Lookin sideways like my man Pele

Favorites? I don't play favorites, but then again, I don't always tell the truth either ;)
There would some really good projects. Luke for example. Actually, all of Luke's projects this semester were really good. Kudos Luke. But then there are people like Stephanie and that other kid that sits in the corner with us, Scott maybe? I don't know at the moment but I do intend on replying to his proposal (identity ring a bell). Where was I? Oh yeah. Here's an observation...the class was heavy on the sides...I mean, it was the extreme left and right side of the class that always had the most input, kudos to us. Then there was the blue man, that took some courage, kudos to you. Mark, what's up Mark? Kudos to you for making that video at the end and taking this class in stride. I was worried about how you would react sometimes but I was happy to see you outside of your comfort zone. Beth, thank you for stimulating my brain, kudos to you.

But, to be completely honest, I think mine was the best. It could have been executed better but the thought behind it and the correlation to the research was spot on. I surprised myself. It came to me at the last minute and I was glad to take the time to make it happen even though I had another project ready to go.

Anyway, I will miss this class. I love you all, seriously, even if I do think you are crazy.

Cycle of Death

Inspired by Bruce Nauman

"Cycle of Death"

BurningMan

So...This past weekend I attended a Halloween party with my GF. It was much fun. These people put on the best Halloween show I have ever seen and they do it every year. Planning begins in spring and they work all summer to get it together. Much respect.
It was nice to get out of the city for a while too. I miss the country.

A little info about the photos: Canon powershot A630. Full manual settings (unless you see a flash) but the fstop sucks, 2.8-8.0. Use a tripod!

So there we are. Some Brit and some 80's chick.
Like I said, they do it up right. Here are a bunch of pics of the stuff they put together. A lot of detail and innovation.

"Punch"


There were a couple of bands. These guys were pretty good. Props to the drummer for playing in that mask.
And then there was this .
I really like the picture below. It puts things in perspective. That thing was huge, spitting out some of the biggest flames I 'd ever seen. It took a while for it to get going since it rained on Friday. Still impressive.

Oh, and Micheal Phelps was there. AND HE WAS SMOKING!
Needless to say this was my gallery. It was nice to see all the hard work they put into this. Watching the BurningMan was inspirational. It's too bad it didn't go as planned. The wood got wet. If not, when they lit the base it would have stayed lit and lit the fuse that went up the body and into the head. Under the face was a skull made of some ceramics. The idea was that the fuse would lead up to the fireworks in the head and ignite the face and leave a burning skull. It didn't work out like that but I would have to give an A for effort.

Then the cops came about 1am. I guess the music was too loud even though the closet house was a half mile away.? It pretty much killed the party even despite no one getting in trouble.

I got home a little after 2am. I have to admit that I was inspired. I was up until 6am working on some old tracks that needed revamped. It was a great night.

Foreigner

Perspective. I find myself most inspired by the story of a 'foreigner'. Of course we can see or read about what else is going on the world but it's different to have someone tell you the story. Sometimes it's hard to grasp what people have had to go through. I'm always inspired by the stories my co-worker tells me about traveling the Pacific or what things are really like where he comes from. We are very lucky to be here (US). Not to say someone from the US could not share their experiences in the same way but being born in a different country and growing up with a totally different perspective, it's amazing and often overlooked. Much love.

Storming the brain

Where have I been? I am way behind in the count...

Brainstorming is a great thing but I still think it should be focused and realistic. I'm not very realistic sometimes but some things should be. It's nice to come up with funny ideas that entertain the class and the moment but in a few years we won't be getting paid to waste company time thinking up a grand scheme to have a 'parade', again no offense b/c it was fun. Time is against us and we need to use it wisely. Coming up with ideas can be easier if you know a few vital things; TA, budget, platform, medium, etc. To think that you can reinvent the wheel or make a time machine is a little whack. Portraying a time machine in some manner, like a skit, would be plausible but making a functioning time machine is out of the question. We are 'new media' and not scientists.

Something better?

Most of the videos we watch in class I really like. especially the PBS stuff, i like PBS.

Bruce Nauman was an artist that we looked at. While listening to him in class I chuckled a lot. He was saying all of these things I had thought about before. It was like taking a glimpse of what I would be like when I get older. When he said "Don't watch anything so you can pay attention to everything" it sold me. That and the steps/stairs. You really don't realize how we take stairs for granted. Do you ever think about walking down a flight of stairs? I mean, left foot, right foot, left foot right foot...you probably don't. They are so systematic, all in even increments. It's hard to 'miss a step' b/c we know it will be just like the last one.

