Gallery of Computation

Here's a website by this guy (Jared Tarbell) who codes art. He makes these java applets that make abstract art. They are really pretty. You can go to the thumbnail gallery to see what each one does basically. I like the process - watching them grow. They seem alive and are new every time. There's a certain randomness that makes each one unique. They are soothing. Go check them out. Just click on one and then select the size you want. It may take a second for the applet to load, but then you can make them over and over. If anyone codes at all, he even makes the code available. Pretty sweet.

spaceJASE Oscar game

Chu had this on his blog. It's a 10 question multiple-choice thing that tells you what movie star you are closest to in personality. The Oscar Game - Which Character Are You? I tried it a couple times cuz I'm schizo like that. The results were as seen in these pictures. What star would YOU be?

It's stupid because it either says it thinks it can sum up you in 10 questions or it's genius because it says that the actors and actresses we worship are only 10 questions deep. Take your pick.

SFMOMA - Calder

Tonite we went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: SFMOMA.
We donated to KQED (PBS) and they had a night of free entry.
We drove up to SF, parked and walked a couple blocks to the museum. We got our tickets and went straight up to the Calder exhibit. I really like Calder. He made some crazy Mobiles and his Stabiles are pretty neat too. When a museum does the lighting right, a Calder Mobile casts the most wonderful shadows. When people walk through an exhibit like this, the gentle breeze from their bodies causes the Calders to twist and turn ever so gently. The whole room comes alive with a "flow" that I think people can feel much more so than in a room of static pictures. It was great. Many of Calder's works could easily be created in the computer nowadays, but they wouldn't have anywhere near the ...emotive feelings that his work does.

Then we went down a couple floors to the modern paintings. As the museum was clashing soon, we had to quickly walk through the rooms. I prefer to look at each piece closely, then at a distance and then closely again. Sometimes brushwork is just fascinating. Then I'll walk away and glance back to see what first catches my eye. Many modern pieces are just solid colors, so I think they're a bit boring - so I stare at them for a while and then look away to a blank piece of white wall. My eyes show the opposite colors for a short time and it's often very interesting.

I'm usually pooped after a museum visit.

GDC week

Well I didn't write much about last week because I was preoccupied at the GDC. Game Developer's Conference. I went to as many sessions as I could. I really like seeing what other companies are doing. It's like being in school again, scribbling notes as fast as I can. Now I just have to type everything to give a presentation at work. YAY!

I also got to meet a bunch of people from VVEast. It was cool to catch up with them - since we only really talk via IM and only about work these days.

This past weekend we ran a couple errands and took a road trip to Pleasanton. It's east of the bay a bit. Nice drive. Nice little town. (And by little I mean 66,000 people.)

Sunday Thai

Sunday we went with Chu & Grace & Bryan to the Thai temple up in Berkeley. We exchanged money for tokens and bought a ton of food. They aren't supposed to take real money. Only Donations. The tokens say "One dollar donation" on the back. It's kinda like how the pachinko parlors aren't allowed to exchange the little ball bearings for cash, but you can get tickets and take them outside to a little booth and exchange THOSE for cash. Except that's by law and the Thai temple has it imposed by Buddha. Anyways, great food - nice and spicy! I was stuffed and didn't eat dinner.

The interesting part was that the line for vegetarian food was longer than that of the meat eaters. Ah~ to feel normal. I don't know why people get so worked up when you don't eat meat. But they sure like to point it out a lot. Well, they didn't here. It was abnormal to go through the meat line. TAKE IT.

Afterwards we walked around and saw the house pictured. I don't know what they were trying to say by turning their house into an artistic commentary on TV's, but it looked cool.

Oh and Bryan is just about the cutest thing on the planet.

PEEK-A-BOO!

Neato Video

Kaan just sent this to me.
From some studio called Partizan.
Enjoy.
It's not the end of the world video.

Dad 'n' Me

Some guys were playing this at work.
It's by the same guys who made Alien Hominid.
i.e. It's good gameplay and funny.
Take a look.

Dad 'n' Me Game.


Alien Hominid Game.

Don't blame me if you don't get work done today. :)

Get back 1 dimension. From 3 to 2.

I sometimes find sites that might be useful to artists. Here is an UNexhaustive list of a few:

EatPoo.
It sounds wrong, but the site and forums are a great place for traditions and digital art.
Sometimes I like getting away from the 3D work.

EatPoo.com
EatPoo Guide for Art desperadoes
EatPoo Tutorials Page

Concept Art.
ConceptArt.com & Forums

Find out about whatever concerning art. It's crazy, but don't lose an ear.
Art Encylopedia

Human reference:
Fineart.sk

Woospace had a link to Artnatomy on his site. Holy Cow, Batman! It's really cool - especially for comic book artists!
Facial Muscles & Expressions

It's easy to get lost at EatPoo and ConceptArt - They are full of people talking up art. Don't forget about CGTalk either, they have started several 2D & traditional sketch threads/forums sections.

Now if I could only find the time to actually draw... maybe I'd post something there too.

The Burg

Today my sister sent us a care package from her town. Wickenburg, AZ. A care package OF her town. There was a newspaper, housing paper, grapefruits, oranges, and a lemon. Oh and there was a "Women of Wickenburg" calendar. (That was ...interesting.) There were many wrapped gifts and much time had been spent on descriptions of each gift. I got a T-shirt from Screamer's Drive-in. (The best part being that the bad-ass modded car had a license plate that said - "I love Jesus" on it.)


AJ got a T-shirt from Remuda Ranch. (Where my sister is a counselor.)

I also got the prize my sister won at the Friday night movie opening trivia! (A hat that says: UltraViolet - From the movie!)

We started going through the visitor's guide and found the town song. The lyrics were quaint, so I googled it and found this lovely little song. (well, part of it anyways.) Sung by "The Daughters of the Purple Sage" it really just makes you wonder what Wickenburg has to offer...

Well, there's always the Daughters!
I think I might head over to the Burg and pick me one o' them up!

Thanks for the laughs!

Lego Contest

They are having a build-off / interview session up in San Francisco for the one position that has become available at the San Diego LegoLand.

Think I should enter? I would soooo fail in the face of all the LEGO freaks who are superior to me. It is for me a simple past-time - a hobby, not a passion. OK I am passionate about my LEGOs. I don't think AJ would like moving down to LA for me to take a $15/hr job fixing up LEGO cities in miniature.

In other LEGO news, people spend way too much time making videos with their LEGOs. Check them out. Be amazed at the passion. Don't expect a movie out of me anytime soon.