The ZehnKatzen Times

[art] My PDX Skyline Photo - Coming To Campaign Materials Near You

2012-01-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

2778.Disclaimer: This posting does not necessarily imply an endorsement of the Jefferson Smith for Portland Mayor campaign, though I do understand that he's a pretty nice and smart guy.

It's my extreme joy (seriously) and a thrill besides to announce that I've sold the rights to a photo which appears to be on its way to at least a semi-icon status. The photo is, of course, this one:

And it's been licensed to a designer working with the Jefferson Smith for Mayor campaign for use in campaign materials through the 2012 campaign.

I'm not saying at this point who I'm voting for, but if the people Jefferson Smith gathers about himself for campaign purposes are any indication, he'd probably make a good mayor. Friendly, coöperative, and incredibly generous in spirit.

Jefferson's campaign's web presence is here if you're so interested: http://www.jeffersonsmith.com/

In the past this photo has been used by others, both who've asked and purchased a license and … surprisingly, given my little-fishy status … those who haven't. Those who have asked and been granted permission include a (now-former) Portland-based Liberal talk-show host and a funky music-themed spot on Belmont.

In the next posting, I'll be touring some of the web-based peoples who didn't ask permission.

[print] The Gutenberg Wireless Media Player

2012-01-31T04:35:00.000-08:00

2776.No monthly contracts? Infinite battery life, you say? Read in bright sunlight?

Well, hell's bells, sign me the tintype up!

[logo] The New, New JCPenney Logo. No, Really.

2012-01-31T03:07:00.000-08:00

2775.The aphoristic guide to appreciating Oregon weather … if you don't like it, wait five minutes, it'll change … has its counterpart in marketing now.

Who would have thought it would be JCPenney?

Back in August of 2011, not even six months ago, I noted that, the preceding February, the towering American retailer rolled out the first change in its visual identity in forty years, forsaking the old for this sexy new number:

Source.

I still find it an effective updating, and rather clever to boot.

Not clever enough, apparently. Now, thanks to Ben Rippel for tipping me off to this one, JCP has changed its visual attitude yet again. This had flown under my radar again but, once I got tuned into it, I found pretty much a metric ass-ton of commentary had been squawked about it ...

But I get a little ahead of meself. Here's the new, new JCPenney logo:

Source.

A bold, red square, a solid blue square 1/4 the size of the red one aligned in its NW corner with the minuscule trigram jcp in.

Ayup.

The first reaction is to scratch one's head. Why change a logo that was changed just a year ago, and one which was, as far as this commenter's concerned, working pretty well. I liked the update. These are the times when staying with something like a logotype based on Helvetica actually comes off as kind of bold, especially given Helvetica's reputation amongst some folks.

I've read various interpretations coming from the world of logo-speak on this. They all ring pretty valid. The absolute squareness of the logo is supposed to make the shopper think of foursquare honesty, honest and square dealings and square deals (and here again the company's history, beginning with the reputation intended to be promoted with the store's original name, The Golden Rule, factors in). The logo, which I presume will usually appear on white (thats my memory of most Penney ad collateral) is a very patriotic palette of red, white, and blue, and it's not lost on anyone that the positioning of the blue square in the upper-left of the mark, an arrangement that vexillologists call a canton, combine to remind one of the American flag.

So, square-deal, honest mercantile, patriotic, American, cowboy hat!, yep, got it.

It's not a poor showing for a redesign. And, lordy, it ain't no New Gap Logo, to be sure. Some actual design seems to have gone into this. But only a year and we're trying on a new identity? The old new one didn't sink in really.

If JCP were to ask me about this, I'd say if you're going to change logos again, at least wait longer than 12 months. Even the most venerable companies change logo looks now and again. But twice in two years? Even with the complete company image rework, the new 'stores-within-stores', and the delightfully creepy NOOOOOOOOO! commercials, the taint of desperation obtains. Give this one a chance to sink in.

Stick with it.

Of course there is one thing I'd like them to settle, as The Consumerist's article remarks:

We think the first thing the company should do is decide whether it's JCpenney, JCPenney, JC Penney, J.C. Penney, Jcpenney, jcpenney, JCP, or jcp.

Word.

[logo] The New DC Comics Logo

2012-01-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

2774.This just over the transom: word has wafted our way that DC Comics (noted that "DC" no longer is considered an initialism meaning Detective Comics, so the corporate name isn't Detective Comics Comics, even though that's how my brain is going to parse it for a while) has relogoed again … the last time was only 2005, six years ago. Here's a version:

New DC Comics logo, Watchman Version
Sourced from here.

The new logo a 'D' applique, peeled back to reveal the 'C' beneath. It suggests that they can use it for a lot of customized effects for different franchises, as revealed in a graphic in this article at Designer Daily: http://www.designer-daily.com/dc-comics-logo-re-design-22643. The above is a clever play on Watchmen, which I guess needs no introduction, and in all holds a different mood and attitude than the old logo:

Sourced from here.

First thoughts about such a redesign is that of all the places that a little OTT design is in order, a comics empire's logo might be it. Thought that the 2005 redesign was a fine bit of work and that it might have had more than 6 years worth of legs.

