Well, that was unexpected. It appears that the sculpture class is also going to cost me. Maybe not as much as the photo class, but it will certainly be a problem.
With the exception of whatever the school has available, we will be responsible for our own materials. Basically, anything outside of scrap metal, wood, clay, plaster, and, from what I understand, any metal needed for the foundry needs to be bought and invested in by us.
So what needs to be bought? Simply put, whatever we need.
Terry, my teacher and head of the Fine Arts department, is rather flexible as to what is a sculpture. If I wanted to do one involving fireworks, that would count. He considers anything that exists in a space and a time, temporary or permanent, a sculpture. So, again, if the project I want to do involves glass, I better invest in glass.
The thing is, he is really going to challenge me. The first assignment is the hardest. And we are only doing three pieces this semester, each taking only a month long. Naturally, I'm looking forward to the last project because it is the most simple. In order to get to the end, you have to have a beginning.
Terry gave us several good places to wear to start looking (dreams, driving, meditation, etc.), so I guess I'll try one of those and see where it leads. Frankly, my biggest concern isn't about space or balance or texture or even scale.
It's economy.
Well, at least I know how I'm going to get rid of that comma in my savings account now.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Porn Business Driving DVD Technology
From Yahoo! News:
Who said porn was a bad thing?
As goes pornography, so goes technology. The concept may seem odd, but history has proven the adult entertainment industry to be one of the key drivers of any new technology in home entertainment. Pornography customers have been some of the first to buy home video machines, DVD players and subscribe to high-speed Internet.
One of the next big issues in which pornographers could play a deciding role is the future of high-definition DVDs.
Who said porn was a bad thing?
Back to Class
I'm seeing the other side of a coin I got too used to seeing one face of. It's odd how something as little as an hour can change how a day ends and starts. For the past three weeks I have been staying up until 02:00 chatting away with David or playing online games or looking at porn only to wake up at 09:00 or 10:00. Yesterday, I went to bed at 22:00 and woke up at 04:00. Tonight, I'll go to bed at the same time and wake up a little later because my first class isn't until 11:15.
Today and tomorrow are nothing but preparation dates in which we will go to our classes and told what we need and don't need. Yet for some reason I don't feel prepared at all. I don't mean because I don't have many sheets of paper or a sharp pencil to write with. I mean in general.
I have a little over $200 in my wallet, all of which will go towards my photo studio class this semester. I have enough buffer money in the back to help me get whatever else I cannot afford. I don't have to worry about being on time because my mother changed her work schedule just for me (but I still wish she at least TOLD me instead of waiting until I got all worried about it on the car ride back from Virginia). Pencil and paper are not really needed today seeing how it's mostly a general rundown as to what the class is about.
So what am I so worried about? What do I feel I'm not prepared for?
The answer is the other students.
Today and tomorrow are nothing but preparation dates in which we will go to our classes and told what we need and don't need. Yet for some reason I don't feel prepared at all. I don't mean because I don't have many sheets of paper or a sharp pencil to write with. I mean in general.
I have a little over $200 in my wallet, all of which will go towards my photo studio class this semester. I have enough buffer money in the back to help me get whatever else I cannot afford. I don't have to worry about being on time because my mother changed her work schedule just for me (but I still wish she at least TOLD me instead of waiting until I got all worried about it on the car ride back from Virginia). Pencil and paper are not really needed today seeing how it's mostly a general rundown as to what the class is about.
So what am I so worried about? What do I feel I'm not prepared for?
The answer is the other students.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Confident Yet Sensitive
My sister came home and stormed her way upstairs while I was trying to welcome her home after going around doing whatever. Several minutes later while I was fixing a two-cheese grill cheese sandwich, she was crying and talking to my mom.
I don't like it when my sister cries. When she cries, a part of me hurts. Worst still is that she won't open up to me so I can help her feel better. She just builds walls higher and thicker than my own. The only difference is that her walls are temporary.
