vidyatinsil

http://tinsil.tumblr.com/post/50785865445

i know i’ve already drawn terra on the deck of the falcon before but that was the midpoint of the game, this is the ending

when she lets her hair down and stands right at the prow, it was such a great small detail that carried a lot of feeling

larrypoetry

http://lnhammer.dreamwidth.org/172680.html

—15 May 2013

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/18/crowdsourcing-wildlife-protection/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5449

A woman in Estonia watching a webcam trained on an osprey nest in Montana was able to alert researchers that an endangered baby osprey was in trouble.

My husband, who likes to read nature magazines, knew this story was a good one for Suzanne’s Mom’s Blog the minute he saw it this afternoon.

Doug Stewart writes at National Wildlife, “The nest overlooks the parking lot of a nursing home in Hellgate Canyon near Missoula. All summer, hundreds of thousands of people watched online as three nestlings screamed deliriously at fish deliveries or listened to their parents vent their fury at encroaching bald eagles.

“At one point last summer, one of the three chicks became entangled in monofilament line from a fish brought back to the nest. Fishing line can quickly strangle an osprey chick. It was a Sunday, and the researchers had not been online to check the nest.

“ ‘We were first alerted to the fishing line by an email from a woman in Estonia,’ says [biologist Erick] Greene. ‘Then we heard from a woman in Wales.’ The researchers also had set up a Facebook page for the ospreys, and in no time it became filled with alerts from concerned visitors. Borrowing a truck equipped with a bucket that can raise up to the level of the nest, the biologists raced to the scene to cut away the line from the chick and removed a fish hook embedded in its wing. The bird survived.”

More great details at National Wildlife, including a description of 700 kids at an urban school watching the webcam and tweeting questions about the osprey to researchers, here.

Watch the osprey here.

Photo: National Wildlife

vidyatinsil

http://tinsil.tumblr.com/post/50767977208

sorry anon, it’s not something i’d like to discuss at length. if you know someone else who reblogged it from me, or posts similar things, maybe ask them about it. again, not trying to be rude or ignore this ask, but part of the reason i made that comic the way i did is because it’s not something i have the energy or articulation to express/explain in other ways.

starshipreckles

http://www.starshipnivan.com/blog/?p=8105

by Calvin Johnson

I’m delighted to once again host my friend Calvin Johnson, who earlier gave us insights on Galactica/Caprica, Harry Potter and The Game of Thrones.

Last summer while staying with a friend, I watched reruns of the TV series Have Gun Will Travel, starring Richard Boone as Paladin, a mercenary gunslinger and “problem solver” in the Old West.  The series presented a classic example of the myth of redemptive violence: Paladin preferred to solve problems without violence but was handy with a gun or fisticuffs when forced, and by golly more episodes than not the bad guys would still pull a gun or a knife and poor Paladin would be forced, just forced to kill them.

Violence has been and always will be part of our cultural narratives and entertainment, but the myth of redemptive violence resonates strongly with Americans. This is not surprising, give the birth of the American nation and concept of liberty in a violent revolution, as well as our self-perception as coming to the rescue of the world in two world wars.  Redemptive violence, and in particular the image of villain lunging forward with a weapon forcing the hero to kill him or her (see, for example, Dirty Harry, Fatal Attraction, even Jody Foster’s Anna and the King, and many, many, many more movies and TV shows), has become a ubiquitous trope in American entertainment; no wonder we, as a nation, are puzzled when our attempts to solve political problems by violence backfire.

Nonetheless, I found Have Gun Will Travel interesting, in part because the series provided a training and testing ground for a generation of television directors, not least of whom was Gene Roddenberry, whose Have Gun Will Travel episodes strongly reminded me of the morality plays he would later create in Star Trek.

Although Captain James Tiberius Kirk threw a mean punch and knew how to fire a phaser, in Star Trek Roddenberry sought occasionally, though not always, to undermine the myth of redemptive violence. In multiple episodes it is revealed that malicious aliens manipulated characters into fights, whereupon Kirk highhandedly throws down his arms and refuses to go along with the narrative of violence.

