color me KP

done

2010-05-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished my education at the University of Southern California. It was a bittersweet moment, but I can only think of one way to celebrate...

by watching this amazing video.

Some US Soldiers in Afghanistan remade Lady Gaga's "Telephone" music video. Bravo men, I am still laughing.

IRON CHEF : avocado

2010-04-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

I have a few friends that I regularly cook with. We all enjoy making creative dishes, but my favorite part is eating them. A few weeks ago, we randomly discussed our love of avocados and guacamole. As a native Southern Californian, I LOVE Mexican food - so guacamole provided for a nice mouthwatering tangent. Although initially a digression, avocados triggered a genius theme for our next gathering - Iron Chef Avocado.

As frequent viewers of the Food Network, we thought it would be fun to apply some of the challenges of Iron Chef to our own recipes. Last night we had our avocado adventure, and the recipes were certainly unique. See below for our creamy green creations... but, unfortunately given the investigatory nature of our recipes there are no exact amounts of anything. We played the trial and error tasting game with these dishes, and I think we won.

Avocado Deviled Eggs

avocados

hard boiled egg yolks

mustard

worcestershire sauce

chives

salt and pepper

mix ingredients to pipe into hard boiled egg whites

(we essentially replaced any sort of dairy ingredient with avocado)

BBQ Chicken Avocado Quesadillas

My recipe! I call it BBQdillas

olive oil

corn tortillas

(all inside the tortillas)

jack, cheddar, and mozzarella cheese

pre-cooked chicken marinated in BBQ sauce

red onions

tomatoes

avocados

basil

cook in the oven

Avocado Dessert Drink

This recipe is not an original. Apparently this drink is part of the cuisine in Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Hawaii

avocados

sugar

milk

ice

blend

Avocado Risotto

Not totally sure of all the ingredients, this was a magical melting pot of taste

rice

chicken broth

onions

tomatoes

pickled garlic and garlic pepper

(we had no fresh garlic in the pantry)

capers

salt and pepper

(mixed in after preparing risotto)

parmesan

avocados

heat on the stove

-------

I hope you're willing to try some of these recipes or be a little creative yourself. I'm making those BBQdillas again tomorrow!

GAME OVER, RESTART

2010-04-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

I believe I have several posts stating my desire to blog again, like the post before this one.

I wrote: "Because I have returned to my blog..."

Wait, what? I returned to my blog? Yeah, but for a brief moment in September. All those posts were filled with intentions but I never followed through. It's hard to make promises to an optional activity that communicates to a virtual abyss (or virtually everything). I hope to change that now as I'm ending school and have more free time.

Restart. Blogging...

I have a blog?

2009-09-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

What's this? Ohhhhh I have a personal blog... I lost track of this when I returned to one of my many homelands, Sweden, and was greeted with Hej Hejs. I thought that restoring my blog addiction after European rehab would be easy enough upon my return - I mean, it was an addiction - but no, my European habits remained. I became a wanderer. Most every day in Rome I would travel aimlessly looking to discover new and wonderful things. When I landed in LA, I continued that trend. LA seems different now. It seems better.

Because I have returned to my blog it doesn't mean that I have given up my wandering ways, it just means that I now know how to balance my new found activity with my old habits.

blog fail

2009-07-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

I give up. It is too difficult to post on my blog while abroad. And what I have posted is meh. So, give me a week and I will return with my random witty rants. Ciao!

Ciao Roma!

2009-06-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight is my last night in Rome. I am a little sad to leave but I will be in Europe until early July so I can't really complain. Since my agriturismo I have done a lot of things. I went to some more churches, historical sites, bars, and restaurants... but I am just going to recap the highlights.

Early in the week, a friend from USC visited me. I took him to some of the big important sites that everyone has to visit, but we also enjoyed a good dinner and a fun night out.

Later in the week, while walking around randomly, I found the street with the hotel I stayed at 9 years ago! I was so excited. Also, oddly enough, one of the girls I was with had stayed there 5 years ago. So we stopped and reflected and took a cute photo.

Another day, I went with a few friends to have an aperitivo above the Spanish Steps. An aperitivo is like a pre-dinner drink with snacks intended to “open the palate" and give you a chance to socialize. It was nice and relaxing, especially with the view of the Spanish Steps! Ahhhh I love you Italy and your lovely food related traditions.

Too much happened this week, and I can not even begin to recap it. Given that this was my last week in Rome, I did everything and lost a lot of sleep. It was an incredible week. Family and friends, I will be home soon enough and then we can talk about all the fine details of my Roman holiday.

When in the US, I am a computer addict. My addiction manifests itself in three ways - through technology (the form and function), graphic design, and the internet. With this internet addiction I am usually up to date on most current events ranging from pop culture to politics. However, being in Europe I am usually a day or two behind. It kind of pains me but at least I still manage to get my news. Honestly, I have better priorities here. I have learned a lot of about restraint leaving my iPhone at home... but I still have my laptop, my child.

So here are my recent but probably not current internet discoveries. I love movies and I am excited for many upcoming films, but these promotional photos sold me. Get ready for Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland! These photos are striking, but what also got me is the similar composition. Many current films are showcasing the actors in simple but beautiful posters. I like the cleanliness of many of them, but then some do fail like the poster for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Well, it may also help that these two movies have some cred and the other... well, not so much. Did I just write cred?

Another great thing I found on the internet is this new Jib Jab Obama video. It follows along the theme of Jon Stewart's "Hope-and-Change-O-Meter," where he placed Obama between Gandalf and Wizard FDR. This video has Obama saving the day with super powers. He can do more than kill flies...

One more thing, family, if you feel inclined to buy me a welcome home gift. This would do the trick. I love the Onion store! (This is not necessary, because clearly I am living a gift).

Ciao! Soon I am off to Venice, Paris, Amsterdam, and Stockholm!

2009-06-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Again I fail with the updates...

So this past weekend I went to Umbria with my class. We went on what is called an agriturismo. Apparently these are popular with Italians. It is simply an agricultural holiday focused on relaxation and fresh farm food. We visited a farm, caught fireflies, climbed haystacks, picked cherries, and visited more churches. While in Umbria we also took a day trip to Assisi to visit good ol' St. Francis. The entire weekend was amazing!!!

This is my last week in Rome so I have been busy doing everything I have left on my to do list. There is just too much to do in Rome. I guess I have to come back.

A friend from school visited me Sunday and Monday on his way to Milan and I took him to the Trevi Fountain. If I throw multiple coins in the fountain during the course of one trip do they cancel each other out or does it mean I will be coming back to Rome sooner?

far from an instant replay

2009-06-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

So far off that this is pretty much a week recap. I have failed miserably at updating my blog. Rome is just too fun.

Ok, so last weekend...

I stated earlier that I had plans to go to Pompeii, but unfortunately (not really actually) things changed. Here is the story - So, one of my best personality traits is actually my biggest flaw. I love to do everything, making the most of life. As a result I am a very accomplished person, but then sometimes I am too busy. See the pros and cons? Well, being in Rome I want to "carpe diem" of course... Last summer I was diagnosed with celiac, a serious gluten allergy, and since then I don't eat wheat flour products. This is an unfortunate allergy to have in Rome, but I am still eating loads of wonderful food - caprese, prosciutto and melon, gelato, and more!

However, I know how great the pasta is here and I have been wondering for most of the trip - can I eat wheat for a little bit and still have an incredible time? At the start of my developing allergy, the pain and discomfort was not that terrible. I figured, I haven't had wheat in about a year so maybe a little wheat won't be that bad. So, last week I ate wheat. And guess what, I was horribly wrong. I felt sick the night after and then the morning I was suppose to leave for Pompeii I felt absolutely miserable. I will spare the details.

I'm an idiot. That morning I texted my friends and slept off the pain. I woke up a little before noon feeling better, but I was still depressed I missed the trip even though I have been to Pompeii and I remember it pretty vividly. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to be active and of course, carpe diem!!

So I went to the Vatican again, yes for a third time this trip. There is just too much to see there!

After the Vatican I got back on the metro and noticed that one of the stops went to Appia Antica, the ancient Appian Way! I decided to stay on and get off at the stop, which is way off my map. I had no idea where to go so I stopped in a bar and asked a waiter where to go. He drew me a small map and it appeared that the Appian Way was just around the corner. Wrong again. I ended up hiking, forever! However, it was a nice gorgeous walk. See below.

After about an hour I finally reached the Appian Way, and one of the houses had this tile on the wall (below). So, I made it to Pompeii after all! For those of you that don't know, that cave canem mosaic is a very famous image from Pompeii. On the Appian Way there were many ruins and churches. I visited most of them. Including one with the first catacombs ever. The catacombs of San Sebatian is where the name catacombs originated from. It was very cool to see, but it was also incredibly creepy with tons of small caves. I had to bend down in many of them. A church was built over these catacombs, and in the church is the last statue made by Bernini. It was discovered in the monastery there in 2001. Or something like that. I honestly don't know how you can have a statue that beautiful and be satisfied without knowing the artist and having it tucked away. Plus, by looking at the details I think it is clearly Bernini, but whatever. Thanks tour guide!

After the Appian way I went to several other places around Rome. Like - Circo Massimo, La Bocca della Verità, Museo Castel Sant'Angelo, San Nicola in Carcere, and La Scala Sancta.

Scala Sancta, aka the Holy Stairs, are apparently the steps "that led up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, which Jesus Christ stood on during his Passion on his way to trial." Pilgrims walk up the steps on theirs knees and pray at each step. 9 years ago I visited these steps with my dad and for some reason I got very eager and wanted to do this. I kneeled on the first step and immediately lost my religious fervor. It hurt! They are wooden stairs. I prayed on the first step and left. I promised my dad I would do the second step on this trip. So, I did. And it still hurt. Not worth the pain. Sorry Jesus.

San Nicola in Carcere was just a random church that I decided to walk into. It looked interesting and it had some ruins around it. When I entered the church, a woman was singing Ave Maria with the organ. It was amazing. I just sat and listened to the music for about 15 minutes. I love days where you just wander around and discover new things.

I finished my Saturday by walking home. It ended up being a great day. Even better than the trip to Pompeii, according to my friends.

Sunday, I met up with some friends and decided to have a touristy day. We started by going to the very top of the Victor Emmanuel Monument. It was an awesome view even though the day was a little cloudy.

After, we took a bus tour of Rome. We sat on the top of a double decker bus and drank Chianti. It was very fun. We got off the bus in Piazza Navona and got something to eat. While there we were intrigued by the henna tattoo artist. Somehow we decided that it would be worthwhile to get a temporary tattoo in Rome. Two of my friends got tattoos with stars and I decided to get a tattoo related to Rome. So, I picked SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanus. Yeah, kinda nerdy. My friends were confused because they didn't know the meaning (keep in mind we are studying Italian not history), but every local Roman I talk to either enjoys the tattoo or laughs at me.

Monday after class I went to the Vatican for the 4th time, but this time to climb the Vatican. It was a total of 1,102 steps. And some corridors were tight and angled. It was quite the adventure but totally worth it. I don't exercise and I am normally very lazy, but I would climb those steps any time for the view of the dome or the entire city.

Half way up you have a beautiful view of inside the dome. Up there you can tell that the "frescoes" are actually mosaics. They were replaced years ago in order to maintain the detail. Also, while we were in the dome, a small service was going on so we enjoyed some beautiful music while looking at the fine details of that amazing Basilica. The interior was incredible, but once we made it outside on the top, the view was spectacular. Hello Roma!

A few posts back I noted that I walk to school every day from the Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish Steps. In between those two sites is All Saints Church of Rome. I go to All Saints Church in Pasadena so it always makes me happy to see something familiar. Last week I noticed that the church holds Opera nights twice a week with the singers of the Filamonica d'Opera di Roma. I got really excited about this discovery, so I went Tuesday night. This was the incredible program:

Haendel - "Lascia ch'io pianga"
Puccini - "Ch'ella mi creda"
Mozart - "Voi che sapete"
Mozart - "Madamina il catalogo e' questo"
Puccini - "Quando me'n vo'"
Rossini - "Una voce poco fa"
Verdi - "La donna e' mobile"
Rossini - "La calunnia e' un venticello"
Hoffenback - "Barcarola"
Verdi - "Va, pensiero"
Bizet - "Seguidilla"
Puccini - "Si', mi chiamano Mimi'"
Verdi - "Eri tu"
Donizetti - "O mio fernando"
Puccini - "Nessun dorma"
Bizet - "Toreador"
Gounod - "Ah, je veux vivre"
Verdi - "Brindisi"

Below is a video of the "Nessun dorma" performance. It is my favorite song out of the selection. Being a graphic designer I think heavily about composition. I do the same with photography. And with those mediums you aren't usually limited by orrientation. I filmed the video vertically to get more of the beautiful background, but clearly a vertical orrientation does not work for a video format. So, unfortunatly you have to tilt your head to watch the video. The singer was a little tired from his previous songs and made a few mistakes, but overall it was a great performance of "Nessun dorma."

Yesterday, we went to an art show put on by the students of the Rhode Island School of Design. They have an independent study program in Rome that lasts 5 months. It was great to see their work and eat free food.

On top of those things, I am still speaking lots of Italian, visiting fun bars and restaurants, and getting to know more of the people on the trip. I can't believe it is almost over!

some great déjà vu

2009-06-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

I am still revisiting all the big tourist attractions that I have seen before. Some people find the spent time and money a waste, but my previous trip to Rome was 9 years ago! I am sorry if I can't remember everything, but also I find that I appreciate everything more given my art and history education and my age. Yesterday I stood across from The School of Athens for about 20 minutes and I also strained my neck admiring the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Even considering these déjà vu experiences, I would still revisit the David (when in Florence), the Sistine Chapel, the Forum... Each time it is a new experience and it is always fantastic. It is like rewatching a great movie; clearly a trip to Rome is more expensive but also more precious.

Monday I saw Angels and Demons again... the movie is ok, the book is better, BUT the movie is better when you see it in the Piazza del Popolo. For those of you that have not seen the movie, that spot is kind of important. (It's the first altar of science!!)

Tuesday was a national Italian holiday, so we didn't have class. Instead I planned a trip to the catacombs of San Callisto. Apparently 5 Roman catacombs are open to the public and I happened to pick the same one that I visited with my father 9 years ago. That place is so cool! Just go. After the catacombs we stopped by the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

And yesterday, I went with my class to the Vatican Museum. Drool.

So, this week has been great. However, I have a test tomorrow. That always brings down the fun. I am convinced that studying while in Rome is a sin. I should be out exploring, but I am doing that tomorrow, after my cooking class.

Ciao!

it's hard to blog during a Roman Holiday

2009-06-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

This year I discovered personal blogging and shortly became a fan. Well, I became more than a fan, actually I was kind of obsessed at times. I constantly had this need to post my thoughts about current events, technology, politics, art, pop culture, and sometimes my personal life. When I relocated to Roma, I changed the content of my blog, making it a fun venue to update my friends and family about my wild and crazy Roman Holiday. However, because I am having so much fun here I have less of a desire to write coherent intelligent reflections and instead I just want to post photos and lists of my activities. Sometimes I feel like I am slacking, but then I realize photos are worth a thousand words.

For those of you that care about grammar (including me) I would like to apologize for everything but mainly this list with it's lack of parallel structure and incomplete sentences.

Here is my weekly update:

-Speaking Italian more, go me!
-More amazing food, even with my food allergy
-Food deserves two bullet points because there was a gelato party at school... I had 4 cups
-Discovering cute little Italian markets and stores
-Learning more about Italian culture
-Wine tasting with school, aka wine drinking, but I learned a lot surprisingly
-School trip to Florence, so incredible!
-Weekend reunion with the Morphy family (practically my family) in Tuscany
-Ok, one more food point because with the Morphys I had a 6 course meat meal prepared by a famous butcher!

Now, here are 5,000 words.

Barça, Barça, Barça!

2009-05-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

That is the response I got as I walked down the street in my Barcelona jersey yesterday. It is part of the Cant del Barca. Well, clearly I only got that response from Barca fans, I won't even mention the screams I got from Manchester United fans. I happen to live near the Man. United meeting spot. Not so good.

When I planned my trip to Rome I only considered two things: my desire to visit Rome again/study abroad and my desire to really learn Italian. I didn't even consider such crazy events like the Champions League final! I met some guys from Canada and Virginia that flew to Rome just for the final, and they didn't even have tickets!!! Yeah, I lucked out.

When I went to class on Friday, I saw this on the Spanish steps!

My class was interrupted by random cheers in the streets. Despite my inability to focus and learn, it was fantastic. I have an exam tomorrow so I am not going to write much, but things are still incredible. I have explored more of the city and have met more locals.

I watched the game yesterday in Campo dei Fiori with a bunch of Barcelona fans. Unfortunately, there was no viewing at the Coliseum. Roman authorities really cracked down on security... most bars were shut down and all locations were prevented from selling liquor 2 hours before the game. I was afraid of being stabbed so the security was good, in fact it kept things quite tame so it was almost disappointing. But it wasn't!!! The game was great. Everyone was in good spirits. And after we walked to the Spanish steps to continue the celebration. It was an incredible night.

Tomorrow I have an exam in the morning and wine tasting in the evening. Saturday and Sunday I will be in the Florence area.

Ciao!

la bella vita

2009-05-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

So, I thought I would pick another cliche blog post title because I am in ROME! La Bella Vita! It is still pretty surreal. Everyday, I casually walk back to my apartment as if I live here. I mean, I do, but it is crazy considering the wonder of Rome. I am speaking Italian to locals when I buy food or a bus pass. Oh yeah, I also speak Italian with my host family. They barely know english. This is incredible!

