29 September 2004

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead.”

Albert Einstein

I’m not citing this merely because I like the tenor and tone of the words; this is, in fact, a thought I’ve been scribbling and considering for some time now. Interesting that this would come from Einstein, though: a man who was utterly concerned with unravelling the mysteries of the universe is emphasizing the need for mystery. This is not contradictory; it is the necessary state of life.

( C: 0 )

27 September 2004

...that I conceptulized blogging before there was blogging?

Yes, this is one of those irritating, “I thought of that before someone made a million dollars on it!” stories, though I don’t know that anyone has made a million dollars on blogging.

Way back in ‘98, I was designing a website for myself. My first one, in fact. I called it Alpha-Omega, because I wasn’t particularly creative. Anyhow, it was, in essence, much the same as this site, minus the blog. I posted a couple of papers I had written, and some general opinions about topics that mattered to me: run-of-the-mill stuff that you’d see at any Geocities website... although with the flair and wit that can now only be found at Digitalbranch.net. [/smarmy off]

But what I desired was some method of making daily posts about things. General chatty stuff, links, whatever -- but minus the effort involved in handing writing and archiving in html with every post. I could not find a thing. Not a thing. I was a Computer Science major at the time -- I could have coded the thing, and started the world’s first blog.

But I didnt. Lesson learned. The next time I have the idea to develop some system of daily posting, I’m going to do it. Then all the world will be able to make daily posts with general comments, links, and stuff. What would I call it? Hm... well, its on the web... its like a log of daily things... logweb... l-web... blogwe... blogweb... weblog! Blog! I’ll call it a blog!

Ah, well, no one but Andrew Sullivan and the Instapundit makes money from blogging anyway.

( C: 3 )

Rather Alters Stance on Space-Unicorn Royalty

NEW YORK -- In a stunning reversal yesterday, embattled CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather renounced his claim to the throne of the Space Unicorns, instead declaring himself to be the Bonnukarr, culmination of human evolution, sent back in time from the 857th Century by the warrior-god Kobaltine IV to prepare mankind for the coming Insect Wars. “All light flows through me,” Rather explained. “All vision is mine.”

Heh.

( C: 4 )

Like most of us, my mind, when presented with an impossible demand, will lie and imagine rather than admit confusion. And when a lie is the quicker and simpler solution, it is prefered. Deception is a fundamental human trait.

-

Why would anyone listen to Beethoven and think to themself, “I can improve on that -- by adding a synth and turning it into a pop song!”

( C: 1 )

26 September 2004

I may be designing a website for a Periodontic Office, so I decided to do a mockup. I’m posting it here in order to get some opinions on it. Any thoughts on how it might be improved? Do you like the look? Any general thoughts?

I intentionally muted the colors and used a variety of white and curved lines in order to make the site seem “peaceful” -- I don’t like the idea of dark colors and hard edges for a dental website; people are stressed out enough by the idea of going in for oral surgery. They don’t need a site that would visually stress them out. Peace... that’s what we’re going for... Anyway, here it is:

Edit: This can be described as a design doodle. I’m doodling my way toward a better design. As a rule of thumb, I progress through three variations on the original theme before I fall upon one I like.

( C: 4 )

25 September 2004

Bumping to the top. The server works. You can now download the videos.

Eh, now that I have bandwidth to waste (having successfully gotten Apache, PHP, and mySQL installed on my PC), I can do high bandwidth-y sort of things.

Such as showing y’all the music video I directed about six months ago, with the band Epiphany. Epiphany is/was/is again/was/is once more/was a band comprised of several of my friends. One day, we were all sitting around chatting, sipping tea, and nibbling crumpets, when it was decided that a music video ought to be filmed. Being that I enjoy doing such things, I made my directoral services available and the video progressed from there.

The result is average at best, but very good in spots. The narrative isn’t as coherent as I’d like, and I certainly didn’t enjoy the poor quality of the camcorder we were using, but -- despite all of these problems -- the thing turned out suprisingly well. Several caveats, however:

The first time the video turns color, it shouldn’t. Editing snafu there. Also, the scenes that are in color didn’t turn out quite how I’d hoped. What I wanted to have was a lively overexposed, over-vibrant look... unfortunately, we shot the scene just as the sun was going down. The colors were so washed out that I couldn’t overexpose them properly. So, the intended contrast between the black and white elements of the music video and the colored elements is lacking. There are a couple of scenes which could have been filmed better. For example, any scene with the full band; we had one camera and no camera operator, since I’m playing with the band for the purpose of the video. And since it was getting dark (and cold!), there just wasn’t enough time make all the shots I wanted to get in. As a result, the full band scenes tend to be far more... stagnant... than I desired. But, like I said, for an amateur first attempt, I’m still pleased with the end result.

Btw, the name for the song (“Lola”) has nothing to do with the song itself. Nor does it have anything to do with... well, the other song we know so well.