I don’t mean to overpraise Roddenberry and Star Trek, but in many respects it (and the science fiction of the 1960′s and ’70′s) was a high point for science fiction television and media, attempting to thoughtfully probe culture and society. Unfortunately, the late 1970′s and early ’80′s brought forth Star Wars, Alien, and Terminator, movies with science fiction tropes which didn’t just embrace redemptive violence but pledged unending love for it, and made bucketloads of money.  Thereafter Hollywood came to accept science fiction = blowing stuff up as an axiom.

Therefore it was disappointing, though not surprising, that the 2009 reboot of Star Trek was all redemptive violence all the time. The explosions and the snarky banter entertained the younglings for whom the original series of Star Trek was a vague topic their aged forebears enjoyed, in the same category as morris dancing and landline phones; but for those of us who grew up on it, it felt like a cynical betrayal.

Despite my disappointment, I went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness, the next installment by J.J. “I’m not a fan of Star Trek” Abrams, on opening night. And I’ll confess, I enjoyed it, at least while I was watching it. It was only later, upon reflection, that it became clear this was cultural cannibalism, along with the attendant cultural kuru.

Much of the cleverness and delight was situated in off-hand references to well-known characters and incidents (Nurse Chapel, Harry Mudd), and the remainder in the reciting and reversal of classic lines, to the point where I could whisper to my wife the line before the actor said it–and this was my first viewing of the movie.

Spock is well-written and well-acted by Zachary Quinto, and his struggle with his dual heritage handled deftly; and Simon Pegg’s comedy chops have pushed him to the forefront as a major player in this film.  While Zoe Saldana’s Uhura has more screen time and more agency, she is still one-dimensional, as if the white male writers had decided “We’ll write a Strong Black Female” and thought that ended their job; she was actually better drawn in the 2009 movie.  McCoy, who had been a vital part of the triumvirate of the original series, has now been relegated to the position of Comic Series of Overblown Signature Lines, which wouldn’t have been bad if Uhura had been allowed to truly take his emotional place in the Kirk-Spock-X triad.

Worst of all, Chris Pine’s Kirk comes across not as a brash, flawed leader, the Bill Clinton of outer space as it were, but as a whiny, know-it-all teenaged horndog. It makes William Shatner’s performances, by comparison, look nuanced and subtle.

And then there is plenty of blowing stuff up.

The writers and the director seem dimly aware that a Star Trek movie ought to be about more than blowing stuff up: characters are restrained from killing other characters, not out of morality but out of necessity; the militarization of Starfleet is deplored; and the movie ends with a belated speech against revenge.  But this seems to have looped back to the days of Have Gun Will Travel, excuses for violence with a veneer of a morality play.

Interestingly, Star Trek: Into Darkness echoes closely a theme found in another current blow-em-up movie, Iron Man 3. In both films acts of terrorism are revealed as rooted in the evils of the industrial-military complex, though Ben Kingsley makes a much more twisty and interesting villain than Benedict Cumberbatch’s John Harrison.

While Kirk is slowly evolving into the wiser, more strategic Captain of the original series, and while, despite my complaints I found Into Darkness less irritating than the 2009 reboot, afterwards I found myself hoping against hope they don’t make a third movie. Unless they can find a director who can take it to a new level. I’d vote for Alfonso Cuarón, whose Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the best of the Potter series, demonstrated both a nimble visual flare and a strong sensibility for characters.

But that would mean to boldly go in a  new direction, something Hollywood is, alas, loath to do.

Athena’s footnote: I have thoughts of my own on STID that parallel Calvin’s and Devin Faraci’s in Badass Digest. I’ll share them if I get a spare moment but they’re encapsulated in the images I chose to accompany this entry.

Images: 1st, summation of the reboot ST (aka ST||) universe; 2nd, Dr. Carol Marcus as comparison shorthand between ST|| and the original ST.

criticalpages

http://www.criticalpages.com/2013/live-long-and-prosper/

http://www.criticalpages.com/?p=2268

A few days ago,  Republicans in the House voted to kill Obamacare by taking its money away. If you think this is stale news, you’re right. And also wrong. Stale and not stale, because although House Republicans voted to get rid of Obamacare just this month, this most recent vote was the 37th time they’ve tried.