I wish I was able to study abroad for an entire semester. I can't because of my double major and my jobs. However, when I consider the exchange rate I think otherwise. The euro is no fun. I am pretty sure that is the only downside of being here, well, other than the heat. But when held in perspective a little sweat is totally acceptable considering the experience. Also, a little sweat makes you look sultry. Ciao bella!

Tomorrow is the UEFA Champions League Final. Because of Rome's history of chaos during sports games, mainly soccer, public measures have been taken to prevent such drama. For example, authorities in Rome have ordered restrictions on alcohol during the final in order to "help curb trouble." I have been drinking red wine every day, but I can surely cope. I think only fanatic fans may have a problem. I am not one of the those fanatic fans, but I did want to go to the game until I saw the ticket prices... I think I will be fine watching the game on large screens at the coliseum tomorrow. AHHHHH so excited!!!

Even though I am in Rome, I can't resist searching my favorite political and tech websites. I am not visiting them as often, but definitely once a day or every other day. So, I checked Gizmodo yesterday and found a post about the June 1st New Yorker cover. Sounds average, especially after the Obama drama last year, but this cover was drawn entirely on an iPhone! So impressive!! First, to have fingers that... small? and second to have art featured on the cover of the New Yorker!

I left my iPhone at home but even with that huge absence in my life, I am staying in contact with people through the lovely internet. My friend Mark, partner in crime and business, sent me this useful TED conference video about standing out. It is valuable for any entrepreneur and I enjoyed watching it. I also learned a good bit, but I feel like most of the information is obvious if you consider advertising trends and successful products. However, despite the value of this video, one thing that really stuck with me is this company that makes your cremated family members into gem stones! Yeahhh, creepy. "Hey guys, guess WHO I am wearing on my finger?!"

Ok, now off to finish my homework, but here is a parting video >

carpe diem

2009-05-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Before coming to Rome, I planned to write daily blog posts recapping my trip for friends and family because it is interesting but also because I left my iPhone at home to avoid ridiculous fees. But during the last two days, I have done so much that what little free time I have is used for sleeping and homework. Yes, it is unfortunate I have homework but that is the reason I went on this trip - to learn Italian.

Here is what I did during my first weekend in Roma!

Went to the Coliseum.

Had a wonderful lunch overlooking the Coliseum and the forum.

Visited some events for the UEFA Champions League.

Went to the Forum.

Went to the center of Rome.

Went to the Pantheon.

Ate a sunset dinner with four courses at the Pantheon while listening to live opera.

Went to the Vatican.

Listened to music and the Pope at the Vatican.

Walked through the Borghese gardens.

Had coffee near the lake in the gardens.

Visited the Borghese gallery.

Saw my favorite statue of all time, Bernini's Daphne and Apollo.

Weekend complete!

finalmente, buon giorno Roma!

2009-05-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to Rome. On my way to Rome I experienced the worst flight of my life (I was delayed for a total of 25 hours, I sat next to a crying baby for my longest flight, and my connecting flight lost my luggage - actually no, they put one of my bags on a different flight arriving in another terminal so I confused Italian security when I tried to get through without a boarding pass and with a large bag...) but despite those problems, the little time I have spent here has already made up for it and then some.

For this trip, I signed up for an apartment and that is all I knew about my residence. I told the taxi driver my address and from there on it was a mystery. When I arrived at my residence, I saw this...

So beautiful! I buzzed the name that matched my assignment and this student came down to help me carry my luggage up the 6 flights of stairs (I will be getting lots of exercise on this trip!). She gave me a tour of the apartment and I was thrilled. My living arrangement is perfetto! I live with a mom, her daughter, and this young teacher. I signed up for an apartment, but technically it is a home stay but with less restrictions. I have my own room, my own bathroom, and I am allowed to eat anything in the kitchen. Feels like home already.

Here is the living room.

Here is my bedroom.

And here is the view from outside my bedroom. Yes, a Hitchcock poster! They knew I was coming.

It is surreal walking around Rome knowing I will be here for 5 weeks learning Italian. I love history, so seeing the incredible sites of Rome every day is fantastic. One girl in my class got lost yesterday near the Pantheon. My response was, "Oh so sad, the Pantheon..." incredible! When in Rome!

Here is a photographic tour of my path to class every day.

I take a bus from my apartment to the Piazza del Popolo.

Then I walk down a beautiful street to the Piazza di Spagnolo.

Then one block past the Spanish steps is my school!!!

After the first day of class we visited the Trevi fountain and ate gelato. Last night we went to the Campo dei Fiori for dinner and experienced the Italian night life. Strangely enough though, I didn't talk to many Italians... I found a group of Irish people from Belfast!

So, I love Rome. I could stay here forever. And yes, I am learning a lot of Italian. My friend forgot his address last night and he is in Italian 1, so translating directions for our poor taxi driver was certainly a fun experience for me.

Ciao! Off to the Coliseum.

ciao times due

2009-05-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

I love traveling, but I hate planes. I have long legs and knee problems, so cramming into seats made comfortable for those averaging 5 feet or those skilled in contorting is not an enjoyable experience for me, no matter the destination or the mediocre quality of the in flight movie. However, right now, I wish my legs were cramping and I wish I was being fed rehydrated astronaut food. Instead I am in the airport waiting for the end of my 20 hour flight delay. What a great start of a soon to be wonderful trip. However, if I was in the mood to be a glass half full kind of person, my response would be - I am so glad they took 20 hours to fix the plane instead of sending us into the air in an unstable steel can.

So here begins my study abroad program in Rome, two goodbyes later.

Despite the road bump, I am thrilled to be returning to Rome 9 years after I awkwardly threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain. (Leah knows how awkward). I am enrolled in a 5 week Italian program in Rome, but I am staying in Europe for an extra week in order to visit some friends in other countries.

Until next time, hopefully I will be in Rome by then.

Things of interest>

The American Stonehenge! I never wanted to visit the bible belt, but I will for this mysterious New World Order stone thing. I may be a rational university student, but I am fascinated by the paranormal and the mysterious. I did a physics project in high school on the Bermuda Triangle, I own the complete X-Files box set, I have taken a class about espionage and intelligence... so, when I picked up this Wired issue about the unexplainable I was thrilled. Road trip anyone? PS this current issue of Wired is guest edited by J. J. Abrams. Another shout out to Star Trek? Yes!!

What's better than Storm Trooper breakfast cereal? Anything. (Actually this is amazing, I just don't want to eat it).

Trek me out

2009-05-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, Star Trek was incredible!! I would provide a detailed review, but right now finals are taking over. Just go see it.

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

not original

2009-05-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

my seemingly witty blog title is not original!! Bahhhhhh Color Me Katie!

I'm a nerd

2009-05-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

Some of my recent discoveries that are quite nerdy>

I love the comics on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. They are always pretty clever, but they are usually improved if you read the caption below. Apparently one of the benefits of math is solving irrational proofs that can boost your self esteem. Wait that's wrong... :)

Another hit at Twitter! Awesome. Thank you Middlebrow. Bring the beast down! However, the Middlebrow comics have a Twitter account... hmmm. I get why it is appealing, really I do, but so many other networking sites have more depth. If you are going to keep in touch with friends through a virtual environment at least allow for more points of connection or conversation, otherwise our society is doomed. Most people are already losing their social skills. I fear a future Wall-E world where we all communicate via computer and nothing else. Ok, resisting a rant... ahhhhhh it's difficult. One more thing - I want Twitter to start charging for accounts. Then everyone would quit the site. Well, I would hope.

So, I just discovered Ian Pool. He is a great photographer that captures moments that seem ordinary but with a closer look they either present an interesting narrative on society or something completely ridiculous and comical. I love all the photos, but I particularly love the series of superheroes (and villains) doing everyday activities. Like Doc Oct, from Spider-man, on the phone in his girly man room; the incredible Hulk walking a tiny little dog; or the one below with Vader. Genius! I guess superheroes don't have aliases.

Speaking of Vader, how did I miss this on Gizmodo?! The Vader Project gave 100 notable artists a scale Vader helmet to decorate. Their tag line is - "Pop culture meets evil dad." Where can I get one?!!!! This is like a mass produced DIY vinyl toy event.

I am a techno geek, and I am particularly infatuated with Macs. When I found this tutorial it made me so happy! Given my finals, I haven't looked into the specs of the process, but just the idea of making the Apple logo on a laptop into an LCD screen is awesome! And so purrrttyyyy.

Ok so before I show any more of my nerdy discoveries let me clear up some stereotypes. Nerds are not just geeks with glasses that play video games and have no sex life. Nerds are people who are intelligent and are usually focused on a particular hobby. Don't get me wrong, it can be the stereotypical video game hobby, but there are also technology nerds, design nerds, movies nerds, etc. In my case I am a little of all of those. That is one reason why I was even more amused by the Vader Project.

Given my design nerd side, I am entertained by average things that are improved by some sort of altering design element. Like the combs below that are shaped like knives. How cool is that?! A knife comb, hahahaha!

Here is another example of being a design nerd - the graphic design heroes t-shirt collection. If you don't know who Paul Rand or Milton Glaser is, then you are definitely not a design nerd, or even remotely clued into design history.

Considering all the crazy designed things out there, this has to be the craziest - designer axes. Almost everything I own is somewhat designed - I have a Lego shaped external hard drive, I have pillow shaped like a log... even my dish scrubber is designed (it looks like a porcupine!). But why would anyone ever need a designer axe? The only people that use axes are foresty-woodsy people, farmers, firefighters, murderers... who else? I don't know, but I am pretty sure people who need axes don't really care if the handle is pink or green. I would categorize this as a failed design job.

I think I should go study. Bye.

the incoherent tales of ODJ

2009-05-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

ODJ stands for Old Deaf Jimmy. Jimmy is not a friend, in fact I have never met him. I just hear stories about him... amazing stories.

So Jimmy works with my friend Andrew. Here is Andrew's description of the man,

"ODJ is a 75 year old Chinese immigrant who has been working as a translator with the same company for 35 years. He isn't particularly overweight, but he does have heart problems. I met him just after he had quadruple bypass surgery. He is the nicest guy in the world with good intentions, but he is literally IMPOSSIBLE to understand sometimes."

I am not sure why his heart problems are relevant because our focus is on Jimmy's inability to understand or be understood in conversation. Hopefully he only translates documents.

So when ODJ is lost in translation, Andrew recaps the funny conversation, or really lack of conversation due to confusion. The stories I hear are fantastic, and because of that I convinced Andrew to write a blog about our friend ODJ. Andrew created the blog, but he only has two posts so far. Both written in early March. And the first post isn't even an ODJ story, it is a description of the blog and apparently my state of being possessed by the blogosphere. Lame!

Because of Andrew's epic failure to maintain his blog, I am typing up the some of the ODJ stories he has shared through text messaging while at work.

Enjoy.

--

ODJ: you ever use the scoopie?
ODJ: you know the call you can make with your computer
Andrew: Oh Jimmy you mean skype?
ODJ: Oh so the E is sirent

--

ODJ: where you on Tuesday?
Andrew: some friends from out of town wanted to go to Disneyland.
ODJ: you are the Disneyland.... UH, uh, uh, uh, uh, the ddisneyland uh... Guy!

--

ODJ: you ever go to sex frags?

--

Twice ODJ has asked who the lady is on Andrew's mug.
The lady isn't a lady. He is Garth from Wayne's World

--

Jimmy thanked Andrew for helping him with an excel problem by showing him a video on his iPod. An inappropriate video for work.

--

ODJ: I like going to West Covina office because they have genital services
Andrew: uuuummmm what?
ODJ: you know genital services. They clean everything.
Andrew: Ohhhh janitorial services.
ODJ: Oh yeah...

--

ODJ: I'm wondering you is a fan of simons and garfunkel

--

ODJ: do you watch person escape?
Andrew: what?
ODJ: that TV show with the prison
Andrew: you mean Prison Break

--

If you enjoyed reading these ODJ conversation recaps you may also like Engrish.com.

If you didn't enjoy the short ODJ anecdotes, too bad. They are hilarious, especially when recapped by Andrew. Unfortunately, he fails to see the fun of blogging.

working for the weekend

2009-05-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

One more final until I am a senior! That explains why I have been absent from my blog. Technically, I have been a senior for a while (according to units), but I won't consider myself a senior until I am in my fourth year of school. Some people graduate early, some become super seniors, some sign up for the progressive degree program, and some even pull a Van Wilder, but for me, four years is perfect. You see the natural progression of college life through those four years, and I enjoy carpe diem-ing ever minute.

Speaking of Van Wilder, this guy Johnny Lechner has been a college student since 1994. Wow. At least he has multiple degrees, but why not continue your education at a different level? How about a masters degree Johnny? His logic makes no sense and he has by far the most poorly designed website I have ever seen. Actually no, this website may be the worst. Speaking of bad design, check out USC's newest sculpture...

I needed to know what this thing is, so I searched the USC website and found this description in the news section - "A stunning bronze fountain, "Generations," sculpted by Aris Demetrios, is up and running northwest of Leavey Library, across from Stoops Education Library."

It is far from stunning. It is awkward not only in appearance but also in location. It has no relation to the environment. It is a huge bronze block next to the library. It looks like cheap brushed metal and how it represents "Generations" is beyond me. You could argue that the different sections of the fountain and the flowing curves symbolize generations, but I think it's a stretch. It's just ugly. USC has one of the worst public sculpture/fountain collections I have ever seen. Like my other favorite ugly fountain near the Engineering School. I hope I don't look that emaciated when I graduate. Clearly, money doesn't buy taste.

More posts to come. Maybe. GGAAHhhhhh finals.

Banksy’s Anonymous Call for Action

2009-04-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a research paper I wrote for my Writ 340 class... enjoy? (I am usually uncomfortable sharing my writing, so I am impressed that I actually posted this.)

I found this video after I wrote my paper. It is an interesting companion to my paper.

As a result of globalization, consumerism has defined a new economic model that thrives on the specificity of supply and demand. This public consumption has challenged many products including art, which has far departed from traditional subjects and presentation spaces in order to offer accessibility to the general public. This departure has established new artistic narratives rooted in the method of display paired with the subject. Due to the increased access and production of art there is an excess of artwork. This mass production creates a constant visual spectacle for the masses. This is seen through most products like shirts or magazines, and also public spaces like billboards and public transportation vehicles. This visual spectacle has been acknowledged by theorists and artists alike, and now creates the new dilemma of how to wade through the mass production for an established meaning often clouded by advertisements. Guy Debord, a Marxist theorist, acknowledges how consumerism is defined by the spectacle, and how with the rise of this consumerist culture, the social experience is defined less by production and more by marketing and mass consumption (Debord 12). Art is abused for the purpose of this spectacle and when paired with institutional “relations of power,” recognized by French philosopher Michel Foucault, the public suffers from exploitation in order to serve economic and social interests (Clifford 139). But this exploitation remains primarily because of the masses’ inaction and indifference to the established systems.

Banksy, an anonymous British graffiti artist, has found a successful solution to this dilemma of power relations and visual spectacle that has resulted from mass production and the established structural systems. He uses graffiti art that is controversial both in subject matter and application to express his criticism of this current system. Banksy boldly calls attention to this spectacle and the political establishments of modern society through the practical use of graphic silhouettes and iconographic imagery in public spaces in order to address the frequent exploitation and inaction in society.

Banksy’s work is well known but he remains anonymous in order to focus on the narrative of his work and not its author. Consumerism runs on branding, by-lines, and labels in order to sell an object through public identification. There is a huge emphasis on the value of a name so Banksy’s anonymity not only brings intrigue to his work but also emphasizes his purpose of recognizing the spectacle that results from mass consumption. There is little the public knows about Banksy’s personal life, but his political and social opinions are clearly expressed through his artwork like in his Happy Chopper piece, Fig. 1, where he adorned a war time helicopter with a bow and a cheerful phrase in order to create a satirical image that allows for public shock or recognition of the negative subject (Banksy, Wall and Piece 38).

Fig. 1. Banksy, Happy Chopper. 2003. Wall and Piece. Banksy. New York: Random House UK, 2007

Banksy has created other, similar images that target political institutions, human crimes, and mass consumed products. Though anonymous, he maintains an active website (see <http://www.banksy.co.uk>) and he has published a book in order to make these critical images even more public than they already are.

Banksy began his graffiti art at young age, and with his experience and he learned how to perfect his techniques, like silhouetting, allowing for his current success in conveying his ideas. In his book, Wall and Piece, Banksy recalls a time when he was eighteen and almost got caught trying to paint “LATE AGAIN” on a passenger train (Banksy, Wall and Piece 13). While hiding from the cops he saw some stenciled text and realized that stencils would improve his graffiti time and allow him to make large bold work that would easily express his ideas. From that point, Banksy perfected his method of graffiti through the development of silhouette-like art. In 2001, Banksy began receiving international attention because of his public stencil work that revolved around “creating art that interacts with its environment - and usually with a satirical, often political, bent” that “exists somewhere between Marcel Duchamp and Houdini” (Fahy 4). James Fahy is accurate in his characterization of Banksy. Banksy is defined by his unconventional methods and critiques of production like Duchamp, and with his Houdini like skills he covers public canvases with his political satires. This description is mildly obscure, but then considerably specific considering the anonymity of Banksy.

These characteristics along with his anonymity provide a unique dimension for establishing a public narrative filled with questions and irony. Banksy states that “it takes a lot of guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in – like peace and justice and freedom” (Banksy, Wall and Piece 35). Though a hyperbolic statement, it is part of his manifesto to call attention to abuses in culture whether it is exploitation or inaction. There are other people in the world who preach similar ideas, but few have successfully expressed this through art in a way that is absorbed by the public as something more than artistic spectacle. Graffiti art is risky because of its illegal nature, but the risk allows for a public image that will gain many spectators.

