Sunday, June 26, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Friday, June 24, 2005
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Krista thought:
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Very nice, were they taken at different times in the day?
How'd you get a picture of the sun without it glaring all over the place? I can't ever seem to get a good shot like you can. -
Andy thought:
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Krista,
Thanx.
All 4 images were shot within minutes of eachother, through my Ray-Bans, with my camera set to fully automatic. So no fancy filter or F-Stop tricks here.
I think the difference between them is simply that some are shot into the sun, some away. The rest is just the magic of summer light.
A.
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thought:
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I particularly like the bottom right hand corner picture with the light diffusing softly through the trees, though masking everything else in shadow.
I really adore it.
I wish I could take pictures like this. What do you shoot on? -
Andy thought:
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Maeko,
Thanx.
Here's a higher res. If you look closely you'll see why I'm ready to ditch my LC40. I've loved that camera and still swear by its Leica lens, but I'm ready for an SLR. I'm thinking I'll start saving for a Nikon D70s.
I also adjust levels and color balance in Photoshop, so the images aren't entirely all that.
A. -
Krista thought:
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The bottom two are my favourite, the heat just seeps right out of these photos. Good work. :)
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Unknown thought:
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beautiful. these really capture suburbia.
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Mick thought:
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Interesting perception from tony...there is no urbia to which these houses are subordinate...what are they then?
The Smoke Pot
Please view the full-scale image as well.
Throughout the summer of 2003, Heather and I were apart. I was unemployed and she was about to begin grad school, so we opted to avoid city rent for a few months. We retreated to our respective families' homes; I summered in a New Jersey basement, she in the conservative hills surrounding the University of Virginia.
Each of us took advantage of the months, spending time with our younger siblings before they went off to first-year. I kept my brother busy pirating music by the gig, helping me retouch magazine work, and setting up a home network for my parents. Heather and her sister made The Smoke Pot.
House rules dictated that they smoke outside, and as two sisters (and smokers) will do when they haven't been together in a while, they burned through cartons on the stoop and in the garage. After complaints of errant butts from their mother grew tiring, they resolved to craft a solution.
It started with repurposed terra cotta, and continued through several runs to big-box craft stores. They picked up acrylics and dyed sand, drawing the project out over weeks for the sake of it.
The pot lived for years in Charlottesville, and has now retired to the South Carolina shore; the magically damp and slow land from which we just returned.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
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Krista thought:
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Very cute, looks like confetti. :)
Sunday, June 19, 2005
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mr. tomas ubik thought:
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wherever the hell peter has been going keep me away, beautiful shots, scary spots....did you have a dream with a butterfly in it or something...or is it like the japanese year of the catepillar of something?
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Andy thought:
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Eano,
He's likely been going to Colorado; according to his bio that's where he grew up.
And no, no dreams (I rarely have them). I guess I've just been crossing paths with a lot of moths/butterfly's lately. Or perhaps vice versa.
It kinda makes sense to be discussing Peter Sutherland and lepidoptera in the same breath though. His bother Andrew is known for his depictions of the insects.
A. -
Krista thought:
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I just stumbled across this journal, all the photos are excellent especially this one. Beautiful work here, I'll be linking from my journal. :)
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thought:
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Wow, I'm quite delighted and honoured that you've linked me, even though I've never spoken/comment bantered w/ you.
Your pictures are rather pleasing. I think I'll frequent this page, too.
Thank you for the visual sugar. -
Andy thought:
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Krista,
Thanx for the praise.
Thanx for the link.
I haven't had much time to explore Oceanaria yet.
But it's bringing good karma already.
A. -
Andy thought:
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Maeko,
Sometimes there's no need to chit-chat to know that you're on the same page with someone you've only seen. I've been a regular of maeko.org for a while, finding it obviously, through the virtual friends we share.
So thank you,
A.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
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mr. tomas ubik thought:
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hey,
is that a filter used to create the red ashphalt or is that not asphalt and naturally some red mineral like that? -
Andy thought:
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Eano,
It's normal asphalt illuminated by a standard low-pressure sodium vapor street lamp.
I was on the porch smoking a cigarette with Heather, we heard the loud flapping of an enormous distressed moth, walked over and took some shots. No lighting tricks, no filters, no Photoshop.
A. -
thought:
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The checkerboard pattern of the darker lit versus the more illuminateds is amusing.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Swag/Schwag
At the risk of becoming the William Safire of stoners, I feel as though I should point out a transposition posted to FlickrBlog yesterday. The author inadvertently, or perhaps naively used the word Schwag in place of the word Swag. Figuring that the two words are frequently mistaken for one another, and a public clarification would be productive, I've defined each below:
Swag (swăg) n.