My mind was changed a bit when I saw the cool attitude that it helps give the DC Comics webpage:

On a scale of 1 to 10, it's in there somewhere, though, trust me. Not too bad though. Will have to grow on me.

Stumbled on this review from a fellow Portlander who's obviously a much more successful designer than I am (who isn't?) which I enjoyed because she don't like it and say so. Take it away, Sarah Giffrow. She does nail down the most salient point about it which is the logo don't say 'comics'. This is a subjective point, but you remember a few inches up when I mentioned that if there's anyplace an OTT design is in order, the logo of a comics empire might be it? Same point, different words.

The new logo is sedate, serious, and clever. Whether or not this'll fly the distance only, of course, time will tell … but comics fans are a vocal and visually-oriented lot, and will doubtlessly chime in presently if they've not done so already.

Agree? Disagree? Comment!

[pdx] Like A Troubled Bridge Over Water: The Sellwood Bridge Construction Cam

2012-01-26T13:09:00.000-08:00

2773.Your tax dollars at work, Multnomah County (but not yours, Clackamas … just sayin') Just announced via email: the Sellwood Bridge project's webcam.

Clicking on that excerpted piccy should get you to the page at http://www.sellwoodbridge.org/?p=construction-camera; if it don't, just click that link I put there.

The camera is, as you can see, on the east bank just about a block north of the bridge and pointing more or less WSW. On the right on the west bank is the old Staff Jennings marina; the hills beyond are swathed in the necropolis known as Riverview Cemetery. It's a beautiful place along the river there, one we much enjoy.

What's apparently happening now is that the crane in the river is doing preliminaries for the temporary supports the old bridge is going to be moved over on, where it will be a stand-in for the new span.

[net_liff] Search Terms of Endearment

2012-01-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

2772.The strangest search terms cause hits here. Witness:

You read it right. The missive about two back titled The Bridges of Marion County turned up in someone's Yahoo! search where the terms where (ahem):

marion county constipation protocol forms

Yah, baby.

I didn't know you had to fill out forms to do that. When it happens to me - not that it happens often, mind - it just sort of happens.

As far as 'protocol', my guess is a lot of hard cheese and drywall should do it.

[design] A Tutorial A Day, More Or Less: #1, Calendar Page Blog Icon

2012-01-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

2771.Wanting to practice some photoshop, I found a tutorial that used layer styles, gradient overlay, and, oddly, inner glow to produce this:

… that is supposed to be a calendar-page icon for a blog.

Not too bad. Inner glow was kind of odd.

Here's the tutorial - http://www.stunningmesh.com/2012/01/how-to-design-blog-calendar-icon-in-photoshop/

How close can you come?

[OR_liff] The Bridges Of Marion County

2012-01-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

2770.Well, not all of them. Actually, life in the Willamette Valley outside of Portland is a very east-side/west-side thing; the side of the river you live on divides us from them. In Marion County, which to me has always been the heartland of the valley (as well as where I first stepped into this world we share) there are amazingly few places to cross the river, in fixed form: two of the marvellous river ferries, the Wheatland (at the north end) and the Buena Vista (at the south end) connect Marion and its sister Polk counties, and other than that, there are just three other bridges into Polk: Two in Salem and one coming back in the other way, from Independence, leading back into Salem along River Road S.

Therefore, most of the cross-regional traffic, east from the coast to the mountains, west from the Cascades to the sea, is going to go over one crossing-point. Oregon State Hwy 22, which crosses westbound over the Willamette in downtown Salem as the Marion Street Bridge, and eastbound into downtown from West Salem as the Center Street Bridge.

Now, as anyone who knows Salem will tell you, Salem doesn't have much of a reputation as a bridge town or a river town ... memorable river traffic ended with the all-too-brief riverboat era on the Willamette. Lying rather passively along the Willamette, and with a river crossing designed to get you over it without much notice, the Cherry City's cool with being associated with Oregon's signature river, but they're just acquaintances, really. There's no river orientation with downtown, really, at least no strong one. There's a Salem Riverfront Park at long last, but for Salem, when I was growing up there, the river was something back behind the railroads that then choked Front Street and the Boise Cascade paper mill (now being pulled down, I understand).

It's with some joy, then, that I see the author of the blog Cyclotram, another one of us underrated Portland Blogs who get no notice or press but deserve some, is apparently on a project to record Willamette bridges, and in these two slide shows, he shines a rather affectionate light on Salem's two queens of the river:

This is the Marion Street Bridge:

And here's a link to the entire Flickr album for this: http://www.flickr.com//photos/atul666/sets/72157628985687099/show/

And this is the Center Street Bridge:

And here's a link to the Flickr album for that: http://www.flickr.com//photos/atul666/sets/72157628985687099/show/

The history of bridges in Salem is that we'll do fine with what we have, and maybe we'll build another one, someday, maybe. Perhaps. When I was in high school in Salem, they were talking about it then, and that was … well, long enough ago. They've been batting around the idea of a third Willamette bridge in Salem for the last few decades like a bored cat. There's a proposal to do that still. This one's been under study since … 2002. Yep. 10 Years. That's how they roll down in Snailem. Or, as brx0 aptly put it:

Based on past history, the most likely candidate would be the city deciding it's time to build the fifth Center Street Bridge, and start demolishing the current one while you're still on it. It's not a city that does anything quickly, though. There's a current proposal out there to build an additional bridge in the greater Salem area, and it'll be years before they'll even break ground on it, if they ever do. So chances are you'll have had plenty of warning -- months or years, probably -- plus I just told you there was a miniscule but nonzero chance it might happen. So can't say you weren't warned.