Banksy’s art criticizes injustices in society and his covert actions reinforce his messages. Michel Foucault recognized that through the disciplinary training of a political system subjects will act in accordance with the norms to serve economic and social interests (Foucault). It is an established society that exploits the individual and allows for institutions to grow, like the fear created in the panopticon, an architectural figure developed by Jeremy Bentham (Foucault). The panopticon is a prison-like structure and within the structure there is an area where it is possible to survey every prisoner, but the prisoners cannot see the guards making it impossible to identify when one is being watched (Foucault). This fear and uncertainty is the reasoning behind why the general public does not violate governmental laws. This same government fuels monopolies and subordination, eventually leading to public inaction and numbness. Banksy sees the injustice in this fear and as a result creates images like Fig. 2 where a British Royal Guard, the Queen’s guard, is peeing on a wall in order to question and ridicule the system and it’s power.

Fig. 2. Banksy, 2002. Wall and Piece. Banksy. New York: Random House UK, 2007

Banksy challenges the state’s exploitation and the public’s inaction through his work’s humor and irony to identify injustices. These are large claims, but the general “relations of power” that Foucault calls attention to is present in multiple scenarios and Banksy addresses this relationship by displaying his art in multiple locations in order to publicly encourage action more broadly. Banksy cites the following Emo Philips quote as his personal manifesto:

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.
Then I realized God doesn’t work that way,
so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness. (Banksy)

The quote is both simple and direct, like his art, and it is precisely what Banksy emulates in his work, movement for change rather than inaction so wrongs can be identified. Banksy recognizes that “A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to,” so Banksy has become a guerilla street artist in order to be a driving force to encourage action or at least recognition of certain conditions (Banksy, Wall and Piece 21).

Banksy presents his political messages through a variety of artistic mediums, but his most well known work is his graphic silhouette-like graffiti. The use of silhouettes in Banksy’s work is essential considering the risk of graffiti art. With experience, Banksy has found that stenciling silhouettes expedites his work and provides him with more opportunities and locations to adequately display his satirical work given the risk. Silhouettes have a diverse history; some historians dating the technique back to Egyptian and Greek artistic styles, but despite the complicated history, silhouettes generally remain associated with simple European portraiture and not graffiti (Knipe 206). The name “silhouette” was derived from Etienne de Silhouette, King Louis XV’s finance minister. The minister was highly conservative and his stringent monetary tactics established his public reputation as cheap, and as a result cheaply made things were labeled a la Silhouette (Knipe 204). The value of silhouette portraiture was lost with the invention of the camera, but the technique has remained in art and is now being modified in application as seen in Banksy’s graffiti strategy.

Silhouettes are valuable because of their simplicity and “cheapness”, but they are also important for a spectator’s quick recognition and interpretation of the art. In art, there is often the assumption that more detail is better because it clarifies the subject with specifics. However, minimalist art is reduced to fundamental features, identifying the core of the subject for identification. The clarity of the work is up to interpretation, but with a silhouette, similar to minimalism, “nothing is obscured by irrelevant lines… no figure-ground organization is necessary, nor is any special set required by the observer” (Crowley 303). The “cheapness” of silhouetting, identified with its history, is not only practical financially but it ties back to Banksy’s critique of consumerism and “relations of power” (Clifford 139). This “cheap” graffiti art becomes part of the spectacle and with its content, but eventually rises above and actually ridicules its means. Banksy uses public spaces to display his art, so simplicity allows for quick identification of objects in a fast paced environment. Though easily recognizable, silhouettes can also mask certain elements, creating an evolution of meaning through increased observation. Due to the simple form of a silhouette, people assume what the image is but with a closer look finer details can be realized.

Kara Walker is a studio artist, but she utilizes silhouettes for this very purpose of evolving meaning in a simple image. At first glance, Walker’s work seems romantic and poetic with childlike silhouettes channeling historical caricatures. Her trees set a stage for “stock” characters involved in a fairy tale, but when observed more closely disturbing elements become apparent causing discomfort in the spectator through sad realizations of cliché stereotypes and harmful race and gender realities (Pinder). For example in Kara Walker’s Cut, Fig. 3, the black silhouette appears to be a graphic image of a girl dancing, but then once realizing the finer details the spectator is aware of the suicidal action of the subject cutting her wrist.

Fig. 3. Kara Walker, Cut. 9 April 2009 .

The silhouettes allow for the stereotypical historical associations, but when paired with sexual and grotesque imagery additional narratives evolve. Walker uses recognizable antebellum clothing for quick reads of her silhouettes. Banksy utilizes public icons like Mickey Mouse, children, The Mona Lisa and other similar images for quick recognition like Walker, but also to put emphasis on his unique social commentary.

Banksy uses silhouettes because of the ability for additional concepts to evolve and with his use of contradicting elements he calls attention to current societal conditions. Upon first glance of Banksy’s Bomb Hugger piece, Fig. 4, a cute girl is easily recognized, but with an extended look it is realized that a bomb is in her arms.

Fig. 4. Banksy, Bomb Hugger. 2003. Wall and Piece. Banksy. New York: Random House UK, 2007

Similar Banksy works include: a tank with a megaphone on top, a religious icon with a halo circling a gun, a British Royal Guard spray painting the anarchy sign, and the iconic Che Guevara image repeated but slowly melting away. These images are always bold and eye catching, appealing graphic art for the masses, but the combination of conflicting elements establish critical narratives that identify current conditions. Bomb Hugger critiques current events of war and how war is perceived through the media, affecting children. The Che Guevara piece, Fig. 5, calls attention to mass media and how many people purchase this iconic image on products, but the meaning is lost through the excess of production.

Fig. 5. Banksy. Wall and Piece. Banksy. New York: Random House UK, 2007

Banksy put the collection of images on a bridge above an area in London that sold Che products

These satirical images challenge the viewer to consider the connotations not only of the image but its location, which adds meaning when recognizing nearby landmarks or local historical events. Banksy has artwork in the south that relates to racial issues as well as social problems that were addressed with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (Banksy). The images are eye-opening and make a strong statement about human establishments. By making these images public they are unavoidable and often shocking considering the circumstances, whether it be the location or the subject. Like Banksy’s particularly controversial piece where he painted a KKK member hanging in a noose on the side of a Chevron station in Alabama (Fahy 4). This strategy is similar to how Debord aimed to redefine conditions in order to show reality. Debord presented a concept called the dérive, which is an example of seeking truth and transforming social order. Acknowledging that spectacles are a denial of life, the dérive aim to wander in order to study a terrain or create “emotional disorientation” to construct “real” situations (Theory of the Dérive 52). They simply do unconventional things to confuse and awaken people to “reality.” Banksy does not believe that people are disillusioned like Debord, but Banksy does believe that his public graffiti can help construct change in action and reaction by awakening people to harsh realities.

Graffiti allows Banksy to criticize and challenge society through his subject and application. Banksy recognizes the controversy of graffiti but believes that “despite what they say, graffiti is not the lowest form of art… it’s actually one of the most honest art forms available. There is no elitism or hype, it exhibits on the best wall a town has to offer and nobody is put off by the price of admission” (Banksy, Wall and Piece 8). Knowing the possible power of graffiti when used appropriately, Banksy even encourages others to participate. For a series, Banksy stenciled traditional type on public walls “legalizing” graffiti like in Fig. 6 (Banksy, Wall and Piece 60).

in order to clearly articulate his statement about “the endless recycling of an icon” and how people wear and absorb revolutionary products but never take any actions themselves (Banksy, Wall and Piece 47).

Fig. 6. Banksy. Wall and Piece. Banksy. New York: Random House UK, 2007

Soon after he stenciled these signs, the walls were covered with graffiti showing the true structural power of public institutions as discussed by Foucault. This series identifies how the masses are aware of guidelines and yearn for extended self-expression but remain idol unless cued to act. Often Banksy displays satirical images to critique wrongs in society hoping to encourage action, but give the existing numbness sometimes Banksy takes the extra step to call for it like Fig. 6 or in similar work where he stenciled text stating, “Designated Riot Area” (Banksy, Wall and Piece 67).

Banksy is widely appreciated, but even those that do not respect his work are unable to ignore his messages because of the techniques he uses that incorporate graphic imagery and public spaces. Banksy has identified his own manifesto but his ideology is more appropriately defined by a quote from the Indian Mystic Osho, “Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence.” Banksy sees the injustices in society, formed through consumerism and governmental control that spawns a public numbness. Banksy uses his creativity and unique graffiti method to rebel and to encourage rebellion. He adds to the visual spectacle present in society in order to criticize it through his satirical images. His method and his imagery are both ironic in nature to call attention to societies wrongs. Though anonymous he is able to make a call to action or at least awaken the public.

Works Cited

Banksy. 20 March 2009 .

Banksy. Wall and Piece. New York: Random House UK, 2007.

Buzzell, Colby. "I Am Banksy." Esquire Dec. 2005: 198-204.

Clifford, Michae. Political Genealogy After Foucault Savage Identities. New York: Routledge, 2001.

Crowley, Miriam E. "A Puzzle-Picture in Silhouette." The American Journal of Psychology 65 (1952): 302-04. Jstor. University of Southern California. 23 March 2009 .

Fahy, James P. "Breaking the Banksy." Birmingham Weekly 11 Sept. 2008, 12th ed., sec. 2: 4-6.

Guy Debord. “Theory of the Derive.” The Situationist International Anthology. Ed. And trans.
Ken Knabb. Berkeley: The Bureau of Public Secrets, 1981 (no copyright). 50-54, 372.

Guy Debord. The Society of the Spectacle. Trans. Donald Nicholson-Smith. New York: Zone Books, 1994. 11-24

Kara Walker. 9 April 2009

Knipe, Penley. "Paper Profiles: American Portrait Silhouettes." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 41 (2002): 203. Jstor. University of Southern California, Los Angeles. 23 March 2009 .

"PART THREE: DISCIPLINE 3. Panopticism." Michel Foucault: Panopticism. 22 Aug. 2001. Cartome. 2 Apr. 2009 .

Pinder, Kymberly N. "Missus Kara E. Walker: Emancipated, and On Tour." The Art Bulletin 90 (2008): 640-49. ProQuest. University of Southern California. 23 March 2009 .

we have momentum

2009-04-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

One night last year while partying with my next door neighbors the topic of business came up. Usually a taboo subject while having fun, it somehow became increasingly interesting as my neighbors began to reveal their surf business called Momentum. I immediately told Mark and Matt that I am a graphic designer and that I would love to work with them. That night spawned an awesome work relationship that has continued to grow. With Momentum I have designed many (many!) shirts given my primary role as design director, but I also helped in organizing parties and other promotional things. Recently, Mark promoted me to COO, so I will be doing a lot more in the future.

My work may be interesting to read about, but this post is primarily to congratulate the two Momentum founders, Mark and Matt, for being featured in the LA Business Journal!! In the article, these two sexy men recapped their passion for surfing and how it grew into their entrepreneurial relationship. Read the article and be impressed. Go Momentum!

ctrl-c, ctrl-v, Disney

2009-04-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

A few sites have recently posted the same video showing a compilation of Disney animated sequences that identify the fact that Disney has character templates. The Dark Roasted Blend blog wrote this about it - "Some sequences were used as templates, and I don't see a problem with that... This is however a valuable glimpse into the animation kitchen of Disney's dream factory." I essentially agree. The Disney animators are only copying their own work, however, it does make you consider some Disney animated classics in a different light. My friend Andrew told me about this video while at Disneyland this Sunday. It shocked me at first, but knowing the difficulty of animation it is somewhat understandable. Also, this video is a reflection of today's society - pessimistic and skeptical. This video would not have been made in the prime of Disney animation. It was too beautiful and precious. I could totally be wrong, and this copying could be a known fact, I just ramble... Either way, interesting video.

Looks like Disney characters have the same dance instructors.

unwigged and unplugged

2009-04-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

and undoubtedly one of the best concerts I have been to!

(my photo, I was only a few rows away from them!)

Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer recently reunited to go on tour playing an all acoustic show focused on the fictional musicians they created in This is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind. I bought the tickets a few months ago when I found out about the tour. I didn't know who I was going to go with, I just knew I had to go. This is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind are brilliant mock-umentaries that beautifully combine comedy and great music. I enjoy both the rock and folk music they sing in these films, but above all I appreciate their dry-wit humor and its subtleties. For example in Spinal Tap the same bass notes are played by multiple musicians.

David St. Hubbins: Can you play a bass line like Nigel used to on "Big Bottom?" Can you double that? You might recall the line's in fifths.

These comedians played off this joke when performing for the Live Earth concert with 20 bass players. AKA: "every bass player in the known universe," including Foo Fighter's Nate Mendell and Metallica's Kirk Hammet. The humor in their films/performances not only includes musical satire but their characters also add a huge amount of comedy. For example, consider the shirt below. Here is the dialogue that accompanied this shirt in the film:

[Marty compliments Nigel on his tee shirt]
Nigel Tufnel: You like this?
Marty DiBergi: It's very nice. It looks like hollow wood.
Nigel Tufnel: This is my exact inner structure, done in a tee shirt. Exactly medically accurate. See?
Marty DiBergi: So in other words if we were to take all your flesh and blood...
Nigel Tufnel: Take them off. This is what you'd see.
Marty DiBergi: It wouldn't be green though.
[Nigel points at Marty]
Nigel Tufnel: It is green. You see how your blood looks blue.
Marty DiBergi: Yeah, well that's just the vein. That's the color of the vein. The blood is actually red.
Nigel Tufnel: Oh then, maybe it's not green. Anyway this is what I sleep in sometimes.

I bought this shirt at the concert. Awesome!

The concert contained this kind of humor but everything was "unwigged and unplugged," meaning the men were out of character and the show was acoustic. It may sound less entertaining because their ridiculous characters added to the humor of their films, but actually it was more amusing because it allowed for more comedy and an easy transition between songs. There was no opening act, so the men just came out and began the show.

They started essentially like this:

They performed a good amount of songs including a folksy version of The Rolling Stones' Start Me Up and a sexy jazz version of Big Bottom.

If the songs weren't funny enough, the men included a few little comedy routines, like awarding one lucky guest in the audience a special chance to experience Spinal Tap in 3D. Sounds cool, but it was basically the audience member standing in front of the stage in 3D glasses while the guys performed a song and waved their arms in front of his face. Absolutely brilliant!

At another point in the set they read from a NBC document stating what parts of Spinal Tap were inappropriate to air on TV. They started reading - 5 minutes in... 11 minutes in... The entire movie was deemed inappropriate, understandably in some points, but the document and the way they read it was hilarious.

I enjoyed every aspect of the concert and I laughed the entire time. My face even hurt after. It was a fantastic experience and I could easily write another book post, well, this is already pretty long but I will hold back and fondly remember my night with Spinal Tap! Joel and I deemed it epic!

Here is Keith Olbermann's report of the tour:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

raz the wonder kitten

2009-04-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

blog assignment

At USC, I am currently in the Writing 340 class for visual and performing arts. Given that it is a writing class, we obviously write a lot, but one of our most recent assignments was a group project. The purpose of this project is to have people from different disciplines collaborate and create something. Honestly, anything. Several projects were presented this Thursday. Two were films, but with very different approaches and techniques, making it difficult to even compare them.

My group also presented. Our group name is team blAWESOME. It is meant to be a combination of blaw and awesome, but when spoken it sounds like blossom. Unfortunately. We also have two alternative names - The Disciples of Feagin and the Feaginites. Both inspired by our teacher, Feagin, if you couldn't tell.

So, who is team blAWESOME?

Allison the actress.
Brian the filmmaker.
David the game designer.
And me, Katherine the graphic designer.

We were unsure about what to do with all our talents, but after a short discussion we decided to make a video game. Nothing cooler, right?! But we had no idea what the game would be about. We all have very different interests and experiences with video games. We decided to sit on the idea and about a week later we began the most bizarre brainstorming session ever. Below is our thought process. I included this exact copy in our PowerPoint presentation and before I began speaking, the slide was greeted with an eruption of laughter because of the ridiculousness of the content.

OK, here we go:

cats vs. dogs OR pirates vs. ninjas 
what about cat ninjas vs. dog pirates?
 I want the cats to have wolverine claws! We need laser eyes!
what about an alley cat? roaming the streets? cat in the big city?
 what if the cat was frozen and then had to deal with modern times? 
like a pre-historic cat?
 like a saber-tooth tiger? or kitten!!

And that is how we arrived at saber-tooth kitten.

From there we decided on a basic plot, which Brian refined and greatly improved. There are no longer vampires or pterodactyls in the Arctic.

Now with a plot I could do some design. However, I know nothing about designing video games. I own many, but I have never considered designing for one. I work with text and images. Static things. Sometimes I have to create illustrations, but rarely. Ahhhhh video game art! I wasn't sure where to begin, so I started with my favorite program, Adobe Illustrator, and drew some ice with the pen tool. No big deal. Ice is rigid. My design worked.

But then came the saber-tooth tiger kitten. My tablet is at home so I had to draw with my laptop mouse. Probably the worst idea ever, but I made it, an illustrated saber-tooth tiger kitten! Below is its evolution. I had to rework it because the first one was bug eyed, awkward, and it looked like Garfield. The second one looked a little like Simba, but way less cute. So I merged the two and got our protagonist, Raz!

Wooooo I did a cute little vector illustration! I thought I was done, but then David requested different images so he could make Raz move in the video game. I had no desire to redraw this thing four more times, so I used the direct select tool in illustrator and just moved the legs around. That is why the positions are a little odd, but they worked well enough for the game.

