New RAM & Vegoose baby!!

I just wanted to add that after now creating a live site, and learning some of the basics to change color, pictures, placement, and even a little stationary vs. movement, I am anxious to try more.

I am going to change my live site listing to the suggestions and comments I got in class and try to make a few more improvements when I have a moment or two. Learning this CSS is fun, but very time consuming!!

BTW, I also put new RAM chips in my laptop last Tues. before the class so I could install Adobe Creative Suite 3. I only had 512MB, and it needed 1GB, which is the most I could install that my laptop will recognize. It is over 4 yrs. old and still going... (I am crossing my fingers for another 1 or 2). So if you know anyone that wants to buy a couple of laptop 256MB RAM chips, let me know. They still work great, just not enough for me anymore.

And I am getting very excited for Vegoose coming in less than a month. There is going to be 18 people in our group going to the 2 day show in Vegas, but we are staying for 4. We are trying to come up with a common costume for all of us in the group that is non-gender bias, and isn't too hot during the day. We will be outside for around 12 hrs. for those two days in costume, so I don't want to be a sweaty man if I don't have to be. We have a couple of ideas, but could always use more. Any suggestions? This is probably going to sound stupid, but it's Halloween, so embrace your stupidness. I want to go as old school 1970's NBA players with mesh tank tops and shorts, make a logo for the jerseys, put a nickname on the back for everyone, and top it off with long tube socks (w/ the stripes), and a HUGE afro wig. Can't beat strutting around with 17 of your teammates among 10,000+ people with your shades on. We would be such rock stars.

Can you give me something that tops that?

P.S. - I got my White Stripes tickets refunded today - Still sad....

Artist/Sculptor Inspiration

I wanted to contribute some artists that I am interested in that I discovered last year in my sculpture class. I find sculpture very diverse in the sense that you can pretty much work with whatever or an endless number of mediums. This lends to very creative thinking on how just the material choices can interact with each other to create a reaction rather than just the form or technique.

Hope this gives some inspiration and ideas to someone.

Antony Gormley

This is a shot of his work called
"Angel of the North" The size of this thing is gigantic!! He does a lot of work with altering a simplified human form in many more permanent materials, such as metal, and creating a void or emptiness in many that is somehow easily filled by observing the work. The implied dimensionality is fantastic.









David Mach

I just like this guy for his sense of either using everyday household or commonly used items, not usually treated as art medium. Makes for interesting pieces. Also, how he is not held back by accepting that his work does not have to be permanent.

This is a pic of his "Down Under" installation. It is attached to a skylight above. Really cool how he blends the foaming water with her legs, and the placement of the piece is great.




Ernest Trova
http://www.collectionprivee.com/Trova_Ernest/Ernest_Trova_Index.htm

He doesn't have his own website showing all of his work, but his take on human form is slightly different than most sculptors. He is also famous for his silkscreen work. It should also be noted that he has no "official" art school training.

Jah Roots Show

This post is partly just because I wanted to try posting a video on my blog, and I went to a show last Friday at Knickerbockers. The lighting is pretty crappy for the video. If you have ever been to Knickerbockers, the lighting is always bad. I usually have better luck at the Zoo. I took it with my old digital camera, so keep in mind I am no professional.

If you couldn't tell, I am a concert junkie.

This is a sweet reggae band from Springfield, MO that I have seen around 5-6 times now. They first played a show in Lincoln with my buddy's old band RC Dub. They have since played at Wakarusa outside of Lawrence, KS (in 2006), and I have also seen them here in town at the Zoo Bar, Knickerbockers, and at Murphy's Lounge up in Omaha. I definitely recommend checking them out.

Jah Roots websites:
http://myspace.com/jahroots
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jahroots
If you go to the CD Baby website, there are links to download via iTunes.
They have also posted some demo and bootleg shows on archive.org. These are all free to download, so if you enjoy their songs, this is the way to go!