Salem. Just accept it.

[or_liff] Chip Kelly: So Oregon It Hurts

2012-01-24T04:20:00.000-08:00

2769.Chip Kelly, the U of O's head football coach, loves his work.

Or does he have sights set higher? Say, the NFL?

Oh, wait one … I guess he don't. Staying in Eugene. Unfinished business, so they say.

But he made ya look … didn't he?

[type] Mission:Impossible - IKEA Protocol; Inapt Type In Movies

2012-01-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

2768.This is the way serious typographers roll, yo.

Matthew Butterick, the mind behind the blog Typography for Lawyers, has a … gentle problem … with the recent film Mission:Impossible - Ghost Protocol. And, he put it in a letter to the movie's director, Brad Bird:

Inapt typography is not uncommon in movies. But big-budget studio films employ scores of people specifically to worry about the details that ensure the on-screen experience will be seamless. Therefore, it’s incongruous to put all that care (and money!) into the frame and then overlay it with an inapt font, which in its own small way, breaks the illusion. It’s not Mission: Impossible — IKEA Protocol, is it.

Which is all in pursuit of the answer to the question If you're going to spend that much to make every facet of the movie perfect, why skimp out and use Verdana?

The irony in my own posting is that, I think, when bolding and italicizing text on this blog, the software doesn't italicize, it obliques. Which I abhor. Got bigger fish to fry right now though.

Also that we refer to the Cruise-controlled MI series as The Franchise Which Must Not Be Named. Seriously. MI:2 is the only action film my wife ever returned to the video store midway through viewing for a refund.

But Butterick has a point. Brad Bird, why you no pay closer attention to type?

Via the Candlerblog, here: http://www.candlerblog.com/2012/01/20/mission-impossible-typography/, where you can read the whole letter, which nails it utterly. What Cruise has done to the franchise is another matter entirely, best addressed in The Hague, perhaps.

[design] 26 Free Photoshop Documents From 2011

2012-01-22T19:11:00.000-08:00

2767.This via Designm.Ag on the Smashing Network, is a quick list of the 26 free downloadable PSDs the author has seen over 2011.

There's some good stuff there. I like these because one of the better ways to keep learning Photoshop is to see how others construct thier PSDs. It's like watching artists work in a way.

Right now I'm reviewing a document with glossy shield shapes, perfect for icons and decor.

Glossy textures are still fashionable, and it's educational to see how this artist accomplished it.

The direct link to the shield PSD download is http://freepsdfiles.net/graphics/glossy-shield-psd-icons/,
but you'll want the entire list (which contains nifty UI elements and other goodies), and that's here:
http://designm.ag/freebies/26-free-high-quality-psds-to-download-from-2011/.

Happy Photoshoppery.

[pdx_liff] Portland: Still Tops In Blighty, Gets On Yet Another List

2012-01-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

2766.Note here that I said Blighty, not blight, which is a whole 'nother issue around here.

In the UK's The Guardian, writer Tom Dyckhoff has nominated his own Five Best Places To Live. Portland's number one, followed by the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, Germany; the north coast of Maui, Hawai'i; the Cihangir district of Istanbul (not Constantinople); and Santa Cruz, Tenerife.

For a bit, it looked like something of a have-on; I can think of fewer more non sequitur leagues to be in, also, the capping of the Portland section with not a typical shot of the MAX downtown or a beautiful panorama of the city's core but a snap of some of our less-than-inspiring west-side housing tracts (that pic could be Bull Mountain, say) But the commentary seems earnest in the main, and is based, at least partially, on surroundings and creature comforts with an eye toward home prices (which are quoted in Portland as being £128,000 for a 2-bedroom detached on NE Sacramento.

My favorite line? This:

So very liberal is Portland that it's a home from home to anyone from Europe, especially if they read the Guardian.

Also: Cyclists are loved, not loathed. Well, not by everyone really, but we are a force to be reckoned with.

Read all about it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/20/five-best-places-to-live-in-world

[design] Momentus: Iconizing American History

2012-01-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

2765.Cool: the graphic treatment of American history as a series of iconized, stress-typed graphic art 'cartoons'.

It's called The Momentus Project. And here's a slice of the election of 2000:

It's got great design sense, and it'll make you think.

It's all at http://www.momentusproject.com/

[design] 50 Reasons Not To Date A Graphic Designer

2012-01-21T19:14:00.000-08:00

2764.In my case that would include the fact that I'm married already; I suspect The Wife™might object.

Of the rest, I must say the one that resonates the most is 19. They hate Comic Sans with the same passion they love Helvetica. It's only coincidental that 19's my favorite number.

I would also put in that I think the whole list is a tad glib, what with not mentioning that graphic designers are always arguing whether Adobe is too big and monolithic and that The GIMP and Scribus are apt successors to Photoshop and InDesign, but that's just me.

