Joe Mills

Thomas Allen

Image courtesy of Joesph Bellows Gallery

I think these “sculptures” are very eye-catching. It took me a few looks to really appreciate the work of Thomas Allen, but I’ve grown to really enjoy them. When done right, I like when pictures are taken of three-dimensional objects. Pardon the pun, but it adds a whole other dimension to the piece. By itself, the piece above might not look like anything if you were looking down on the sculpture in a gallery. With the view of the picture, though, it gives this real sense of movement and calamity. Many of his pieces have this dynamic motion. Check it out…

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n+ew

Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Alonso

I love when good design and recycling come together. Rodrigo Alonso has created this stool that is made from electronic waste, epoxic resin, and melted aluminum. It looks cool and it puts waste to good use. (Check out the old keybaord visible on the top of the stool.) Excellent…

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The Marshmallow Test

I read an interesting study in Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, and I thought I would pass it along. The text below is taken from Wikipedia:

Mischel’s famous longitudinal research study, “The Marshmallow Test,” showed the importance of impulse control and delayed gratification for academic, emotional and social success. In the 1960s at the preschool on the Stanford University campus, Mischel put marshmallows in front of a room full of 4-year-olds. He told them they could have one marshmallow now, but if they could wait several minutes, they could have two. Some children eagerly grabbed a marshmallow and ate it. Others waited, some having to cover their eyes in order not to see the tempting treat and one child even licked the table around the marshmallow. Mischel followed the group and found that, 14 years later, the “grabbers” suffered low self-esteem and were viewed by others as stubborn, prone to envy and easily frustrated. The “waiters” were better copers, more socially competent and self-assertive, trustworthy, dependable and more academically successful. This group even scored about 210 points higher on their SATs.

Completely fascinating. It makes me wonder which of my students today would be “grabbers” or “waiters”.

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Raiders: The Adaptation

I came across this story in Wired about a group of three 12-year-old boys who made a shot for shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark…in the 1980’s.

In 1982, three 12-year-olds from Mississippi set out to remake Raiders of the Lost Ark. This was no weekend project: Eric Zala, Jayson Lamb and Chris Strompolos intended to replicate the 1981 George Lucas/Steven Spielberg blockbuster shot-for-shot. They’d use a rented video camera, rather than shooting on 35mm. With no access to A-list (or B- or even D-list) actors, they cast their buddies from middle school instead.

While Lucas and Spielberg spent $26 million on their Raiders, the Mississippi kids had only their pocket money. Plus, none of them had ever made a movie. Nonetheless, over the course of seven sweltering summers, with a total budget of about $5,000, Zala, Lamb and Strompolos completed a 100-minute work that, if passion, commitment and degree of difficulty are your criteria, stands as the greatest fan film yet made.

The film was created over a six year period during summers. Considering this was not the YouTube era we currently live in, it is pretty mesmerizing they were able to accomplish their goal. How many teenagers would wait six years to finish a film that had no high tech equipment? Very cool…

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They are at it Again…

I am becoming very sick and disturbed by these big corporations and government officials going so crazy over their intellectual property. First, Microsoft is suing many open-source developers claiming that 235 of their patents were violated. Then, there is a bill in Congress now that would criminalize patent infringement. It states:

Essentially, the bill would turn copyright law into something more akin to existing drug laws: The government could seize personal property, wiretaps would become legal for the first time, violators could face life in prison and, in an ambiguous and far-reaching provision, the mere attempt to violate a copyright would become a crime.

The Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007, proposed by Gonzales on Monday, would amend current U.S. copyright law to give the government far more power to investigate and prosecute cases, expand the scope of what constitutes a criminal act, and would stiffen penalties, including adding life terms for those whose activities cause death.

Among the proposed changes, the bill would make it easier to charge someone as a repeat offender and stiffen the penalty for recidivism. It would expand forfeiture provisions to allow the government to seize any property used in the commission of a crime — a PC, a home, cash on hand.

Are you kidding me? It is amazing the lengths people will go to hold on so dearly to every little copyright and patent they hold. Most of it just seems like a way to eliminate competition like in the case of the Microsoft lawsuit. Microsoft has the lawyers and power behind them so they can try to crush open-source software so everyone has to use Office. Do not tell me it is some honorable lawsuit to rid the world of copyright infringer’s. It’s not. In the case of the copyright bill, I am not saying they should not have the right to copyright their materials, but what I am saying is that we live in a world now where information is easily transferable. Trying to punish us “copyright infringer’s” instead of trying to figure out a new way to work together shows no signs of cooperation and collaboration…which is what this type of issue needs. More laws is not the answer.