Allison did some character research for Raz in order to prepare for a voice over, but we never actually got around to recording her voice. (With these projects, there is no established end. Presenting unfinished pieces was acceptable).

Then David took all our work and coded a video game. A working video game, well kind of. It has a few kinks. But when we busted out the game for our presentation and played it, the class got so excited. I have never had so much fun giving a presentation. David and I may actually work to complete the video game.

Best group project ever. We are blAWESOME!

it was only Coachesterday...

2009-04-22T10:48:00.001-07:00

Finally! Here is my EPIC Coachella recap. Woooooo!
**all photos in this post are mine

I got back from Coachella Monday morning at 2 am and have been busy catching up on school. So sorry for the delay.

I thought it was best to title this blog post with one of the brilliant Coachella puns that Eric, Erin, and I came up with on our trip. (Ok, they aren't technically puns, they are compounded/blended words, but I shall call them puns.) What triggered this manic pun-fest? The new Coachella iPhone app.

Ok back track > before Coachella my iPhone broke. My beautiful white 16 GB techno-gem. The right side of the screen became a worthless dead zone preventing me from unlocking the phone. I could receive calls and text messages but I couldn't do anything about it. My iPhone was in a painful coma. Also, this all happened on my 21st birthday. What a disaster. The next day, the day I was leaving for Coachella, I went to the iPhone store hoping something could be done. I explained my problem and then *poof* they gave me a brand new phone for free. No questions. Replaced. Fantastic! I now had a functional phone so I could contact my friends at Coachella. I went with Eric and Erin but I had some other friends that I wanted to meet up with in Indio. Now, with my new working iPhone I was able to download the Coachella iPhone application. The application included a set times schedule, an interactive venue map, a friend finder, a Coachella photo uploader, and the infamous Coachooser. The application bombed, completely worthless (I used paper print outs for the set times), but it left us with the word Coachooser. Fail. Worst pun ever. So we came up with better ones:

Coachillin' like a villain

Coachellin' like a felon

Coachestery (Paul McCartney inspiration)

Coacheleanor Rigby (Paul inspiration again)

Fauxchella (inspired by the knock off Coachella shirts being sold on the street)

NOchella (inspired by the 3 inch moths we had to dodge at night on our walk home)

Other random ones that simply formed out of the trend:

Coachelementary

Mr. Coachangles (Eric laughed. but Erin booed this one. I love it.)

and more...

There were many I came up with that were utter fails. I almost added Coache- to any word. Kind of like how USC adds SC to everything. SCampus, SCard, voteSCount, and other terrible ones like SCamp. That camp sounds like a disease.

Anyways, so Coachella. Life changing as usual. No big deal.

I spent a fortune on food and water. I got sunburned. My ears were assaulted by loud music for 3 straight days. My legs lost their function from never-ending walking, standing, and dancing. BUT I would do that every weekend because of the pure awesomeness of the experience. I love music, so seeing so many incredible artists in one weekend is ecstasy. I would have suffered even more for the experience.

Here are the bands I saw:

Friday

We Are Scientists
Steve Aoki
The Hold Steady
The Ting Tings
The Black Keys
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Franz Ferdinand
Leonard Cohen
Beirut
Girl Talk
The Crystal Method
Paul McCartney

Saturday

Liars
Drive By Truckers
Michael Franti & Spearhead
TV On The Radio
Calexico
Fleet Foxes
Thievery Corporation
M.I.A.
Band of Horses
The Killers
MSTRKRFT

Sunday

Friendly Fires
Shepard Fairey
Okkervil River
Lupe Fiasco
Lykke Li
Peter Bjorn and John
Yeah Yeah Yeah's
My Blood Valentine
Public Enemy
The Cure

Yes. That is quite a list. Each artist was amazing. I was not disappointed by any of them, well, besides Shepard Fairey. When I saw Shepard Fairey on the line up I was confused. He is the brilliant designer behind Obey. Fairey was recently in the news because of a battle with AP over his Obama image. My response to that would require an entirely separate blog post, but hopefully you read about that. Anyways. I saw Fairey on the line-up and I was super excited, but what would he do? I love the man because of his design. I even own his book, Supply & Demand. Would he do spoken word like Henry Rollins did on Saturday? Live art design? What? Well, he DJs, but very very poorly. He selected good songs, even some great classics. It was refreshing to hear some classic rock mix with modern music in a DJ set, but he transitioned between songs with a few scratches and some poor fades. Terrible! As an artist, I was so happy to see Fairey in person. As a music connoisseur, I was insulted. However, given that Fairey was at Coachella, he designed a limited edition poster for Paul McCartney. He made 500 prints and signed them all. And I bought one!! Eeeeeee so happy!!! Remind me to get that framed.

Back to the rest of the music, the good music. I would review each set, but I saw a lot of bands and reviewing each would take too much time and my blog post would become a novella. Below are a few thoughts about a few performers. Don't judge the selections, it doesn't reflect my favorites. In fact, some of my favorite performances aren't listed below like Franz Ferdinand because there is nothing particularly exciting for me to say besides - that was fantastic, good stage presence, sang some good songs... That is not fun to write or read.

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Lykke Li is a cute blond Swede with a lot of spunk. She has a great sound and an incredible stage presence, probably even better than a lot of the big bands I saw. Her energy was contagious and Erin and I discussed that we want to be her! We even practiced her dance moves. I honestly forgot she was playing at Coachella and I am glad that Eric and Erin reminded me and we went to her set.

Peter Bjorn and John is always great. I saw them at Coachella two years ago, but this set was particularly fun because it was a "Swedish smorgasbord" (A quote from Peter, the lead singer). Robyn, another Swedish singer, joined the set for a song. Then a few songs later Lykke Li showed up again! Woooo pale white Swedes in the California desert during a heat wave. It was fantastic. A good collection of my favorite Swedish imports minus Ikea.

The Yeah Yeah Yeah's are crazy. We showed up and a giant eyeball was on stage. A+ for set design. When the concert started, Karen O, the lead singer, came on stage in what looked like a metallic fish scale curtain with green tights. It was pretty outrageous, but I could tell she loved it. In fact she barely stopped smiling. Her happiness was adorable. I love when musicians love their job. Musicians are performers, working for the audience, but when they love what they do, their passion comes across and it is generally a better experience.

My Blood Valentine assaulted my ears... even with earplugs. My Bloody Valentine is considered one of the loudest bands in the world. Their performances have ranged from 120 - 132 decibels (from what I have found online). During Friday and Saturday I saw plenty of people wearing earplugs just because of the constant noise they would be experiencing. Those few were smart. I am not too concerned though. When I start losing my hearing there will be bionic ear transplants and I will have hearing like a mouse (apparently they have great hearing). However, on Sunday, things were different. Coachella was even passing out free earplugs. Then I remembered My Bloody Hearing, I mean Valentine, was playing that day. Erin, Eric, and I talked about the decibel level the entire day. We were both concerned and anxious. We eventually decided to stay as far away from the stage as possible but still within view. When they started playing, WOW! So loud and we were easily farther than a football field away. Then they reached their last song and it ended with about 15 minutes of non-stop noise!! Ahhhhh. Good thing I had earplugs.

Public Enemy with Flavor Flav. Enough said. Yeah Boy!!! Hahaha what a joke.

The Cure was incredible. It was exciting to see the influential English rock band along with Robert Smith, the lead singer, and his iconic goth look. They sounded great in concert. I still can't believe I saw them! Just like Heaven.

The Crystal Method was awesome!!!! The electronic music duo mixed up a storm. We were dancing like crazy. I really wanted to see them, so unfortunately we had to leave Paul McCartney for a little bit. I felt somewhat sacrilegious for leaving the main stage, but it was totally worth it. Half way through our time there, two robots came onto the stage. I was super excited. I love robots! Who doesn't? Then after some cool dance moves they took off their suits and it was the hip-hop group LMFAO! They rock the beat and rock the show. In my closest group of friends at SC we always play these two specific LMFAO songs, they are like our anthems. Because of that, I freaked out when they were on stage. Then all my regret about leaving Paul vanished.

Paul McCartney is legendary and so was his performance. However, I feel like he was drunk. Some of the things he said were a little ridiculous. "We are going to ROCK the rooof toonighTT Coachellaaa!!!" Ok. Thanks Paul. He started off with some Wings songs. It was good, not quite what I was expecting. Drive My Car was stuck in our heads all weekend for some reason. I also enjoyed Got to Get You Into My Life. Like I said earlier, we left for a little to see The Crystal Method. Sorry Paul. When we returned he sang Birthday from the Beatles White Album. I am pretty sure he sang that for me. My 21st was the Wednesday before. I forgave Paul for wishing me a happy birthday two days late. During his performance, I heard some of my favorite Beatles songs and he did two quality encores.

Right after the first encore we all thought Paul was done. He walked back stage, then back on, then he started singing Yesterday. Nathan, my friend who was working backstage, then texts me. Here is the exchange:

Nate: He fooled me. Dammit.
Me: Hahahaha. He is such a tease!
Nate: Who does he think he is?
Me: Paul McCartney!

You gotta love The Black Keys! Their performance was great and I think they are highly under appreciated. I love them in particular because they have a classic rock edge that I find so sexy. Most of the bands I listen to are classic rock bands, so it is refreshing to listen to a new band that shares that sound. They kind of sound like Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The White Stripes thrown in a blender.

I have never listened to Michael Franti & Spearhead. Well, maybe I have, but I know nothing about them. We went to see them in concert because Erin's alternative hippy mom told us to. When we arrived we felt a great energy in the crowd and we couldn't stop dancing. They created this great warm environment of love and happiness. As lame as that sounds it is true. It felt great being in that crowd. Apparently the lead singer is a peace activist. I felt it.

Fleet Foxes was INCREDIBLE. I would have to say probably my favorite performance of the weekend. The sun was setting, the temperature was perfect, the stage was beautifully lit, and the entire crowd was filled with fans. Given that it is a music festival, often people will venture into crowds to see artists that they don't really know. Sometimes that results in indifferent spectators that don't really add to the energy of the crowd. That often disappoints me because I love the power of music to emotionally change a person and if they don't respond it makes me sad. When Fleet Foxes came on stage I fell in love with the lead singer because of his plaid shirt and his bushy beard. He looked like my guide in Yosemite. I secretly called him Mountain Man. He was amazing. When Fleet Foxes started singing, their haunting harmonies gave me goosebumps. Whenever the lead singer talked, I could tell how insecure he was and it was great to see that kind of vulnerability on stage. All around, it was a beautiful performance. PS - the lead singer Robin Pecknold is only 23! Husband?

M.I.A. was ridiculous. Loud, energetic, insane, colorful, funny, and fantastic. The set and costume designs were great and bold. I particularly loved the glow-in-the-dark accents on the clothing. The non stop dancing was so exciting. The stage was one big giant party, especially when M.I.A allowed a bunch of audience members on stage to dance with her. Security was freaking out. She also gave out horns to the crowd. Sorry correction, she threw out horns and said, "My Lawyer said you will sue me if I hit you." Hahaha she is crazy. She was also an incredible performer and had a great set list. She recently gave birth so I was even more impressed with the outstanding show.

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Well, I am pretty sure I have reached novella length, but here are a few funny anecdotes before I stop writing:

We saw a root beer float vendor at Coachella but it was in the 21 and up food area! Not fair, plus it is root beer not real beer! Eric and I are 21 (both with the exact same birthday!) but Erin is not. In order to get root beer floats we went to the ID check place one extra time and gave Erin our extra wrist band. (Oooh admitting to illegal activity - I am wild). So we got in line for the 21 and up food area and our plan was foiled, they carded Erin again. She talked with security and said, "I just want a root beer float, no beer! I got this band only for that purpose. If you want you can escort me to the root beer float stand..." That didn't fly. Instead she waited outside and we brought the root beer float to her.

We inappropriately called our walk back to my car the "border crossing" because of the dirt road and the fact we had to somewhat squeeze between a fence and a wall to enter the lot. There was an actual entrance but too many cars were moving through it. Unsafe!

I have a ridiculously bad tan right now from being in the sun all day for 3 days.

I laughed at every DJ that mixed music from the musicians that were at Coachella performing live. "Hey DJ, nice M.I.A. song selection. Oh Wait, I saw her live last night. Play something else!!!"

We spotted the worst spelling mistake EVER on a van at Coachella - you snoze you loze. NOchella!! Fail!

There were several fantastic art installations/giant constructed crazy things! Epic high-five!

Ok, I am going to stop writing. Summary: fantastic weekend. A wonderful escape from life and I miss it so much!

seduction assistance

2009-04-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Dating is never easy. In fact it is utterly frustrating. The solution: Sundance Channel's Seduction Assistance. Whether you are a hopeless romantic, a perverted sinner, an emotional disaster, or an aggressive cougar, there is an assistance guide for you. I am an emotionally stable person. I do not have any serious personality flaws besides being a little awkward and strange. However, I am incapable of flirting. My demeanor is unaltered by different individuals. Though an admirable flaw, it is a complete hinderance for dating. Given that fact, I have disected the Seduction Assistance guides and as a result I have gained incredible insight into dating. With my personality, I have determined that the tactical approach is best (below). With my disability, my actions have to be strategic and calculated, and this guide gives me hope. Modern dating needs "high-tech weaponry and expertise," and I am prepared to bring it.

artist's statement

2009-04-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

blog assignment

When the people closest to me see an item that is both funky and nerdy sprinkled with whimsy and sprayed with color they always say, "that is so KP." This KP quality is difficult to define but recognizable like when a person has a certain je ne sais quoi. This quality is ever present not only in the items I buy but also in the art I create. I am not implying that my work has that appealing x factor, it just has the KP factor. The reason this factor is sometimes difficult to identify is because I don't have a specific style or medium. I do not have series or work tied together by some artistic motif, instead my work is connected by my personal aesthetic. I am attracted to unique but balanced and simple compositions with clever applications of colors. Being primarily a graphic designer, I am also guided by a subject and a purpose. This additional guide creates a puzzle for me where I have to find an adequate solution for my given project that also fits my personal aesthetic. I design by trial and error in order to find the right KP factor to satisfy my designated end. My technique is very calculated but also very freewheeling, but no matter the means, my end is always colored by KP.

off to coachella >

2009-04-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

it's going to be a GREAT weekend.

what I don't want for my birthday

2009-04-15T08:25:00.001-07:00

It's my 21st birthday today and a few people have asked me what I want. I don't know what I want, but I can tell you what I don't want...

I don't want a PediSedate.

It is suppose to distract kids with video games while they are being drugged for oral surgery. No game could distract me from that thing on my head. That head piece looks like a My Little Pony Hannibal Lecter mask.

I don't want a Speak n' Spellbinder.

Speak n' Spell + plastic instruments = bad idea.

Dane Cook accurately described the Speak n' Spell in one stand up routine:

"I couldn't spell when I was a little kid, I couldn't spell.
So my parents were all concerned so they went down to the uh toy store.
They bought me a little red box called Speak... n' spell.
You remember that? Speak n' spell?
They shouldn't have called it speak and spell.
What they should've called it was Speak... Like the Devil!"

So, imagine the devil speaking from your Rock Band Guitar. Talk about a cure for a video game addiction. However, I do appreciate the idea.

I am in love

2009-04-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

will Paul Rudd.

I have always enjoyed Paul Rudd, even back in his Clueless and Friends days, but this video sold it. I am in love now. It's odd that Sesame Street would do that. Well, they tend to make good things overly cute. Like when Feist was on:

Anyways back to dreaming about Paul Rudd. That video is amazing because -

1. He is wearing an earth costume (GO GREEN!) that only reveals his forearms making his limiting dance moves absolutely adorable.
2. His lip snarl and sexy rendition of "Earth Rocks" trumps those muppets by far.
3. His comedic genius. His subtle actions are priceless. The Huffington Post put it well - "infectious joy and self-deprecation can't help but make you laugh."

His sexy dancing can even make Jon Stewart laugh, a lot.

Random thoughts >>

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Stop the drama over the Obama dog! There are bigger issues at hand. Ahhhh I hate the media. I almost cried during the Inauguration when one station spent a good half hour with a writer from Harper's Bazaar in order to discuss Michelle's outfit. We have a new president and you want to talk clothes? Or remember when Obama was in his "honeymoon" period and several stations covered his diet and his exercise routine. Jon Stewart had a nice response to this earlier this year:

Random News station: "Obama likes herbal tea, trail mix, and guacamole"
Jon Stewart: "We have all been to a grocery store, this isn't news. This is news - Barack Obama eats only bugs."

Thank you. Trivial news is pointless especially during our current situation. Well, then again, this trivial stuff is more entertaining than the economy, and actually it is helpful because the economy runs on confidence and if all the public sees is economic failure then things will spiral out of control. But current news - Pirates! Not awesome, but then awesome.

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So, Sir David Attenborough, the narrator of BBC's brilliant series Planet Earth, has recently become more vocal about the need to reduce the population to help protect wildlife. Predictable but too funny. I do agree, a continuously growing population does have ill-effects on the environment, but their proposals are in line with China, the only different is that they are requesting not mandating a limit to family size. Also, this organization, Optimum Population Trust, is focused in the UK. I am pretty sure that island is not the biggest threat in terms of population and environmental damage. Their three aims all start with the phrase "to advance," but how have I never heard of them before? Hmmmm

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Worst case scenario - you have swallowed the Higgs Boson, the God Particle, what do you do? Follow Michael Rottman's 10 steps or die. This is a real threat. Be prepared.

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Nooooo I followed a link and it was to something entertaining on Twitter!! My hatred is dwindling. I was convinced that the triviality of Twitter was worthless (kind of a redundant statement but true), even for an internet addict like myself, but things of interest/value can be found. Damn. Ahhh I love MythBusters. I am glad they keep only "human food" in their fridge.