Here's the whole list, at A Bourbon For Sylvia:
http://abourbonforsilvia.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/50-reasons-not-to-date-a-graphic-designer/

[print] Physical Print On Demand At Powell's Books - Best Of Both Worlds?

2012-01-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

2763.Just heard the news that Powell's Books is going to have something called an Espresso Book Machine installed at the flagship store.

You've heard of Print-on-Demand, of course. This machine - if I read the story right - will allow you to go online at Powell's Burnside store and have the book printed, finished, and bound for you right there.

And, of course, here's a video of an EBM

I'm conflicted about this, but on balance it might be a good thing. Simply going to Powell's, even if you don't have the money to buy anything just now, is just a invigorating experience; I hate the ideas that book stores may someday go away, if some of the more pessimistic ideas about print are correct. Bookstores are closing nationwide, and Borders, no matter what I thought of them, was a good place to get the mass market stuff.

The idea of combining POD with the Powell's experience has an intriguing side. As long as a book exists in a digital version, this suggests that the idea of a book ever truly being 'out of print' may become somewhat obsolete. That's always been POD's strength - keeping niche books available.

So, POD for books you can't find even at Powell's + Physically visting Powell's may just = a good thing, on the balance.

Via.

[or_liff] High Water In Silverton

2012-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

2762.The downside to a Willamette Valley snowfall is that, more often than not, the very next thing is a warm mass of air, the freezing levels go up, and rain falls. What this means is that, after a strong snowfall which pretty much paralyzes the region, high water comes and does the same thing.

The Statesman-Journal has a bunch of pics of high water in my old home town, where they're evacuating the old Silver Gardens home on South James Street.

[logo] Tasty Bakery Logo

2012-01-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

2761.This design is both warm and cool …

See the whole thing at Tim Frame Design: http://timframe.com/TIPTOP.html#

Via The Vonster.

[teh_funnay] If You're For Internet Freedom And Against Delicious Mexican Desserts …

2012-01-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

2760.

There are sopapillas moving through Congrefs right now. STOP THEM BEFORE ITS TOO LATE, or before Congrefs eats up all the good ones. They are delicious, but must be stopped before we become a flanocracy. Though I loves me some flan, too.

Source.

[net_liff] SOPA/PIPA Stopped … For Now

2012-01-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

2759.The past day of protest may or may not have had anything to do with the new reluctance on the Congrefs's part. But some of the rules have seemed to have changed: A thing that was a sure thing is still a possible thing, but not a sure thing anymore.

It's important that one Senator who supported PIPA - Sen. Rubio (R-Florida) and two Representatives who supported SOPA (Terry (R-Ind), Quayle (R-Ariz) have pulled support. To me, it's important that they're conservative Republicans. It's no longer politically safe to do.

However, it's not over until it's over, as Yogi said, and the legislation is shelved, but only for now. Perhaps they think that they just have to tinker with it, I don't understand why. It's simply a bad idea.

Given that online piracy is a disease, SOPA/PIPA is curing the disease by killing the patient. We, as a nation, cannot say with a straight face that we promote free enterprise and, at the same time, make it impossible for free enterprise to flourish.

TechCrunch has a very good overview of the whole magila at this link hyar.

We're safe from SOPA and PIPPA for the moment, though, which means we can blow off some steam by making jokes about it. Such as:

So sweet, so pretty, and so very dangerous to a free and open internet.

Word.

[design] Creative Pencil-Shaped Salt and Pepper Mills (SOPA-Compliant)

2012-01-18T02:45:00.000-08:00

2758.I don't like to be too far away from my art supplies, as a rule. You usually have to put down the pencil/paper/paint/what-have-you to at least pick up the fork/knife/spoon/what-have-you. With this cute set of pencil-shaped salt-n-pepper mills, you at least won't be far away from what looks like an art supply:

It's available from a European vendor (Panic Design) for £42. which, we believe, is 27.50 centipedes in the Metric system. But it's worth checkin' out.

[comics] A Look At The New Little, Brown Tintin Graphic Novel Covers! (SOPA-Compliant)

2012-01-18T00:55:00.000-08:00

2757.Good news, fellow Tintin fans! As far as I'm concerned (and I'm sure I'll get no disagreement here), a rerelease of the Tintin stories has been a needful thing for far too long. I just found, via Facebook, that several Tintin albums are getting the graphic-novel treatment and will be released again soon. I don't know if this means the format of the pages will change, I suppose that can go either way) but it's got to be some kind of good news.

I've gotten a look at some of the covers, and I like them muchly. Here they are:

I'm looking forward to them, aren't you?

Yeah, I knew ya were.

[design] Nifty Illustrator Pen Tutorial (SOPA-Compliant)

2012-01-18T00:46:00.000-08:00

2755.Just found this nifty Adobe Illustrator pen tool tutorial that's just a basic exercise that I wanted to share. It's pretty simple. It involves downloading an Illustrator document, opening it, and simply following the instructions in the document.

Go to this URL here (http://veerle.duoh.com/design/article/illustrator_pen_tool_exercises) and download the files. They're free, and they have CS3/4 and CS5 versions.

[net_liff] SOPA? Why Does You Hates Us, Congrefs? (NOW! With Creator-Approved Piracy!)

