!

Mixtape USB stick...

(via skull swap)
I hope this never gets used for the use of giving a "mixtape". Tapes are still the best media on the planet for making mixes... hands down. turntables are cool too.

Santtu Mustonen

via NCOTB

Plant Gadgets (wanting an iPhone?)

This is definitely one of the most enticing things I have seen and iPhone do, but given the recent Patriot-Act-Like-information-monitoring-gestapo-style, I think I can still hold off... but dang. sweet. (via Boing-Boing Gadgets)








another awesome plant related gadget I have recently discovered is the Easy Bloom, a cheesy-looking electronic flower you stick in your garden for 24 hours, whilst it measures pH, water, nutrients, light cycles, and who knows what else... Then the fun happens when you plug this baby into your USB port, and voila! Read-outs and graphs galore, along with some software to tell you what's wrong (or right) with your soil/placement if you are trying to grow a specific plant. It also suggests plants based on what you've got, all for around 60 smackers (american).

1940? really?

new year op(portunity)

Terry Gilliam's inspiration for 12 monkeys

Fun with the city (and bikes)!!!

this is part of a larger project called XCLINIC: the fruits of many, including natalie jeremijenko, an incredible designer and fearless interdisciplinary thinker. check out some of her many projects.

Book (every 3) Month(s)

I am way behind on finish a book every month, so I am going to be reading a few kids books in order to catch up. Lame, I know, but this last one was really dense, but really awesome.

A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel Delanda

Beyond the use of metaphor which merely scratches the surface of his better points (e.g. people and ideas move in waves, economic hierarchies are like geological strata, etc.) , I really enjoyed the giant step back from time scale in an approach similar to that of the Long Now Foundation. I found Delanda's analysis of material and energy formations over time extremely exciting and full of provocative questions about what the next 100(0) years will look like.

I loved the first two sections, Geological and Biological.
Auto-catalytic loops?!? Hierarchy vs. Meshwork? magnifique!
Even the linguistic history chapters got me towards the end.
Though I felt a truly objective approach slipping away at times, I felt that he managed a pretty neutral and factually based standpoint throughout.
The only thing missing in this beautiful work is an INDEX!

next up: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Plumbing Blog?

http://radiantplumbing.com/blog

Taste Artists of Art Flavours...

I have long been interested in the possibilities of narrative or theoretical application of tastes and smells. The first time I actually encountered someone doing anything close to it was at Mel Zeigler and Kate Ericson's retrospective at the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA), which featured their piece The Smell and Taste of Things Remain. I am thrilled to learn of at least one more artist using this technique. An Italian gelatto maker, Osvaldo Castellari, made 4 unique flavors to illustrate concepts; Memory, the Archive, the Spectacle, and the Body. I will be searching for more documentation, as I would love to find as many descriptions of the tastes as possible. For now, here is a small overview of the project written prior to it's debut.

Also!

I have an idea for how to do

8. document change over time

Some combination of up to 6 people (1? 2? 3?) decided to try to fight me for no reason, so I have some gnarly carnage en mi cara. Nothing broken, but won't be biking for a few days. Look forward to some time-elapsed healing, if all goes to plan!

Ar(t)chitecture

Monika Sosnowska - this woman's quirky architectural interventions bring the beauty and vigor of design to a world of wit and expression. Her work is critical and timely and encourages a new perspective on the role of architecture in urban spaces. She has a command over intimate details and monotony of repetition. Coinciding with her installation for the 52nd Venice Biennale, she will be releasing a book, and speaking in Basel this friday with Andrea Zittel. I wouldn't mind being there to say the least.

DANG!

30. Bike Far?

out farm-to-market 969...

One of the Best...

I recently saw what could be the most beautiful movie I have seen, if not to date, in a very long time. It is called "I Am Cuba" and was made by Mikhail Kalatozov. The cinematography is lump-in-the-throat inducing. Seeing as that it was made in 1964, it may have actually been avant-garde to shoot hand-held footage. The shots are constantly moving around the subjects and spaces, and tilting to allow just enough room for everything to dizzyingly fit. Check out the trailer...



or the whole thing... phwew!

Godfather and Washtub Bass...

I have fallen even farther behind on reading books, listened to a whole bunch of albums in their entirety, finished the Godfather Trilogy, and made/played a "washtub" bass.


26. watch the Godfather trilogy

My thoughts on the Godfather: I'm not sure why I chose theses of all films to be on my list. Perhaps because I was curious about the third one and felt like I would never be able to really know how I felt about it unless I saw them all. It seemed like anything I heard about III was really polarized: it is some peoples' favorite, while many abhor it. I thought it provided a much needed (after the first two) human element to Michael Corleone. Sure it was 14+ years late, Sophia Coppola isn't the greatest actress, and it has a lot to do with the Vatican. It frustrating to see he is lying and vengeful in the first two so its nice to see Michael as someone with convictions, or at least a soft spot for his family.

Similarly, I would like to see Dark Knight, but have not seen it's predecessor, so I have been watching Batman Begins in 2 min. snippets all day.

annnnd... I made and played a "washtub" bass. Thought the washtub is more of an office trash can than a washtub, it sounds great through a contact mic mounted on the bottom (top). This method also works for making a bass out of a door...



I played it at the chicken-wire-shit-sling-cage-match at Beerland (pictured). Thanks to anyone who came, threw stuff, participated, or all of the above.
so...