The United States — the greatest free-enterprise country on the planet — has tried to get along on private health insurance plans for half a century after national plans became common in Canada and the nations of Western Europe. The results haven’t been so good. In fact, the US spends more on health per person than most industrially advanced nations, and generally gets poorer results. Here below is a table by the World Health Organization.  It lists nations according to the life expectancy of their citizens. Longest life expectancy at the top of the list, a shorter life as you go down the list. See if you can find the United States.

Rank	Country	Overall life expectancy at birth	Male life expectancy at birth	Female life expectancy at birth
1	Japan	82.70	79.45	85.82
2	Switzerland	82.59	80.30	84.69
3	San Marino	82.56	81.98	83.28
4	Italy	82.38	79.83	84.74
5	Singapore	82.35	80.12	84.58
6	Iceland	82.30	80.30	84.00
7	Andorra	82.22	79.03	85.36
8	Australia	82.16	79.99	84.33
9	Spain	82.10	79.00	85.15
10	Qatar	82.08	81.31	83.27
11	Israel	82.05	80.19	83.76
12	Monaco	81.89	78.57	85.09
13	France	81.77	78.46	84.95
14	Sweden	81.74	79.79	83.62
15	Canada	81.54	79.50	83.50
16	Luxembourg	81.52	79.06	83.77
17	Cyprus	81.48	79.39	83.68
18	Norway	81.40	79.27	83.45
19	New Zealand	81.30	79.42	83.09
20	Netherlands	81.20	79.18	83.06
21	Austria	81.10	78.39	83.65
22	Greece	80.94	78.27	83.64
23	Ireland	80.73	78.64	82.78
24	South Korea	80.72	77.35	83.86
25	Finland	80.71	77.59	83.78
26	Germany	80.66	78.29	82.99
27	United Kingdom	80.49	78.50	82.40
28	Belgium	80.40	77.79	82.92
29	Malta	80.38	78.78	81.98
30	Slovenia	80.12	76.60	83.42
31	Portugal	80.08	76.96	83.10
32	Kuwait	79.86	79.54	80.37
33	Denmark	79.46	77.38	81.50
34	Chile	79.28	76.17	82.34
35	Costa Rica	79.14	77.02	81.34
36	Bahrain	78.72	77.67	80.09
37	United States	78.57	76.12	80.93
38	China	75.56	74.05	77.17
39	Brazil	74.33	70.97	77.75
40	Russia	68.85	62.97	74.82
41	India	65.46	63.81	67.30

Yes, the United States is 37th in life expectancy among the nations of the world. The CIA ranks us 33rd in its list based on UN member states.

Another way of looking at the health of a country is to look at its infant mortality rate. The infant mortality rate is calculated simply by figuring the average number of infant deaths in every one thousand live births. The United Nations Population Division lists the United States as 34th.

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/17/teens-volunteering/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=4263

Holly Hall writes at the Chronicle of Philanthropy that teens are more likely to do volunteer work if there’s a social aspect.

“More than half of American teenagers and young adults volunteered [in 2011], and the best way to enlist this group turns out to be peer pressure: Three quarters of people ages 13 to 22 whose friends volunteer regularly also do so, which is nearly twice the number of those who pursue voluntary activities based on their concern about particular social issues. …

“Those were the key findings of new research results released [Oct. 24] by DoSomething.org, a group working to get young people involved in social change.” More.

At the high school Suzanne and John attended, volunteering was required. But they also did things that just interested them. I remember Suzanne in a play targeting the cycle of domestic violence and John working on peace and justice activities.

The organization pictured below is City Year, “an education focused, nonprofit organization that unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service to keep students in school and on track to graduation.”

Suzanne’s friend Lisa did a City Year and thought it very worthwhile. Today, I often see the kids in their distinctive jackets on the train, and I once went door-to-door to help City Year’s public-spirited cofounder in a primary election for the Senate.

Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP/File
City Year volunteers sing the national anthem outside Faneuil Hall in Boston. The volunteers age 17 to 24 will work in a variety of community-service programs. The best way to encourage teens to volunteer is to make it a way to get together with their friends, a new report suggests.

softerworldfeed

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=971

buy this print
Or share on: facebook reddit

wondermark

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wondermark/~3/rK_jsu-t5no/

http://wondermark.com/?p=9874

wondermark

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wondermark/~3/2Uwa1aFuQX0/

http://wondermark.com/?p=9869

Here are a couple of the many Roll-a-Sketches I did in Toronto last week! Thanks to everyone who came by the table, it was a great reminder of why I do that show every year. Everybody’s so nice and it’s such a neat environment for art and friends!

ICE CREAM + KNIGHT: (click pics for bigger)

OSTRICH + AIRPLANE + CAVEMAN + HELICOPTER:

RHINO + ICE CREAM + CAVEMAN + COWBOY:

CACTUS + TOASTER:

Would you like a Roll-a-Sketch of your very own?? THIS WEEKEND I will be returning to the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo! The show is Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19.

I’ll have a booth in the Bazaar Bizarre section, right next to my old pal Chris Yates (handmade puzzle crafter extraordinaire).

BONUS VIDEOS: The last time I was at Maker Faire, two years ago, I recorded a video journal of the drive up and back! Full of HIGH DRAMA and BURRITOS and THE TERRIFYING SPECTER OF FATIGUE. If you’ve ever wanted to see a lot of me in sunglasses, YOU’RE IN LUCK.

I re-watched these videos tonight and the whole thing seems like just yesterday. But it was TWO YEARS AGO. I don’t even KNOW.

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/16/two-of-shakespeares-theaters-found/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=4896

If you are going to London, try to see where archaeologists have recently located theaters used by Shakespeare.

Matt Trueman writes at the Guardian, “The sites of two Jacobean theatres in London, both used by William Shakespeare, could host drama once again, following planning applications for new theatres.

musingscratchin

http://augustcoreopsis.blogspot.com/2013/05/three-old-men.html

larrypoetry

http://lnhammer.dreamwidth.org/172299.html

—14 May 2013

dinosaurcomics

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2423

archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - cute - search - about
dinosaur comics returns monday! this weekend i'll be at TEDxUofT talking about TIME TRAVEL, maybe i will see you there? :o
← previous	May 16th, 2013	next
May 16th, 2013: I saw the new Star Trek movie last night and it has the XCV 300 in it! It's my favourite Enterprise after the Enterprice C. Anyway that's all I wanted to say One year ago today: SECRETS OF THE BANKING PROFESSION – Ryan

criticalpages

http://www.criticalpages.com/2013/a-lost-world/

http://www.criticalpages.com/?p=2258

Can you recall a roller coaster called the Big Dipper? No? It was a long time ago and if you’re over 40 you may have forgotten it. We tend to forget little things, but after a while all those little things add up to a whole world. Marilyn Robertson knows about forgetting. Her poem is called “A Lost World.”

What is lost today stays lost.
One story after another floats down
the murky corridors of mind,
all the way back to zero.
The along comes the eraser.

Names, dates, who came with us
and who stayed home because they had chores
or their mothers said no — it’s a lost world.
It eats lunch with the dinosaurs.

You say: I can’t believe you don’t remember.
The four of us in the back seat of the convertible,
your father putting the top down…
the roller coaster…the handsome sailor.

I  concentrate on the scene.
It’s as flat as a raft on a dead sea.
the sailor tries to climb aboard, but after
fifty years his arms are not so strong.

He slips back into the current and drifts away,
along with the convertible
and all the rickety cars on the Big Dipper,
slowly chugging their way to the top.

—Marilyn Robertson

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/15/spring-planting/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5439

The big thermometer on the garage may have said 40 degrees when I woke up this morning, but I’m still thinking spring.

My husband has planted an array of annuals and perennials, and both kids are seeding lawns.

Since I am rather a fan of Mass Challenge winners and I also had a heartfelt testimonial from Mimsey, I encouraged both families to try a 2010 Mass Challenge winner, Pearl’s Premium grass seed.