There is just something about her crying that always rubbed me the wrong way. She's always come off as strong, happy, and so full of confident. Her crying and looking so weak cases me to want to know what is wrong and try to make it better. There is just something about her crying that never sat well with me because of her personality. Her personality I've always admired and wish I had.
She won't tell me what is bothering her, but I hope it isn't the fact that she has to go back to Virginia for the next few months for the Spring Semester.
I don't like it when my sister cries. When she cries, a part of me hurts. Worst still is that she won't open up to me so I can help her feel better. She just builds walls higher and thicker than my own. The only difference is that her walls are temporary.
There is just something about her crying that always rubbed me the wrong way. She's always come off as strong, happy, and so full of confident. Her crying and looking so weak cases me to want to know what is wrong and try to make it better. There is just something about her crying that never sat well with me because of her personality. Her personality I've always admired and wish I had.
She won't tell me what is bothering her, but I hope it isn't the fact that she has to go back to Virginia for the next few months for the Spring Semester.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Condom Testing Reveals Best Brands
From AIM Today:
That's right, kids. If you want the best protection out there next time your fucking, pick up a pack of Durex Extra Sensitive Lubricated Latex instead of that brand from that horse.
The nonprofit Consumers Union says in a new guide to contraception that the seven top U.S. types of condom they studied did not burst despite vigorous testing, and all models met international standards.
But results showed that the top brand, able to take the most punishment, was the Durex Extra Sensitive Lubricated Latex, according to the report.
That's right, kids. If you want the best protection out there next time your fucking, pick up a pack of Durex Extra Sensitive Lubricated Latex instead of that brand from that horse.
Movie Trivia # 010: Cathy and Heathcliffe Went Up the Hill...
Heading up the hill to meet Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights (1939), Merle Oberon's Cathy drapers a shawl over her shoulders. She is wearing a blouse and a full-length skirt. Somewhere between the bottom of the hill and the top, she must have found a dressing room and changed clothes--or stopped off and left the clothes she was wearing at the Moor-side cleaners. When she reaches the top where her brooding lover waits, she's wearing an entirely different, tailored dress and no shawl.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Rant # 185761
I woke up yesterday with a sense that life is worth living. I woke up today with a long list of things I just needed to get done. A shower. Get the laundry started. Brush my teeth. Check my blog for new comments. Check Zero's blog to see if she updated. Check Shem's blog to see if he updated. Hotmail. Yahoo. MouseInfo. SuperDudes. Neopets. Gaia. Dentist appointment at 14:30. Look for David online and if he doesn't show up, go to sleep.
Yesterday was so bright and sunny despite the forecast of rain. Today, the sky matches my mood. Dark and gloomy.
We talked last night. We talked about things we were going to do, things that were going to help me. I was happy. I was making stupid joke and not thinking. Not thinking was my mistake. A mistake that lead towards admittance of several truths.
David doesn't feel safe with me anymore. He says I have the makings for a serial killer. Overly dependent. No compassion. A skewed vision on reality with ideals that mask the truth I know so well.
I'm a bad person.
My father called asking for a sign to be printed out by my sister for the store saying they will be closed Friday. He then said that I should do it since I am up and on the computer. I said I was busy. He said I was lazy.
I am a lazy person.
In my dream last night, I was talking to someone about a subject I felt a great passion over. When I looked down to my notes to find something and then looked back up, no one was in the room.
I have no people skills.
The list goes on like a bad marching band at a slow march.
Whatever we had planned is off. Whatever hopes I had are gone. I used David the same way I used Dan. I used Dan the same way I use my parents. I cannot support myself. I will not be able to support myself. It is just not in me. I don't think I can.
People will see me as pathetic. No one likes dependent people. They are the very image of what we shouldn't be. They are made fun of and stereotyped to be the fat guy on the couch watching TV in their underwear because they don't feel anything they do can make an impact, that they cannot change. Unless you are a baby or a member of the class of elderly so old they can't go to the bathroom, you are pathetic if you are dependent. If you cannot drive, if you do not have a job, if you cannot hold your own, you are not worth anyone's time except those looking for something that will boost their self image of themselves because they feel they did something right and holy enough to secure a spot in Heaven.
