2.27.2010

nothing to say today

Sometimes the idiocy of our national discourse is just overwhelming.

This is one of those times.

2.25.2010

procedure 110-montauk

You might (or might not) want to put aside a bit of time and explore the records of The SCP Foundation.

If you're looking to review examples of the SCP Series (as well you should), you might start here (moving up the object classes):

SCP-085 "Cassy" (Safe)

SCP-294 The Coffee Machine (Euclid)

SCP-231 Special Personnel Requirements (Keter)

This last one, the source of the post title, should be accessed with extreme caution only after [DATA EXPUNGED].

2.23.2010

what they can do #2

Following on from this post, below is the Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Demo Reel 2009. As you'll see, they do greenscreen work for television shows. While you might have rationalized that previous post as obviously consisting of special effects, and therefore not to be "believed" in any case, not so here.

Anything visual can be a lie. Keep that in mind.

2.19.2010

envelope generator



Well, this was quite the interesting experience.

I recently encountered the above graphic while browsing an intriguing flickr stream (more about that in a future post). I'm guessing that most of my readers will most likely see this as an evocative sequence of words. A sequence that invites one to imagine the story that they are perhaps a part of.

Attack. Followed by decay. Then sustain. And, finally, release.

Personally, I was stunned. Over the past 40 years or so, I imagine that I have spoken those words (or their acronymic equivalent, ADSR), in exactly that order, literally hundreds (maybe even thousands) of times. And never once, before seeing that graphic, thought of them together in terms of their primary meanings and their potential stories. And now, thanks to that graphic, I will never fail to see them in those terms again.

Context is, indeed, everything.

(For those curious, my previous context here.)

2.18.2010

so let me get this straight...


Not terrorism. (Photo by Jeffery Speck)

A bunch of brown people, outraged at the policies of the US government, fly planes into buildings, killing people, and they are, understandably, labeled terrorists, triggering an apparently never-ending "war on terror™."

A white guy, outraged at the policies of the US government, flies a plane into a building, killing people, and Huffington Post reports that:
Homeland Security is investigating all angles but the incident does not appear to be terrorism.
Just as a reminder, terrorism is defined as, "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes." Like, for example:
I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn't so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer.
The dictionary folks must have inadvertently forgotten the "... by other than white people" part.

2.17.2010

signs


Life continues to intervene. Back soon.

Update 2/18: Just realized that not only did I forget the attribution link for the photo, but I seem to have either lost or never recorded it. QED.

2.14.2010

citizen & rocket girl valentine 2010


(via us)

american valentine 2010

(via Skull Swap)

And if you happen to be out looking for a valentine-for-the-day, remember, protégez-vous:

2.12.2010

McQueen



Before reading about his death yesterday, I don't think I'd ever registered the name Alexander McQueen. The world of high fashion is entirely alien to me. Other then the names of occasional models who gain fleeting pop culture notoriety for doing something particularly tabloid-worthy, I know virtually nothing about it.

As it turns out, I was familiar with a few examples of his work without realizing it. Most recently, one of the bizarre outfits in Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video. But, more surprisingly, the cover of what I personally feel is Bjork's finest work, Homogenic. (I'd always assumed that it was an illustration, but, as you'll read at the link, it was actually a photo that she posed for.)

Looking at some of the pictures of his creations that were all over the web yesterday, I discovered that, as a designer, he was wildly imaginative (to say the least), but could also design clothes that real women could actually wear. You can see a generous variety of both sorts here (scroll past the first dozen or so posts to get to the McQueen stuff).

But what really blew me away were two brief video excerpts from past McQueen fashion shows. Looking at these, it seems to me that he had truly transcended the label of fashion designer and moved on into full-blown performance art.

In this first one, his model interacts with two industrial robots (starting about 40 seconds in).


In this one, his gown is modeled by a holographic representation of Kate Moss.


It feels odd to think that I'll miss someone who I didn't even know existed prior to his death. But, having watched those videos, I will.

2.11.2010

when worlds collide

Lauren Bush, Barbara Bush and Vincent Gallo. Somewhere.