Research is to come but haven't started.

Hooray!

So, my dreams came back in the weirdest way(On a sidenote, my feelings came to surface too. I cried and it felt good. What if...). I woke up this morning, dreaming that I had missed this post (midterm). I walked into class 5 minutes before it started and Beth was just standing there glaring at me and said 'You know you are going to fail this class now right?'.

It was funny but I was rather freaked out. My dreams are so scarce but so so vivid.

Anyway...I love this class. If I choose, I can do something NewMedia-esque or I can do what I have been and just blog. Never blogged before but I kinda like it, to some degree. Class is usually good. Conversations, at times, stimulating. I really like these things. What I don't like is accountability. It seems (and no offense to anyone) that most people don't take this seriously. Some don't post blogs at all or what they do post is bs, and there is nothing wrong with that, the door was opened to do so. But I find myself becoming unmotivated too. It's nice that everyone succeeds and gets an 'A' but I think there should be difference in like an 'A' and a 'B'. I mean, if you aren't doing shit you shouldn't be rewarded like the person who is putting forth the honest effort. An 'A' shouldn't be guaranteed. Make us work for that, everyone else should get a 'B'. Again, no offense but it would create better results, more stimulating conversations and more/better blogs for others in class to read and respond to.

Couple more things. I like the blog b/c I can be a critic. Not to tell people they are wrong or right but just to be able to express a point a view (not so much what I believe but just a different perspective). It also allows 'shy' people who may not talk in class a chance to express who they are and how they feel.

Bliss

I apologize b/c i am behind, thought I had until this week...anyway.

What I did for this assignment was channel energy. In order to clear my mind, thoughts and emotions I play music. Not like play a cd but compose, practice, jam or what have you. It is something that I have always done and it creates good results. It is probably used more to channel energy from emotional distress. Especially times of sadness. I don't get to worked up (angry, mad) anymore but it would be the same then too. It allows that good or bad energy to be put to good use. Much like hitting or throwing something, even yelling. It's not very confrontational but is rather euphoric. It's not that uncommon. I would think most musicians/artists do something similar. Sometimes it contains a message but is mostly just release.

Waking Life

Whoa. Everyone seems to have hated what the bleep. Personally, I think we should have watched Waking Life. It's also a thinker but visually is way better. The editing in what the bleep was terrible. Aside from that it was ok. The editing did make it hard to stay focused. It was like using every video transition available when you should really only use two (cuts and fades).

It did not make me think anything different from the first time I saw it. If anything I should make my gf watch it. She thinks she is 'fat' but there is little evidence for it. It's almost like she believes it. That's the real problem. It is all in your head. Most of it anyway. If you believe in something then it will greatly affect every other decision you make. I believe very little. Very little. Anything and everything is probable.

Soul 2 Soul

Energy and emotion.

So what triggers our emotions? Many things do, maybe closely related to our beliefs. Either way, I think that this is a viable sense. When you lose someone you love you normally get upset. So upset that you get a sharp pain in your chest that is a physical pain but not one caused by a physical outside source. Anxiety can also cause these feelings. Lately, I have lost my emotions or turned them off or something...it bugs me and i miss them.

Energy. What gives life life. Our souls.

I abuse this energy quite often. Most of my judgments stem from this, nearly all of them. This doesn't make much sense I know but it has kept me alive, out of trouble and happy for years. That 'gut feeling'. Probably an electrical impulse (energy).
Ya know how you meet someone that puts off a weird vibe and then you find out later that he/she stole some of your stuff or just murdered someone. In the same way you can tell if your significant other has been fooling around on you.

Hotwire

It's funny how our body reacts to the elements and makes the proper adjustments. While she cooked eggs this morning I could feel the heat come off the stove/pan. They looked good, smelled even better and tasted delicious.
Temperature and Balance.
My body knows how to stay upright and I never have to think about it. The only time I would have to think about it is when I begin to lose my balance. Almost the same goes for temperature. If I am feeling good, I don't even notice my temp. It's only when I am sick or in the freezing cold that it comes to mind. These two senses may be even more important than the main five. Without balance everything would be a challenge and we would probably feel sick to our stomachs all the time. If we had no sense of temperature, we could critically burn our selves and not even realize.
Right now, my hands are cold and my head is hot as I lean on the desk to keep from following into the monitor.

