March 2, 2009
Atlantis has been popping up in the news lately because some bored teenagers found suspicious data in Google Maps' rendering of the Atlantic ocean. Fine, it's ok for legions of geeks to fantasize about discovering a city, although there are some major philosophical and practical problems with this approach. If one were to find the sunken remains of a glorious city, it seems a certain level of fame if not immortality would be achieved. Perhaps nothing is more threatening to the notion of fame than setting out into the middle of the ocean or becoming an oceanographer, and on top of that it would be perilous to search for Atlantis in the physical world. Enterprising slackers the world over (although mostly in America, no doubt) are attempting this by Google. If the slacker dream of yesteryear was to strike it rich by building a web site, the far more dismal slackers of today have resigned themselves to striking it rich by surfing the 'net. This is something as pathetic as wanting to become a photographer solely by scouring Google Images until one finds something someone somewhere is willing to purchase (and hoping that it falls in the public domain...). I do not have the greatest mind for economics, but it seems the system of supply and demand needs a third term for this business model-- perhaps foolhardiness? (It's no small wonder they got that depression runnin'). This is the most prominent example of people taking credit for something they didn't actually do with resources they don't actually control despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary from the scientific community since Sarah Palin has disappeared from the public eye.
It is obvious that our society still does not understand the nature of the Internet. Google does not generate information, it merely catalogs it. It does a great job at that (go get 'em, Fellas!), but information must be supplied to Google and other search engines. Yes, a person can learn a lot from the Internet simply by using Google; however, the Internet is much more valuable for society as a whole when people share ideas. It is important for people to contribute to the Internet, or else it will shrink in relation to the amount of information outside of it.
It's desperately old fashioned to search for Atlantis and a total waste of time. Suppose it were a real city, it would predate Plato. What might have survived 2500 years at the bottom of the ocean? Wouldn't excavating it be more trouble than it's worth? As an American citizen, I'm used to spending roughly $100,000,000 per month on our Imperialism, but enough is enough. Let's stop romanticizing worthless old cities, it's 2009. The time has come to embrace the future-- and potentially some way-out futuristic ideas like peace and equal rights.
Labels: philosophy, politics
Posted at 8:51 PM 0 comments
What's Going OnJanuary 26, 2009
When there are long periods of silence on this blog, it's because I fall into a trap where I can't decide what to do. I feel like I should post, and also that there are too many other things that should be part of this site that aren't online. I have to update my links, and I have writing and artwork to post, too.
Tonight, I'm working on all of that. I have been fairly faithful to my New Year's resolution, even though a lot of the writing has been offline. Good Morning, Mr. Magpie! is coming along well.
Labels: web-design, writing
Posted at 7:22 PM 0 comments
New Year's ResolutionsJanuary 3, 2009
My New Year's Resolutions should make writing this blog easier and easier to do. With a friend, I'm committing to writing every day. That won't necessarily be a blog post. I am always working on screenplays, and poetry, and a children's book. I feel like I have more resolve this year than in previous years. A lot of that has to do with my recent trip to Italy.
Being in Europe was a refreshing experience. It motivated me to be able to witness people living desirable lives: eating well, immersing themselves in art, taking pride in their work, and wasting less. There's more to this epiphany than I'm going to write about on this blog because some of it is difficult to put into words, and I don't want to look like an idiot.
The biggest part of this resolve of mine is finishing HEARTWORMS. After numerous rewrites, I'm ready to do a penultimate polish and start storyboarding. I plan on doing ten pages a week, but who knows what my course load will be like in the coming weeks. Not to mention my real job.
Labels: heartworms
Posted at 10:29 AM 0 comments
Good Morning, Mr. Magpie!January 2, 2009
Good Morning, Mr. Magpie is the title of a children's book or short cartoon I'm working on. The idea comes from a drawing I did a while ago, It Dawned on Me. I am aware that a magpie is not a mouse. The story concerns a mouse going through some changes who finds himself. I'm still roughing out the plot.
Speaking of animation, I've been re-familiarizing myself with Flash during winter break. I put together two short animations of a dancing skeleton: One to ring in the new year and one as a sort of advertisement for my apartment complex.
I know what you're thinking: "What's the deal with that weird advertisement for your apartment complex?"
On Christmas Eve morning (at 11 AM), I was listening to some music at moderate volume. Approximately fifteen minutes later, the apartment manager called me to report that someone complained about the noise. She reminded me that I need to be considerate of others all hours of the day. So some obnoxious tattletale had a problem with my music. Instead of coming to ask me to turn it down, (s)he ratted me out to the apartment manager on Christmas Eve for playing my folk rock music too loudly.
So it's a skeleton dancing to no music because my neighbors hate music. If you hate music, Woodman Park Apartments is for you, and if I refer a friend I get a $400 credit.
Posted at 5:49 PM 0 comments
An Overview of the New DesignJanuary 1, 2009
Finally, I'm content with the design of my Web site after several versions that didn't live up to my standards. I am making a serious commitment to update this daily. It's strange how in the past week my interest in cinema and (personal) Web design has been renewed. I think I may owe it entirely to la nouvelle vague, but what else is new? Now for a brief overview of the rest of the site:
About Me - a brief bit of biographical information, lists of my favorite works of art (films, albums, paintings), and anything of a personal nature that feels out of place elsewhere
Art - my drawings, photos, and animations
Writing - my screenplays and essays
Archive - an archive of my blog posts by date or category
Site Info - mostly geeky, technical information about the site
Portfolio - sites I've designed for money
Contact - methods to contact me
Links - sites that may be of interest to visitors to my site, and I regret that I don't link to more art sites because so many are so ugly
Labels: web-design
Posted at 10:01 AM 0 comments