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Countdown - 1 day until I am 21!

happy Easter...

2009-04-12T02:30:00.000-07:00

from Larry "The Peep" Craig!

It may be inappropriate to joke about Craig and his cruising for sex on Easter, but you have to admit that is an incredibly funny picture. The Huffington Post online has complied some political peeps and some other random peep dioramas for your springtime enjoyment.

This morning I drove home to enjoy a beautiful Easter service with my parents. I am not sure what I believe, I have my ups and down with faith, but I do know for sure that I will always support my church in Pasadena because of it's progressive work. It applies religion to real things in a good way, usually liberal and political, which I love. My church does not encourage conflict, which is often the real world application of religion (depressing I know!). My church pushes for gay marriage, peace in the Middle East, community, pro-choice, kindness and acceptance.

Ed Bacon, our rector, gave a wonderful sermon today. He mentioned Rowan LeCompte, the man who created most of the stained glass windows in the National Cathedral. Bacon spoke about the recent NPR story on LeCompte, and told the following quote:

When asked if he believe in God, Mr. LeCompte responds, "I believe in kindness and love, if that is God, then yes."

I agree with LeCompte. I also believe in kindness and love. Often I am turned away from religion because of negativity and hate, which is completely contradictory with the foundation of religion. I continue to support my church because is remains more open and kind than most religions I have experienced. That is unfair, it isn't the religion. It is the people who practice it. At today's service we even had some of our innerfaith friends attend. Oh, and Kenneth Turan was there too!

Here are two fantastic quotes I tend to identify with when considering religion.

"Lighthouse are more helpful then churches." - Benjamin Franklin
"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature." - Frank Lloyd Wright

I believe that most of religion is a show. Secular humanists are generally right in their views, but religion has an additional power of organizing people into a community. So, if done right, religion has the power to do great transformational things. Unfortunately, it often doesn't. For example consider the cartoon below from someecard.com.

That is one of the problems I have with Lent. People give up soda or other superficial things and don't really change or reflect on anything! It is like a vegetarian who refuses to eat meat because of how they treat animals but doesn't actually advocate for reforms. I try to buy good products - organic, fair trade, environmentally friendly... to encourage better treatments of animals and the environment, but I still eat A LOT of meat. The market is built on supply and demand and if you don't demand something better it won't happen. Anyways, back to God. So, that is why I don't give anything up for Lent. I just try and reflect and am better about things. Do good things instead of starting the Christian equivalent of failed New Years resolutions.

Here is my favorite Easter related e-card from someecards.

Really hard-hitting. I love it. If you want to know some of the history about why peeps and pastels are associated with zombie Jesus (phrase courtesy of my friend Zack, absolutely genius!) check out this article. It is pretty interesting.

The best part of Easter today was seeing my dad's illuminated manuscript suspenders. Classic. Literally.

Enjoy your peeps.

can I have it rare?

2009-04-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

I typically watch movies while designing on my laptop, it provides a good range of background sound/entertainment but this multitasking is only possible if I have seen the movie before, otherwise I am easily distracted. Like today. While going through the free movies on TV I discovered Vampire In Brooklyn. That title was intriguing enough, it sounded like Underworld meets NY, but then I read the first name in the cast - Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy movies usually painfully include lots of characters played by Eddie Murphy. Which was true for this movie, but this movie is not Pluto Nash, it was actually watchable because it passed that fine of line of so-bad-it's-good entertainment.

I love vampires and the sexy dark culture associated with them. In fact, I pretty much am one - my canine teeth are ridiculous long, I am pale, I like working in the dark... I also love most vampire movies. My favorites including - Interview with a Vampire (incredible!), Underworld, The Addiction (Christopher Walken!), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (Oh Mel Brooks. I almost put down Young Frankenstein, but then realized - not vampires), The Lost Boys, Dracula (1931), Shadow of the Vampire (Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich!), and Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary Oldman.

Gary Oldman is one of my favorite actors and I am convinced he can do no wrong even if the movie itself is terrible. In each movie, he completely transforms himself, almost making him unrecognizable. In The Contender he plays Shelly Runyon, a ruthless balding politician. In Harry Potter he plays Sirius Black, Potter's poised and pretty badass godfather. He plays a terrorist from Kazakhstan in Air Force One. Oldman is also in one of my favorite movies, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a crazy existential play inspired by two minor characters in Hamlet. Oldman is absolutely brilliant.

Despite my love for vampires and my frequent appreciation for absurdly bad movies (like Vampire in Brooklyn) I still cannot get myself to appreciate Twilight. My sister made me watch it in theaters, but I have no respect for vampires who sparkle. So wrong. But I managed to sit through it because of Robert Pattinson's sexiness. Oh yeah. PS - he plays Dali in one of his upcoming films. Less sexy for Pattinson, but interesting subject!

Considering my discovery of Vampire in Brooklyn, I will leave you with as awesome Eddie Murphy song.

I almost posted his Boogie In Your Butt song, which includes such fine lyrics as -

I ain't puttin no boogie in nobody's butt
That's nasty, man
What you talkin about
Puttin boogie in people's butt
Are you out yo mind or something?
Could go to jail for doin something like that

But I will leave that wonderful discovery up to you and your internet.

adobe is good for procrastination

2009-04-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

I created the two designs below while avoiding two research papers and numerous other assignments. The photo is of a glass of water in my apartment. It looks bizarre because I used Ikea ice cubes and we all know how strange Scandinavian ice cube trays can be. I can't wait until the semester is over so I can create more art. One thing that has been tearing me apart recently is my dissatisfaction with my own art. I need to redesign KP. Meep.

extra extra...

2009-04-08T04:20:00.000-07:00

read all about it. viva absurd news.

What people pay for in the news > tragedy, achievements, and absurdity. Well, this is obviously an oversimplification of news because current events, no matter the subject, are important to many people including me. Also, an insane amount of the population cares about celebrity gossip. But either way I am condensing highly profitable news into those 3 categories. I guess celebrity gossip can be absurd, but not absurd in terms of topic, absurd in that people care - a lot.

I think it's disgusting to profit off of tragedy, but people want to know what's happening, especially if it is dramatic. I hate achievements when advertised for ego but if advertised because of significant progress then I approve. Absurd news, even if tragic (dark humor), amuses me. I enjoy all types of humor. Hopefully you find the stories below as entertaining as I do. Unfortunately, some of the stories are not as good as the headlines.

Somali women flocking to port in hope of marrying pirates
>mostly about the pirates, less about the Somali women

Atlanta airport grooving to clean music
>the airport bought the rights to Shake Your Groove Thing, Bustin' Loose, and Fantastic Voyage and rewrote the lyrics to inspire cleanliness

Going 2 divorce you...
>a Saudi man divorced his wife with a text message. LOL

LineAqua glass sink basin, a mesmerizing vortex of toothpaste spit
>apparently the bloggers of Gizmodo are enchanted by spit in this new sink design

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Blazar: time-lapse video of gamma-ray sky
>hehe I love nerds. About a video made from the footage of the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope that has been orbiting Earth

For chimps, candy is dandy but steak is quicker
>Fantastic story! "Our results strongly suggest that wild chimpanzees exchange meat for sex, and do so on a long-term basis." That's obviously what she said.

And yet another unrelated video post. I saw She & Him in concert last year, and I will be seeing the "Him" (aka: M. Ward) at Coachella in a week. Yessshh!!!

the long and winding post

2009-04-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from my blog for 4 days and I miss it!!
WARNING : this post is pretty jumbled because there are a lot of things I want to touch on, but all of them are interesting, I promise!

This Saturday I went to USC's Springfest to see Brand New. I am not the biggest Brand New fan, but I like their music enough that I went to see them alone. But I wasn't alone for long, I made some new friends like an Irish Catholic Marine from Boston that was located in Japan. I stood in the back to catch Brand New's set before heading off to a party. The stage was simple but was filled with smoke so when lit, the band rocked out as intense silhouettes.

At any concert, I enjoy watching the crowd and seeing the excitement of the audience. I love how music can transform people and this change is even more obvious at concerts where the biggest fans are grouped showing their appreciation and energy. Just in case you don't know Brand New...

The next day I accidentally slept through my alarm, so I missed the Palm Sunday service at home, but I did make it to breakfast with my parents and my brother. It was great to see my brother! I don't see him that much because of his traveling, but he may be in Rome the same time as me this summer! Eeeehhhhh!!

Speaking of siblings. My sister killed her laptop and had to get another one. Why am I not surprised. However, I am still impressed that I managed to convert her to a Mac user. I never dreamed that transition was possible.

I just saw the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are. I am so excited! This is one of my favorite children's books, scratch that, one of my favorite books period. (I have come to the conclusion that students don't really read that much, ironic I know, so this book fits nicely into my allotted extracurricular reading time). The movie is going to be incredible because the monsters are not computer generated... The photos look amazing, but I hope it doesn't disappoint. I often hate child actors and this movie depends on the kid's performance. But Spike Jonze is great, so I doubt I will be let down.

Another movie Jonze has worked on that I love is The Fall. I was suppose to watch it last night, but unfortunately other plans conflicted. We only got through 10 minutes, not cool! I am now desperate to see it again. If you have not seen it - rent it! Even if you don't like magical realism you can still appreciate the cinematography. It is a captivating movie. I need to remember to buy it. My recent movie purchases include - The Battle of Algiers, Slumdog Millionaire, and Burn After Reading. I love having a DVD library, it allows me to educate my friends or fill my free time. Actually, I don't have much free time. I use my DVDs for multitasking when I am designing. My typical evenings include me, my laptop, my bed, and a fantastic movie.

Photo of the week = Bill Gates' Facebook Page. Please read the details. It's worth it.

Yessssshhhh!!!! I found another brilliant video that mocks Twitter (see below). I loath Twitter. Even Twitter's reasoning why you should have a Twitter page, or why you should Tweet, is flawed.

The online explanation:

"Why [Tweet]? Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely.

* Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know.
* Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful.
* Partying? Your friends may want to join you."

I agree family members, friends, and or colleagues care about you and want basic updates. But eating soup? Moving the lawn? Sitting alone in a dark room crying? I don't care. If you are running late to a meeting, don't waste time Tweeting, call your colleagues. Eating soup because you are sick, call mom. Send her a friendly email. Have direct contact! Yes, I may be hypocritical blogging, but the substance of my posts trumps any Tweet. Also, I blog to clear my head, procrastinate, and/or because I feel like I have something valuable to say rather than Tweet that I am about to nap or go to the bathroom.

How are you suppose to respond to a Tweet, what value is there? Can you respond to a Tweet on Twitter, or are they just lonely cries in the dark to the Twittersphere? Anyways, ignore my rant. If you Twitter, good for you! I hope you can prove me wrong and Tweet something of substance. I just looked at one of my favorite writer's Twitter (Joel Stein) because he is pretty witty and I figured I would enjoy reading his posts, but I was wrong. I prefer his articles where he can expand on his ideas. A blurb is far from satisfying. I blog and have a facebook page, that is more than sufficient. Everyone in my life can contact me through one or the other. If not, I do have an iPhone addiction. Call me sometime. Enjoy the video:

My song of the week = Bon Iver, Flume

Bon Iver always puts me in a good mood. This song is like comfort music along with a few of my other favorites including: Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, Cake's The Distance, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, Fleetwood Mac's Landslide, Sublime's What I Got, Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, Mama Cass Elliott's Dream A Little Dream Live, any Led Zeppelin, etc. (I have too much music).

My recent art:

This is one painting in a series of 5. This is the first one, and each additional panel is a more zoomed in view of the plant. The final panel is a complete abstraction. It should be completed by the end of the weekend. I hope.

I designed this poster for the School of Theater's production of Twelfth Night. The director set the play in Malibu during the 1960s. I am traditionalist when it comes to stage productions of Shakespeare, well, only if the intention is serious. If the purpose is comical, then go crazy on stage! Like:

Now off to Intoduction to International Secuirty. Great teacher, depressing class.

another genius product

2009-04-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

The pillow keyboard >

I don't want this product because it encourages productivity through quality break hours. I want this product because I have successfully mastered typing with my face. The rate at which I can peck keys with my nose is awe-inspiring. Thanks Gizmodo for the product alert, I will get a promotion in no time.

(this can't be real!)

kp's life update

2009-04-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

According to mapquest.com, USC is 17.52 miles from my parents' house. I live near campus, but even with that short distance I go home less than some of my friends who live on the east coast. My mom kindly mails me hand written letters, probably weekly, because of my absence and her love. For Halloween this year, I received 3 different spooky themed cards. My parents show me lots of love but I remain a terrible child and simply contact them by phone - sometimes. Ok, I am exaggerating a little bit, but it is a pretty embarrassing situation considering the short distance apart. I guess it is a good sign that I have established some sort of life here at USC - sorry parents.

So, my dad called me twice while I was in class today. Apparently, he forgot I was a student... low age joke again? Maybe. (Love you dad!) While talking, I casually dropped the hint that I had to hang up because of an induction ceremony I had to attend. In response to that, my dad told me that I was a bad child and didn't know how I could forget to inform him about such a thing. This blog post is for you family members, here is my current life update. Again, pretty sad that I am writing this and not calling, but some of you will see me Sunday and I will tell you more personal stuff then. (My parents guilt me into coming home!!! Palm Sunday, :) bah big deal.)

USC stuff:

I was just initiated into the Lambda Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honorary. / I am still working as a designer at USC's Spectrum Design studio. / I am still the Editor in Chief of USC's yearbook. We just restructured it so I am not the only student leader. I now have additional minions (section editors) I get to control - bwahahahaaaaahhh. / I am doing additional design work on campus - Greek Service Day, Disability Awareness - Wheelchair Basketball Event, USC EMS, AIGA, and Canterbury USC. / I am working on passing the UCLA/USC Rivalry Blood Drive torch to URSC. / I am still participating in the Roski School of Fine Arts Workshops funded by an NEA grant. / Class is fine as usual, just too much work.

Outside of 'SC:

I received an Honorable Mention in the Steal this Idea Design competition. / Mark just promoted me to COO of Momentum. / Last night I saw the band, Get in More Fights!, in concert because one of the members went to high school with my friend. Listen to their song Back and Forth (cute lyrics). They have better stuff, unfortunately it isn't posted on their MySpace page. They sound like Architecture in Helsinki meets The New Pornographers. / I tried the most fantastic tacos the other day in a completely shady area of LA! It was probably violating loads of health codes and I wasn't just a minority, I was the only white girl in the area, but it was all worth it. 6 awesome carne asada tacos. / My social life is really busy, I can't keep up...

Future stuff:

Tonight I am helping organize an apartment complex party here in Mardi Gras. / Tomorrow I am going to see Beautiful Little Fool, a School of Theater play, and after I am going to a 90's themed party. / Saturday is Springfest at USC - lots of good bands will be performing like Brand New. / I turn 21 soon!!! / I am going to Coachella the weekend after my 21st with a few friends including Eric who has the same birthday as me. / I bought tickets to see Spinal Tap in concert - so great! I wish Aliviana wasn't in Europe. Spinal Tap was our freshman movie. / I am going to Rome this summer to study Italian. / During winter break next year, I am going to Egypt with my family!!!! (My grandparents are amazing because they take my sister and me to incredible locations to teach us about different cultures and science. I am truly lucky. It may be cliché, but I can honestly say that I am the person I am today because of many of my travel experiences with them.)

I am definitely forgetting things, but that list is the stuff that first came to mind. When I recap my life, my school friends usually freak out. I am known for outrageous life stories and my friends usually try to predict my shenanigans... but often they can't, I am too, well, crazy.

Carpe Diem, man! Go big or go home!

My biggest pet peeve is people who take things for granted. Life has too many fantastic things to offer.

(This must be a terrible post to read for any non-family members or people who don't care about my personal life. I kind of apologize if I have wasted your time. This is a pretty random entry.)

ciao bella

2009-03-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

ciao bella = hello beautiful

I enjoy the saying.
It is a beautiful day.
I am trying to learn Italian.
And Ciao Bella is the name of some wonderful gelato. Yum.

Unfortunately, even though it is beautiful day, it has been a tough week. Not only are midterms still lingering, but there was also a tragic hit and run accident involving two USC students early Sunday morning and the student body is filled with sadness and shock. The car hit two students; killing one and the other student remained on the car until the passenger and driver decided to remove the boy from the hood. I am utterly disgusted by their actions and I hope they get caught. My roommate got hit by a drunk driver last year, fortunately she was only bruised and we caught the guy. Hit and runs involving people are terrible situations, and it is heartbreaking that this one ended in death. Both students are in my thoughts and I wish their friends and families the best.

I wish more people would do good deeds in the world. Everyone is always so wrapped up in their lives that they forget little things that can be done to make things better. Compliment people, smile more, hug your friends... simple things like that can make you and other people happier.

I recently discovered freerice.com. It's an educational web game and for every answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated through the UN World Food Program. The internet is my favorite method of procrastination, so if I can claim I learning or doing good things for the world, I can rationalize my wasted time. Last night, while avoiding one of my research papers I practiced some math, geography, art history, and most importantly Italian. By the end of the night I raised over 1,500 grains of rice. Go me!

This summer I will be studying abroad in Rome for 5 weeks, so hopefully I can master some more Italian by then. When reading Time magazine this morning, I saw on their Pop Chart that "Rome plans Ancient Rome theme park. Get ready for Crucifixion Cove." For those of you that don't know about this Pop Chart, keep in mind that it is full of sarcasm. This theme park is not going to be like The Hold Land Experience. For example, under shockingly predictable on the pop chart, "Kiefer Sutherland to enter either season, second week of 24." (I thought that was pretty clever.)