Sight Seeing

Sight. Maybe the only sense that you need to function regularly, at least for me. This is really the only sense that keeps the elderly from driving.

Funny story about sight. So I really want a G5. A new one. 8-core with at least a 3ghz processor. I look online for one all the time (that I can actually afford. meeting my minimum requirements on the apple website still results in a computer over $4000 and that does not include a monitor. anyway). One day at work I was browsing craigslist and there it is. 8-core, 3ghz, 3TB and 8gigs of Ram for $2200. A dream come true. It was about 6:30 in the am and I get off work at 8. I thought I would wait until I got home to contact the person about it so i did. But when I got home it was nowhere to be found. Talk about your eyes playing tricks on you. I swear I saw it and I was ever so excited. I still believe I saw it, i know i did. So I must have been hallucinating or it was a scam that got pulled. Either way, I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me if I did imagine it though. People see what they want to see all the time.

I have seen things that are not real many a time. Last night I scared myself by thinking there was a dog coming at me in the dark when it was just a shadow from the trees swaying in the wind.

I Can't Hear You

Funky Boss, Funky Boss, Funky Boss, Funky Boss, Funky Boss, Funky Boss Get Off My Back! I have not met many people that do not like music. In fact, I can't recall ever meeting someone that did not like music of some sort.
Hearing has to be one of the best senses we have. You could be dead asleep and be woke up by the sound of thunder. It's thunder that makes lightening scary and not the lightening itself. Movies. I have seen a couple decent silent films (no audio at all) but what makes a movie is the sound. Some Dolby Digital or THX and you're set.
As much as we enjoy being able to listen or hear, it is the sense we most often tune out, to some degree. There is a big difference between hearing and listening. I like to do my homework, or anything for that matter, with some kind of electronica, trance, techno, house or what have you in the background to drive me along. I find it works best because you can still feel the beat and not be distracted by lyrics that would come with most others types of music. It's a driving force.
I like to think that I hear everything, which I do. Blocking out the unwanted is key and goes hand in hand with whatever else there is to focus on. You can't focus on everything all the time.
Anyway...I wonder if thoughts are audible...more to come...

Sex

Need I say more. The super bowl of touch. If I could only keep one this might be it. The ultimate exchange of energy. Think about funerals. When you hug someone at a funeral it is usually very intense. A lot of energy being passed and absorbed.
Other thoughts...Since I am a man shouldn't I go to the barber to get my hair cut? Wrong. I love going to a salon just to have someone else wash my hair. It makes me want to get a hair cut right now. I mean, who else washes your hair besides you? You've got to try it or have a significant other do it for you. It's amazing.
I wonder to myself why we don't feel our internal organs. I mean, we are packed full of guts and blood and water and waste. Why don't we feel any of this? Maybe it is conditioning. We get use to it. Maybe we don't have receptors on the inside. If that was true then why do we notice sharp pains? Curiouser and curiouser.

Smokin

Inhale, exhale. The most offensive sense. Great for memories (so i hear). Goes hand in hand with taste. Use to live by a pig farm. Can't escape the smell or the taste of that. Actually, that is great example of conditioning. It was nasty at first but you get use to it and then just block it out.
Never given it too much thought but I really enjoy this sense. I love the smell of skunk. Makes my mouth water like mushrooms do. I think it's the only sense that you can leave behind. It can travel around corners or through walls. You could even categorize people by their smell. Babies, old people, hippies (no offense, i like 'hippies') and so on. Hmmm.

Tarter on your teeth

Lick your fingers. Come on do it. It won't kill you. You might even learn something about yourself. What you do, what you get into, what you like, where you go. Taste is great and all but when it comes to food I care more about texture than taste. Taste, you are at the bottom of the list but don't feel left out b/c smell is right there with you.

A class after sense

How we love our senses and take them for granted. I often think about what sense I would give up if I had to. It's a toss up between sight and sound. Sight would probably win out since I have already had a chance to hear. In this way I could still edit sound waves visually and thus still be able to create music and sing songs in my head. Other than that I don't have much to say except a reminder to myself or if Beth happens to read this, I want to know who the man was we watched the video over at the end of class. Nothing I think is original and he basically proved that. Nothing he said was new to me but reassured what I already think. It was like looking into the future and who I will be. A somewhat disturbing yet comfortable feeling. I like that.

I like to manipulate my senses. It is the reason I got into new media. I want to mess people up. Push their senses to the edge until one them or all of them shut down. Or stimulate a couple so much that you can't think about the others or anything else for that matter. Bass for your face!