Swag (swăg) n.
1. Complimentary promotional merchandise: I scored some killer swag at CMJ last night.Schwag (SHwăg) n.
1. Low quality marijuana: My god, how can you smoke this schwag?
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mr. tomas ubik thought:
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i hope you pointed that out to him directly...we canadians use skunk and or skank to describe the ladder, why? well because we love nature and dirty women of course, and though both smell funny, we still love and care for them, and of course will still smoke it come burn time.
i know a guy name justin shwag who unfortunately was just killed at a bar in kingston. sad story... -
Tara thought:
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oh but the chirping community sooo needs a william safire.
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Andy thought:
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Tibor,
Perhaps I haven't quite earned my title.
Chirping?
A.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Corpse
Please view the full-scale image as well.
Yesterday on the way upstairs to do laundry, I saw a large pink balloon on the landing. It was fairly plump, hadn't been tied off too long beforehand. I noted it, helped Heather get 3 loads running, and returned to the first floor.
I figured I'd bring my camera up the flights in 30 minutes or so, when it was time to cycle. I'd capture it's volume then. Snag a little content later. That was the casual approach, I knew that if I really wanted that image, unchanged, I couldn't dick around (I teach myself this lesson weekly at least).
Sure enough, upon returning to 2, the breath had been crushed from it; lost under the weight of an anonymous neighbor. Only a damp shell left.
420 Friendly
In keeping up with recent search terms, I've noticed a lot of folks hitting TTH+TC looking for the same things. Things sadly, that I haven't really written about. Things that people want to know and are not learning here. Not learning even though they arrive en masse.
Chief amongst their unanswered queries: What does "420 Friendly" mean?
So, in service to all Google searchers going forward and the web at large, let me do my best to explain:
The descriptive phrase "420 friendly" is most often seen on online message boards, particularly Craig's List, particularly in the roommate/sublet section. People use the term to politely explain that they are seeking/maintain a household that is comfortable with open recreational use of marijuana. It's a way for people who enjoy weed to avoid awkward incompatibilities with new roommates. A way to find like-minded peers. A head's up.
The origin of the numeric portion is debatable, and honestly not worth going into. No one knows the exact etymology, and no one will. I can tell you however, what the numeral 420 means to tokers worldwide. April 20th, of every year is a day on which cannabis enthusiasts light up early and often, a holiday of sorts. It's a day of hazy solidarity. 4:20, both AM and PM, is the favored time on 4/20 to pack a bowl, and consequently is the favored time to pack a bowl on just about any day.
Saying "I'm 420 friendly" is synonymous with the statement "I'm familiar and comfortable with smoking pot." Most people will also take it to mean "I smoke weed."
Chief amongst their unanswered queries: What does "420 Friendly" mean?
So, in service to all Google searchers going forward and the web at large, let me do my best to explain:
The descriptive phrase "420 friendly" is most often seen on online message boards, particularly Craig's List, particularly in the roommate/sublet section. People use the term to politely explain that they are seeking/maintain a household that is comfortable with open recreational use of marijuana. It's a way for people who enjoy weed to avoid awkward incompatibilities with new roommates. A way to find like-minded peers. A head's up.
The origin of the numeric portion is debatable, and honestly not worth going into. No one knows the exact etymology, and no one will. I can tell you however, what the numeral 420 means to tokers worldwide. April 20th, of every year is a day on which cannabis enthusiasts light up early and often, a holiday of sorts. It's a day of hazy solidarity. 4:20, both AM and PM, is the favored time on 4/20 to pack a bowl, and consequently is the favored time to pack a bowl on just about any day.
Saying "I'm 420 friendly" is synonymous with the statement "I'm familiar and comfortable with smoking pot." Most people will also take it to mean "I smoke weed."
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Paige thought:
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I should have used that when I was listing my house's empty room for rent. (Instead we chose to introduce the concept to potential roommates by inadvertently just finishing huge sessions before giving tours. Oh my!)
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Andy thought:
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Paige,
The term is total genius. It's so simple and efficient. There's nothing better than allowing applicants to narrow the pool on themselves.
Plus, a couple of hours after submitting that Craig's List ad, you end up with a parade of interesting characters at your door, what could be better?
Of course, it doesn't really eliminate the desire to pregame. If you know a bunch of stoners are coming over to nose around your pad, there's not much to stop you from blunting yourself beforehand...
A.