Epiphany: “Lola” (High Bandwidth: 50 Mb)

Epiphany: “Lola” (Low Bandwidth: 9.5 Mb)

Comment and let me know if these do not work.

( C: 1 )

Bumping to the top -- you can download the song now. My server is fine and dandy. I fixed it. Do not be concerned. You can download the song.

Did I ever mention that my friend Jake, gave music to some lyrics I wrote? I wrote the song “He” when I decided to learn guitar. I had played guitar for a grand total of two days at the time, so the music was... well, terrible. But Jake looked at the lyrics, together we modified them, and he wrote something considerably better. And far closer to what I desired than I’d been able to accomplish.

Several months back, he went into another friend of mine’s studio, and recorded for songs. While I (and my other friend) are supposed to finish the tracks by adding cello and other additional instruments, we haven’t done so as of yet. Because, well, we’re slackers. We intend to do so in the near future.

Jake mentioned that I could post the raw song on the internet if I so desired. And I now desire to do so. So, with no further ado,

(It works now) download “He”.

Jake’ll be a rock star someday.

(Let me know if the link does not work; I’m not sure if I have it hosted properly on my computer, since I haven’t the bandwidth on my host)

( C: 1 )

24 September 2004

Like it or not, you get some.

Enjoy the Wizard of Oz? How about the Rathergate version, starring Dan Rather as the strawman?

The K-Team. Because America needs them. Apparently.

President Bat Boy?! Update: A rebuttal.

This will only make sense if you’ve seen Kung-Pow: he is the One. He has Tongue-ie. Except, isn’t Tongue-ie supposed to save us from the French?

No, this contributes anything to the political debate except humor. I figure, it’s an interesting race when a President often characterized as a “monkey” is running against bat boy. And that, America, is your choice. A higher mammal? Or an experiment in cross species breeding?

( C: 0 )

23 September 2004

EDIT: I’ve finish the redesign. Let me know what you think. Forgive the comment section mess as I try and clean up. Cleaned up. Oh, and forgive the lack of correct templating for the rest of the site. Fixed that. I’ll tweak things a bit over the next couple days, but I’m essentially done.

Edit: the site doesn’t work perfectly with FireFox yet. Working on it. Fixed.

Edit: I’ve flipped the content and the sidebar. This should make life a bit better for the 800×600 users.

EDIT: Check out the Poems and Stories section. They are no longer just long, long, long lists. They are now neat columns. I did that.

I’m redesigning the site. I know, I know -- but it’s been a long time, by my standards. And this new design has me giddy. Giddy, I tell you! There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s the best I’ve done yet.

... even though it’s greatness will cause me to violate one of webdesigns basic axioms: the 800×600 rule. Do not design sites that will cause the browser to scroll left to right, the rules scream. If people are forced to scroll left to right, their eyes will fall out from the stress of the left to right movement. And right onto their keyboards. And the keyboards will no longer function. You’ll need to buy them new keyboards and they’ll never come back to your site. Well, Mr. 800×600 rule creater... I don’t think that will happen. And, darnit, I’ll design my site however I please, thank you very much.

It hurts me to violate that axiom. A bit. But I need 1000 pixels left to right. I need them. So I’m going to, against my better/poorer judgment, take them.

New design. Relatively soon. Some complex CSS / XML. As soon as I get it done, it’ll be here and you’ll see it.

( C: 9 )

22 September 2004

My first attempt at penciling then inking. The boy was part of a 50’s ad for some type of weight gain suppliment which could allow the poor, hapless Freddy (not pictured) into the buff, toned athletic machine once thought to be the domain of the Bully. But, now, thanks to this suppliment... Freddy can become all that. What happened to the Bully’s face, you might ask? Why does he look like he’s been recently dunked into a tar pit? Let me answer: I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Know what you want to draw before you impatiently pick up the unerasable pen.

My first attempt at a sketch that involved perspective. Both good and bad points. I’m learning that drawing involves not drawing what you see. Rather, it involves drawing what you don’t see. If you continually try to force environments to conform with what you think you see, you’ll be wrong most of the time. In other words, you know how wide a chair is, so you want to draw that width. But you are not actually seeing that width and since you know that it’s there, you would tend to want to draw it. What you’re required to do is see the world as it is, not as your mind naturally interprets it.

It’s an odd way of looking at art, since art is an interpretation of the world. But in order to interpret the world, one must first see the world as it is and not merely stare at it with unseeing eyes. So, it seems to me that in art, like life, one first does not see, then one sees, then one understands and can interpret.

( C: 5 )

20 September 2004

Wow, this has been a post-y day. I’m rarely so digitally gregarious. Here are several more sketches I’ve scanned.

( C: 0 )

By the way, if any of you live in the Kenosha area and come across any interesting and decently paying jobs, I’m in the market for one. I’ll be dropping off my resume at some local temp agencies, and doing some odd jobs in the meantime.