Mimsey said that she had thrown Pearl’s into a wooded area next to her house, expecting nothing. Before she knew it, a lovely velvety carpet had grown there. Sounded to me like the beans Jack’s mother threw away that led to Jack’s adventures at the top of a beanstalk.

And speaking of plants, the plant identification site Mister Smarty Plants, a big supporter of this blog, needs my support tonight. So if you would like to help him get recognition at a Mass Innovation Night on June 10, vote for him here. It took me a while to figure out the voting. You have to vote for four entries in the event and make a comment. But you don’t have to give your name. Thanks!

gettingstitched

http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/2013/05/interview-with-cheryl-rezendes-author.html

KN: Wow Cheryl - what a huge amount of knowledge you have shared with the world in your new book Fabric Surface Design! I can't believe how much technical information is included. How did you learn surface design? CR: Quite a few of the techniques covered in the book are pretty traditional painting and printing techniques that I learned in art school many years ago and had been employing in my paper collage work already. I just needed to transfer those techniques from paper and canvas to cloth. But many of the more innovative techniques I learned from other surface design artists by taking classes and workshops and reading books. You take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and somewhere along the way your brain starts to assimilate it all until it comes out in your own artwork. KN: Tell us a little about your background. I know you as a fine artist specializing in Mixed Media Collage. What was your training? CR: I went to the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston and trained primarily as a painter. When I got out of school I made my living as a stitcher and later as a custom clothier specializing in restoring antique wedding gowns along with collage design work using antique laces while pursuing my art on the off hours. At one point my husband and I decided that we could forgo the income from my sewing so I could concentrate on my art and raising our 2 boys. Over the years I developed a really nice body of work in mixed media collage (that can be seen on my website). But I found that I really missed fiber! It was such a surprise for me. I really had no idea how important fiber work was to me as an artist. Chapter Opener for Monotype - Cheryl's Favorite Technique KN: What is your favorite technique in the book and why? CR: I adore monotype printing with gelatin! It is very painterly and serendipitous. I love the fine detail that the gelatin substrate shows and how easy it is to make cloth that is multi layered with imagery. KN: Wow - that sounds really fun. I must give it a try sometime. What is your very most favorite thing you learned while writing this book? CR: Well, I learned a few things about myself that were pretty surprising - like the fact that it is really difficult for me to sit still in front of a computer for hours at a time and that I write best in the wee hours of the night. As far as techniques go, I didn't have much marbling experience before I wrote the book. It was great fun and I can't wait to do more of it to incorporate into my own work. Silkscreen basics KN: I loved the marbling technique idea using shaving cream! That seems like something really fun that you could do with children outdoors. Now that the book is in the world, what are you working on?  CR: I am settling back into making my own personal artwork, teaching and making one-of-a-kind hand dyed and painted cloth to sell in 3 yard pieces and as fat quarters for all those quilters out there. I'll be selling those on my Etsy site. A nice selection should be available within the next several weeks and months. So stay tuned for that! KN: I loved the chart (shown above) that you compiled comparing all the different kinds of fabric paints. Most crafters shop at places like Michael's and AC Moore. I did not see any of the common textile paints listed in the charts. Why was that? And if someone is just beginning and wants to pick up paints at say Michael's, can you recommend any of the common types such as those distributed by Plaid. CR:  Unfortunately places like Michaels and A.C. Moore no longer carry quality textile paints. They used to carry Jacquard products. For now you'll need to buy the paints I talk about in the book online or at finer art supply stores. I am a big proponent of starting out with quality supplies and quality paints in particular. All of the quality textile paints blend and mix well so you can easily start out with just the primary colors and black and white to save on the expense. Lesser quality paints tend to have a lot of fillers and substantially less pigment so it may be hard to get really vibrant colors that hold up from fading. Many of the online suppliers have great prices that rival the cost of cheaper paints at the craft stores. You just have to plan ahead. KN: I know - planning for these kinds of projects is important. My favorite place to order supplies is Dharma Trading Co. They have all kinds of fabulous fabrics, t-shirts, blanks, dyes, paints, and more and their service and website is great. Cheryl, is there anything else you want to share with us?  CR: There is no question that you have less control when painting on fabric rather then paper and canvas. But that very fact is what makes it so exciting! And that you don't need to know how to draw to create great surface design results. It never ceases to amaze me how many people get stymied by that fact. Just follow the paint. It will show you how it wants to be seen! KN: I love that - Follow the paint. It is kind of like "Follow Your Dream!" What is the wackiest fabric technique in the book that really turns out great? CR: Using ordinary baking flour as a resist. The results are spectacular! And it is always a wonderful surprise! KN: If you were a mom or a camp counselor and you wanted to pick one or two of the techniques in your book to do with children, what would you suggest? CR: Definitely sun painting! It is a magical experience for everyone - adults and children alike. Leaf and flower printing is another wonderful activity to do with kids during the spring and summer months. Plus there is the added bonus of having to take them for a walk to collect the leaves and flowers. Thanks so much Cheryl for taking time out of your day to share your new book Fabric Surface Design with us. Now for the Giveaway kindly donated by the fine folks at Storey Publishing! To enter, answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post..... Summer is coming and I always like to try out a new art, craft, or gardening technique to stretch my repertoire. Do you have anything new you are going to challenge yourself with this summer or something you would like to try but may not???? Contest ends Sunday May 19th at 11:59 p.m. Good luck everyone!