P.S. Warning: One ex-roommate of ours took "420 friendly" to mean "we'd love to share a home with a junkie". Watch out for Hungarian hackers with a taste for horse. -
Andy thought:
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A reader got in touch to offer another perspective on the term:
hi
i am from pakistan. i read this explanation of '420-friendly'. just to let you know that in india and paskitan and some other asian countries, 420 means 'deceptive' or fradulent. for example if a person is always deceiving others, people call him a 420. it comes from the clause #420 of british law implemented in those countries that deals with those who decieve public with thier tricks...
irfan -
thought:
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thanks for this.
ive been wondering what it means eversince ive been searching for a place on craigs list -
thought:
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Thank you so much for the explanation. I, too, had seen this over and over on Craigslist and had "no idea." Talk about a sign of the times! :) Smile.
I also really enjoyed the explanation of "420" from Pakistan, where it described a person who "deceives the public with their tricks." Hmmmm.
Oblique Strategies
Some ideas are meant to meet; meant to become more because of it. Guy Drieghe D. saw Widgets and Oblique Strategies as just such a pair.
Released just a few days ago, his Oblique Strategies Widget marries the quick information access of Tiger's Dashboard with Eno and Schmidt's classic conceptual multiple.
The combination is genius. This little pile of code will expose more people to the cards than any prior edition; it has the potential to become an invaluable practical tool to any number of creative Mac users (electronic musicians in particular). While staying true to the original work's intent this widget succeeds in ways I know the authors couldn't have imagined, ways they would find very appropriate.
While I have a few personal issues with the aesthetics/interface of the widget's current version, I have to loudly applaud Guy for the obvious care he took in respecting the Strategies; all four editions are included, complete with accurate and thorough credits.
All-in-all quite a contribution to the commons. Conceptual complication is now permanently one keystroke away.
Other Widgets Pictured (clockwise from upper-left):
DashPhoon
WikityWidget
Weather: New York City
Weather: Pawleys Island
gotMailG
Oblique Strategies
Global Consciousness Project Index
Flip a Coin
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mr. tomas ubik thought:
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oh to be brian eno, spare time is made up of competitive products for trivial pursuit and balderdash...
hold on..pause the rawk...i have funny little cards to write. -
Joris Landman thought:
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Nice of you to link to the other widgets (and my coin widget).
Thanks :) -
Andy thought:
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Slomoquithi,
No problem. Thank you for making the coin; I use it all the time.
A. -
Joris Landman thought:
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that's nice to hear :)
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Incense Process Fig. 1
I had been burning incense between the bricks in our wall for weeks, allowing the ash to dust the floor. That got old. So I built this little shelf out of a soy sauce dish, a wire coat hanger, friction and gravity.
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Mick thought:
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Very creative, precise, beautiful, and ultimately so practical. I have used clothes hanger wire as often as duct tape...an untapped resource!
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Andy thought:
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Mick,
Thanx. I totally agree. Wire coat hangers are an incredibly versatile material. I've used them to repair countless toilets, the occasional car hood, and more than one modular shelving system. My dad favors them as the solution to a dangling muffler.
The wire is ideal for impromptu tools as well, it's easily heated and hammered, easily cut, easily bent. No kit is complete without a few well-worn custom tools.
Really, I put hanger wire up there with bailing wire when it comes to the duct tape factor.
A. -
thought:
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Sorry to be a pedant (again) but shouldn't that be baling wire?
Saturday, June 04, 2005
The Photographs Are Us
Regarding the Torture of Others
Image from Misshapes
Related: My Keffiyeh and Infirmity Spreads
Mirrors
Tribeca Trib: Mirrors to Take Battery Park City Park Out of Darkness
Science Daily: Autism's Fogged-up Mirror
Science Daily: Autism's Fogged-up Mirror
Friday, June 03, 2005
Sales
I have a headache and it's not from last night, throwing down another dark beer and burning some trees just prior to brushing my teeth. Nor is it from the back pain that's plagued me lately (air conditioner related). I don't think it's my lack of sleep (caused by a cat that I'm tempted to break). I know it's not the stress of our recent engagement.
It's an irritation born mostly of my deep, growing dissatisfaction (resentment even) with the fact that I have to sell my time, my creative energy, my soul; for what? For food, shelter, health insurance and weekly indulgence in the vices that keep me dulled to just how much of myself I abandon each morning.
I don't hate working; I don't mind my job. What frustrates me, in fact angers me, is that I'm too busy thinking for other people to think for myself. That I'm too tired after stomping home to cultivate innovative thoughts, to create, to live up to the potential so often mentioned in my adolescent evaluations, mentioned in crits, mentioned in international magazines. That I'm too fucking busy surviving to succeed.