71. make and play a washtub bass

Long Time Coming

Though I have been particularly absent from the blog-o-sphere, this is my first entry in over a month, so as is to be expected there has been much going on. I have not only been a lame internet writer, but have also fallen behind on my letter writing, so if you have written me a letter, and have not yet gotten a response, worry not. You are on my mind.

I have continued to read a book a month. I finished "curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" last month for starters, amazingly keeping me on track for:

101. Read a book every month (3/33)

(click the dog picture to get directions for a "curious dog" origami card.)

I have also:

019. ma[d]e friends with older people

I'm not exactly sure what this was going to mean when I put it on the list, but I think I have done it. Though I do have some friends that are almost twice my age, I have made 2 friends who definitely qualify (50+), mostly thanks to Grant. In previous postings, I mentioned the self-proclaimed "bike dude", Kansas, who has certainly moved beyond "acquaintance" status. Most recently, I have enjoyed the company of a man named Bill who lives down the street in a nursing home. He used to be a rancher until fairly recently, when he started losing feeling in his hands and feet. I'm not exactly sure how old he is, I would place him at about 75. He is really sharp and privy to the most surprising of topics. On Saturday, we spoke of Eminem, Marilyn Manson, and Fellini. I lent him one of my favorite movies of all time, Underground.

044. learn old games (2)
Thanks to Bill, I also learned some old games. They are both baseball related games, but one is called:

"Flies and Skinners"- similar to "500". Flyballs are "flies" and "skinners" are grounders which are each worth an agreed upon point value. When a fielder gets to a certain score, the privilage of bat is theirs. and so on...

I can't remember the name of the other one, so I will wait on that one.

011. get on roofs (6)

Parking Garages Count! I have been on two notable garage roofs, which I will count for the spirit of exploration I hoped to embody when I set this goal. I rode bikes to the top of the new one at about 21st and Pearl with Shane Wood a few weeks ago, which gave an eerily new perspective of West Campus. New buildings always kind of freak me out, but I am glad to see more dense residential zones and "mixed use" developments, even if that just means putting a Pluckers (local hot wing eatery) under apartments.

I got on top of another parking garage somewhere near 38th and speedway, which has at least one noteworthy amenity. A Basketball court!

Last (and sort of least), I got on top of a house of some friends of friends in my neighborhood during a party. Textbook example of "Big head Theory" which basically states: It takes two to move a crowd. Funny how when no one is on the roof, no one thinks about it until they see some other folks doing it. The Great Dan Bui and I successfully lured about 10 people up there to drink a brew-dog.

Book a Month...

I checked out and never finished Will Bradley's book called Self Organization:Counter Economic Stategies, which was really great, and I did finish most of it. Alas, almost doesn't cut it. but! I did finish Leonora Carrington's The Hearing Trumpet last week.


I enjoy her art immensely, so I thought I would give her a read. She is a surrealist born in 1917, so much like the main character of the story, she is almost 92. The book is really short, but difficult to get a hold of. I found a copy through interlibrary loan, from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Anyway, the main character is a spry old gal, who has been sent to an institution for "senile women", crawling with strange spiritual ritual enforced by a mean man and his wife. Given that it is written by a surrealist who hung out with Max Ernst and Picasso, wild twists come as no surprise. Potent imagery, the spirit of children in old people, mystic pseudo-religious history, werewolves, poison, and of course, the hearing trumpet, all make this book enjoyable. don't get wrong. I typically can't get into fantasy. but she bad.

101. read a book every month (2/33)

and...

011. get on roofs (3)

I got on some folks roof at a party this weekend, though I have no idea whose house it was. people kept threatening to invite Skidmarxxx. lots of black.

Volunteer...

In light of my lack of employment and desire to keep busy, I have been trying to offer my services on a volunteer basis. If you need some extra hands, feet, brains, etc. feel free to let me know.

Here are the places I have volunteered at so far:

Church of the Friendly Ghost: making flyers.
Rhizome Collective/Inside Books Project: sending books, writing letters, making food.
Black Star Co-op: Tabling at the Dogfish Head short film festival.

so...

041. volunteer

I would love to keep track of the hours, but it's a bit difficult...
how about a tally?

7 flyers (untold hours).
8 hours.

B to the arter...

I haven't quite kicked this off in the big way I one day hope to, but so far in the past three weeks I have bartered for bicycle repair.

The first was upon my return from Seattle, when I exchanged a bike tube for a sandwich (from Bossa Nova) with Lee from East Side Peddle Pushers.

The second was with a man named Kansas who has lived in town for 3-4 years. He lives out at bio-squat and has been working on bikes for 30 years. My roommate, Grant, bought a bike from him with a particularly crazy paint-job but a particularly cherry ride. Kansas makes/refurbishes/repairs his own bikes, trailers and all kinds of stuff, including his own design for a recumbent bike. Since the bike Grant bought malfunctioned, he picked-up, fixed and re-delivered the busted wheel. Since he was around, I talked about outfitting my new bike (single-speed) with gears. He trued my wheels, and tuned my brakes. In return, I offered a great okra soup I made the night before.

sooo....

058. barter (3)

p.s. Kansas is new to the internet, and is trying to get the word out about his work. If you need a bike or bike repair, I will do my best to contact him for you. Also, he is looking for a new habitat. He is extremely low maintenance and would love a garage to work in, a yard to pitch a tent in, or any other alternative living situation. He is also more than willing to pay rent, but would love to be an in-house bike mechanic for a co-op. Hook a brother up. The man is 60, with a rock-solid work ethic.

Also! Check out Austin Time Exchange. I recently found out that it is legal to print your own money, to be used locally. Barter it up, ya'll!