They way I see it, no one is really independent. Movie studios depend on actors and writers to make films. Writers and actors depend on the movie studios to give them acting gigs so they can get what they need. The movie studios, actors, and writers depend on movie patrons to supply them with money. The movie patrons depend on another person to hire them so they can receive money. That person depends on the corporate company to supply the job and hire the job. That company, that person, and the movie patrons depend on the shopper to buy things from their services in order for them to receive a pay check. Those shoppers depend on a job to receive money to shop and pay bills. The bill collectors depend on reliable people to pay them so they can pay the higher ups as well as themselves so they can shop. And the cycle repeats itself under different titles of investors being depended on the rich and the rich being dependent on whatever made them rich to begin with, be it a bank account that is depended on the original person that opened the account so the bank will get more customers and stay open longer or some kind of business that supplies jobs to people that end up paying them back.
The logic's there. I know it is. But does it matter? No.
Independence is a false concept. Just like how I can say things about myself that are not true in the end, saying that you are independent because you can support yourself is nothing but a lie.
But, again, it doesn't matter. Because in the end everyone else is right and this strange, twisted, lonely little boy-of-a-man typing all this shit is wrong. He will always be wrong.
I will always be wrong.
Yesterday was so bright and sunny despite the forecast of rain. Today, the sky matches my mood. Dark and gloomy.
We talked last night. We talked about things we were going to do, things that were going to help me. I was happy. I was making stupid joke and not thinking. Not thinking was my mistake. A mistake that lead towards admittance of several truths.
David doesn't feel safe with me anymore. He says I have the makings for a serial killer. Overly dependent. No compassion. A skewed vision on reality with ideals that mask the truth I know so well.
I'm a bad person.
My father called asking for a sign to be printed out by my sister for the store saying they will be closed Friday. He then said that I should do it since I am up and on the computer. I said I was busy. He said I was lazy.
I am a lazy person.
In my dream last night, I was talking to someone about a subject I felt a great passion over. When I looked down to my notes to find something and then looked back up, no one was in the room.
I have no people skills.
The list goes on like a bad marching band at a slow march.
Whatever we had planned is off. Whatever hopes I had are gone. I used David the same way I used Dan. I used Dan the same way I use my parents. I cannot support myself. I will not be able to support myself. It is just not in me. I don't think I can.
People will see me as pathetic. No one likes dependent people. They are the very image of what we shouldn't be. They are made fun of and stereotyped to be the fat guy on the couch watching TV in their underwear because they don't feel anything they do can make an impact, that they cannot change. Unless you are a baby or a member of the class of elderly so old they can't go to the bathroom, you are pathetic if you are dependent. If you cannot drive, if you do not have a job, if you cannot hold your own, you are not worth anyone's time except those looking for something that will boost their self image of themselves because they feel they did something right and holy enough to secure a spot in Heaven.
They way I see it, no one is really independent. Movie studios depend on actors and writers to make films. Writers and actors depend on the movie studios to give them acting gigs so they can get what they need. The movie studios, actors, and writers depend on movie patrons to supply them with money. The movie patrons depend on another person to hire them so they can receive money. That person depends on the corporate company to supply the job and hire the job. That company, that person, and the movie patrons depend on the shopper to buy things from their services in order for them to receive a pay check. Those shoppers depend on a job to receive money to shop and pay bills. The bill collectors depend on reliable people to pay them so they can pay the higher ups as well as themselves so they can shop. And the cycle repeats itself under different titles of investors being depended on the rich and the rich being dependent on whatever made them rich to begin with, be it a bank account that is depended on the original person that opened the account so the bank will get more customers and stay open longer or some kind of business that supplies jobs to people that end up paying them back.
The logic's there. I know it is. But does it matter? No.
Independence is a false concept. Just like how I can say things about myself that are not true in the end, saying that you are independent because you can support yourself is nothing but a lie.