dinosaurcomics

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2422

archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - cute - search - about
← previous	May 15th, 2013	next
May 15th, 2013: Here is a map of real-time edits to Wikipedia sent to me by Eric of Rutabaga: Adventure Chef! I recommend clicking both those links. This is my recommendation and I stand by it. One year ago today: always go out on a joke – Ryan

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/14.shtml

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/14/marines-saving-a-few-good-turtles/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5436

gettingstitched

http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/2013/05/detroit-pbs-trip-this-saturday-webs.html

 

 

larrypoetry

http://lnhammer.dreamwidth.org/172053.html

—10 May 2013

dinosaurcomics

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2421

archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - cute - search - about
← previous	May 14th, 2013	next
May 14th, 2013: STILL BIG INTO TCAF OVER HERE. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out and said hi - I met so many awesome people and it was terrific! In conclusion: YAY TCAF. One year ago today: medusa fan comix – Ryan

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/13/canadian-makes-a-rock-video-in-space/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5431

Quoting from The Next Web, Andrew Sullivan posts today about a Canadian astronaut who may be on his last trip to space, given the Canadian government’s cutbacks.

“Commander Chris Hadfield is one of the most memorable astronauts to have gone into space, so it was fitting that his farewell moment to the world saw him record the first ever music video from space.

“Ahead of his return to Earth on Monday after five months at the International Space Station (ISS), the 53-year-old Canadian astronaut fittingly covered the David Bowie classic ‘Space Oddity’ in a poignant video.

“Hadfield has maintained strong links to folks at home, having entertained his 700,000-plus Twitter followers with regular photos and commentary, and taken part in a Reddit AMA interview, but music was always a focus for him.

“He recorded the first song in space last December, and, speaking before his latest mission, he admitted that he would record a range of songs in space.”

Read more at AndrewSullivan.

This video is really, really wonderful.

wondermark

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wondermark/~3/VmODtuJhdXU/

http://wondermark.com/?p=9868

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/11.shtml

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/12.shtml

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/13.shtml

vidyatinsil

http://tinsil.tumblr.com/post/50369126191

sometimes tiger bears don’t roar they sigh

dinosaurcomics

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420

archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - cute - search - about
← previous	May 13th, 2013	next
May 13th, 2013: TCAF WAS AMAZING AHHHHHHH I LOVE TCAF THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY RIGHT NOW One year ago today: alternate ending: t-rex calls up nasa, but it's not the space organization it's the National Apple Sharers Association, and t-rex wants some apples too, that's the exact moment where i started writing a different ending – Ryan

wrong_questions

http://wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-belated-pilots-of-spring.html

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/12/roads-that-glow-in-the-dark/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5360

You may get a kick out of this BBC story on the intersection of art and engineering.