But senses can be overiden by thought. Beliefs more so. That's why a lot of things I see or hear I still don't believe.

So I didn't think I had much to say but the wheels keep turnin (the midwest 'silent g')...
I'm not a pusher but I feel like drugs also need to be addressed. Whether they are legal or illegal, drugs manipulate your senses like nothing else. From caffeine to pcp. The chemical reactions they produce put your senses in a frenzy. Drugs can alter your view of reality to no end. Imagine riding a rollercoaster after drinking, after some uppers, some downers or any other drug of choice. Drugs can dramatically change your experience with anything, numbing or heightening your senses so much that what you think is real isn't.

Last thought, emotion and energy, I'll get back to these. Oh, and adrenaline.

What if you helped someone with something everyday?

This was nothing like I imagined I would do but for me, this is more important than creating any new media-esque project. If you do happen to read this please try to act upon this question;

"What if you helped someone with something everyday?"

A little "secret to life" that I would suggest to anyone. It could be as simple as holding the door open for someone, a smile, letting your boss yell at you, actually stopping at marked crosswalks, or leaving a pleasant message for someone.

I try to bring this to life everyday. Here is what I did with my newspaper clipping:

What if i take the easy way out

We are suppose to bring to life one of these 'what if' questions right? My first thought (the easy way out), is to take an image and change the grass color to purple or turn the sky to red. I have ideas. Ideas that may take a while to unfold but I am working on it. I am still wondering what if they brought back Crystal Pepsi?
Currently, and oddly enough, I am sitting at a computer right now that has sign someone made about a lost pencil. I'm not sure how i feel about the last class. If I could do it over again i would have went for the pizza. I was really hungry at the time. Anyway, I am still thinking about my mother and wondering how she is doing. I love you mom.
It was nice to have people start to open up in class. I enjoyed listening to how others think or what they think or whatever. Then things got a little hectic and I had lost interest (like i am doing right now). I need to sleep more...

Questions to myself...

Very personal, very vague.
What if...

• this doesn't change a thing?
• it is terminal?
• it never heals?
• i can't afford it?
• i run?
• i already see it coming?
• i've made a huge mistake?
• she feels the same way?
• i say something to her?
• i am right?
• it would work out?
• i make up my mind?
• she reads this?
• she knows?
• i did more?
• i lie?
• i have to have surgery?
• my vocabulary was larger?
• i am wrong?
• i really forgive him?
• i do quit?
• this is as good as i am?
• i spent less?
• she is not the one?
• he didn't shoot himself?
• he died?
• i am crazy?
• she is still out there?
• things are happening that i don't know about?
• i stay numb?
• i'm busted?
• i change my mind?
• it's another person?
• my dreams don't come back?
• i'm not getting enough sleep?
• they find it?
• i spent less?
• i saved more?
• my feelings never come back?
• i am wrong about love?
• it's serious?
• i could do better?
• i have to move?
• he doesn't win?
• i can't stop?
• i peak?
• she is sick?
• i lose her?
• i don't cry anymore?
• i die sooner than what i want to believe?
• my doubts are right?
• i don't get the job?
• i get caught?
• there are consequences?
• it doesn't work?
• i don't succeed?
• i do go to hell?
• we don't get any closer?
• i listen to myself?
• i trust my gut?
• i trust my logic?
• she is the one?
• i believe?
• i can't do this anymore?
• this is it?
• it stops?

A word to my classmates

Don't take me too seriously. After class I was thinking about some things I said and I thought that I might have offended someone. I've been leaving comments too. My mind changes so much that the only thing I really believe in is change. Most things do. So I hope people see this. If not I might make a disclaimer in class or something. Mostly curious I am. I just want to know why people do what they do or think what they think. I think that is more important than what you actually think or do. To be honest, I probably don't care what you think but I am curious about why you think it. I. I say that a lot. 70% of my sentences start with I. It's all I have control over (myself). Anyway...

Intentions are often mixed up and confused. When you create something, people may never realize your real intention. That's my reflection in short. So is it about the message you are trying to get across or the experience that others have with it? I guess if you want people to know exactly what you intended you would label it somewhere but what is the fun in that right?

My intentions aren't to change anyone's mind. Just for people to stop and look at things in a new light. No one is wrong for thinking or believing what they do. Be who you are.

