darw1n.net

Work takes time. I find myself involved in a lot of projects that take a long time (over a year) and never quite seem to get done. There’s always one more tweak, one more optimization, etc. I’ve started creating more minor milestones to combat the sense of defeat that somtimes accompanies continious setbacks. The result: I declare complete and total victory over my long term projects at least once, sometimes twice, each day. Sometimes it means redefining victory, but that’s fine. My advisors commented on this and I told them not only do I like celebrating little goals, I also enjoy the irony of knowing that the whole project is no where near complete.
This article finds a sad parrallel of my victory policy in foreign policy.

A cool little bit of animation:

animator vs. animation (flash)

An interesting artist: he sneaks into museums and puts up his own stuff… also does interesting graffitti. I’m too lazy to write more… but

read more if yer interest is piqued

P.S. Apologies for being a lurker as of late… I’ve definitely still been skulking around, just been quiet.

Dean Potter soloing the Nose.
Dan Osman tribute.

David Itzkoff makes some interesting observations about the place of Dune in sci-fi history as well as some larger underlying themes in this past Sunday’s NYTimes. Itzkoff also discusses the future of the franchise and makes me feel slightly guilty for not reading all of the prequels. The article is worth a read and Dune is definitely worth a read.

::unoriginal::

This article says a Columbus, OH car dealer is “planning on launching a jihad on the automotive market”. The dealer is planning a whole “jihad themed” promotion that even includes swords for the kids. Yes, they are seriously doing this — the link is to Reuters, not the Onion.

Today’s special guest blogger: Shaun’s sister, a student teacher of kindergarten in RI.
————-
Shaun: YOU FOUND WHAT IN YOUR STUDENTS LUNCHBOX?!?!?

Alyssa: No no no.. I was looking for her lunch box and instead of a lunch box I found
the weeeed. Ya know, pot, maryjane… It was just the perfect ending to a very
long friday. NOT! I’m sticking with it wasn’t hers. My teacher was like watch
the parents during open house to see if their stoned… I was just like
FABULOUS!
You never know what a little rich 5 year old will bring to school!
————-
Indeed.

Take a minute to look at the new, albeit horribly 90′s Internet, banner to the left of the site. 24 Hour Comics Day is an activity run around the world where one creates a 24-page comic start-to-finish in 24 straight hours. The process was started by Scott McCloud, the notorious comic critic and author of Understanding Comics, and excellent examination of comics.
The next 24 Hour Comics Day is October 7 and I am going to be participating with the lovely Renate Comics. More importantly, I think you should participate as well! Here is a list of locations and there are events being run in Boston (ahem), Texas (ahem ahem), and Vermont(!) [sadly no Columbus representation...yet].
There are a few rules, the first is that the comic needs to be complete in 24 consecutive hours starting when it is at October 7th somewhere in the world. All works needs to be done in that day including story, plot summaries, character design etc. The website says it best, “Once pen hits paper, the clock starts ticking. 24 hours later, the pen lifts off the paper, never to descend again. Even proofreading has to occur in the 24 hour period.”
I encourage everyone to give it a try, especially if you can form a group. Don’t let prior conceptions about artistic ability and/or comics dissuade you!
Results will be posted and I hope I’m not the only one doing so.

You know what I want right now more than anything else in the world? Peter Pause. I want it soooooo bad. Oh, man. I mean, I’m getting used to the ubiquitous Dunkin Donuts food, hell I’m eating it right now, but I neeeeeed Peter Pause right now.

Prof. Batson (now I’ve got your attention!) always used to mention that the sound a cow makes is, in French, not “moo” but “meu.” I always thought that was interesting. Courtesy of my linguistics textbook, here is a fairly extensive list of animals and the sounds they make as represented by differnt languages. So what makes the sound kukkokiekuu in Finnish? Good luck finding out.

Tangentially, the Audition director’s commentary confesses that the hideous “kitti kitti kitti” (or whatever noises) during the needle part were supposed to be onomonopaeic representations of the needles piercing. Interesting that the translators felt the need to do their duty… honestly, I guess I would have assumed it was some Japanese word.

Absolutely have to watch this:

update: well, the video is gone now. I hope someone found it funny.

I think the cee-lo with d20s was the best moment.

::unoriginal::