Monday, April 28, 2008

Oh yea...I forgot this, too.

Remember the badass paint-drip looking PhotoShop concoction Beth showed us? And how it was actually long, shaky exposures to lightbulbs and stuff?

Sure.

Well, the funny thing is, I'd been tinkering with that exact same sort of idea several months ago. I thought I'd show you what I was working with...



It's not as cool as Beth's because I only used a few layers, but I like it. The pictures were just taken on my digital, driving around downtown at night and snapping shots of the street lights out of the sunroof.

Yep. There ya go.

Also, this:



Just because I think it's cool. I used generally the same technique and applied it to an existing photo I found online.

...makes cool wallpapers! :-)

Sunday, April 27, 2008

[?]

Jason Michael Dorrier, Damon Lantay Kasberg, Derrick J Royer, Michael Glenn Thorman...

I have no idea who the hell you people are.

...but you're online with me on OnCourse right now.

I'm imagining you're having the same troubles I am. I could be wrong. You could have everything amazingly figured out.

I don't.

For the past couple weeks or so I've been straining. I've been straining to come to classes. I've been straining to show up to work. I've been straining to be productive in any manner.

But most of all, I've been straining with this damn final project. My problem lies here:

How can I ever share myself with you?

I say this not only because I'm a painfully shy person and rarely let anyone see my raw emotions, but also because I have no idea how to. How can I possibly begin to let you know who I am? Is that even possible? I'm fairly certain its not possible with a small project like this one.

I thought I had my mind wrapped around this concept and then Alyssa wrote her poem and totally blew my head off my shoulders...Thanks.

So then I came to a crossroads...Do I even try?

I'm tired of being overwhelmed with projects. I wanted to at least make an attempt at this one even if it was a failure. I've never put effort into anything I was unsure of.

I started thinking deeper about how I've expressed myself in the past. For some reason, anytime I ever wanted to say anything in the past I relied on some sort of quote or song or something.

'Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong.'

I realized that I'm hiding behind other people. I hide behind their words in substitution for my own and somehow they become my words.

I'm still trying to find my voice. I don't think its there yet, but I'm going to be damned if I let someone else do my speaking for me.


::


So there's this whole project thing...

I feel like I still need to throw something at the class. I've come this far, it'd be pretty shitty to pull a Doug and not do anything. (No offense Doogles, I loved it).

So I will leave you with these: a sampling of some photography work I've done.

Maybe you can look at them and tell something about me. Maybe not. I really don't care because I will be whatever you make me. I am something different in everyones eyes.







Monday, April 14, 2008

So I haven't posted in awhile...

I'm not sure what it is, but this semester seems to be draining me in every way. I haven't posted in awhile because, like I said in class, its hard to find the motivation for this course since everyone seems to be so passive about everything.

The assignment last week was completely and utterly stupid. Simplify myself onto one piece of paper? No writing on it?

AND USE AN 'X'???? WHAT THE HELL?

This is exactly the kind of thing that is frustrating me. Beth, I love the idea of the course, but I'm not sure these kinds of assignments are going to change whatever creative or expressive block we have. That being said, I have no idea what would be a good assignment, so I'm going to shut up about that now.

Dustin Hayes.

I have to give Dustin a B on the assignment. He took the piece of paper and did whatever he wanted to with it. I liked how he just smeared a bunch of stuff on there and then made up a logic behind it later. Bullshit seems to be a new media student's greatest skill. He provided a stupid answer for a stupid project (No offense, Beth). In that aspect he succeeded.

Although, he didn't really show anything about himself as per the instructions (Are we still allowed to call them instructions if we're not allowed to consider you the instructor?) Hence, the 'B'.

For the record...I didn't think mine was any more creative than his. :-)

CONNECTIONS

I had a few ideas for this assignment but I have no idea how I'm going to express them.

A buddy of mine gave me the first when he was telling me about making up nicknames for people in one of his classes. He used extreme stream-of-consciousness thought to connect people with their nicknames. I thought it was a cool idea, but its not mine, so I can't very well use that. (I wouldn't want to be unoriginal, would I, Freak?)

So I was in Bloomington for the past 3 days. I met tons of people and saw lots of friends I haven't seen in years. Somehow though, I had my project fall into my lap. While visiting a friend's house, I spotted this gigantic green wall. (Sorry, I didn't have a camera with me) I triggered a memory I had of another friend posing with green wall in a picture. Turns out, these two people (who dont know each other at all) lived in the same room in the same house at different times. How odd is that?



I just had another thought...

What if our visual associations were as clear as our olfactory associations. I've spoken about it in class before...the smell of hospitals reminds me of my grandmother passing and still makes me nauseous 4 years later. What if you could create a visual association that is that strong?