Apparently, this theme park idea is inspired by the film Gladiator. (Great movie!! I remember being angry when it didn't get two thumbs up.) The city of Rome needs tourists and this is their solution to the Euro Disney competition in Paris. But I feel like this is the wrong solution...

"The planned park will strive for historical accuracy while offering family-friendly attractions based both on life during the Roman Republic -- which ended with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the civil war -- and during the Roman Empire."

It seems right up my alley, but it's hard to compete with Mickey...

"Mommy Mommy, can I see Caesar get assassinated again?!"

Bad.

i heart jamie

2009-03-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is Katherine and I am a music addict. I have more music than I am able to listen to and I never refuse a concert unless it is way too expensive or the band is way too bad. Consider the mild hyperboles because a little expensive and a little bad are ok in my book. For example, I just bought two tickets to see Spinal Tap in concert. I have yet to find someone to go with me.

Given the size of my music library, artists often fad in and out of my listening patterns. I usually select a few CDs and genres to focus on at certain time. Currently, I spend most of my time listening to classic rock and alternative rock. I love oldies and jazz as well, but those genres were in hibernation until yesterday. Last night, I opened up my heart to Jamie Cullum again. I overdosed on Jamie Cullum for two years, beginning senior year of high school. I own all his CDs, even the one he released of music that inspires him. I have also seen him three times in concert, and one of those times I met him.

See the picture? He is obviously in love with me. Ignore my terrible outfit... he sees into my heart.

One of my favorite things about Jamie, (yes we are on a first name basis), is that he is very passionate about his music and in my opinion is a true jazz musician. He does his best without a set list. Seeing Jamie at the Wiltern was one of the best concert experiences I have ever had. Half way through the concert he split the audience into two with a casual arm movement. He gave everyone kazoos and assigned each side a unique scat noise to create with the kazoo. He then came into the audience with the sax player and began singing random stuff not found on his CDs. Also, I enjoyed that moment because I touched him... yes. The power Jamie exudes while performing is incredible. After seeing him live for the first time, I could'nt listen to his studio albums.

He enjoys covering popular songs and using any materials present to make music. His energy and creativity is inspiring. The following videos show Jamie covering some popular songs like Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes and Sexy Back by Justin Timerberlake. Usually I am scared of covers. I am a purist and respect the originals, but his covers are so unique and given my infatuation I actually really enjoy them. (Ahhhhhhh $@bfs^$&$%*&VDbvdab!!!! he is so talented, and his voice while singing Sexy Back is incredibly sexy).

I enjoy his covers more than his original music, but some of his own stuff is fantastic because he incorporates his humor and some musical elements that showcase his wonderful voice. In his song Photograph, a few of the lyrics were written for me (not really) when I died my hair auburn last year:

It was the same night that I kissed that girl,
the tall one with the auburn hair,
I remember laughing coz to kiss me,
she had to sit down on a chair!

Yes, Jamie is really short, but very cute. With his energy on stage he kind of reminds me of a monkey. He did a few jumping-off-the-piano moves when I saw him at the Wiltern. One of my favorite Jamie originals is Nothing I do. It is about a fight with his girlfriend but he intentionally wrote it upbeat so it feels like a happy song. Jamie enjoys irony and did a similar thing with a song he wrote about the "beautiful" London skies. Oh, I forgot, another reason I love Jamie is because he is foreign.

Here are a few other great Jamie covers, probably more for my enjoyment when I stalk my own blog. A great thing about these covers is that the artists that originally sang the songs, like Elton John and Pharrell Williams, really enjoy Jamie's interpretation of them. In the first video you can see Elton John enjoying Jamie's performance. When Jamie covered Pharrell's song, Pharell said that he was surprised to finally meet Jamie and discover that he wasn't black. (Frontin' is originally a hip-hop song).

Jamie is out of hibernation.

it's new math

2009-03-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

Internet + Katherine = brilliant discoveries

Simple and direct mathematical equations that explain life.
(Ponzi Scheme = ROI - R - I)

Funny exams that result in not so funny grades.

Watch the following video to enjoy the inappropriate wit of Bo Burnham. He was born in 1990... makes you question your intelligence and daily word play.

kiss me, you fool

2009-03-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

While in Europe, Becky saw Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. I have seen the painting before, so I should not have been jealous, but oddly I was. It is a beautiful painting from Klimt's gold period where he utilized a lot of gold leaf that adds a great deal of texture to his paintings. (I heart texture!) His style is unique and elegant. The faces of Klimt's characters are delicate and detailed while the clothing they wear is decorated with bold patterns and shapes. The combination of his style and the content of The Kiss makes this painting one of my favorite artistic works. It is graphic and romantic - truly lovely.

When Becky mentioned this painting, I immediately thought of a painting I saw in Ireland called, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs. The styles are completely different, but the content is similar. They both capture passion in a sweet romantic way. (Well, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs seems like forbidden love...) There is a delicacy to the interaction between the couples in both works that is heart warming. I am outwardly a realist - usually pessimistic about the world and human nature despite my personal optimistic outlook on life. I expect the worst, but hope for the best. That hope is part of my closet romantic side that loves these paintings.

Procrastinating as usual, my romantic side triggered me to search the internet for famous kisses. I have a magnet of the famous Victory of Japan Day kiss, but what else could I find? Some how my searches turned into movie kiss searches. I eventually found this bizarre site that didn't select best kisses because of passion or love but best kisses because they were "firsts" in some sort of category, like first vampire kiss seen in the movie, A Fool There Was. I love vampires, but that is not why I was drawn to this kiss. I was drawn to it because of the movie stills the website selected:

This vampire lured a married man away with kisses and the catch phrase, "Kiss me, my fool!" I love silent films and that classy line. I need to see this movie now. This kiss website also features the first "Shameful Dentist's Chair Anesthetized Kiss," aka Dentist rape, in the 1924 film Greed. Wow.

Ok, I can't reference movie kisses without mentioning my favorite - The Notebook. It isn't my favorite movie, but the passion of their rain kiss is amazing.

Allie: "Why didn't you write me? Why? It wasn't over for me, I waited for you for seven years. But now it's too late."
Noah: "I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you everyday for a year."
Allie: "You wrote me?"
Noah: "Yes. It wasn't over, it still isn't over." And Noah kisses Allie.

**Romantic sigh**

design + function = good

2009-03-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of products that are both practical/functional and designed. It can add delight and beauty to the monotony of some products, and in my case often humor as well. I believe it makes life fuller and more enjoyable. And as Oscar Wilde so brilliantly stated, "life is too important to be taken seriously."

For example, I own a Das Kapital safe and a tape dispenser man.

I don't claim to only own designed items that are functional because I do have perfectly useless but INCREDIBLE items like my Mickey Mao (I have it in red).

But there are certain items that everyone needs, like ice trays. So why not buy an Ice Invader Tray? The only reasons not to is if you don't know what a space invader is, you don't like space invaders, or style scares you. My point - if you need it why not go a little farther and make it special? Being a designer, I am all about personalization. It's great for self-expression.

Now on to totally worthless designed items (excluding my Mickey Mao, because it really is brilliant). This Monday, the HRP-4C humanoid robot was revealed at Japan's fashion week. Yes, not a tech conference, fashion week, because this robot has been designed to be a runway model. According to the director of the humanoid robot engineering, "Our robot can't move elegantly like the real models that are here today." No kidding, that half squat below is really sexy... However, Darth Vader would totally buy what ever clothes are going to be modeled on that rigid metallic frame.

With 2 million dollars in production it is a little disappointing, actually no, really impressive, but why for fashion?! Sometimes I feel people develop technology just to say they developed it, but it's totally unnecessary (kind of like the new shuffle). There are some things that artificial intelligence can not replace. The research director says that another 20-30 years is needed before this robot is perfected. I think that is science wasted. However, it can easily be applied elsewhere and I never like to frown on research because any progress in science is fantastic.

The only thing this "model" could possible wear is this new clothing line that was inspired by the recent UFO sightings in China...

If I was an alien, China would be the last place I would land. Plus with all their surveillance projects I would be quickly discovered and destroyed. Unfortunately, You-Tube is banned again in China, so my brilliant alien discovery would never be broadcasted and poor Moulder would still be left believing.

musings of a giant

2009-03-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last night I skyped with Becky, one of my oldest and best friends. She is currently studying abroad in Europe. We have gone to school together since kindergarten and because she loves me so much she followed me to 'SC. Actually, no. She "begged" me to go to USC. I was set on the east coast and the only school I was considering on the west coast was USC. I eventually narrowed down my choices to Tufts and USC. Considering both programs, I got over my stubbornness and picked 'SC because it had everything I wanted and needed. Tufts was only a finalist because of its location.

Despite being best friends, Becky and I are always in competition. As lame kids, we would compare our grades in math, our drawing skills in art, and even the size of our calf muscles. Yes, I know - absolutely bizarre. I still claim I won the calf competitions. However, I did have an advantage because of my height. Becky still defends her calf victory based on the fact that she was active in karate, tennis, and a few other things and I was just a defensive player in soccer. My job in soccer was to intimidate other young children with my height and nothing more.

I was a giant in elementary school. My friend Whitney was also tall, but now, she is just average (only in height). Her mother loves to tell the story about how happy she was to find out Whitney was not the tallest girl in elementary school. Below is part of a newspaper clipping that covered the 5th grade Eco Hunt that Becky and I participated in. The Eco Hunt was basically a daylong scavenger hunt in the Arboretum. They gave us compasses and dumped us in the pseudo-forest. I think we came in third. I am a nerd and would probably post this photo because of the subject, but I just wanted to showcase my 5th grade height. Unfortunately, this is the best elementary photo I have right now in my apartment.

I am still tall, but no longer beastly in comparison to other people my age. I don't know how I sprouted so fast! My family is not particularly tall, but as a child, I did cry when we were out of milk. No matter the cause, I think my height, though responsible for many of my insecurities, helped me develop my confidence, independence, and emotional strength. (Who knew blogs could be so deep?!)

Today I love my height, well, most of the time. It can be a downer since I am taller than the average guy height, but then taller women are more successful... Some of my closest girl friends joke that they are my children because of the height disparity among us. Becky is always amused when I stand on my knees... because it makes her feel taller? I don't know. Either way it's funny. In NY this past week, my teacher so kindly named me monster woman when I emerged wearing heels.

you-tubular

2009-03-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

enjoy.

This video beautifully captures extreme sheep art. There are some equally extreme claims that it is fake, but I have been to Ireland, I know what sheep can do. Either way, this video is very entertaining. It is up there with the LEDs of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra videos. Ohhhh brilliant idea for extreme sheep art 2.0...

Freetranslation.com now offers hip-hop jargon as a translation option.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Sesame Street is still keeping the kids informed.

Crispin Glover frightens me away.

I saw the new promotional posters for Nora Robert's Lifetime series in NY. I made an effort to identify and call out every one I spotted. I was obviously entertained by the over the top romance novel like posters, but where is Fabio? The trailer below confirms my expectations...

"Panelists dismiss the notion that something could go wrong with the 75-foot-tall crabs that shoot acid from their mouths."

Experts Agree Giant, Razor-Clawed Bioengineered Crabs Pose No Threat

back to school

2009-03-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

I returned to USC last night after a spending a week in NY with the Roski Study Tour class. It was an incredible trip!!! I wish I could have recapped the trip more on the class blog, but I did not have any time. I slept very little because I worked hard and played hard.

Some highlights:

+Being in NY
+Visiting a bunch of design firms, several that I would love to work at
+Bumping into a few USC friends outside of the class - both randomly and planned
+Learning how to enamel at the Museum of Art and Design
+Going out on St. Patrick's Day
+Meeting Martha Stewart
+Shopping
+Staying at the Roommate Grace Hotel - I love the design and location
+Eating incredible food
+Seeing the musical, In the Heights
+Visiting some museums and galleries

During this trip I had a lot of fun but I also learned a lot. It was one of the most incredible experiences I have had while going to USC. I now want to move to NY!! And perhaps work at some of the firms we visited, like Siegel + Gale.

Some pictures from the week:

My hair and Martha Stewart. We visited Martha Stewart Living and bumped into her by accident.

The great entrance display of Bendels. We went on an exclusive early morning tour!

Me and a Rothko painting. I took this for my teacher.

My hotel. We spent several late nights in the pool.

Me enameling at the Museum of Art and Design.

The class at Grant's tomb.

Being productive at Toys "R" Us before our meeting at Nickelodeon.

Drinking huge frozen hot chocolates at Serendipity.

Me at Martha's. I wore pink for her. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. It was not as corny as I expected the tour to be.

I miss NY already.

design in NYC

2009-03-15T21:14:00.001-07:00

Today is my third day in New York with the USC Roski NY Design Study Tour class. Things have been moving so fast and I would love to recap what we are doing but I just don't have the time. However, part of the requirements for the class is to blog, but on the class blog. If you are curious about why I am in school on spring break, just read the blog. It sounds a little sad at first, but this is an incredible opportunity for any design student.

Here is a picture of me with the devil in Hell's Kitchen yesterday:

1, 2, 3, BREAK!

2009-03-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Spring break has officially started, woooooooooooooooooooo... oooohhhh... yeah.

Actually, not really - no trips to Florida or the neighboring narco state for me. For my break I will be going to NYC with the USC Roski Design Study Tour class. Yes, it is a little sad that my break will not consist of hours wasted on food, TV, and sleep, but I will be visiting 12 design firms. For the class, we also have plans to visit several museums, see a musical, eat dinner with some USC alumni and designers, and enjoy New York! So actually, wooooo-ing applies.

Since I will be gone all break, I do not have time to finish up some school work for my other classes. This morning I was on campus at 8 am in order to have breakfast with my parents and finish a painting before I leave. The painting is not too exciting, a simple still life of random objects, but despite the particularly boring content of the painting I am proud of it considering it is my first color still life in oil. All my high school paintings were abstract and acrylic. I also took a snapshot of my palette mid-clean-up because I love the texture and colors paint creates when blended together plus I already had my iPhone out to photograph the painting.

Check out the "masterpiece" and the paint smear below.

Other good news besides my NY trip:

"ScarJo & Mickey Rourke Help Raise Iron Curtain"

I am so excited for Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke to join the already incredbile Iron Man cast! But what a terrible headline!

I do not spend time reading Perez Hilton or other celebrity gossip sources, so this is the first time I have heard the nickname for Scarlett Johansson - ScarJo. I get the abreviation thing, but ScarJo is the worst nickname for Johansson who is refined, talented, and gorgeous. I could easily create some witty hick jokes with the name ScarJo. Terrible.

Also, did E! really use the phrase Iron Curtain? I am pretty sure the difficult negotiations that occur when establishing acting contracts for movies is not comparable to the Iron Curtain that divided Europe from 1945 to the end of the Cold War. What curtain was even raised? I am so confused.

thank you Obama

2009-03-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Obama recently released a logo for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This logo will mark all works funded by his stimulus plan. Obama explained that this logo will make "it easier for Americans to see what projects are being funded with their money as part of our recovery."

As part of the branding package, Obama also released the new DOT Tiger (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) design.

I just finished a midterm on international security so I do not have the energy to rant about the stimulus package or the design of the logos, but I do have to say thank you Obama for making my double major in International Relations and Fine Arts (Graphic Design emphasis) seem less random. Job opportunities for the politically active designer are growing! WOOT.

all that jazz

2009-03-11T04:58:00.000-07:00

blog assignment 3

I know it's a cliche title, oh well.

My sister suffers from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Even after living on the East Coast for two years she is still struggling to adapt to the changing seasons. She is quite envious of me because I remain in sunny Southern California. So, a few weeks ago I flew out to New York to visit her and perhaps share the spirit of vitamin D through association. While in the city, we decided to see a Broadway show because I had no desire to let my sister drag me to Twilight again. Like other forms of entertainment, Broadway provides a unique escape from life's monotony, but Broadway has the extra allure of impressive live productions. After considering the shows with available tickets we selected Chicago.

Chicago is a unique Broadway revival that has actually run longer than the original play. Chicago opened in 1996 and won several Tony Awards including Best Revival. When I saw the musical in February, the packed house revealed that Chicago is still running strong despite the effect of the economy on Broadway, which has resulted in the closing of several musicals including Spamalot, Hairspray, and Spring Awakening. I may be too kind considering that Chicago is now located at the Ambassador Theater, a smaller location in comparison to other musical venues in the theater district; but as a result of the location, the performance was strong and intimate, like a 1920s cabaret.

I did not know how to prepare myself for the production. I had seen the movie Chicago many times and could practically perform it myself, but comparing different artistic mediums usually results in inappropriate symmetrical comparisons. I eventually decided to refrain from referencing the film, but it still remained in the back of my mind. When the performance began, I was confronted by a minimal set filled with a chorus dressed in tight sexy costumes performing a smooth rendition of "All that Jazz." I then knew that this was NOT the film, and all my assumptions left me.

The minimal set, though sometimes a disappointing aspect for new theater goers, was appropriate and successfully utilized by both the band and the actors. The newest revival of Sweeney Todd must have considered this Broadway success when establishing their set, which is presented in similar manner. In Chicago, the performers made smooth transitions between their musical numbers and acting sequences with minimal set adjustments that often just included chairs. As a result of this, the musical required strong performances from all the cast members, and they delivered.

Charlotte d'Amboise gave a stellar performance as Roxie Hart. D'Amboise was both comical and sexy, presenting a refreshing perspective of Roxie Hart that was personable despite her character's manipulation and self-interest. The other performers were not as strong, but still gave wonderful performances, most notably Velma Kelly played by Amra-Faye Wright. Wright, though older than the rest of the cast, stunned the audience with her powerful yet sultry voice, which has helped establish her independent career as a cabaret singer.