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The Three Best Foods

I always say that if I had one last meal I would want pizza, a Mountain Dew, and chocolate chip cookies. Let me explain why these are the three best foods:

I started drinking Mountian Dew in high school. It has been a 15 year love affair. Some people think I drink it for the caffeine. No, I’m a sick person…I love the taste. I’m not big on sweets for the most part, but I love sweet drinks, and Mountain Dew is by far the best. It has a little kick to it without being harsh like cola does sometimes. On a warm day, nothing beats a very cold Mountain Dew.

When I started working for Domino’s at 14, my mom said I was going to get sick of pizza. She was wrong. I’ve put Girodano’s up here, but I’ll eat it all. Gino’s East, Uno’s and Lou Malnati’s are the other Chicago deep dish places that are a must. I also like thin crust. In Chicago, the best are Taylor Street, Pete’s, and Martino’s. Why is pizza so good? First, you’ve got the 4 food groups. Next, it is portable. Finally, it blends some of the best foods all together…bread, tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, and sausage…if you like that kind of thing. I could eat pizza daily.

Chocolate chip cookies…yummmm……I probably like these the best because my Mom used to make these all the time when I was younger. You get a taste of chocolate without it being the main taste. The cookie part of it is what really sells it for me. If it is chewy and just sweet enough, you’ve got the ultimate treat.

Now, I’m hungry…

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Free Culture

Lawrence Lessig is one of my new heroes. I just finished his book Free Culture, and it is excellent. Basically, the book discusses how copyright law is stifling creativity. At one point in our history, a copyright was valid for less than 20 years. Now, people are holding copyrights that extend before the Great Depression. And material created today will have valid copyrights for almost 100 years. Lessig is not arguing that copyrights are bad. He argues that, at some point, copyrighted material is no longer financially worth holding on to. Yes, Mickey Mouse and some other copyrighted material from 80 years ago still has value, but they are in the minority. Why should an artist or filmmaker or musician have to constantly worry about violating a copyright that might not have any financial value to the holder? It is ridiculous. Most people do not have the legal power or money behind them to clear the copyrights. That leaves the ability to be creative and borrow from existing sources strictly in the hands of the rich. You might say that people should have their intellectual property protected and should receive compensation for all derivative works including their copyrighted material. In some ways, that is true, but Lessig illustrates a number of stories where the people that want to continually extend their copyrights today initially borrowed from other sources in their beginnings. For example, many of the classic movies from Walt Disney were derived by stories written by the Brothers Grimm. Why shouldn’t we be able to borrow from others and make derivative works? Most of what the copyright holders want to block is piracy. In other words, the illegal reproduction and distribution of their work. It is agreed that is bad, but what about the kid who uses a clip from Lost in his school project? Or, the artist who uses an image from McDonalds in his artwork? Or, what about the hip-hop musician who samples the voice of Sly Stone? Or, the girl creating a fan page about Justin Timberlake on her web site? At some point, fair use has to come in play.

Lessig mentions this in his book, but I’m a big proponent of two things. First, people should need to register their copyright every few years. If the holder does not pay a fee or register their work, it becomes part of the commons for everyone to use. It only makes sense. Copyrights should not be extended infinitely. Also, people should look into Creative Commons licensing. I use it with the work I put up on the Internet. Basically, you attach different creative licenses to your work without protecting it to the point of litigation. You allow people to use it in certain ways while still holding some rights. To me, that is a win-win situation.

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Real Men of Genius

Download “Mr. Nosebleed Section Ticket Holder Guy”

These Bud Light ads are always worth passing along. The one above is one I heard recently, but this link will take you to the larger selection. As always, enjoy…

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James Jean

Image courtesy of James Jean

I remember seeing these illustrations by James Jean in ESPN the Magazine. I came across his work recently again, and his style is almost unclassifiable. It stems from many different genres and does not seem to be completely in the same vein every single time…which I like. I know it is good to have a consistent style, but I like when an artist has many styles that make them successful.

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Fire Contraption

Rube Goldberg would be proud…

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