Bonus Quote
"It is true that I am fat. But one day I shall be thin, and [Vincent Gallo] will still be the director of The Brown Bunny."
--Roger Ebert

2.10.2010

a couple of quick notes

  • If you've noticed that there hasn't been a lot of (as in "any") original content lately, well, your powers of observation are indeed acute. It's just one of those periods. Mild amusement will have to suffice for a bit longer.
  • Since I almost never use mouse-over text with images (I think this old post is the only previous example), I imagine it's unlikely that anyone noticed that the previous post was an exception to the rule. Just sayin'.

seems so simple

(Although shouldn't there be an arrow from "CHANGE SOMETHING" back up to "ARE YOU HAPPY?" to test for the efficacy of a change?)

2.09.2010

fish in a barrel

This is just getting too easy.

(From the Houston Press's coverage of Sunday's Rick Perry and Sarah Palin rally)

2.08.2010

splitting the atom

Video from the just-about-to-be-released (or maybe just-released?) Massive Attack album, Heligoland. The way things have been going lately, it's looking pretty much like a documentary to me. (You might want to go here and watch it at a size bigger than I can embed.)

quote of the day

Well, yesterday, actually:
"Leni Riefenstahl would puke."
- Lindsay Beyerstein (commenting on on the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad.)

2.05.2010

quiz wrap-up

A pattern is starting to emerge as BWolf goes two-for-two for the win (see what I did there?).

Mr. 24 is indeed a young Sean Connery, competing in the 1953 Mr. Universe contest. The story goes that during the event a fellow contestent told him of upcoming auditions for a touring production of South Pacific and suggested he try out for it. The rest, as they say, is history.

To wrap it up, here's a solo pic (which would have been the final clue had we not had a winner).

selleck waterfall sandwich

Because...well...it's Selleck Waterfall Sandwich.
Featured Sandwich: Caribbean Jerk Chicken
(via Brand Mix)

2.04.2010

what they can do

The first video below is the short film, Nuit Blanche from Spy Films, directed, co-produced, and and photographed by Arev Manoukian. For me, it's a visually beautiful, technically stunning, but otherwise predictable piece of filmmaking. However, I suggest that you watch it for a couple of reasons. First, you may well have a different opinion of it than I, but, more importantly, it'll give you a solid context for appreciating the second video, which is a brief "making of" featurette.

After watching that second video, consider how confident you can be of the "reality" of pretty much anything you see on film, video, or the internet.

And what that means.

Nuit Blanche


The Making of Nuit Blanche

2.02.2010

quiz update

It looks like the latest quiz has generated what is, by the standards of this blog anyway, quite the response. So, in an attempt to milk it for all it's worth, rather than just providing the answer, I thought I'd follow up with a few clues.

For today's clue, I'll confirm that commenter Catti is indeed correct in the identification of contestant #24 as the person of interest.

But unless I'm missing some extremely subtle allusion, Catti's "for the win!" isn't actually an identification of the person. So, barring Catti returning to prove me wrong by explaining what I'm missing, I'm considering the quiz still in progress.

There'll be one more clue in a day or two if necessary.

Have at it.

2.01.2010

existential angst (typography version)


(by Nick Douglas on flickr)

is this why we can't all get along?

By a rather circuitous series of links, I recently found myself reading a blog post by the photographer Clayton Cubitt from May of last year. In said post, Mr. Cubitt relates a hypothesis by one, "Lovely Silvia, the crazy Transylvanian I met in Berlin" concerning the elimination of the "difficult moments between humans."

You can read her proposal here (it'll open in a new window). (While there are no pictures, it could be considered somewhat NSFW if your boss or an unsympathetic coworker happens to be looking over your shoulder while you're reading it.)

My first reaction, of course, was a reflexive "Fuck yeah!" Followed a few moments later by a somewhat less reflexive "WTF?" For as much as I'd like to believe that Silvia had, in fact, discovered the secret to the end of human conflict, it wasn't at all clear to me why this might be the case. What mechanism was she proposing? How and why exactly was this supposed to work? (I long ago learned the hard lesson that there is rarely a causal connection between wanting something to be true and its actually being true.) Was this in any way related to the reason that Mr. Cubitt referred to her as the "crazy" Transylvanian?

On the other hand, there is nothing short of the ultimate, ever-elusive goal of world peace at stake here. If there is any possibility, however small, that Silvia might be right, wouldn't it be irresponsible in the extreme not to at least test her hypothesis. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that adherence to the scientific method pretty much demands it.

So, in the interest of science, harmony, and world peace, how about it ladies?