I just had one of *those* moments... where you realize that it is literally impossible to have an actual original idea.
Ego crushing, on one hand. Vastly comforting, on the other, to know that others think the same way I do.
Some of you might remember that I wrote a project proposal earlier this year. Excerpt here and full 8-page proposal here (pdf).
And so today I see Pleix's Netlag video.
Spooky!!
Oh and I'm not saying at all that someone's idea was stolen... I've never heard of Pleix before nor did I ever upload my proposal until right now in order to show you the similarities.
Actually, I quite like how their project turned out. Apparently they projected it onto a big wall when they presented it.
I have no better excuse for ignoring my website/blog besides that I have better things to do... like enjoying summer while it's here.
So I'm going through my projects from this year's Design class... And since I hated every single one of them, I was curious to see if there was anything that I didn't want to purge completely off my web server and erase forever out of my life.
Lo and behold, some people had actually responded to my "new media poem" (the quotes are very much needed) and I found some damn funny shit in my database. Among one of them:
"i could slip in the shower, breaking my neck. thereby lying paralyzed and slowly dying of dehydration in my own shower."
Thank you.
That totally made my week.
Here are some graphical programming environments that you can use for realtime manipulation or triggering of video, audio, etc. which are dandy tools for making installations or for VJ (video jockey) visuals. (Did I explain that right? I think so.)
Max/DSP
EyesWeb
Pure Data.
I met with Rob and Steve to discuss one of our school projects yesterday.
Being that Rob is a backend/systems type of guy, Steve a visual conceptualizer person and I the designer/developer fence sitter, you would think that working together would be a perfect fit but -- as happens with group projects -- nothing is as easy as that.
After an intense 2 hours of tossing ideas back and forth it became pretty evident that, while we respect each other ideas, our different approaches to working made it hard to figure out a tangible objective for the final result which would include all of us.
So as the meeting broke, I think all of us were feeling pretty frustrated and not looking forward to having yet another roundabout meeting.
Then out of nowhere I suddenly blurt out that we shouldn't even talk about it anymore. "Hey Steve, you're a content guy. You make content. Rob, you take Steve's stuff and rip it apart. And I'll be the liason that puts those two things together."
I think I said it in jest (maybe even out of desperation?) but suddenly it was the moment that everything we talked about clicked into place.
And thus, a new media exquisite corpse was born.
I'm quite amused walking around Toronto right now... All the would-be chic urbanites are flailing their arms around trying to find their balance in this extra 15cm of snow that we got over the past couple days. Not like I'm doing much better but at least I'm not trying to run around in heels.... woe is the person who puts fashion over warmth.
Three weeks in Regina must have made me crazy about winter because, if Toronto snow wasn't so dirty, I would have been out making a snowman. I even felt like starting a random snowball fight today but decided that I'd rather not risk the chance of picking an "unstable" local.
There was another blackout in Toronto today -- this time it only hit a small area of downtown. Deja-vu.... once again I was (almost) at work. They sent us home and thankfully my apartment building just barely missed the blacked out area by a block... otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't be so cheery right now.
A girl in my class made my day yesterday. Apparently my group's shenanigans of running through the main halls of Ryerson spreading "joy" (see Aligator picture here) actually did make a lot of people happy.
Since she works in the RyeSac office, she heard a couple of veteran Ryerson staff absolutely rave about how this sort of thing doesn't happen often enough and they talked about it all day.
One day, I'm going to see some other person running around in an aligator costume and be like, "Hey, I helped start that!"
... or maybe not.
Three weeks in Regina is like going away to a different country.
View first batch of photos from my Woca (they need to be rescanned though).
Week 1:
Arrived Dec. 11th and I was welcomed with blistering -30 degree weather (compared to Toronto's +5 degrees). I promptly bought a scarf.
I also promptly got put out of service with a cold in which coughing made me feel delerious... At least it was the day after my birthday so at least I got some partying in.
Week 2:
On the road to recovery... Weather also warmed up to -10 so it was great.
Did lots of this and that with old friends from high school. It was really nice seeing people that I hadn't seen in 2- 4 years and meeting their friends. Holly, a friend since grade 1, even dragged out her photo albums and keepsakes box which added much humour into the holiday.
By the middle of this week though I felt like I had been in Regina for what felt like a really long time. I double-checked my plane ticket and realized that I had 3 more weeks left in Regina.
I then promptly changed my ticket to leave Dec. 31 rather than Jan 5.
Week 3:
Did more of this and that. I mean, what can I tell you... it's Regina.
If there would have been a Week 4 then I would have had to suffer -55 degree weather since the cold settled back in the day I left. You don't understand how glad I am to be back in Toronto.
I miss summer -- or at least the idea of a summer holiday since I'm desperately needing some air right now.
This is from Ward Island. After a 'hike' through poison ivy, Norina and I scored prime real estate with a log by the waves and kicked off our shoes to make this sand creation while fending off big, wet dogs.
And because I finally developed my photos from 3 months ago, the photo section has been updated too. Check it.
The wonders of ICQ birthday reminders... :)
This one was from Charmie