“Artist Daan Roosegaarde has teamed up with Hans Goris, a manager at a Dutch civil engineering firm with hopes of reinventing highways all over the world.

“They are working on designs that will change with the weather — telling drivers if it’s icy or wet by using high-tech paint that lights up in different temperatures.

“Another of their ideas is to create a road that charges up electric cars as they drive along it.

“Daan Roosegarde said: ‘I was completely amazed that we somehow spend billions on the design of cars but somehow the roads … are still stuck in the Middle Ages.’

“In the past he has designed a dance floor with built-in disco lights powered by dancers’ foot movements.

“They plan to trial their specially designed glow-in-the-dark paint on a strip of road at Brabant, which is near the Dutch border with Belgium, later this year.”

Read more.

Photo of a glow-in-the-dark road: Roosegarde

musingscratchin

http://augustcoreopsis.blogspot.com/2013/05/rust-drawings.html

larrypoetry

http://lnhammer.dreamwidth.org/171870.html

—10 May 2013

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/11/spoofs-of-poems/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5417

Yesterday I was thinking about how Lewis Carroll’s wry humor was a kind of code targeted directly at kids. No kid could miss that Alice is the only sensible person among a nutty bunch of adults in Wonderland — Caterpillars, Mad Queens, March Hares, and Mad Hatters — who can’t seem to follow the rules of social behavior they always lecture children to follow.

I was thinking particularly of Carroll’s spoof on the moralizing poem about the little busy bee — familiar to children of that day — and how he entertained with verses about a completely irresponsible and self-indulgent reptile.

Instead of admonishing children to be industrious with “How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour,” he writes, “How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail.” (Click there and watch the delicious Disney version on YouTube. Note how confused Alice looks at hearing the wrong words and how polite she is anyway.)

I realized I could write a post on spoofs of poems after my husband pointed out a second item this morning. It seems that the tree Joyce Kilmer praised in his best-known poem turns out to have been close to where I grew up.

And I can never hear these words by Kilmer — “I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree” — without immediately hearing Ogden Nash spoofing Kilmer with “I think that I shall never see/A billboard lovely as a tree/And that unless the billboards fall,/ I’ll never see a tree at all.”

Please help me think of more examples. I’m sure there must be more.

vidyatinsil

http://tinsil.tumblr.com/post/50141308291

as soon as i heard Pepper Steak in battle for the first time, i decided i wanted to hear an NES-styled version of it. no one else seems to have made one, so that’s what i did this evening.

between the limited channels and all the horn/sax honking, this was pretty challenging!

original is by Alias Conrad Coldwood, this version by me.

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/10/fort-point-artwalk/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5414

The 13th Fort Point Artwalk was 4 to 7 today. (Saturday and Sunday, the Artwalk will be 12 to 5.)

We got started a little late because we had dinner first at Trade, but we definitely enjoyed what we had time to see.

The Boston Design Museum at the corner of Melcher and A streets had art made of moss in frames that caught my eye. We also liked seeing the models for the Street Seats contest that I blogged about a while back.

Across the way, Ari Hauben’s show was energetic and amusing. Hauben teaches art to kids with special needs in Boston, and he has strong feelings about the country’s current emphasis on standardized tests — especially for the student population he knows best.

He and an optical-engineer friend from Rochester, NY, acquired 50 Melcher Street, and for the current show, Hauben papered the floor with standardized tests. He put up large, green chalk boards with pedagogical insights and opportunities for guest commentary.

And he was eager to explain just how he creates the current works from Instagrams sent him by friends. The website says,  “His style could be defined as blending pop and street art techniques into mixed media works. The process predominantly involves newspaper, epoxy, spray paint, and layering techniques that are integrated into a variety of visual platforms.”

The prices are indicated by grades: A, B, C, D, F. I especially liked a picture of weathered yellow sheds and the work called Peach Farm, below. Lots more variety, here.

WCVB’s Chronicle interviewed Hauben here.