I’ll be doing some odd jobs at a friend’s sister’s house, soon: installing a front door, putting up some railing... potentially doing the kitchen floor. Anyone have any idea how much I should charge? I’m always torn between my native generousity and my native greed. Would $15 an hour be too much? Would $10 an hour be too low? Anyone have a guess?

( C: 5 )

Since my scanner possesses the ability to scan photo negatives, I decided to put that ability to the test. And the scanner passes the test with flying colors. Even though I scanned the negative into digital form with a low dpi count, and compressed it into a jpg, the quality is quite good.

Oh, and that’s my brother and I... late 80’s, I believe. Found the negatives in the closet.

( C: 2 )

I’ve joined a trend: Americans obsessed with fitness. Hold on, let’s backtrack. What I just said appears to be an oxymoron. Let me begin again. I’ve joined a trend: certain Americans obsessed with fitness. Except that I’m not really obsessed; I merely would prefer to be in better shape, and I’m also willing to take the necessary steps to attain said “better shape”.

When I started running, I -- and I’m ashamed of this -- struggled to run a single mile, even if I jogged at a near walk. Now, I’m running a mile in about 8.5 minutes. On certain days, I push myself, and can rip off a mile in about 7 minutes. Of course, I’m kind of gassed for the rest of my run, but it’s a nice challenge once in a while.

A typical exercise routine is this: I do about 60 pushups on alternate days and run for about 25 minutes. However, that time varies depending on how my body feels on any given day. It rarely goes above that number, and often dips below. But at my mile per 8.5 minutes rate, I’m running at about 7 mph and burning off approximate 400 calories.

I point this out because I just looked into the caloric numbers and was surprised to see how many I was burning -- that, and I’m about to go for a run.

Edit: Here’s the handy calculator.

( C: 5 )

Doesn’t anyone control this man’s photo ops? Wow.

( C: 0 )

Since I received a scanner for my birthday (this one, as a matter of fact... thank you for asking! It possesses the most excellent feature of being able to scan film; I will test that in the near future), I will be scanning things indiscriminately. For example, I could merely say that a friend took me to a bookstore and bought me a book. Or, I could scan the cover and post it here, therebye showing a) that I have a complete disregard for bandwidth b) the quality of my new scanner and c) the book that was bought on my behalf. I guess you know where I’m going with this:

So far, the book’s look at certain neurological disorders, as a starting point for examining the nature of human consciousness, has been fascinating. I’ll post more as I read deeper into it. But this is the sort of topic that is of considerable interest to me, since I’m ever aware of my conscious state and my inability to discern its nature is a source of constant frustration. I believe this book may assist in at least clarifying or providing a starting point for understanding some of my questions.

( C: 1 )

19 September 2004

Yesterday, friends and I travelled to Chicago in order to listen to some Blues... good stuff. Very good stuff. I’ll certainly be returning.

But there was another highlight, and it involved a sticker.

Prior to hitting the Blues club, we were meandering about the Chicago streets. We passed by a number of bars; but we passed by one in particular which had a large window. A window which -- if one looked into it -- showed many girls doing whatever it is that girls do when they are in bars. I glanced in, took note of this, and continued walking past.

Suddenly! A flury of activity! Some girl standing in front of me, patting my man-bosom. What is she doing?! I look down. There’s a sticker on my chest. She looks pleased with herself and trotted back in, while I stand in a half-stupor. The sticker:

Yup, I was best of the show. And as I continued my walk down the block... uh... catcalls followed me.

I kept walking.

Why?

Because the best overall has nothing to prove!

( C: 4 )

16 September 2004

... just because I thought this was funny.

From a John Kerry interview:

KERRY: I mean, what you ought to be doing and what everybody in America ought to be doing today is not asking me; they ought to be asking the president, What is your plan? What’s your plan, Mr. President, to stop these kids from being killed? What’s your plan, Mr. President, to get the other countries in there? What’s your plan to have 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the cost being carried by America? IMUS: We’re asking you because you want to be president.

The interviewer, later:

“I was just back in my office banging my head on the jukebox,” Mr. Imus said. “This is my candidate, and ... I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Funny stuff. Well, sad that this is a presidental candidate. But funny in that sad, pathetic way -- kind of like going back to high school and finding an old friend working there as a janitor.

(via Tim Blair)

Edit: the point being, Kerry isn’t running on any belief of his own, other than “I am not Bush”. It’s funny that he is incoherent when it comes to articulating any position of his own.

( C: 3 )

I’ll be gone for the next several days; posting will be light. Much goodness happening over the next several days, including a trip down to Chicago, and (while there) a visit to a blues club.

I’ll see what I can do about posting, but chances are I will neither have the time nor the impetus to do so.

( C: 0 )

Well, I think it’s funny. I wish to quit watching... but somehow cannot stop.

( C: 4 )