But, again, it doesn't matter. Because in the end everyone else is right and this strange, twisted, lonely little boy-of-a-man typing all this shit is wrong. He will always be wrong.
I will always be wrong.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Dad's Old Camera
Last night, my dad gave me his old manual camera in preparation for my Black & White Photo class. It's a Honeywell Pentax. It's so old that they don't even make this camera anymore!
Well, I was getting the camera back into shape by taking pictures of mostly dead trees because I like the line work though the lens. I then ran out of things to shoot, so I started taking pictures of the bird. They must be camera shy, because they kept making that noise they make whenever they are saying "Back off!" After running up all the film, I then began to rewind it back into the container. Once I knew that was done, I had to open the back.
That's where my problem started.
According to the site above, there is suppose to be a locking mechanism that helps open the back to help me get my film in and out. Well, I couldn't find it. There is evidence of a hinge, but there is nothing as far as a lock as far as I can see. I called my father about it, and he thought I didn't know how to rewind the film. He told me how to do that instead of how to open the damn thing. The last thing he said when he knew what my problem finally is was that the only thing he remembered about the back opening is that it opened left to right. At least that's a start.
Now you tell me, what good is a manual camera if you can't get the film in or out of it? Yes, I know that's a rhetorical question.
Well, I was getting the camera back into shape by taking pictures of mostly dead trees because I like the line work though the lens. I then ran out of things to shoot, so I started taking pictures of the bird. They must be camera shy, because they kept making that noise they make whenever they are saying "Back off!" After running up all the film, I then began to rewind it back into the container. Once I knew that was done, I had to open the back.
That's where my problem started.
According to the site above, there is suppose to be a locking mechanism that helps open the back to help me get my film in and out. Well, I couldn't find it. There is evidence of a hinge, but there is nothing as far as a lock as far as I can see. I called my father about it, and he thought I didn't know how to rewind the film. He told me how to do that instead of how to open the damn thing. The last thing he said when he knew what my problem finally is was that the only thing he remembered about the back opening is that it opened left to right. At least that's a start.
Now you tell me, what good is a manual camera if you can't get the film in or out of it? Yes, I know that's a rhetorical question.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
The Phantom of the Opera Movie Critique
I don't normally do this. In fact, I usually leave the movie critiques up to someone like Jason who has some right to say the things that are about to be said. However, I know that if I do not say anything about this film, I will be talking about it to people who would rather not hear me talk.
There was a lot of hype around this film, particularly with those who are fans of the play. And this film does not disappoint. In fact, it does better in some area than the play could ever do.
The use of special effects are minimal but obvious. The most common is what I call "The Wizard of Oz Moment" where black & white film turns into color film depending on what era the story told is in. This effect is most prominent and most affective in the beginning sequence. If you miss the beginning, you might as well wait until the next showing. It sets up the film nicely and is a real treat for the eyes.
Story-wise, several placement liberties have been taken to explain several things. The famous dropping of the chandelier was moved to a later portion of the story to further accent the Phantom's rage and madness. Other changes include a back story of the Phantom as a child and the momentary disappearance of the Phantom until the new year Masquerade Ball. (He claims he was working on his opera, Don Juan Victorious.) For all the guys that could care less about romantic musicals, there's a bit of action added. A sword fight between the Phantom and Raoul, to be exact. Other than these liberties, the story flows nicely and is told in a very classical manner.
The sound in this film is the best I have ever experienced so far (which isn't saying much, seeing how I rarely go to the movies now). The trademark organ will punch you the moment the first notes are belted from it at the beginning. The symphony is rich sounding, making you feel like you are in the pit while the play is being performed. The best sound engineering has to go to how they presented the Phantom when he speaks. Instead of the usual "voice over here, voice over there" trick done in the stage version, every speaker in the theater plays the exact same sound track giving you the feeling that the Phantom is everywhere around you. For those of you with a home theatre system, getting the DVD of this film when it comes out will be an audio treat you can revisit again and again.
