Mii and the Wii

I'm home for the Thanksgiving Holiday, and upon my arrival, I was almost immediately challenged by my dad to a battle on Mario Kart. 

I hope I never have to play Wii to save my life.

Uh, anyway... my new goal in life (when I have a little more free time) is to not be lapped multiple times by the stupid automated characters on that game. And someday I will rise triumphant and win against my own dad, who just turned 59 and can barely use the computer!! I mean, I thought games like this were targeted towards younger people!? Sadly, I think that in the next few hours, I will be defeated again by my 9-year-old nephew.  

While we're on the topic of the Wii, I just want to say that I am impressed with the marketing strategies of this particular product. It's not only a good and aesthetically pleasing design, but the value attached to it continually grows due to the limited production of it (vs. it's high demand). So, rather than having to create a newer model for the next year, Nintendo maintains interest with this perceived rarity.

Sadly, I don't think this lesson can carry over to my architectural practice in the future. *sigh*

Anaglyph Glasses

I found these cool, more permanent red and cyan glasses for anaglyph viewing. They look like aviator glasses, actually! Which got me thinking/day-dreaming... and now I am definitely going to do my studio presentation in 3d next term. And then have my reviewers wear the glasses, and have someone take a picture of my review! Ohhhh yes.

I think there should be a caution attached to the glasses, though. I mean, they looked so 'cool' that I just had to wear them around (to see if they enhanced the world to make it more 3d than it already is...). The result: a really bad headache. Don't try it. 

Daytrotting

One of the benefits to model-making in my architecture classes is that I have endless hours to listen to music and This American Life episodes. Needless to say, I go through my extensive music library at least once each scholastic year... so, in my quest for new music, I stumbled on a couple sites.

Pandora is pretty good as far as internet-based radios go, and eMusic often has sampler "cd's" in addition to its great deals on songs. However, one of my daily 'rituals' is to tune into Daytrotter.com while I check my email. Daytrotter is a studio located in Illinois, where bands that are on tour stop and record a few songs. These sessions are then posted on the site, and are available as free downloads. I would say that it's really hit-or-miss (only about a third of the bands are worth listening to). But what a great way for artists to get themselves out there! It's not just a radio, in this case, but a legal way of celebrating the craft.

I was talking with a friend the other day about the current trend in art galleries; how it seems that there are a lot of younger, live-in galleries popping up. This 'grass roots' way of showing art is a great opportunity to encourage young artists, and perhaps serve as a way to stick-it to the big business feel of so many galleries. 

These are similar outlets for music and art, though I wonder if there is a way to economically stabilize these efforts? 

How to go cross-eyed:

I never thought this would be a useful talent, so I never developed it. However, after recently working with stereographic photos, I have been told you can shave off minutes of wasted time by simply crossing one's eyes (to check your work as you go along). Apparently this technique has a name: "cross eyed viewing method." Somewhat self explanatory, I know... but here's another description in case you were wondering:

"A method of free-viewing stereo pairs where the left eye image is placed on the right side of a stereo pair and the right eye image is placed on the left side. It is generally believed to be easier to learn than the parallel method and can be done with substantially larger images. However, it cannot be used on most stereo cards since they are printed in parallel format."

Too bad I'm horrible at crossing my eyes! Maybe there's a youtube instruction video on it...

'Das Rad' and Civilization

I was looking for another short animated German film the other day, and found this instead. 

Find "Das Rad" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj3rT_yYCw8

I guess I especially liked this short film for its commentary on civilization. I love the manipulation of the speed of time.

Artist's Block?

I just got the 27th edition of McSeeney's. I love McSweeney's.

In it was a published sketchbook of Art Spiegelman; a sketchbook that he titles "autophobia." When I saw the book, I thought that it might be about the fear of cars... but he is referring to a fear of himself. I found this introduction interesting:

"Drawing, which in childhood had been a pleasure, has turned into more and more of a painful chore for me, an unavoidable part of being a cartoonist who needs to somehow make ideas visible... I stopped drawing in bound notebooks long ago so I wouldn't be gratuitously confronted with a permanent record of my meager skills... 

To shake this Fear of Drawing and the accompanying self-loathing, I started an organized sketchbook again. I did a page straight in ink almost every day, a page without purose, a page not intended to ever be seen by anyone."

In his introduction he explains that he now can doodle while talking on the phone again, and doesn't dread practicing his chosen craft anymore. While this sketchbook is a successful exercise for Spiegleman, I found it mind-boggling that someone so successful could be so self-conscious. I guess it's somewhat validating, too.