Time

After about a minute of watching the man tap dance in his chair I thought to myself 'this doesn't make any sense, what does this have to do about time?'. Twenty minutes later as i was driving to class and it hit me (or at least this is what i think). He was telling a story not performing a song. I thought it was much like an opera. We associate music with time. A song has structure and is usually 'true' or on time. Tempo changes may occur but there is still a melody of some sort. A steady drum beat or a bass line. I imagined that when the universe was just forming it was much like that man's tap dancing. It wasn't a song at all.

Time is really just a law of physics (i would think). You can't escape it. You can't reverse age. It's much like everything else and depends on the person's perspective though. If you speed up a movie file it's usually more intense and appealing. Changing the speed of a song dramatically changes the feel. Maybe it has to do with your senses. For example, if you slip on ice, as you are falling down everything seems to be in slo-mo. 'Time flies when your having fun' and is a drag when you have nothing to do. Time is exact, we are not. If we were we wouldn't have leap year.

I wanted to do something similar to the tap dancer, tell a short story, so i used a few similar sounds and threw some stars in the back ground just for an excuse to use AE. The stars were inspired by the painting and i wanted to do something visual as well as audible.

First, impress

So. It is impossible to decide a favorite with no context unless it is just my personal favorite which i believe there is never just one. So. Max and Luke win out because i really liked the idea of personal, physical interaction of others. This mysterious object with real world ties. It got (or might get) people involved that have nothing to do with this group of people.
On a deeper level i am really feelin Pandora. A good cleansing always does the body (and soul) some good. Pandora takes the gold.

This is not a blog.

This is a series of 1's and 0's put back together to display on the screen for you to read. Before that it was a thought, a series of electrical impulses in the brain.
I love perception. What things actually are and how we perceive them are usually never the same. Everything can be broken down into two things (to my knowledge): energy and matter. If it is not one then it is the other but one can become the other. We usually don't think much about how we perceive things. We take things for face value, what you see is what you get. This can't be the case for everything though. A book for example, is nothing more than ink on paper (or wood and yes there is more to it but you get my point, right?). But a book is so much more than that. The words inside of a book convey ideas, they tell a story allowing our brains to paint a picture of complex thought. These painted pictures may not be the same for everyone though. How we experience something is different person to person. Everyone will have a different process to get to their end result.
Visualization of ideas is experienced, not deduced (taken from book). Sometimes we have a great idea that just comes to us. No research, planning, case study or what have you. Sometimes things just work. I have this conversation with my girlfriend, Tana, quite often. She is a designer and will often argue that you cannot just make something that looks good because it looks good but design with a purpose and through a process. In my opinion, we can pull from instances in our life and come to a conclusion with little understanding of how we got to that conclusion. Process is good and will work more often than not going through some type of process but what is good is good. In fact, process can produce the same results as a simple idea would.
Since I am off on a weird tangent I think I'll wrap it up. Don't take things for what they are but don't dismiss something that is not thought out. We all perceive things differently and we usually don't care how much time was put into producing something only whether it was good or bad.

The Egg

When we were given the egg I am sure we all started thinking "What am I suppose to do with this egg?" when it wasn't so much what we were suppose to do with the egg but what can we do with this egg. To me the egg did not represent anything in the physical realm but was more of a motivational or philosophical tool. We often start our days with eggs for breakfast. The egg could also be boiled to top our salad or be stuffed with some kind of mayo concoction. It could have been used by the Eggman, driving around, egging the town, always got my windows rolled down, that's right, I'm the Eggman. An egg can even raise the debate "the chicken or the egg".

To me, the egg represented a new beginning or rebirth. This summer I had done very little with visual arts. Most of the time was spent working, moving, adapting to a new life with the one I love and working on a little audio here and there. So I took this opportunity to revisit and prime myself for the semester by taking a stroll through the neighborhood with my girlfriend's new camera. It is and has been one of my favorite things to do since I got my first 35mil. If it wasn't for digital cameras, this would have been my chosen career. Now, everyone is a photographer (or so they think). Even if they are not you can still take 200 photos and a few of them are going to be ok if not really good no matter who you are. Thank you technology for killing what Stieglitz and many others fought so hard for to make photography part of the arts. Either way it doesn't really matter. There is a difference and most can tell. It's not as if I would have enough room or money for a darkroom anyway so I take back the bad things I said about you technology, I love you.

Anyway, I did take about a hundred photos on my stroll and it was nice. It is most often the beginning of my process and I thought it fit in nicely with what I thought about The Egg.