2012-01-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

2754.As it turns out, I'm just not smart enough to block out this entire blog, and even though I'm not the most popular destination of the Intertubez (I've kinda made my peace with this (no, I haven't)) eventually there comes a time when you do have to say something.

The Oatmeal has invited everyone to 'pirate the shit' out of the following animated GIF. It explains it all in terms that anyone should be able to get. If you don't like The Oatmeal, you're uncool and should have your Internet connection downgraded to dialup, but that's just me for you.

What I don't understand is where Congress (or, as they called it in the days of the founding of our republic, Congrefs) got the idea that we want this stuff. I didn't say, gee, Congrefs, when you go into session next year, could you please come up with a law that will turn me into a criminal just for linking to someone's site, and make it impossible for me to say, start a business without having to have a legal team the size of the First Army to make sure my legal i's are crossed and my t's are dotted?

I didn't say that. Did any of you? Didn't think so.

So much for all that. If you want to pirate The Oatmeal's animated GIF, go here (http://theoatmeal.com/sopa), and we really recommend that you read this short, comprehensible FAQ produced by teh Google: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/ and note that Google and Wikipedia both blacked out for the day, and imagine what it would be like to have to deal with an Internet like that, because if we get stuck with SOPA and PIPA, that's just what we'll have ... all the time.

Piracy is a problem. SOPA and PIPA are not the solution.

[pdx_liff] Snowpocalypse 2012 Can't Defeat Our Tiki Torches

2012-01-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

2753.The Wife™ has many wishes and dreams. One of them was to have our tiki torches burning during a snowfall.

Since I am The Ideal Husband™, we Made This Happen™.

Indeed, it's What We Do™.

Suffice to say, it's How We Roll, Yo™.

The falling of snow engenders a great deal of sturm und drang in the Portland area, complete with tiresome smugness from all those snotty sorts who chortle arrogantly about us clueless Portlanders. Well, bucko, I scan the headlines when snow hits those 'experienced' cities like New York and Chicago, et. al., and you know what I found out? They shut down and have auto accidents too. They just know how to market themselves.

In the meantime, relax and enjoy the picturesque beauty of tikis glowing softly in the falling snow. And, if you can, do what every sensible Portlander who can, and gets caught in the falling snow, does … go home, and watch it on TV.

We recommend KPTV if you're looking for that apocalyptic touch. They seem to do everything like it was the end of the world.

[teh_funnay] Bob Ross: The Way Of The Artist

2012-01-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

2753.Is he in the Rosswalk?

Then give him a pass.

[design] Photoshop, Sweded … As Real As It Gets

2012-01-17T09:37:00.000-08:00

2752.For a Photoshop ad spread, a design studio, Bates141 Jakarta, created a diorama-like Photoshop screen … or, as they have it, sweded (after the ad-hoc movies created by the video shop in Be Kind Rewind):

It's pretty nifty.

Via this semi-popular guy, blogged about by The Inspiration Room here: http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2008/photoshop-as-real-as-it-gets/, and if you want to know how it happened, check out the flickr album of the creators here.

[design] Adobe Photoshop For Those Who Love To Cook

2012-01-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

2751.… we give you Photoshop CS3 Cook Extended, which will revolutionize the way you see the kitchen. And Photoshop. And cookies.

We don't know if it's been upgraded since CS3, but if it is, you'll hear it here first, unless you here it somewhere else first.

Via Holy Kaw.

[liff] We Can See For Miles And Miles

2012-01-17T05:12:00.000-08:00

2750.… well, we could, if we gained several hundred feet in elevation.

With the approaching snowstorm promising wintry hell for those 500 feet and up and wintry heck below (from this we coin that Oregonized term wintry mix) we naturally wondered how far about mean sea level Chez Klein is. Via this nifty free app at http://veloroutes.org/elevation/ we found out that Home Base is, indeed, about 311 feet above the ocean's waves … at least until global warming takes its toll.

You can do it too. Just tap in your address and it'll do the rest.

Something else we've found out that amuses and amazes us is just how low-lying a great deal of the Portland area actually is, despite its apparent relief. Courtesy of Your Tax Dollars At Work, NOAA has a fun little chart at http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/elevations.php. Did you know that downtown Portland at the seawall is only about 20 feet above sea level (and ocean levels are predicted to go up how much due to climate change?)? PDX itself is only about 20-25 feet up.

[art] Muse, Located At Last.

2012-01-17T04:45:00.000-08:00

2749.Amanda Patterson, at her tumblr blog, has located at last, I believe, the physical manifestation of my muse:

Great legs. Not so hot about the Alannah Currie hair, though. But then you don't choose your muse, so to say.

Circle Amanda Patterson on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/103636214904400746295/posts.

[pdx_liff] PDX: Really More Strip Clubs Than You Can Shake A Bqqbie At?

2012-01-17T04:34:00.000-08:00

2748.It would appear that the vaunted statistic that Portland is something of a chimera:

A local paper began with the assumption that only Las Vegas and San Francisco could possibly beat Portland in the metric of strip clubs per person.

It turns out that no respected statistical compiler bothers with toting up the strip clubs per capita here in Unicorn Town, but there still seems to be a lot of them, what?