Maybe some people already have that, though.




I have no idea what I'm doing. Someone help me out of this rut.



Please?

Sunday, March 16, 2008

What do THEY know?

I must admit, I was mildly impressed with the film. However, as it pressed on I kept noticing a pattern. Nobody really knew what the hell they were talking about. The idea was to keep shoving you in a logical circle until you had no idea which direction was up. Granted, I'm sure most of the speakers were credible and very knowledgeable in whatever field they practiced, but none of them had enough knowledge about the subject to be delivering their theories as truth! Even they admit that there are so many ideas and so many possibilities in quantum science that nobody really has a clue as to what is going on.

However, there is one thing from the film that struck me as inspirational. The water test. The fact that words written on paper could change the molecular structure of water is such a nice thought. When added to the fact that our bodies are mostly water, it reinforces such beliefs that your attitude can have a direct effect on your health. So does that mean I can write "happiness" or "love" on my foot with a magic marker and all of a sudden I won't ever have another negative thought?

Yea...didn't think so.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

refrain. huh.

I actually spent the better part of 8 hours on my bliss assignment. I went on a photo excursion around the city. Got some good shots, too. It'd been several months since I'd taken a photograph. I'll post some of them here once I'm done fiddling with them.

Also...I'm going to refrain from commenting on the movie until I see it again. I think I'll rent it this week.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Sunday, February 17, 2008

[:-]

Where the hell does all my time go? I just realized I have about 90 things to do before Tuesday...

Friday, February 15, 2008

follow.where.you.lead

I keep wondering if anyone actually reads these posts besides you, Beth...


Thursday, February 14, 2008

Baby Emery

So I guess I forgot to post yesterday. Oops. It was in my head, though.

I came to the realization yesterday that I'm much happier when I'm making music. I've been ignoring my instruments lately because of how busy I've been with school and work. This weekend I started to pick them up again when a friend came over to jam.

It felt great.

I really needed something to break the monotony.

Also, I found out something really cool today. One of the guitarists for the band Yes, Trevor Rabin, is now a film music composer. He did the soundtrack for Gone In 60 Seconds, Rock Star and Snakes on a Plane. Among others, of course.

I thought that was really neat.

P.S. Why does software have to be so damn expensive??




Edit ::

I forgot to put this link on here:

AmpLive - Rainydayz Remixes

I assume you all know about Radiohead's new album release a few months ago. (Free...online) Well, AmpLive did a bunch of remixes of the album and after a tiny legal battle, its now free on the web. Check it out...cool stuff.

That is all.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

New Music Day!

I didn't have much to share today other than I got some new CDs!

Massive Attack - Mezzanine
The Presidents of the United States of America (self-titled)
A Place to Bury Strangers (self-titled)
Feist - Let it Die
Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling into Place (single)
Freight Elevator Quartet - Fix It In Post

P.S. I just discovered the amazingness that is the Amazon Music download store. You should check it out. (High Quality, DRM-free mp3 tracks!)

Monday, February 11, 2008

Is an apple still an apple if it grows on a pear tree?

When thinking about this assignment, I initially found it quite hard to find something that moved me. I guess I either don't pay close enough attention or I'm completely jaded by my surroundings. However, I managed to land on a subject that has had the most impact in my life: music. I can't count how many memories and stories are tied to different songs and albums in my mind.

So with that in mind, I was going to assemble a collection of music videos and concert recordings to share with you.

None such luck...that would keep us here until next month or so.

Instead I focused on one event--a concert--in particular. The band Sigur Ros did a tour in 2005 supporting their Takk... album. For those who don't know who Sigur Ros is, they're a post-rock/ambient style band from Iceland.

Ever since that concert, Sigur Ros has come to embody everything that is beautiful and ethereal in my mind. I can be walking along and immediately something with catch my eye and their music will immediately start playing in my head.

It can get rather distracting.

I don't want to spend the time trying to describe the experience, so I found the most accurate video from that tour.



P.S. Sorry for the dumbass cliche "Music is the soundtrack to my life...!" post.

Monday, February 4, 2008

My Adventures in Traffic

Today's class went very well, I think. I've never been in a class quite like this (Are we still allowed to call it a class, Beth?) so I'm not quite sure how to judge if the class is good or bad.

During the first part of the discussion, everyone seemed to come out of their shell a little bit. I liked our little foray into free speech and what exactly that means. Doug had a good point when he said, "You can say and do whatever you want, just know that there are consequences". I just quoted him and I think I definitely made that up (Correct me later, Doug). Anyway, it was a very good point.