Which isn't to say that I'm surprised. I've prepared since junior high (earlier even) for this inevitability. Choosing the title Artist (if it's something you choose; I tend to think it's not) pretty much guarantees struggle. Many hold out hope for reviews, collectors, self-sufficiency. But they're the ones that make objects. Objects on walls. Objects with price tags, objects defined by a narrow definition of "value". I don't and won't, that's not where my talents lie.
Which isn't to say that I don't love materials, or that I haven't spent hundreds of studio hours polishing skills. I make things all the time, I can't help myself. Objects however, are not where I'll make my contributions, not where I'll truly produce. Not where I'll make the works I'm meant to.
I need time to forge concepts, space to craft critique. I'm a starving artist well fed and well paid.
It's an irritation born mostly of my deep, growing dissatisfaction (resentment even) with the fact that I have to sell my time, my creative energy, my soul; for what? For food, shelter, health insurance and weekly indulgence in the vices that keep me dulled to just how much of myself I abandon each morning.
I don't hate working; I don't mind my job. What frustrates me, in fact angers me, is that I'm too busy thinking for other people to think for myself. That I'm too tired after stomping home to cultivate innovative thoughts, to create, to live up to the potential so often mentioned in my adolescent evaluations, mentioned in crits, mentioned in international magazines. That I'm too fucking busy surviving to succeed.
Which isn't to say that I'm surprised. I've prepared since junior high (earlier even) for this inevitability. Choosing the title Artist (if it's something you choose; I tend to think it's not) pretty much guarantees struggle. Many hold out hope for reviews, collectors, self-sufficiency. But they're the ones that make objects. Objects on walls. Objects with price tags, objects defined by a narrow definition of "value". I don't and won't, that's not where my talents lie.
Which isn't to say that I don't love materials, or that I haven't spent hundreds of studio hours polishing skills. I make things all the time, I can't help myself. Objects however, are not where I'll make my contributions, not where I'll truly produce. Not where I'll make the works I'm meant to.
I need time to forge concepts, space to craft critique. I'm a starving artist well fed and well paid.
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Ehme thought:
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wow.
you nailed exactly on the head what I have been thinking for the past month.
thanks. -
Andy thought:
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Amy,
It's not an uncommon plight, there are many with us.
In fact, the word plight isn't really accurate. Being an artist, no matter how impoverished, how frustrated, is a privilege. One held by few. One that I am thankful for even as I vent. One that I cultivate in every spare second I have. One that we must respect and honor in every spare second we have.
Dissatisfaction sows innovation,
A.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Crying Cup
Please view the full-scale image as well.
A piece made at work the other day by my coworker and friend Matt Burke.
Google Earth
There's not much I can say about the recently unveiled beta of Google Earth that won't be better said by someone else within the next 48 hours or so. It's amazing (integrated Google search, texture-mapped 3-D topography; 3-D buildings in select cities; public transit maps, driving directions, and business locations grafted on top of a 3-D landscape); people won't be able to shut up about it.
Once again, Google is dragging the planet into the future with simple interface design and services that are universally valuable.
Related: Housing Maps (Google Maps meets Craig's List)
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mr. tomas ubik thought:
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I can see my house from there.
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mr. tomas ubik thought:
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actually if you want another very visually global thing check out Nasa's world wind at
http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/features.html
the wallpaper is especially hot
hey and, you're mad hot. im sending you a cd with a ton of music on it. enjoy. (p.s. e-mail me your adress, cause i dont have it)
I totally love/need that wallpaper!
nuts to the wallpaper, gimme that shirt!!
Paige,
You do have "refined" taste. I took this shot in the restroom of the Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in Pawleys Island, SC. A world-class golf course built on a colonial plantation. It's stunningly beautiful, though sadly full of ghosts from the days of slavery. Interesting, any way you look at it.
The "wallpaper' is actually a faux-finished wall with hand decoupage. The kind of thing I usually hate; but it somehow felt right within that context. I'm sure they hired the best craft lady in the low country.
Krista,
The shirt is a little easier to come by. Kenneth Cole, I think. I picked it up, deeply discounted, at Century 21 (the Saks Fifth Avenue of the TJ Maxx/Marshalls scene).
A.
Who'da thot ya' culd pick up hot young women with wallpaper?
I think Mick wins the award for best comment ever.
Awesome picture ~ hot wallpaper
Excellent site, keep up the good work my colleagues would love this. I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks
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