Also, if you are free on Oct. 10th, check out another band I like and have seen many times, but none under there new name. They are now called "The Angel/Devil" (formerly "The Gooding Band") and the new CD is good stuff. It only has 7 songs, so I am wondering what else they will play...
http://www.myspace.com/theangeldevil

Tangeble Accomplishment

Well, I am finally done with my drafting desk that I constructed a frame for from scratch. The desktop I had purchased for my 2nd year studio in Architecture, as well as the straight edge. Together they were more than $100 new, and I wasn't using them. I debated on selling them, but I didn't think I would nearly get out of it what I paid.

The desks I owned were small and portable (you could disassemble them easily), but had begun falling into disrepair. I figured I would just copy the models I had and build a frame from wood using my drafting/construction knowledge.

I am very happy with the result. The only thing I need to add is a couple of knobs on the back to adjust the table angle by hand. I had to improvise and bought some conduit and junction box feeders to attach underneath. For the amount it raises, it works well. Now I have much more room to work, and it is already getting plenty of use, as you can see by the picture.

There is just something nice about creating something that you can use. I know I will get plenty of use from this for years to come.

Similar Web design author

Just noticed today that the same person who designed the majority of the "official" CSS Zen Garden sites (Dave Shea) also has done the different templates for the Blogger site as well. Now I am wondering if he has done others for larger websites. Just goes to show you that since he enabled himself more time to design rather than program, surely it added to his time to make significant earnings from emerging websites. I will add to this if I find any more by him.

The other thing about this is that I think that after learning some CSS basics, I will be able to modify my own blog page (and hopefully some of my other pages) using it.

I also was curious about Dave Shea's own website, so I found his own blog page HERE. It has contact info as well, so if you come across a question that can't be answered by the book or John, this might turn out to be a valuable resource.
Check it out if you are interested.

Student Workshops

Just a quick reminder to myself and anyone else interested that they just posted a schedule for Software Learning workshops here on campus.

Sign in with your blackboard ID and password HERE
(or paste this)
http://itg.unl.edu/workshops/student.shtml

The workshop calendar on is the easiest for me to follow.
Hope it helps.

CSS Zen Garden Sites

For this blog I am supposed to pick two CSS layouts from www.csszengarden.com and list 3 positive and 3 negative aspects of each. CSS is just an overlay to manipulate HTML code quickly and easily. After spending some time looking at many layouts, I picked many more than 2 that I am interested in, but for the sake of keeping this short, I will pick 2 of the ones that got my attention.

I hate tables by Philippe Piotait -
http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://piotait.philippe.free.fr/csszengarden2/sample.css

Positive aspects:
1. Many subtle details (corner turns, some shadows, pin indentations)
2. Weathered/Used look on computer is nice change.
3. Information is easily found.

Negative aspects:
1. Doesn't utilize entire space well past top.
2. Hyperlinks hard to see on lined paper
3. Could use more color changes (subtle)


Mondrian by Chris Fletcher -
http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://students.jbu.edu/fletcherc/zen01/sample.css

Positive aspects:
1. Font changes are used well, not overdone. Hyperlinks easily seen by color changes.
2. Information broke up into categories.
3. Color changes break up repetition, but maintain simplicity.

Negative aspects:
1. No use of pictures, could enhance in areas if used sparingly.
2. Grid structure forces text in frame. Why not create frame with text itself in areas?
3. Reading pattern changes from top to bottom. No gaps left to right, then different grids followed by empty areas. Pick one and maintain consistency.

Others that get honorable mentions:
#094 DECO -
http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/094/094.css

Tailor Made by Rob Morris -
http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.digitalmash.com/zencss2/style.css

CSS Zen Ocean by Kai Laborenz
http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.css-praxis.de/cssocean/zenocean.css

RelaxationTime by Escofier Adeline
http://csszengarden.com/?cssfile=http://www.boldairpur.com/css_zen_garden/RelaxationTime.css

White Stripes show CANCELLED

This is so depressing.
I just found out via MySpace that the White Stripes cancelled the remaining dates on their fall tour because of Meg having acute anxiety and being unable to travel because of it. I understand that they are only human, but dang it!! I missed them at Bonnaroo, and have only seen the Raconteurs live, but never Meg & Jack. Highly disappointed since I bought my ticket the very day that they went on sale.