I remained completely engaged during the first act and was actually disappointed when it was intermission. I usually anxiously wait for intermission and bolt for the restroom to avoid ridiculously long lines. But this time I stayed in my seat, excited and ready for the rest of Chicago...

The dance performances were dynamic combining both sharp and fluid movements, capturing the music.

The set, though minimal, was easily transformed at the will of the cast through their strong stage presence.

The band, elevated on stage, added to the entertainment factor but also provided some comedic dialogue.

The monochromatic costumes increased the power of the performance and the sexuality of the cast.

This review may sound a little redundant - powerful, strong... but it was a powerful performance of Chicago, and the intimate environment of Ambassador Theater intensified everything. There is no doubt about why this revival has run longer than the original.

This Broadway classic really did "razzle-dazzle" me.

(In this video there are lots of celebrity cameos, like David Hasselhoff... luckily I did not see one of those nights.)

my day of rest

2009-03-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

So, a few Catholic bishops want people to give up technology for lent. According to the Associated Press, the Modena diocese stated, "It's a small way to remember the importance of concrete and not virtual relationships." Their argument is completely understandable, but I am going to follow the Pope and continue YouTubing. Apparently Benedict updated his YouTube channel this past Wednesday. I guess he prefers virtual relationships. Maybe he finds it similar to his connection with God...

Gizmodo phrased the contradicting request quite well, "The bishops stated that they hoped a ban on text messaging would "draw attention to the conflict in Congo, which it says is fueled by a struggle over mines that supply minerals used to make cellphones." That's sort of reasonable and at the same time also totally unreasonable, in that nobody is going to make that connection unless their phones are inscribed with 'MADE WITH THE BLOOD OF CONGOLESE MINERS" on the front.'"

If anything just give up Twitter. In the spirit of God and worthless tech applications.

With Lent in mind, or really genius publicity stunts, Vanilla Ice recorded an apology video stating, "I'm sorry for the hairdos, baggy pants, the scandals, the lies, the gangs, and I am sorry about the music. I was young, manipulated and I was a puppet."

I am sorry this video came out 20 years too late.

I am sorry he is a poor actor.

And I am sorry he didn't apologize for sampling Queen's "Under Pressure."

My photo of the week:
Sorority artistic appropriation at its best! I know I was a creeper for taking this snapshot with my phone, but I could not resist, it was too good! Viva USC.

midnight tonight =

2009-03-05T07:52:00.001-08:00

I am so excited!

I have not decided whether to watch the movie as a fan of the graphic novel or watch it as if it is a separate entity. There is no doubt that the film will be visually spectacular, and seeing it on IMAX will surely blow me away. But the real question is if the movie can capture the complexity and power of the novel. I also heard that there were some changes to the plot... No matter what, I am excited and it should be a fantastic experience.

(not so) fun facts

2009-03-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

The top 10 in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.

1 of every 8 couples married in the US last year met online.

If MySpace were a country, it would be the 5th-largest in the world (between Indonesia and Brazil).

India has more honors kids than America has kids.

Scary, right? I am preparing for jobs that don't exist yet. Social networks will rule the future. I will probably marry someone I meet online. And my job security is threatened by China and India. Ohhh globalization.

My conclusion - don't go to school, buy a super computer, and don't bother talking to people because you can always meet them online. :)

Ok, not really. But read Thomas Friedman's book, The World Is Flat. It is an essential update on globalization.

It is funny considering all this as I write on my blog...

carpe diem

2009-03-02T00:04:00.000-08:00

Oh man, what a week. I definitely seized a few days.

Monday - John's 23rd birthday on the 23rd
Tuesday - Trojan Idol and Date Auction
Wednesday - LA Opera
Thursday - USC vs. UCLA men's club volleyball game
Friday - Red Cross recognition dinner and DChi Party
Saturday - DTD Philanthropy and Crew-a-palooza
Sunday - Dinner with my Dad

And because of all that I am up late doing homework.

I just finished a painting for class. I am in painting 1, not because I haven't painted before but because I haven't painted in about 4 years. I thought I could use a good refresh and I miss painting. Also, this is the first time I have painted with oil. I only used acrylic in high school because it was cheap and readily available.

The painting I finished is for an assignment where we had to copy a famous painting. The purpose of this project is to help students with recognizing/creating colors and also to help with drawing what is observed. It is a valuable assignment for any artist. It is like a good warm-up.

For the assignment, I picked Georgia O'Keefe's "Oriental Poppies" (below). I like the painting and I thought it would be a nice gift for my mom. She always asks me to paint something for her, but I haven't had the time until now. Also, I have been to the Georgia O'Keefe museum several times when visiting my grandparents in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I appreciate the delicacy and texture of O'Keefe's paintings and I wanted the challenge of recreating her work.

My paintings in high school were usually mixed media and pretty abstract, so it was nice to paint something a little different. Below are two of my high school paintings and my completed O'Keefe painting. The copy is a little "squished" in comparison to the original because of the canvas proportions, but other than that, I am pretty happy with it.

...I should really stop procrastinating with my blog. Back to homework!

hope for America's youth...

2009-02-26T10:50:00.000-08:00

I am not the biggest Metallica fan, but I love classic rock and I thought this picture was pretty incredible. I found it on the Huffington Post's comedy page under the title "The Best Picture You Will See Today." You could crack it up to the "Guitar Hero generation" but I agree with the Post and think of it as a message of hope. In my opinion, nausea is synonymous with pre-packaged child/teen star. Where did all the good music go? Disney please stop.

ahhh sensory overload

2009-02-25T23:53:00.000-08:00

I just got back from the LA Opera and my senses are overwhelmed. I can not focus on anything right now because my mind is flooded with the imagery and sounds from Das Rheingold, the first installment in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. I had no idea what this opera was about but I was thrilled to attend because I like any type of entertainment: lowbrow, highbrow... nobrow... I just like to experience new things.

And I am glad I did, because Das Rheingold was GENUINE EPIC STAGE MAGIC!

When it comes to operas, I generally enjoy ones with notably beautiful music. Consider "Nessun Dorma" from Turnadot, or "Hell's vengeance boils in my heart" from the Magic Flute, or my favorite, "Habanera" from Carmen (below).

Das Rheingold didn't have any notable arias, in my opinion (which is not very informed when it comes to operas), but the opera was sung beautifully and the entire performance was a visual spectacular.

(the photographs below do not accurately capture the magic of this opera, but it provides a taste)

There were giant neon lights that spanned the width of the stage.
There was a sea made of flowing fabric that came to life by the movements of about a dozen extras.
Loge, the fire god, wore red Chuck Taylors. (Awesome!)
The reflections in the water were created by additional people that mirrored the main actors' actions. (See the first photo in the set of 3 above)
Colorful lights were projected onto a screen that covered the stage.
I can't explain it without a huge plot recap, but there were lightsabers!!!
The costume designs were magnificent sculptures, similar to the costumes seen in the Across the Universe scene with Mr. Kite.

There is no way I can be brief when describing Das Rheingold, it was too outrageous and there were so many fantastic details. But to put it simply - the set/plot is a hybrid of Lord of the Rings, Pan's Labyrinth, and the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. The music was ominous and strong, but at times it sounded like a hybrid of 2001: A Space Odyssey's "Atmospheres" by Gyorgy Ligeti and an army bugle call, like the church call. The fantasy of it was very similar to Cirque du Soleil.

Marvelous! Please go see Das Rheingold.

crayons on my mind

2009-02-24T11:46:00.000-08:00

When a person thinks of crayons they usually reminisce about their youth. Crayons are given to kids everywhere from CPK to kindergarten, almost as a distraction tool. It is easy to control kids when they have stuff to play with. I am impressed with the crayon skills kids have. They can cover a piece of paper in seconds by moving their hand back and forth so rapidly that their hands become colorful blurs. And what results from these manic crayola periods? Purely unrecognizable but important blobs of color that will end up on a refrigerator.

When I think of children's drawings, I first think of my early "artwork" and then I think of Maddox. Maddox has a website titled "The Best Page in the Universe" where he simply insults everything. The humor is crude, harsh, hyperbolic, shocking, but enjoyable if you like that kind of stuff. He has two pages where he has critiqued children's artwork. It is a little sad, poor kids, but the stuff he says is too outrageous to not enjoy a little.

Below is one review:

That's interesting, everyone in this picture is white. Even the rainbow is white. Perhaps in an ideal world, everyone would be white isn't that right, Rachel? Or should I call you RACIST? Nice try, Hitler. F

Well, that is what I use to think about crayons until I saw a review of Christian Faur's crayon art on Gizmodo. Actually, it is less of a review and more of an introduction to his work followed by the statement - "Dude...stare at it and you will go cross-eyed!" I would agree with that, my head kind of hurts from looking at Faur's work, but you have to admit it is pretty clever and unique. He aligns thousands of crayons to create images out of their color, where each crayon is like a pixel in an image. So ingenious, art made from crayons without drawing with them! I enjoy the close up photos the most because they clearly show the crayons. It illustrates the process and the idea without giving you a headache.

In Faur's artist statement he says, "My studies in the natural sciences have made me aware of these hidden layers of complexity present in even the simplest objects. These invisible layers are seen most clearly through the lens of logic, which is used to decipher the underlying rules and laws that govern the physical world." Faur applies this to his work, using simple objects to make a more complex whole. He has a scientific approach to art that is very intriguing. I don't personally like the aesthetics of his work, but I appreciate his process and creativity. Below is another example of his work that does not use crayons.

slumdog is gold!

2009-02-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Last night was the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Even though I was interested in the winners, I did not watch the Oscars because I was not in the mood to watch cheap filler sequences and awkward jokes. But I like being up to date on all current events, so I watched a few clips and read the reviews of the Oscars this morning.

Oh man! What a mess. Even though the writers strike is technically over, Hollywood is still suffering... Hugh Jackman, the host, even cracked up during a few planned sequences like the "Mr. Roboto" sing along. I love Styx, but that was simply terrible. According to recaps, there were only a few shinning moments other than the awards themselves. If the top headlines are focusing on the Jennifer and Angelina drama, I can only assume.

Instead of watching the Oscars, I watched The Godfather with a few friends. I didn't organize it because of the Oscars (I honestly forgot), I planned the movie night because several of my friends had never seem the movie!! Once realizing the scheduling conflict, I decided that watching a movie classic was more valuable then watching the Oscars. However, I am sad I missed the presentation of Best Picture. I absolutely love Slumdog Millionaire. It deserved to win. If you haven't seen it, shame on you. I would write a quick review, but it's too difficult. One reviewer stated, "It is brilliant in a million different ways." I would definitely agree.

While looking at Oscar recaps today online, I drifted towards Oscar themed photo galleries on the Vanity Fair website. Below are two of my favorite photos from the site. One features Marion Cotillard who won best actress last year for the brilliant film La Vie en Rose. In the photo, she is re-enacting the shower scene from Psycho. It is cool to see the scene redone in stills. I can't even describe the second one with Dustin Hoffman... it is perfectly hilarious. Vanity Fair has the best portraits.

Want to waste some time on the internet, check these out >

Funny Gizmodo links:
Atlantis Found on Google Earth, Official Explanation Is Dubious
Otters Making Home Videos Of Passing Photojournalists In Monterey Bay
Combi iPod Bouncer is Going to Get Up and Walk Off With Your Baby
(Gizmodo is comedic genius with a few helpings of tech)

South Korean woman fails driver's test 775 times
(Racial stereotype confirmed? Yes, I said it.)

oh my, pigeon?

2009-02-22T12:24:00.000-08:00

At lunch yesterday, a pigeon walked up to me and my friend Leah. Easily distracted, I redirected our conversation to the fact that doves are pigeons. This fact always amuses me because in Christianity the Holy Spirit (aka: the spirit of God) is usually depicted by a dove. And if doves are pigeons, then the Spirit of God is a dirty bird. Pigeons are pretty much at the bottom of the hierarchy of birds. I know this is blasphemy, but a devout person could stretch my pigeon fact to fit Christianity by saying - the truly religious are humble and do not value material things... like pigeons on the street.

Scientifically, getting a pure white pigeon does take some time, but they are still pigeons. Leah said that this is why she is Jewish.

Wikipedia's description: Pigeons and doves constitute the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied.

There are lots of things misunderstood about religion, just look at current events!! One of my favorites, besides the pigeon, is the Cross of St. Peter (known as the Petrine Cross). It is believed that when St. Peter was sentenced to be crucified he requested to be crucified upside down so he would not die in the same manner as Christ. However, some people believe that inverting the cross makes it the opposite of Christianity. So often you will see St. Peter's cross as a Satanic/anti-Christian image. If only those Satanists went to bible school.

Here is another adorable animal video to follow the kitten video I posted yesterday. This is by far the cutest animal video I have ever seen because it doesn't involve creepy family members or strange dialogue/music. Instead, it includes a variety of baby animals and Samsung phones!!! It is part of a new viral marketing campaign. But this does raise the question: what are humans suppose to do with this phone? Because I am definitely too big to use it as a dance floor or a computer monitor. As much as I love this video, it would have been better if iPhones were used.

I miss you blog

2009-02-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

I am now mildly addicted to blogging. I haven't written on my blog for a few days and I feel guilty, like I am flaking on a obligation. When in reality I don't have to write anything besides the few posts required for my writing class. I have only had one required post so far.

I have had plenty of stuff to write about over the past few days, but I have been overwhelmed. One reason is the Undergraduate Student Government election. The ticket I was volunteering for encountered several obstacles. On Tuesday we were banned from campaigning for 36 hours. Then on the last day of the election the ticket was completely disqualified. Minor transgressions were punished with harsh rulings by a biased elections commission. One of the other tickets has made similar and more extreme violations, yet has seen no punishment. I don't want to rant, I was very frustrated and now I am just indifferent towards USG and their structure. We ran an honest and educated campaign and I am proud regardless. My friend Mat said that this is just politics, which it is, but usually there is some form of checks and balances like another commission that we could appeal to. One biased student geared the hearing towards unfair results. She claims that she only did what was right, but it is only right if you apply those harsh standards to all other tickets. Not only is this a sad situation for my campaign, but also for all the students who voted for Owen and Maya.

The Daily Trojan editors wrote, "Discarded votes are worse than unchecked boxes. When students on this campus exercise their right to abstain from political involvement, it can be disappointing. When that same bloc shows up to the booths to say who it wants to see elected and is ignored, it is disgusting…Undergraduate Student Government is muting the same voices it has so much trouble encouraging to sound off in the first place.”

For additional reading on this situation, check out two Daily Trojan articles linked below. Also, read the student responses. Some are eloquent describing the unfortunate situation and some tell the election commissioner to burn in hell... This is quite the election year.

Caine-Babla barred - Elections Commission said promise of $10,000 for student groups violate USG bylaws.

USG needs to address lack of transparency.

Due to my busy schedule I am unable to watch a lot of live tv, so I catch up on shows on my computer. I was watching a little Jon, then a little Colbert, then a little Conan... and I stumbled upon this brilliant video!! Enjoy the Conan and Colbert dance off!

It is incredible what Colbert can do with invisible string. I am quite jealous. I have been practicing and have yet to successfully lift my eyebrow.

On the topic of entertainment, I am really excited for the Watchmen movie. It is a movie based on one of the most celebrated graphic novels of all time. I recently re-read it on my plane flights to and from New York to get even more pumped for the movie. Not only is it an exciting moving for comic book fans, but it will be a remarkable film regardless of your Watchmen knowledge. Below is a video that shows how they are bringing Dr. Manhattan to life. So incredible! The Wired website has additional videos that go behind the scenes of Watchmen. Midnight showing anyone?

For a few years I have been a huge fan of the New Zealand folk comedy duo, Flight of the Conchords. They are getting big now, but I am proud to say that I knew about them before their wonderful HBO show. The group just ended a poster competition on their website and I missed the deadline!!! It ended at 11:59 AM EST, but I assumed it was midnight along with several other participating fans. Either way, I am not too sad because I didn't actually finish the posters I was working on. I did create one (below) based on the Conchord's Hiphopopatamus vs. the Rhymenoceros song. I got flows that glow like phosphorus...

Now off to do some laundry. A presto!

PS - cutest thing ever!!! Kittens!!!

LOL

2009-02-18T05:38:00.000-08:00

LOL = laugh out loud for those of you who live under a rock.

Below are a few funny things that have kept me entertained recently.

Laugh a little. If it isn't funny, tell me, and I may need to reevaluate what I think is funny. I am easily entertained and often laugh at inappropriate times. Even if my laughter is sometimes misplaced, I believe life should be enjoyable and laughter can only do good. There are actual studies proving that laughter can improve ones health.

One of my favorite books is the Name of the Rose. Basically it's Sherlock Holmes meets Jesus... in the book, one of the monks tried to hide a manuscript that had evidence that Jesus laughed. The monk wanted laughter to be forbidden because it destroyed the disciplining power of fear. So don't be bogged down by fear - LAUGH!!

To quote the brilliant Oscar Wilde,
"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
and
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

Carpe Diem.

(sorry my laughter comment was not meant to be that "deep," anyways, enjoy!)

Nuclear subs collide in Atlantic > BBC news
Apparently their anti-sonar devices to hide from other subs was "too effective." Of course the French and British would collide.
The Score:
HMS Vanguard - 0
Le Triomphant - 0
(I think they should consider renaming the subs)

Jon Stewart always cracks me up, but his recent bits on Obama are genius! Who can make fun of the perfect president of change? Nobody, unless you are making fun of how perfect he is...