Visually, the film is beautiful! There is a richness of colors like I've never seen before. Not even in a master's painting! When the film is in color, every color in the frame creates the mood perfectly. The dark underground of the opera house never looked so beautiful. The visuals shine in the later half of the film, the highlight being during Masquerade. If only the stage version had this kind of color in their productions.
Lastly, I cannot type all of this without saying something about Emmy Rossum, the female lead that plays Christine Daae. She is the new Julie Andrews. I kid you not. Every frame she is in is beautiful. Not a flaw on her face what-so-ever. Her voice is beautiful, and you will fall in love with it the moment she takes center stage. Wow! She will be going places because of this film. Could she revive musical films the way Julie Andrews did? Quite possibly. Emmy Rossum will win a good share of awards. There is no doubt about that in my mind.
The film is still playing in selective cities, and if you happen to be in those cities, I advise you not to wait. For those of you that have to wait until later, you will not be disappointed in this film. A definite entry for Best Picture!
There was a lot of hype around this film, particularly with those who are fans of the play. And this film does not disappoint. In fact, it does better in some area than the play could ever do.
The use of special effects are minimal but obvious. The most common is what I call "The Wizard of Oz Moment" where black & white film turns into color film depending on what era the story told is in. This effect is most prominent and most affective in the beginning sequence. If you miss the beginning, you might as well wait until the next showing. It sets up the film nicely and is a real treat for the eyes.
Story-wise, several placement liberties have been taken to explain several things. The famous dropping of the chandelier was moved to a later portion of the story to further accent the Phantom's rage and madness. Other changes include a back story of the Phantom as a child and the momentary disappearance of the Phantom until the new year Masquerade Ball. (He claims he was working on his opera, Don Juan Victorious.) For all the guys that could care less about romantic musicals, there's a bit of action added. A sword fight between the Phantom and Raoul, to be exact. Other than these liberties, the story flows nicely and is told in a very classical manner.
The sound in this film is the best I have ever experienced so far (which isn't saying much, seeing how I rarely go to the movies now). The trademark organ will punch you the moment the first notes are belted from it at the beginning. The symphony is rich sounding, making you feel like you are in the pit while the play is being performed. The best sound engineering has to go to how they presented the Phantom when he speaks. Instead of the usual "voice over here, voice over there" trick done in the stage version, every speaker in the theater plays the exact same sound track giving you the feeling that the Phantom is everywhere around you. For those of you with a home theatre system, getting the DVD of this film when it comes out will be an audio treat you can revisit again and again.
Visually, the film is beautiful! There is a richness of colors like I've never seen before. Not even in a master's painting! When the film is in color, every color in the frame creates the mood perfectly. The dark underground of the opera house never looked so beautiful. The visuals shine in the later half of the film, the highlight being during Masquerade. If only the stage version had this kind of color in their productions.
Lastly, I cannot type all of this without saying something about Emmy Rossum, the female lead that plays Christine Daae. She is the new Julie Andrews. I kid you not. Every frame she is in is beautiful. Not a flaw on her face what-so-ever. Her voice is beautiful, and you will fall in love with it the moment she takes center stage. Wow! She will be going places because of this film. Could she revive musical films the way Julie Andrews did? Quite possibly. Emmy Rossum will win a good share of awards. There is no doubt about that in my mind.
The film is still playing in selective cities, and if you happen to be in those cities, I advise you not to wait. For those of you that have to wait until later, you will not be disappointed in this film. A definite entry for Best Picture!
In the first hour of the new year...
...I made myself look like a greedy bastard, learned what a C. O. D. is, wrote an apology letter for being a greedy bastard to two people I love and respect dearly, and made a complete ass of myself thanks to my own stupidity while testing the patience unintentionally of the one person who has been a real friend to me for the better part of 2004. All on IMs, I might add.
What a way to start 2005, huh?
If this is a sign of things to come, I'm going to need a lot of help.
What a way to start 2005, huh?
If this is a sign of things to come, I'm going to need a lot of help.