I was a little mistrusting of the info coming from MySpace, due to password hijacking and such. So to check it out for sure I went to the official white stripes tour page. Sadly, the information was confirmed.

The MySpace bulletin also noted:
The White Stripes sincerely apologize to their fans. “We hate to let people down and are very sorry."

Fans can obtain refunds for their tickets at point of purchase.

Dates affected:

9/13/07 Albuquerque, NM @ Kiva Auditorium
9/15/07 Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
9/16/07 Austin, TX @ Stubbs Bar-B-Q
9/18/07 San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
9/19/07 Inglewood, CA @ The Forum
9/21/07 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
9/24/07 Anchorage, AK @ George M. Sullivan Sports Arena
9/26/07 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Ballroom
9/27/07 Seattle, WA @ Paramount Ballroom
9/28/07 Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Theater
9/29/07 Salt Lake City, UT @ The E Center
9/30/07 Jackson Hole, WY @ Snowking Center
10/2/07 Rapid City, SC @ Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
10/3/07 Fargo, ND @ Fargo Civic Auditorium
10/4/07 Lincoln, NE @ Pershing Center Auditorium
10/6/07 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
10/7/07 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
10/10/07 Honolulu, HI @ Neal S. Blaisdell Center

So basically all the North American Tour dates. The UK dates follow after the previously scheduled Hawaii show that was added about 10 days ago. None of the UK dates are cancelled.

Since refunds are available, and the Lincoln date is close to when they left dates scheduled, I am going to keep my ticket for a while just in case. You never know. The main things that I wish for is for Meg's health to return quickly, and when they reschedule or come around for the next tour that they come to Lincoln again instead of Omaha. Less travelling for a quality show is always nice.

(I was trying to post a song "I Fought Piranhas (Live)" from a bootleg here, but I am at a loss until I know how to manipulate HTML to do it. Hopefully I can correct later.)

Bike Trails where there are none...

Finally!
I have been searching for a decent bike trail map of Lincoln that also includes the Bike Routes that are usually on residential streets where the standard bike trails don't go.

I just moved to the north part of town a month before the start of the semester. The John Dietrich Trail is literally 3 blocks from my house, and will take me to within 3 blocks of the campus trails. But I have been having a problem finding a decent route to work if I choose to bike. There are not enough North/South trails in the middle of town. I don't want to travel clear over to 14th street or 84th street. I was needing something in between like 48th or something.

The map is not perfect, but it is more complete than anything else I have found online, in bike shops, and in phone books. It is made by The Great Plains Trail Network, and the comprehensive map is the Official 2008 trails map.



Hope this helps other bikers who have not discovered it yet.

Creative Entry?

Our only requirement for these postings (besides having three a week) is to have each entry be creative. I realize that this is for a Publication Design class, so does that place any limitation on the content being for this class, or can it represent work for others? Can it be unrelated work for personal gain? Does the work have to be present, or can it be past work, unfinished, in process, etc.?

Speaking of that, since I didn't post all of this stuff on my MySpace blog, I kind of wanted to get ideas/feedback on past artwork (paintings, sculpture, architectural models & plans, drawings, and related) that I would like to revisit or would consider altering in some way.

I have created a portfolio of my work according to what I thought the Architecture college would like for entry into the third year of the program. After talking with the Associate Dean of the college, I am still unsure. He gave me suggestions of how to improve it, but did not say that it was bad work. So I believe what I am dealing with is a layout problem (from what I interpreted from him). I will post the pages I submitted in future blog, and can also post pics of individual works if more detail is needed. I figure this is a great starting point for Graphic Design as well as refining my presentation of my Architecture skills. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

I am published online!

Just being curious of searching for my own name on the internet (don't ask me why), I came across an old creative works publication that Southeast Community College started and released the first edition the year I graduated. It was kind of nice to know that other people in all kinds of degree programs had similar interests. Anyway, it was fun to find out that the first publication that I contributed to now has new life online.

If you would like to read my poem "The Story of a Glass Heart" that appears in the book, go HERE and download the PDF file for the whole book.

Hope you enjoy!
--Andy