The more I thought about it, the more my entire view of creativity and expression was erased. This class is supposed to be our haven. Our sacred grounds as students. The room is a place where we can completely free our inhibitions (if our minds will let us) and be completely creative; go for the moon. Then, that idea was brought to a screeching halt when the subject of the discussion turned to offensive speech. If what I am saying is offensive to someone else, then I am infringing on their rights to a non-hostile learning environment. If there are no rules, then what the hell was that?

I just remembered another quote...this time from Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol...what a complete bullshitter. He should be on one of those PBS art specials. Actually, he's probably been on several.

Warhol said, "Art is what you can get away with."

How true.

An artist can create whatever they want, then society comes along with the Stick-O-Good-Taste and determines what it christens art and what is obscenity. Anything that meets the requirements--or "what you can get away with"--is art. If you understand it, then great, if not, you're an uncultured ass-clown who doesn't understand modern art.

The problem with this theory is that not all things that are not obscene are art. Most of it is bullshit. For example, my previous (before the puppet) post about the artist on Art:21 who claimed his looping video of sports figures was art. There is nothing obscene or offensive about this; however, the artist has a complete lack of artistic talent, which makes it bullshit.

I'm pretty sure that most people in the class who have listened to me rant long enough think that I hate all art. I can see that point. For you, I'm going to list a few things that I consider art:

All forms of Photography regardless of Subject (This excludes snapshots of your stupid dog with the barking disorder)

Painting (realistic to abstract; Michaelangelo to Pollock)

Music (this is a toughie...I'd say most things on the radio don't qualify)

See? I don't think everything is bullshit...

Offensive? Maybe.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Art? Bullshit.

First of all, let me state that I don't regard all abstract art to be bullshit. This being said, the first Art:21 video segments we watched in class were--for the most part--bullshit. One segment stood out to me in particular. The guy who took segments of sporting events then removed either all the main figures or all but one main figure and looped the result...WTF? He then proceeded to preach about the deep relationships between the silent basketball player screaming amid the flashing bulbs and cheering fans. "What is he screaming about? We don't know!" Give me a break. It's obvious that he's just done something good in the game and now he's 'bragging' about it--for lack of a better word--much like football players have touchdown dances.

The second segment that caught my attention was about a large public art piece using a series of "organs" and played music using compressed air and horns. I liked this piece a lot. First of all, the artist wasn't claiming it to be something it was not. The piece wasn't supposed to make people realize they are 'a spec in the ocean of life' or some other quasi-emo cliche. He created it so that people could interact with it and walk around it being engulfed in the enormity of its size, scope, and volume. Public art pieces like that in which people can either draw their own conclusions or not any at all gain my respect a lot quicker than most of the pretentious, abstract bullshit out there.

I just thought of a quote that I heard in the movie Almost Famous several years ago that I think applies here:
"The Doors? Jim Morrison? He's a drunken buffoon posing as a poet. Give me The Guess Who. They got the courage to be drunken buffoons, which makes them poetic."

Monday, January 28, 2008

What if...

I didn't do this assignment?
time travel was possible?
there was an inverse to gravity?
the world was in black and white?
no 2 people saw the same color?
I kicked my computer?
David Lee Roth made ringtones and alarms?
cars had the same controls as airplanes?
the Hokey Pokey is what its all about?
McDonalds ketchup wasn't fancy?
I could call to my shoes in the morning like a dog?
movies were real?
this is all a movie?
I went to Steak N Shake twice yesterday?
Dave Matthews Band didn't suck?
clothes didn't get dirty?
I was allergic to oxygen?
people had gills?
I could remember to remember things?
there were 30 hours in a day?
I sneezed and my brains flew out?
the giant bean in Millenium Park is actually a kidney?
my face was upside down?
my reflection didn't exist?
humans shed their skin like snakes?
real life was like video games?
video games were actually like real life?
people stopped leaving their houses all together?
all food tasted like chicken?
all drinks tasted like chicken?
chicken tasted like grape soda?
physical objects could travel over a modem?
The Matrix has me?
you could call God?
I didn't just think of that Joan Osborne song?
trees released mustard gas instead of oxygen?
I was attacked by a giant mutant spider?
I had no arms and had to hit buttons with my face?
it was hot in winter?
it was cold in summer?
there were giant Post-It notes?
everyone was a twin?
all twins were pairs of good and evil?
people could split their good and evil halves into two people at will?
my skin melted?
fingernails were painful to cut?
grass didn't exist?
time wasn't a constant?
I could teleport to somewhere else instantly?
people could clone themselves at will and then morph back together?

Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Friend Fork

Hello, I'd like to tell you about a fork named Frank. Frank liked to go on car rides and listen to the radio. He never complained about the station or that it was too loud. Frank doesn't care if you curse at the old drivers or honk at slow-moving pedestrians. He simply rides and smiles:


This makes me very HAPPY:


He's the best fork a guy could ask for. Frank and I are best buds: