Inside Adam Savages Cave: Indiana Jones Bullwhip – Tested.
I have only recently discovered Tested.com. But most of the videos I have seen are pretty interesting. The one above is just fascinating. Adam Savage is becoming a bit of a personal hero. His level of craftsmanship, and the desire to learn new skills are totally admirable. PLus listen to him explain the process of making a leather bullwhip just like Indy’s. It is epic.
Seasons of Love.
How do you measure a year in the life? Someday I will be lucky enough to do this show. This song came up on iTunes tonight, and it always has a special connotation for me.
In 2005, my dear friend Michael Gorman passed away suddenly. And it hit me pretty hard. Thoughts of him only brought up tears and sadness. After a time, I heard this song on iTunes and a lyric reminded me of Michael, and made me smile.
Michael loved coffee. He drank it all the time and would sometimes leave his empty ( and half empty) cups lying around. Eventually he would pick them up, but not before some of them grew mold and had a layer of sawdust. Totally gross and vile right?
But I heard this:
Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights
In cups of coffee
Can you believe I was wistfully thinking about the sawdust covered moldy cup of coffee at that moment? Absentmindedly left around the theaters and the shop. His superior organizational skills didn’t translate to used coffee.
I have been thinking about Michael lately, because of the opening of the new dance studio. He would have been so excited about this. He kept dance alive at W&L single-handedly while he was here. Stage managing the W&L students’ dance concerts and doing their lights. Handling their publicity. He would have loved the creation of the dance minor. He would be proud of this new studio. In so many ways this would not have been possible without his hard work.
So many days when I am about to take the lazy way on something, I think about Mike. What would he do? Would he wuss out? Would he mush on without organizing things? I hope he would approve.
There are always bad stuff in life. Measure the love.
it is so calming to sit in silence on a Sunday.
listening deeper, there is more to it
rustle of the leaves in the wind
syncopated sounds of exterior insects
the kids not doing their chores upstairs
snippets of imaginary games floating down
the silence is full of noise, full of life
of action and life filling up the home, but not crowding it
that will leave empty silence once they grow up.
My talented brother, Matt, found something unusual while on vacation:
The sound quality of bad. My amateur filming skills on an now outdated digital camera are even worse. However I felt compelled to preserve this experience and share it. Maybe these things happen on in Venice. I don’t know. But that is where I happened upon these two violinists that included ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana in their repertoire.
What struck me was the power of the 90?s grunge rock was (in my opinion) quite successfully translated in an arguably vivaldesque arrangement.
via The Universality of the Beautiful « Matthew James Collins.
This goes to show that beauty is out there in the world, and that you can pull inspiration from anywhere. So even something totally crazy like, “I wonder what that Nirvana song would sound like on my violin?” Can create something amazing. Take the leap, and maybe it can.
“Hoverbike on its Way to Star Wars Speeder Status”
That is a genius blog post title, from the amazing people at MAKE Magazine.
California-based company Aerofex has developed a working hoverbike that uses ducted fan technology and can be controlled by knee movements of the pilot. The ducted fans have been around since the 60s, but Aerofex has only now utilized them in this capacity with enough stability for the pilot to have control over the vehicle’s movements.
via MAKE | Aerofex Hoverbike on its Way to Star Wars Speeder Status.
Finally someone is working on getting science fiction a reality. That is why I wanted to be alive in the 21st century. Here is the video in action:
I saw this interview with Seth Godin today and this bit stuck in my brain:
This is easy. There’s a picture that I just saw online two days ago. Monday I have this seminar I’m running for free for college students and I’m going to show them this picture before we start.
The thing about the picture that’s pathetic, beyond the notion that you need to spam the audience at graduation with a note saying you’re looking for a job, is that you went $150,000 in debt and spent four years of your life so someone else could pick you. That’s ridiculous. It really makes me sad to see that. The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for someone to give you permission; quit waiting for someone to say you are officially qualified and pick yourself. It doesn’t mean you have to be an entrepreneur or a freelancer, but it does mean you stand up and say, “I have something to say. I know how to do something. I’m doing it. If you want me to do it with you, raise your hand.”
via The Great Discontent (TGD).
This really ties into what I am thinking I should be doing with my students in college. Give them the tools and desire to go create and make things happen. This idea was repeated by Neil LaBute when he visited campus back in 2005. When asked about advice for students getting into Theater and film he said they should essentially create their own opportunities and “make your own fun.”
Neil LaBute – Sage Advice (and Making your own Fun) from Owen Collins on Vimeo.
IN this day and age, memorization of knowledge is not as important as it used to be. But generating ideas and synthesizing knowledge is more important. And what is more important than thinking up ideas is making them happen. An idea isn’t the most important thing, making it happen is. That is what everyone graduating needs to learn.
Brian Eno wrote a great piece for Wired magazine. In it he discusses the use of technology in the creation of art.
The limitations of a certain piece of technology or of a certain medium is not bad, just its signature. He points to the Marshall Amp and how it leads to distortion of the audio signal. In my hands it would sound awful, in Jimi Hendrix’s it is way better. Here is one paragraph I love:
Since so much of our experience is mediated in some way or another, we have deep sensitivities to the signatures of different media. Artists play with these sensitivities, digesting the new and shifting the old. In the end, the characteristic forms of a tools or mediums distortion, of its weakness and limitations, become sources of emotional meaning and intimacy.
Of course as a Theater professor I relate this to Theater, and it really resonates. the role of the artist is to make art out of the new and old, and to bring an emotional meaning to your work.
Rod Serling, of Twilight Zone Fame, distills where ideas come from down into a minute. Must find more of where this clip is from.
Rod Serling talks about Writing for Television (Part 1) – YouTube
WIth the Aurora Colorado Massacre, there has been a lot of back and forth about gun control. I found Jason Alexander’s thoughts on the matter to be very well articulated. He looks at the 2nd Amendment gun advocate reference:
As passed by the Congress:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:
“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”So the patriots are correct, gun ownership is in the constitution – if you’re in a well-regulated militia.
And he comes to a point that I agree with, that while people do have the right to own guns, they shouldn’t get any type of gun they want.
These weapons are military weapons. They belong in accountable hands, controlled hands and trained hands. They should not be in the hands of private citizens to be used against police, neighborhood intruders or people who don’t agree with you. These are the weapons that maniacs acquire to wreak murder and mayhem on innocents. They are not the same as handguns to help homeowners protect themselves from intruders. They are not the same as hunting rifles or sporting rifles. These weapons are designed for harm and death on big scales.
For me that rings with truth. Assault weapons are very dangerous, and should be restricted to the military. I don’t want to live in a society where you are expected to pack heat to protect yourself. That is a society that I think the majority of american would want as well.