Art: Peach Farm by Ari Hauben

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/10.shtml

gettingstitched

http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/2013/05/weaning-moving-ewes-and-grazing.html

 

 

 

 

larrypoetry

http://lnhammer.dreamwidth.org/171664.html

—8 May 2013

softerworldfeed

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=970

buy this print
Or share on: facebook reddit

suzannesmom

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2013/05/09/lunch-lady-superheroes/

http://suzannesmomsblog.com/?p=5369

Author-illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka knows the power of a kind word. He found his calling largely because of two words from a children’s book author who visited his elementary school class.

And he got through a difficult childhood nourished on the kindness of strangers, including lunch ladies, an unjustly maligned species he has honored in a superhero series. (“Serving justice! And serving lunch!)

Linda Matchan has a lovely story at the Boston Globe about Krosoczka.  (I want to call your attention to how nicely she describes him, here: “with impossibly spiky hair that looks as though he penciled it in himself.”)

“Until recently,” writes Matchan, “Krosoczka was very guarded about his childhood. That changed last October when he got a call from the organizer of a TEDx program at Hampshire College, modeled after the TED Talks series. …

“Scrambling for a topic, his wife urged him to talk candidly about his childhood. With no time to come up with other options, he delivered a moving talk about his early years and the people who inspired and encouraged him. The talk caught the attention of the TED editorial team, which featured it in January on TED.com.

“He spoke in his talk about his mother — ‘the most talented artist I knew’ — who was addicted to heroin and often incarcerated. ‘When your parent is a drug addict it’s kind of like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football … Every time you open your heart, you end up on your back.’ …

“Third grade was the year something ‘monumental’ happened. Children’s book author Jack Gantos came to his school to talk about what he did for a living. He wandered into the classroom where Krosoczka was drawing, stopped at Krosoczka’s desk and studied his picture.

“ ‘Nice cat,’ Gantos said.

“ ‘Two words,’ said Krosoczka, ‘that made a colossal difference in my life.’ ”

More.

Author-illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka knows the power of a kind word. He found his calling largely because of two words from a children’s book author who visited his elementary school class.
And he got through a difficult childhood nourished on the kindness of strangers, including lunch ladies, an unjustly maligned species he has honored in a superhero series. (“Serving justice! And serving lunch!)
Linda Matchan has a lovely story at the Boston Globe about Krosoczka.  (I want to call your attention to how nicely she describes him, here: “with impossibly spiky hair that looks as though he penciled it in himself.”)
“Until recently,” writes Matchan, “Krosoczka was very guarded about his childhood. That changed last October when he got a call from the organizer of a TEDx program at Hampshire College, modeled after the TED Talks series. …
“Scrambling for a topic, his wife urged him to talk candidly about his childhood. With no time to come up with other options, he delivered a moving talk about his early years and the people who inspired and encouraged him. The talk caught the attention of the TED editorial team, which featured it in January on TED.com.
“He spoke in his talk about his mother — ‘the most talented artist I knew’ — who was addicted to heroin and often incarcerated. ‘When your parent is a drug addict it’s kind of like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football … Every time you open your heart, you end up on your back.’ …
“Third grade was the year something ‘monumental’ happened. Children’s book author Jack Gantos came to his school to talk about what he did for a living. He wandered into the classroom where Krosoczka was drawing, stopped at Krosoczka’s desk and studied his picture.
“ ‘Nice cat,’ Gantos said.
“ ‘Two words,’ said Krosoczka, ‘that made a colossal difference in my life.’ ”

vidyatinsil

http://tinsil.tumblr.com/post/50067311017

i think so, yeah. i mean, you sound like you won’t use it to attack or criticize people for their identity or anything, so basically, as long as you act decent about it go ahead

in general, as long as you’re not being antagonistic or ignoring the poster’s wishes (incl. but not limited to things like privacy), i think it’s okay to reblog most stuff?

wondermark

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wondermark/~3/ododq4LgueQ/

http://wondermark.com/?p=9867

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/06.shtml

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/07.shtml

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/08.shtml

pantoum_persist

http://www.pantoum.org/entries/2013/05/09.shtml

musingscratchin

http://augustcoreopsis.blogspot.com/2013/05/falling.html

musingscratchin

http://augustcoreopsis.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-hate-making-collagraphs.html