Read all about it: http://www.econinternational.com/blog/2011/12/urban-legends-shaky-statistics-behind-portlands-claim-of-having-the-most-strip-clubs-of-any-city/

[pdx_liff] Seattle's Last Nerve

2012-01-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

2747.Apparently, Portlandia's getting on it.

There are some people, Portlanders mostly, who claim the city to the south has now supplanted Seattle as the bastion of Pacific Northwest cool. They cite Stumptown Coffee, with its ridiculously precious tasting notes (Panama Duncan Estate: “A rose fragrance debuts flavors of pear, coconut and marshmallow with caramel throughout the cup”) gaining ascendance over Seattle’s java scene, but that only works if your idea of Seattle joe is corporate behemoth Starbucks rather than, say, Vivace or any of the other indie sources. Portland has a “beer scene,” they bleat. Who cares? Seattle is now all about craft distilleries.

Here's the whole thing, at Slate: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/01/06/portlandia_premiere_has_portland_replaced_seattle_as_the_northwest_s_bastion_of_cool_.html

I was drinking espresso in Portland before it was cool, yo.

[coffee] Furniture From Recycled … Coffee?

2012-01-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

2746.Those of us who imbibe of the bean need not be reminded of the life-enhancing properties of the great coffee. But who knew you could make furniture out of it?

The square that looks like an enormous slab of chocolate there is a material called Çurface, which looks like the mug of someone you don't like much but is probably prounounced 'surface' and is actually a material made of shredded plastic and coffee grounds … things which would be found in abundance in the trash of most restaurants in Portland … provided they don't throw it into the recycling, of course.

The blog Dear Coffee, I Love You has an article here (http://www.dearcoffeeiloveyou.com/curface-furniture-made-from-coffee) that tells the tale of a non-profit industrial design firm, Re-Worked, which created Curface furniture, very attractive, created from Çurface and recovered wood, for a good example of sustainable furniture design.

Sadly, Re-Worked has suspended production and only left a spare and terse note about having to suspend production with a hoped-for mid-2012 re-start. It was in the UK, anyway, so I'd of expected none of this to turn up anywhere in Oregon anytime soon, alas. However, it does suggest what great things can be done with leftover coffee grounds.

Coffee. More awesome than you can imagine.

[fonts] 9 Free Display Fonts from TheNextWeb

2012-01-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

2745.The actual reason the internet was created wasn't to share free porn; it was to share free typefaces. And here's 9 free* display typefaces mounted by the Design & Dev blog:

Blanch mixes the traditional and the contemporary. Kind of art-decoish, if you ask me.

Ribbon is sharp edges and interesting lines.

Vevey is a very classy font, at home on haute-style printed matter and design.

Folk looks warm and friendly, like you cut it out of potato-stamps.

League Gothic is very serious, square-shoulders, and all-American, to me.

Ostrich Sans gots itself a looong neck.

Oh Mai Mai, the favorite font of ghosts everywhere.

Quicksand, an utterly geometrical font that makes me think of Futura.

Color Lines, a experimental font that's actually a vector file made for your Illustrator and Photoshop and such things of that nature.

They're all at: http://thenextweb.com/dd/2012/01/09/9-awesome-free-display-typefaces-you-can-download-right-now/.

* we must append our standard advisory that free fonts aren't always free; they may be free to obtain and install but carry conditions upon use. READ YOUR FONT LICENSES THOROUGHLY!

[pdx_liff] Portland VS Seattle 2: This Time, It's Personal

2012-01-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

2744.What can you say about a city so generous it built a synagogue for the six Jews that live there?

Well, how about:

Three mountain ranges, four lakes and a f*cking Sound. That's a geographical feature your hometown hasn't even heard of.

Measure it up here:

http://rottenindenmark.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/my-hometown-is-better-than-yours/

I guess the battle never really is over, yes?

Portland VS Seattle: Portland Wins!

2012-01-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

2743.In a 10-round bout, Rosaria beats New York Alka-Seltzer.

So saith the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

So let it be written.

They forgetted the unicorns, though.

[pdx_liff] Passing The Cool Torch To Pittsburgh … Or Are We?

2012-01-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

2742.My friends, my fellow adopted- and lifelong-Oregonians and Portlanders, I have great news: 'The List', that ever-so-adept (and never-incorrect) arbiter of what's now cool and what was cool, has deemed Portlandia no longer teh hottness … and has wrenched away our cool badge and given it … horrors … to … Pittsburgh?

Good god. Next thing you know, Salem will get its own Trader Joes.

Oh, you mean it has?

Oh, my.

The piece celebrating this epochal event, written by a Washington Post writer expatriate of Pittsburgh, Maura Judkis, is a thoughtful, considered piece, going into depth about the shallowness and superficiality of determining social trends and community qualities through surface styles and trendy notices in the press. Further, it delineates that despite trends, the qualities of community that made Portland so fashionable didn't spring up overnight but grew and developed in time over years; indeed, Portland's uniqueness is a quintessential quality that was here before we got fashionable, and will linger here long after fashion changes.