Presenting "the Hope-and-Change-O-Meter"
I took a screen shot of the meter during the "Big 'Bama's House" episode. The meter placed Obama between Gandalf and Wizard FDR - What a president! Full of hope and change!!

Speaking of hope and change - check out Japanese Obama below. Yes We Can do magic!! I bet all the magicians out there are thinking - "Change was my line!" This video was posted on Inauguration Day. The Huffington Post made the brilliant conclusion that "perhaps this is a racial metaphor for the magic of America electing a black president?" Yes, I think so.

All those tabloids about that mom who gave birth to octuplets are driving me crazy. Especially the rumor that the mother, Nadya Suleman, got plastic surgery done to look like Angelina Jolie! So ridiculous - can't there be multiple mothers that collect children? Come on! Time magazine puts it well in their pop chart - "Rumor: OCTOMOM had plastic surgery to look more like Angelina Jolie. Truth: that is Angelina Jolie"

This weekend the Jonas Brothers were on SNL. That is brilliance alone. I believe it was one of those I am laughing at you not with you moments. Especially the sketch with Alec Baldwin. Baldwin was pretending to be the long lost 4th Jonas Brother, Gary. When Alec returned the purity ring... priceless. Watch the videos on Hulu, especially this digital short "Property of the Queen." If the Jonas Brothers made music like that, I might actually listen to them. The song Africa is sure to be a hit with the lyrics - "I've been to Africa. Africa, I broke a sweat."

I laughed for a good 5 minutes when my sister showed this to me (it is one photo in a series) -

Looks like a woman chasing birds in the street. Well, that is exactly what it is. She got out of her car to chase the birds because they were causing a TRAFFIC JAM in the little town where my sister goes to school. How cute. I have the 110 freeway.

Below is a text from my friend Andrew detailing the conversation he had with a practically deaf co-worker. (He is a "court" translator. I think he is the only person who learned English as a first language.)

Old deaf Jimmy: Who is that young lady?
Andrew: Who? Where?
Jimmy: On your coffee cup?
Andrew: Oh... That's Garth.
Jimmy: Oh you mean the Jennies Garth?
Andrew: No, from Waynes World.

Last night I saw Lance Bass (of 'N Sync) speak!!! That fact alone made the event entertaining, but Lance was actually funny! The stories he told were incredible. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. He began talking about 'N Sync and how they began their career in Europe and actually didn't know their boy band potential. They dabbled with all genres, apparently even techno. Then Lance told about his experience becoming a cosmonaut in Russia. He trained in Star City, Russia, which is the Russian equivalent of Area 51. Some of his stories were pretty scary. Hearing them, I am surprised he survived. We ended the night by recording a video with Lance that will be sent to the International Space Station. I am going to be broadcasted in space with an 'N Sync member!!!!!

I hope you laughed at least once. If you didn't, I am not sure how we get along.

plug it, play it, burn it, rip it...

2009-02-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

technologic.

For those of you that don't know me, I have a small obsession with technology. From the culture, to the nerdy men, to the sheer genius behind new inventions... I love it all.

While in New York this weekend, I made a point to stop by the Mac store on 5th avenue. All Mac stores are like candy shops for me, but this one takes the cake because of the location and architecture. It was like visiting my mothership. It was almost too difficult to keep from drooling.

While outside the store, I overheard a man say, "it is like the Louvre but for Macs." I chuckled, then thought - yes, the glass structures are comparable, but what about the rest?

Mac products are individual pieces of brilliant design, but comparing the Mona Lisa to a MacBook Pro is well, blasphemous and kind of insulting on both ends. But if Leonardo da Vinci had a Mac... we would all have personal flying machines, awesome!!!

(I share a birthday and the fascination of flight with old Leo. Yes, that is me flying a plane!)

Visiting the giant Mac cube was incredible, but the best source to satisfy my tech-cravings is Wired. Maybe it's the layout design, or the quirky writing, or the tech-based content, but either way -

I LOVE

The current issue (17.02) is particularly striking with a bold vibrant cover design. I recently decided that I would love to work for Wired as an art/creative director. The job would nicely combine my interests in design and technology.

This issue is also great because of it's content. What other magazine would dedicate an entire spread to comparing the BMI trends of average US women to playmates? Here is my favorite quote from the infoporn article - "Oh, Playboy, why do you want your "readers" to lust after androids?" The article is well researched, insightful, and witty, but written by a woman. I would like a guys perspective on this. However, this could explain the new Svedka vodka advertisements - they are so creepy! If men are now more attracted to bald robotic women then goodbye human race... actually no, because we still have women that can give birth to octuplets. Ouch! I only like AI if it looks like Jude Law. Too bad that movie was terrible.

Wired also incorporates very accurate charts...

The loop in Battlestar Galactica's trend was very difficult to calculate.

I could continue to ramble on about Wired's recent issue - from the social commentary ("While I love HD, I do prefer friendship and human interaction.") to the interesting articles (ie: one about the new movie Coraline and another about a father's personal quest to solve his daughter's mysterious genetic disease), but instead, Wire yourself up. I have homework.

I woke up in that city with insomnia

2009-02-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

But unlike Frank, I am not king of the hill. Oh, New York, New York.

In LAX, on the way the way to NY, I bought two of Godiva's new Chocoiste products. Both are now gone - eaten. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, right? The Godiva pearls (specifically the milk chocolate with café latte) are delicious! However, these pearls were completely consumed not specifically out of hunger or taste, but poor snack design.

They are pearl sized chocolate drops in a box designed to last so you can snack on these pearls for several days. Aye, here's the rub - two pearls, or even ten, are not enough! They are tiny chocolate specs! Who eats random drops of chocolate just to snack?!! Chocolate is not designed for people who have restraint or can manage serving sizes... those people stick to salads and don't buy Godiva pearls. Stupid over priced chocolate! Gone in one night - now I have an empty metal container. Worthless!

My hotel room is also worthless. I have free HBO, but no remote. I am not going to spend all my time watching TV, but what if I wanted to? Sorry, no remote! So, my relaxing hotel stay would be inconvenienced by the fact I would have to get up to change the channel.

Ok, I am not a complainer or that lazy. I am actually very happy this morning. I am watching Once (a great movie - well, actually an incredible feature length music video with an even better soundtrack) while I wait for my sister. We have wonderful plans to waste money and catch up.

This however, is not the only reason I am happy this morning. I woke up to a message from Stefan Bucher. The designer I wrote about on my blog yesterday. It was definitely a surprise. He thanked me for the post. I am flattered and frankly a little embarrassed. I never expected him to read it. I guess I was naïve to assume only my friends and family would be reading my blog. Well, not naïve, I just thought the ramblings of my personal life would be left unnoticed by the active blogosphere. Now I wonder, who is reading this? Perhaps someone from Godiva... make those pearls bigger!!!

ps:

2009-02-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday the 13th!

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. Random I know, but it's such a cool long word!

I don't have this fear, but I will be on a airplane today... (insert obvious sarcastic tone) awesome!! All so I can spend the weekend with my little sister.

I love her.

let me introduce you to Stefan G. Bucher

2009-02-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

blog assignment 1

Stefan G. Bucher “is a man possessed,” or at least that is what his bio says. When he thinks of an idea, he makes it come to life. However, I believe he is not just possessed with ideas waiting to be realized, he is possessed with monsters, and hundreds of them. Bucher is the man behind the successful blog the Daily Monster. For 100 days, beginning in November 2006, he filmed himself illustrating monsters every night. He has done far more than 100 monsters by now, but they no longer occur every night.

It may not sound too exciting, but as you watch these time-lapse videos you realize he is drawing upside down. Bucher begins with an opening frame/page where he writes the blog title and what number monster he is on. This alone impresses me because I cannot write upside down, and his backwards lettering is very nicely composed.

Following the intro, Bucher dabs some black ink onto the paper and sprays it with compressed air. Each time this creates a unique splatter of ink, but to an average eye it looks like… well, dripping ink or a mistake. Bucher, the possessed man, turns the splatter around until he discovers the monster within the random spray. Then he begins to draw.

It is incredible how he has developed so many unique figures out of simple random ink splatters. I am not sure what Hermann Rorschach would think of Bucher, but I think he is a talented designer and through his blog he has inspired/contributed to several trends - the web based design trend, the time-lapse video trend, and the ink spray trend. My design teacher has warned us to stay far away from this ink trend because it has been done and EVERYONE is doing it now. In the design field, appropriation happens, but being original and starting a trend like Bucher is something all artists aspire for. With Bucher’s success he now travels to speak at design conferences and has several monster related products.

I do not create work like Bucher, but I have seen his impact in the design world and I love his work. I appreciate his clever synthesis of design, imagination, and technology. Bucher also has a successful design firm, but nothing compares to his monsters. The monsters, though usually black and white, are filled with energy and always manage to be different for other characters in the series. Several of the monsters become colored or animated, only to visually depict the life of the monsters that are always imagined by his viewers. I also love the texture seen in his work. The hand drawn aspects of his text and monsters add a tactile quality that is often absent from digital design. It creates character that I find visually pleasing.

I am still surprised that I was not aware of Bucher’s work till this year. Bucher was speaking at a local school and my design teacher told the class, expecting an enthusiastic “let’s go!” But instead we responded with silence and blank stares. This began my monster education.

From their toucan beaks, to their wide eyes, to their friendly waves, to their gnarly hair, to their sexy heels… I now love these monsters and Stefan Bucher.

best discovery ever!

2009-02-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Last night, while procrastinating on the internet, I discovered the most incredible thing.

It is prehistoric.

It is modern.

It is scientific.

It is artistic.

It is...

First Fridays at the Natural History Museum!!
Just WOW!

The next event is March 6th. It starts at 5:30/6 with a tour of the "fish" collection. Sounds boring I know (really, fish?), but they are bringing out their most bizarre creatures, like the anglerfish or another sharped tooth beast that tempts you with bioluminescence. After the tour, there is a discussion and book signing. The live music begins at 7 and ends at 10. I am particularly excited for the DJs in the African Mammal Hall. How cool is it to party in a museum!!? Ahhhh! Ben Stiller, you have nothing on First Fridays!

case of the Monday's

2009-02-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

I miss the weekend already.

The rain prevented a lot of things this weekend, like swimming, wearing shorts, absorbing vitamin D, and stilt walking - but I did accomplish a lot of things while staying in my apartment because I am a chronic multitasker (besides when I read - I need utter silence). During my multitasking, I had HBO on in the background. At one point The Deer Hunter came on. I had never seen this movie before!!! I was a little shocked because I pride myself in my movie knowledge. Lisa, my roommate last year, called me her personal blockbuster. So, quickly getting over my disappointment in myself, I watched the movie. INCREDIBLE! De Niro, Cazale, Walken, Streep... a great cast! I am still particularly amused by the Can't take my eyes off you bar scene. There was definitely enough cow bell.

I also watched the Grammys in my dry apartment. The Grammys is always an entertaining, but seeing the Trojan Marching Band play with Radiohead was incredible. I am so happy to be a Trojan. (FIGHT ON!!) If only I was in the marching band, because that experience would almost make my life complete. Too bad I don't play an insturment. I did try to, kind of - a little guitar here, a little piano there, almost a little flute and harp there, but nope no success.

When it was dry this weekend I did manage to make it out to an art show and a movie at the Grove.

The art show was AIGA'S EMERGE LA Student Design Exhibition, and I was featured in it. AIGA is the professional association for design. The show displayed student designs from 13 different schools. Is was quite an honor to be in the show. Also, a bunch of my friends came to support me which made my weekend. I didn't think they were coming so it was quite a surprise when they arrived. Unfortunately, they arrived after the awards ceremony so there was no suspense in finding out that I didn't win, but my friend John did... CONGRATS!!!

PS - That's my poster in the background!

At the Grove, I saw Taken. It has been out since January 30th and it is currently second at the Box Office.

So what I thought...

AhhhhhhHAHAHAHAHAHAhahaha...

I laughed during most of the movie due to the ridiculous plot and Liam Neeson's bad-ass-ery. I like unrealistic action thrillers, but this was too much.

Here is this script - literally word for word, I promise! :)
(warning spoiler - but if you can't figure out the plot from the poster you are an idiot)

Happy Birthday daughter.
Thanks dad for the Karaoke machine.
Oh, nvm, my step-dad just got me a pony!!! WEEEEEEEE
Dad, can I go to France?
Only if I can embed a GPS chip into your head. Ok, too much, but a cell phone will do.
Heyyy cute French man!
Oh no, there are people in the apartment! Daddy help.
The next part is difficult. They will take you.
AHHHHHHHHHHHH.
I WILL KILL YOU.
Where is my daughter?
** 5 hours of Liam Neeson punching, chasing, killing, shooting... the entire Albanian sex slave ring.
Daddy, you came for me!
Of course, I love you.
Now take some singing lessons with a celebrity.
Do you love me more than your step-dad now?

Neeson, (aka Qui-Gon Jinn, aka voice of Aslan, aka Jean Valijean, aka GOD), gives any movie credibility, even this cliche action explosion. It is an entertaining movie, but this retired "preventer," was an unstoppable force that had almost no legal issues after making a mess in France (so absurd). Granted, after taking a class on Espionage and Intelligence I have become a harsher critic of intelligence films, but sometimes it really is too ridiculous. Sorry if you were in my theater and heard me and Andrew laugh the entire time.

That was my weekend, minus being up late Sunday night to begin campaigning for Undergraduate Student Government elections. I have been helping Owen + Maya in their campaign for president and vice president. I am their "design/events person." Check out some of the pictures from the big night.

With the two candidates (both on the right) in the shirts I designed.

All the volunteers that showed up last night.

The platform cards I designed.

One more thing...

Bill Gates unleashed a swarm of mosquitoes at the TED conference. Bwahahaha.

grey skies laughing at me

2009-02-05T17:35:00.000-08:00

California weather can be pretty remarkable. However, during winter, southern California struggles with it's lack of actual seasons and goes through a sort "seasonality crisis." This can result in 90 degrees one day and a tsunami the next. Today is one of those random days. This morning was cool and grey like many mornings are, but I expected it to warm up like the day before. My assumption left me soaked, in sandals, and in a light (worthless) sweater. My bike was unridable in the storm so I returned home on a crowded USC tram. For those of you that are use to severe weather, don't laugh! I can handle the cold. The problem is that California weather does not allow for foresight. If I knew how to prepare for these days I would be less damp and reasonably content.

The best part of a rainy day is creating a good soundtrack - something appropriate like The Doors. There is nothing better than enjoying good music while remaining cozy in a dry apartment. Also, I simply love my apartment. I have transformed it into a nice personal escape outfitted with, well, the most random stuff you will ever see.

I have a safe disguised as Marx's Das Kapital.
I have a rubik's cube alarm clock.
I have two hermit crabs named Sir Lancelot and Kashmir (as in the Led Zeppelin song).
I have a pillow shaped like a log.
And more.

I love design, I love current events, and I love novelty items. And a strange combination of the three has thrown up all over my apartment due to my odd internal urge to personalize everything. This morning Mark and I began a debate about who has the best room. I believe I do, hands down. I don't need turntables, I don't DJ... people DJ for me! :)

Some shots of my room courtesy of my iPhone, Sid:

Mickey Mao = ironic and random. Why I have it? I don't know. Kim Il Sung and I share a birthday. You make the far fetched connections.

Books, books... and a fake chandelier? Yes.

Giant, self-adhesive, removable decals from Blik. It spells typography. What's your favorite font?

And the poster wall. A collection that began freshman year with Jimi.

how I learned to stop worrying…

2009-02-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

about Cheney’s bomb.

It was almost too perfect that Cheney appeared at Obama's inauguration in a wheelchair, but apparently that was not symbolizing his departure from politics. We still have Dick around to warn us of highly probable terrorist attacks. Perfect timing!! Skip “change,” let’s keep Gitmo active and then I can still wear my travel shirt. I actually own this shirt… so embarrassing.

Who cares about the new administration’s “honeymoon?” Sorry Obama, hope doesn’t even get a break.

(I believe every TV station has used honeymoon multiple times, but unfortunately, the thesaurus couldn’t provide me with another word to use. It is the new political buzzword. Honeymoon is quickly reaching maverick status. I will never be able to attend a wedding or watch Top Gun without throwing in a fun sarcastic remark.)

Heyyyy Ice Man, ignore current events because Maverick takes you down in this plot!!
Nice wedding, enjoy the honeymoon! Do it for Obama!!!

The state of affairs is so bad that people are using Microsoft Songsmith (just terrible = microsoft songsmith - corny musical infomercial) to turn stocks into catchy jingles that are easily elevator worthy. Thanks Andrew for the video, but I only managed to get through Bank of America’s decline. Stocks the Musical.

Now if my political ramblings were not enough, here is my quote of the day:
"Unfortunately, I will never be able to use shuttlecock and Iran in a sentence again." - Rachel Maddow
Confused?

And here is a funny spoof about The Weekender.

finally entering the blogosphere

2009-02-03T17:04:00.000-08:00

I never wanted to start a blog.

I enjoy blogs and visit several almost daily. I also post enough links on my facebook that if compiled, would amount to a pretty full blog.

So, it would seem likely that I would create a blog, but I intentionally refrained from doing so. Not because I am afraid of being judged or because I don't have anything to say, but because I have too much to say. I knew that creating a blog would consume all my free time and eventually I would become a hyperlink.

Unfortunately, I can not hold back any longer. This blog is required for my advanced writing class for visual and performing art students. The blog is meant to serve as a venue for artistic musings or rants. Of course I asked if I could use it for more than class assignments... my teacher responded with a solid yes. Fantastic, now I am doomed.

Here begins the future tool of my procrastination.

Enjoy.