It's kind of something new to be able to stand next to a piece of art and be way smaller than it is. I think I kind of like working big. Though, I can see potential danger for me in that I tend to obsess with details and if I work big, I'll have a lot more room to do that kind of obsession. This piece is just a tent. It's supposed to be quick and fun, not have a lot of detail. I fear me doing actual 'art' this way. Also, there's the logistical problem of having space to work on pieces this size and a place to _put_ pieces this size when they're done.
Ohwell. Fun stuff, but I should get back to work now.
Well. Looks like I'm going ahead with it. this evening I pinned up a 10ft wide (at the narrow part!) 6ft tall panel of my tent and got crazy with the airbrush.
Burning Man Tent - Ocean Panel by ~dv-girl on deviantART
Also, since he's what inspired me and I haven't posted any photos of him (and he was conveniently out and wandering around the kitchen tonight for no explicable reason) Here's Signpost Squid that I built for Burning Man last year. He was supposed to have a dry erase board and let people leave notes but I never got around to it. He ended up being a good landmark for people anyhow though.
This year, he'll have the water panel as his backdrop. :)
Burning Man - Signpost Squid by ~dv-girl on deviantART
- Mood:
artistic
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar
Yes yes. Now all you little right-wing shits can jump up and down and gibber about how you knew he was wishy washy and if we'd ONLY elected Dumb and Dumber I wouldn't be irked now.
Fails basic logic check, but ya'know. Go ahead and feel free.
Meanwhile, I'll point out this thing about us liberals that's different from you pinheads. Notice how we're unafraid to question and criticize our own guy. Not like you, screaming that we only got angry at Bush because he was Bush while you kiss every shit he takes as though it were the baby Jesus.
It sickens me that he's being a chicken shit coward about this, but you know what? McCain would be far worse. He'd be down there giving the pope a blowjob, nodding happily with every crusty old thrust.
Spent the last several days sewing and sewing and sewing. Making a tent is no small chore. I stitched a few hundred feet in the past week. Most of it is long straight stitches, sure, but you're dealing with so much weight from the cloth that it's difficult to manage, and actually, the 'tent' is 4 panels that attach to a 10'x10' canopy.
Tie-dyed each of the panels individually and the next step is to do airbrushed artwork over that. I'll be working on that this weekend while I'm camping using a compressor that's running off solar panels which is charging an old tank I had in storage. Should be fun, but I could be happier. :/
by last night I was getting pretty run down. This was the largest sewing project I've ever tackled and it took simply forever and as it turned out, just when I thought I was about done, we discovered that one of the cats had decided to throw a fit about something and had peed on my favorite panel. (which BTW is not a regular occurrence. They haven't peed on anything in like six months) It also turned out there was a stitch that was missing on that panel and since it needed to be done, I had to sew it while it still stank of cat pee...
Also, I have some issues about excrements that made this a very difficult thing for me to do psychologically so I was mildly freaking out and then somehow I also managed to snap the needle on the sewing machine and just to top that off, somehow, as I was to discover later, a broken piece of needle had flown three feet across the room and landed pointy tip straight up in one of the barely-needle-sized vent holes next to the keyboard on my Macbook Pro.
... So guess what happened when I didn't see it and closed my computer. :(
Um yeah. So there you have it. Fairly good proof that sometimes the universe just goes completely out of its way to be a dick to me.
On the bright side, I'm not very forceful when I close my computer so it's just got a nasty scar on the screen. I didn't shatter the LCD at least. :/
Edit: Oh. For added humor... The panel that was peed on/etc was the 'creation/destruction of the universe' panel.
Should be very interesting to see how this goes. I suspect it will be a while before Maya or Photoshop run on Chrome, but I bet they port over Blender and Gimp.
I'm a little leery of a web-based OS though. Especially one that I'm guessing will be heavily reliant on Flash for many of its applications. Sure it's nice to have documents stored in a common repository and be able to share them with friends/co-workers on the other side of the continent. And probably, taking away file management from the average user is going to vastly the average user's ability to really mess up. But, (if that's indeed their model, please note I'm speculating wildly based on nothing) it seems like it's only a matter of time before someone then begins trying to charge you for use to your data and/or regulating your data. I'm very much in favor of a free society and try to do stuff to contribute to that fairly often, but I'm well aware that neither telecom companies nor governments work on that model.
Ohwell. No sense worrying about it now. I anxiously await their white papers.
- Music:Apollo - William Smith
bing.com for the intellectually incurious! Don't waste your time reading wikipedia entries and gaining knowledge. You want to be a good consumer. BING!
- Music:Apollo - William Smith
http://www.spunkcomics.com/kong/
(Warning: It's like badly rendered gay Conan porn. You have been warned. It's now not my fault if you click that link and learn about Mangus's hungry ass being gorged by a raper vine.)
- Music:Apollo - William Smith
Ah Republicans! So the only hope for AmeriKKKa is for Osama Bin Laden to detonate a nuclear weapon in a large city and thus save us from ourselves.
God only knows what will happen if he doesn't save us from ourselves! Healthcare for all the citizens, good schools, treating one another with respect and dignity.
SAVE US OSAMA BIN LADEN! YOU'RE OUR ONLY HOPE.
(And cue Star Spangled banner and sparklers, cut to waving flag)
I propose a compromise. How about this: If they're willing to have millions of people die to see their dreams come true, we round up all the Glenn Becks and their like, put them in a big group somewhere, then find Bin Laden and let him kill them all. Surely these patriots, are willing to lay down their own lives for their vision.
Sheesh. You know... Obama may be falling short of 'everything I'd hope for in a president' but the "At least he's not one of these fucks" is still so high that I have a hard time criticizing. Any step back from the brink is probably a good one.
Truth be told though, I am a little edgy about this weekend. I've figured if the racist ignorant lunatic right-wing fringe is going to do anything, the two days that are most likely are tax day (already passed) and 4th of July, and the 4th is probably a bit more likely because while I love hot weather, it seems to make a lot of people bugnuts.
All in all though, I'm pretty sure they're mostly too wrapped up in their own comfort and TV sitcoms to actually do anything, and I'm extremely skeptical any kind of large scale attack could happen or have even the slightest chance of success. Still. I don't relish these morons killing even a handful of people so lets hope there's something especially good on TV for them to watch.
It's true actually. It's been so long since I saw a science fiction movie that didn't just stun me with its stupid, that I've not had anything to discuss for a while.
Kind of an interesting insight into how we work. If something passes the smoke test, we just jump to the next level of rating and scarcely notice the change.
Anyhow... On to a review.
( Warning: Contents may spoil if opened )
So... All in all. Great film! See it while you can.
Also tore the wheel hubs apart. The bearings were great shape. No wear, no rust. Since this bike is going to go to Burning Man, I packed them with a lot of a heavier weight grease. It's a bit more resistance than you'd really want for 'normal' riding, but for riding in talcum powder, it should help keep the dust out of my hubs.
bike store was out of the style of brake pad I want for it. Won't get to pick those up for a week. Chain's in good shape, derailleur needs to be tuned, and I need to tweak the rims because they're slightly warped. (I have a funny feeling that, based on the condition and from the dust patterns and stuff that it was standing on its kickstand for.... possibly decades...)
I may also pick up some enamel and see if I can color match and fix a couple of chips in the paint.
- Music:Navras - Juno Reactor
Anyhow... I found a really totally completely awesome all original 1970's 3-speed Schwinn Beach Cruiser on Craigslist and decided it was the right bike for riding around on the playa.
Last year I took my beloved old Trek but with narrow road tires on it, it was pretty tough going in the sand and my poor Trek got stolen this spring, prompting me to buy a new bike which is a little too 'nice' to take out on the Playa. It'd never run as well again.
So.. I saw this bike, took a test ride on it and was flooded with happy childhood memories of my very first bicycle. Save for having a saddle instead of a banana seat, it feels just like my very first bike. Plus... It's just awesome styling.
It's been kept in a shed and aside from needing some new tires and brakepads due to dry rot, it's in great shape. Tonight I'll get to work cleaning it up, repacking the bearings, etc. Then it's on to customizing and decorating her for Burning Man. :)
- Music:Navras - Juno Reactor
...
Fascinating how there are at least three possibilities they don't even seem to consider. I mean, even mummies of young boys are typically depicted with a beard.
Perhaps the person was intersexed or transgendered. Most non-judeochristian have been pretty accepting of trans* people instead of burning them as witches.
Or maybe the real lady Hors wanted to escape her life and a body double guard was sacrificed and buried so that she could escape.
Or perhaps the embalmer really really wanted his brother to survive well in the afterlife and figured no one would know once the wrapping was on.
I dunno. I guess the penis=man thing sort of bugs me. I can't think of any mummies that are depicted as withered and aged. The sarcophagus generally seems to portray the occupant in the prime of their life; how they wish to be seen and the body they wanted to live in for eternity even if it was the body they no longer had on the mortal plane. What if that is the case here and our culture has just robbed this person of her eternal identity?
EDIT: Seems I was right. Listen to the person speaking here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_m
Fucking mainstream America
Pendants by ~dv-girl on deviantART
The top two are bits of shell. The first one is a broken piece from a greenish tinged bit of scallop shell. Not sure what sort of snail the second is. Tried a bit of scrimshaw on them both, though I'm very rusty and they were just practice pieces. Inked the scallop with black and the snail with white.
