Respect and protect all human life. (Many believe that “Thou shalt not kill” only refers to people in the same tribe. I say it’s all human life.)
7.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Keep your promises. (If you can’t be sexually exclusive to your spouse, don’t make that deal.)
8.
Thou shalt not steal.
Don’t steal. (This includes magic tricks and jokes—you know who you are!)
9.
Thou shalt not lie.
Don’t lie. (You know, unless you’re doing magic tricks and it’s part of your job. Does that make it okay for politicians too?)
10.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to thy neighbor.
Don’t waste too much time wishing, hoping, and being envious; it’ll make you bugnutty. (Man oh man, that MILF at my child’s school sure looks hot, but I have work to do.)
Do you think Arcade Fire's "We Used to Wait" is a post-apocalyptic scenario?
"I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to." --Bob Dobbs
--Mechanism 8 by Necros...I had this song as a ".mod" file back in college (MOD was a neat format, before computer were up for dealing with .MP3s (and popular on the Amiga) that unlike .MIDIs contained their own musical samples, so you could do a lot with them.
I believe Necros was part of the demo scene -- the stuff like Second Reality and Panic... totally amazing stuff to be rendering in real time on a 386 PC...
"There are more important things in life than winning; such as not being a jerk." --Dave BarrySo, does Arthur the cartoon character grow into Arthur the Dudley Moore character, or what?
Nerds:
You know more about technology than anybody else, and anybody who knows less than you is a total dipshit. I love you for that. But normal people deserve wonderful technology too. And half the shit you call computing—running custom ROMs, reinstalling OSes, fucking with network settings—is like a chef sharpening his knives over and over and calling that cooking. Real computing is the actual stuff you do—cutting videos, editing photos, writing. Or at least it should be. Not the shit people do to make all of that work. --from Unedited Thoughts About Technology Better Left Unposted
If my mental model about how dreams work, that it relies on the brain's ability to let higher levels of the brain's visual processing system labeling and categorizing the (in this case more random) data, it implies an artist might have fewer "realistic" dreams, because they're trained to really see what's in front of them, not just take the brain's "word for it".
"Most people are not rational, they are TRIBAL: 'my gang yay, your gang boo!' It really is that simple. The rest is cosmetics." --The War NerdUnfortunately, rational folks are just another kind of gang. (And paradoxically have MORE problem recognizing that than the other gangs do.)
Reading "Ready Player One". Its worship of 80s pop culture is actually kind of embarrassing for people who were there, and liked it a bit.
Earthquake?? Nothing major at this point...
Kinda might be happier not working on the 8th floor though...
Oh, right, I'm in Back Bay, so the earthquake was extra sloshy! #isurvivedquakepocalypse2011
"Yelling 'YOU MONSTER!' after someone farts in a public bathroom feels pretty great." --http://twitter.com/kellyoxfordYou know, the earthquake was nightmarish; in the sense dreams have that sense of "crap, I guess this is it"- it wasn't it, but, coulda been.
The most terrifying fact of the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death - however mutable man may be able to make them - our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.
--Stanley Kubrick in his 1968 interview with Playboy via Daring Fireball
Irene as seen off the coast of North Carolona,
via WILX News I got fooled. This one is from Pensacola Florida 8/09/2011. Thanks xoxoxoBruce and sorry everyone!
Yeah, 3-5 folks got killed, but "HURRICAN DRIVES TOWARD NEW YORK WITH DEADLY FURY"? Really, NY Times, get a hold of yourself.
"Luck is probability taken personally." --Chip Denman
In a dream, if someone says "at all costs prevent X!" X happens. Dreams' dumb sense of humor? Or their function of testing scenarios?
Noisy-ass geese, honking their way south at Alewife. Sigh. Winter is Coming.
Plus just yesterday Dunkies put up their Hot Apple Cider window display, good from 8-29 to 10-31.
Man, the GBA micro was so minimalist & perfect. Maybe if the screen was a bit larger without increasing the size, it woulda been perfecter
"The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself." --Sir Richard Francis Burtonhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/08/29/the_black_hole_of_911?page=0,0 Keeping 9/11 in perspective; it wasn't the news of the decade.
"Don't be a guy who feels bad. Nobody ever knows what to do. Our life-task is to *decide* what to do." --Leonard Richardson, "Constellation Games""THE COMMONWEALTH REQUIRES THE EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE AS THE SAFEGUARD OF ORDER AND LIBERTY" --B.P.L.
--(Animation from here) I kind of got interested in Brigitte Helm
after seeing her being cooled down in her famous "Maria" robot suit on the set of Fritz Lang's Metropolis: (fullsize photo at Best of BTS)Famously, she was the design inspiration for C-3PO in Star Wars...
"Have to smile when daughter wants bedroom closet door shut so monsters can't come out. As if she doesn't know they can come out the bottom." --http://twitter.com/LileksInbox Zero, baby! I've been at "Index Two or Three Starred Things" for a while, but Got Things Done and pushed off to other lists...
--An 
The people at 
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