Well, sorry, I tell a lie there. That's just me being Portland-style ironic, or sarcastic, or something. Actually, the Judkis piece spends so much time doing the we're-cooler-than-Portland happy dance it fails at its modest goal of even scratching the surface. The deep, thoughtful article that should have been written was written but … wait for it … a Portlander, Brian Libby:

Instead of reading the tea leaves of decades-long socio-economic urban trends that have emboldened Portland and Pittsburgh, or any number of smaller cities around the world, this article and others before it - particularly those covering the Portlandia TV show - have instead confused them with trite, fickle pop cultural cache. The notion of 15 minutes of fame was of course coined by Pittsburgh-born Andy Warhol, but the mentality shown here is less that of a visionary art provocateur than of a TMZ or E! reporter genuflecting or scoffing at a Kardashian depending on the time of day.

The whole thing should be a required read for anyone who thinks Judkis made a point here. Including Judkis.

In the meantime, fashion and fame being the chimera so stipulated, it's notable, as Judkis herself points out, that Portland is the home of Portlandia, and I would add, two other series, one which even relocated its setting to Portland after pretending it was set in Boston for the past several seasons. whereas Pittsburgh, not to be too nebby here, is still, even now, only subbing for other locales.

If 15 minutes of fame is, as Pittsburgh-originated Andy Warhol dubbed it, nothing more than a duration of freshness rather than a tart commentary on the insipidness of the fame-culture then, sorry to say, Yinzers, Portlandia's clock still has a few minutes left to run. Don't get too impatient. You'll get your turn. Maybe.

Predicting what's next is a bit like betting where lightning will strike.

And no matter what happens, we'll still have our unicorns. You can't take that away from us.

[pdx_liff] Mattress World Closing ; Officially Too Late To Sleep Like A Baby

2012-01-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

2741.And now, following Tom Peterson into the pages of Portland advertising history, Mattress World, they of the awkward logo and the too-catchy jingle.

A few twittering birds told us that the Mattress World website had been replaced with a large letter of apology, and here's an excerpt:

What has happened?
I believe in being responsible for my choices. Simply stated, during good economic times, Mattress World grew very quickly, and expanded to service more of the community. However, we did not prepare the business for any potential downturn, and when the recession hit, it negatively impacted our business, like many businesses in this community and across the country. Mattress World made continuous adjustments the past two years, and when it appeared the company would survive the economic crisis, we were hit with, what we consider, an excessive and unfair tax assessment by the State of Washington - this even as an Oregon company, with no retail stores in the State of Washington. We have and continue to fight this. But, this new element created an unrecoverable financial blow, which has been reflected in our customer service and has done great harm to the reputation Mattress World worked so hard to build. I would like everyone to understand that no one at Mattress World is responsible but me, Sherri Hiner. The staff and family members were not given enough information to take care of you in the manner of which we pride ourselves. I have been liquidating everything to make sure all our customers will be taken care of. My deepest apologies for how long this has taken. It is my full intent to make sure each and every customer has been taken care of the best way possible. I ask for your patience while we use the promotional company to take care of all current customers and help us to take care of the past customers.

Since this last decade, the Mattress World commercials, with the stick-in-your-head jingle, have wormed their way into the head of every Portlander or Vancouverite who had the luck to have the idiot box on late at night, becoming the latter-day Tom Peterson's "WAKE UP!!!" commercial.

They weathered the recession ... just, to hear the tale ... only to be cut off at the knees by Washington sales tax law, even though they physically made no direct deliveries in Washington nor do they have a single location there. Sherri Hiner, the face of Mattress World, explains it all in this article at KGW. There's no video but the report on the news was something of a tearjerker.

Goodby, Sherri. We'll miss you, seriously we will.

There will still be two MW stores - the ones in downtown Canby and at MLK and NE Couch here in Portland ... but they're franchises. Mattress World in memory only, really.

And, here's a MW commerical for the road:

[art] Where Type Meets Color: The Chromatic Typewriter

2012-01-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

2740.A Washington-based painter, Tyree Callahan, has combined type and color into a device called the Chromatic Typwriter. Here's what it looks like (via This Is Colossal)

A spectrum of paint colors is loaded into pads which replace the letters on the typewriter hammers, which is then mapped to the keyboard, enabling you to paint by typing, which is a damned clever re-interpretation of technology and art.

More pictures here (http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/12/the-chromatic-typewriter/) and Tyree's tumblr blog is here: http://tyreecallahan.tumblr.com/post/13602352689/a-picture-from-a-thousand-words-this-is-the

Tap, tap, tap.

[diary] New Years Rulin's!

2012-01-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

2739.Something delightful that has been making the rounds lately has come from the body of work of perhaps the greatest folk-singer America ever had, and he who gave us Arlo, Woody Guthrie. One year, in the pages of one of his diaries, in the MIDDLE OF BOOK (as the charming notation at the top center, where water has stained the pages tells us), he listed, not a list of New Year's Resolutions, but New Years Rulin's, each accompanied by a silly but evocative little drawing (or, perhaps as Woody would say, drawin').

They're such gentle, general things that it's hard not to smile. Don't get lonesome, stay glad, and keep hoping machine running are three things that any of us could do. Dream good is one of those things that goes without saying but needs to be said, as is Bank all extra money and Save dough.

I don't hold much for New Year's Resolutin', but this gives even me a bit of food for thought.