On the bottom row, I believe the two green stones are malachite. I cut them both from the same larger stone. It's fairly soft and sands easily. It's also magnetic. The color/pattern was better in the direction I cut the smaller piece but sadly it also put me cutting across a fracture and meant I couldn't get any large pieces from it.
The red stone is, I think red poppy jasper. Whatever it is, it's a very hard stone, only barely more malleable than flint. This piece was just a pebble that I ground down a little.
Next I'll have to teach myself silver smithing so that I can make mounts for the stones.
So we went to the beach at Scott Creek and hiked up. Tide was very low. It was teh awesome. We even got to poke around inside the one cave that I've usually had to climb over. It's only about three meters deep but still pretty neat.
Sadly though, a bit further up the way, one of the other narrow points in the beach had washed away and even at low tide it had a swift and deep water channel going right up to the cliff face so about 2/3rd of beach was totally inaccessible, greatly abbreviating our hike. (Ended up being only about a mile and a half each way)
Sadly enough, this is also where we used to find most of the abalone. Guess I'll have to take an inflatable raft next time.
Despite this, we found lots of really excellent shells. Not much abalone but a few pieces I can work. Lots and lots of pretty good snail shells though, at least six different types; one I'd never seen before so woot.
Earlier I was fiddling around with doing some scrimshaw work on one of them. I'll have to post some photos later.
Anyhow. I'm really being struck by the Microsoft "I'm a PC" advertisements.
Let me see if I understand the premise... So... Microsoft finds some inbred rube and says, "We'll buy you a computer if you jabber inanely for a few minutes on camera"
... And somehow, bribing someone with a free computer equates to their OS not being a flaming pile of dog shit?
... I'm kinda confused. I mean... If you have to bribe someone to do your advertising, it seems like your product is full of fail.
But perhaps I'm merely basing my opinion on having used Windows. C'mon Microsoft, give me two grand to buy a computer. I'll get something way better than a stinking piece of crap Dell Boat Anchor and it won't even be a single-purpose machine. I'll be able to use it for just about anything.
I did a lot of snacking while I was picking elderberries, of course. I was in one of my weird browsing modes. Decided just for fun to take a few photos. So.. Here's what the local variety of elderberries look like.
( Behind the cut are several more local wild edible plants )
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
cargoweasel linked to a clip from a 70's film "Free to Be You and Me" in his journal. I'd seen it before, of course. I lived on this stuff when I was a child. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I still like it now.Sorta started me thinking though... What happened to us? Prior to the late 80s, you look at almost any other time in american history and it seems like there was a kind of optimism there that went missing. Even during the depression era of the 30s, there was an undercurrent of optimism. Science fiction was blooming. Faster and faster cars and planes were evolving. Stuff was happening.
During WWII, there was a 'can do' spirit thing going on. Perhaps some of that optimism was propaganda, but it was still there. Even in the 50s when we suddenly had the threat of nuclear power, there was still this belief that we could do anything, that we were going to go up and up and up and reach out and touch the stars.
The sixties brought us love and peace and all that jazz and that persisted into the 70s. All this awesome stuff was happening with integration and equality. We'd landed men on the moon and the next stop was Mars.
And then.... What happened? The 80s started off pretty well, I mean. Lots of campy movies. Goonies, Indiana Jones, sequels to Star Wars, ET, and all that sort of stuff, but something somewhere was going rotten. Things were becoming darker and more cynical. A lot of music took on my violent and hateful sounds. Television, movies, and humor as a whole turned more and more cynical and jaded. It became routine to tear down idols.
Hunter S. Thompson saw it coming. As he put it:
“ Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era — the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .
History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of “history” it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time — and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.
My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights — or very early mornings — when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L. L. Bean shorts and a Butte sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that. . . .
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
So what happened? Televangelists? Reagan? Gas crisis? Recession? Challenger? AIDs? The rise of obesity?
Maybe it's all just backlash. A bunch of ignorant conservatives who couldn't handle the idea of treating blacks, women, gays, and the environment with respect. The petulant wrath of millions of poor little suburbanite white boys who suddenly had to face the realization that they weren't God's gift to the universe.
Or, worst of all... What if it's just me? What if most people in the US still have that cheerful optimism and are happily oblivious to all the dark words I've heard? Or what if this is the way most adults view the world and always have and I was only naive to it because I viewed the world through the eyes of a child?
But... I don't think so. I see other things around the edges, like the tide is beginning to turn. I think perhaps the collective unconscious is sick of hate and cynicism and we're all now surging back towards the beach.
I suppose I should also try making some loquat jam, picking the plums from a friend's tree and making chutney, and maybe collecting some of the local dates and making something from them as well.
It's also not too long until blackberry season. Yay! ^_^
- Music:Pseudopod 145: Infestation - Matthew Piskun