See the full spread here: http://www.woodyguthrie.org/newyearsrulins.htm

[type] LOL: You're Doing It Wrong.

2011-12-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

2738.This photo (found at the URL http://www.picsthatdontsuck.com/web/Lol_Drowning.html) demonstrates exactly what what can happen in the modern world when simplification goes just a bit too far:

If it weren't for the Internet, this would be a totally-clever way of depicting a drowning man reaching for air … which it is.

Totally clever, I mean.

But with the Internet culture we all find ourselves immersed in (designers perhaps a little more than most), I defy you, depending on your age cohort, to see this as anything more than a procedure to laugh out loud, then call 911.

Pays to be cognizant of these things.

[art] Paper Zone Stores To Close

2011-12-30T18:44:00.001-08:00

2737.It's with a heavy heart that we mark this passage, and deem it Not A Good Christmas Gift At All:

As you may have heard, we will be closing all of our Paper Zone locations. After receiving an overwhelming outpour of concern, we felt compelled to further explain our unfortunate situation. Paper Zone is a company with 20 year roots in the Northwest. We are based in Seattle, operating eight retail locations throughout Oregon and Washington. However, due to the current economic downturn, we have experienced three years of sales declines between 6%-8% annually. As a small local retailer we were unable to sustain these losses.

The economy eats another one, and it is a local business, at least local to the PNW, to Cascadia. We've enjoyed many a nice moment at the Paper Zone, they've always had good service and good selection. And local, like the other art-based businesses we prefer: I've Been Framed and Muse Art and Design.

Now, as far as I know, IBF and Muse aren't in danger of going away, but if you want them to continue, you'll continue to patronize them. Local people spending money locally, providing great local value (there's a whole lot at Muse and IBF that wont' break your bank, trust me here).

I'm not trying to lecture you guys … I know money's incredible-tight, and like me, if you can spend some, you do. I think this should make everyone aware of what happens when local businesses don't get the support they need.

They go away.

In the meantime, thanks for the memories, Paper Zone. It's been a good run. Shame it had to end.

If you want to, you can read the entire announcement at the Paper Zone's blog here, as long as it remains up.

[liff] Peach On Earth, Goodwill Stores To All Men

2011-12-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

2736.Hey, these jokes aren't so easy to write, yaknow.

The original title of this post was to be Seasonings Greetings.

Thank you. I'll be here for the forseeable future. Tip your veal, try the waitress.

[pdx_liff] So Long, Just Out (1983-2011)

2011-12-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

2735.Sad news for print publishing in the Portland area as Just Out, the alt-paper serving the LGBT community since 1983 has just now announced it has published its last.

It was a paper that could be enjoyed regardless of sexual orientation, however. It introduced my comic-readin' self to Dykes To Watch Out For, by the still-incredibly-underrated Alison Bechdel, whose soulful storytelling and rich-yet-simple style, reminiscent to me of ligne claire, told real, authentic human stories.

I suspect that the hole the loss of this media leaves in some lives will be larger than this, however.

[liff] Merry Trololo Christmas, From Mr Trololo Himself

2011-12-26T10:20:00.000-08:00

2734.Back earlier this year, when Edward Hill, the 'Trololo' Guy, a/k/a the Russian Rickroll went viral, most people didn't know what to make of it.

Turned out he was just this happy Russian singer who was beloved by his country and his fans both during the days of Soviet rule as well as the present day. And, at age 77, he's still kickin' it, old-school Trololo-style, and still as happy and joyous as ever.

Merry-what-ever-you-call-it. Enjoy.

H/T to fellow Ellisonian John E. Williams. Thanks, guy!

[net_liff] Some Facebook Cover Images If You Don't Have One Yet

2011-12-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

2733.I enjoy the new Facebook Timeline. Visually, it's a winner, being much more visually engaging than the old profile views. And the banner - the 'cover image' - across the top can make it all hum, in a visual sense.

You may not have any idea what you'd want to have as a banner. Well, Bart Grootveld is showing off 25 of them that he considers sexy, views such as this:

They're all sized to fit the new cover photo banner area, so there shouldn't be any cutoff.

There are a few that I don't consider sexy; there's realistically-shaded versions of favorite image-macro memery such as the Y U No Guy, the Forever Alone Guy, and the Me Gusta Guy. Actually, I find them kinda disturbing. But someone might like 'em.

They're all here: http://www.bartgrootveld.com/design/25-sexy-facebook-timeline-banners/. Yeah, there're 25 of them.

[type] Pilcrow, Ampersand, Section Mark and Hedera, LLC

2011-12-20T02:54:00.000-08:00

2732.The four marks alluded to in the title are more popularly known as "The Paragraph Sign"; "The And Sign", "That Funny Double-S", and "The Fleuron".

The article at Retinart, "Marks Unknown", (http://retinart.net/typography/marksunknown/), should smart you up a little … or at least get you to appreciate them.

[diary] Diary Friday #1 … Start One

2011-12-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

2731.This'll be the first post in the Diary Friday series, a series I hope to keep going once-a-week without fail.

Why Diary Friday? There are no end of expositional-writing memes afloat on the Internet Sea these days. In the meat of the form, I'm not really breaking any new ground here.

What I am trying to do is suggest that people, instead of doing something bloggy (nothing wrong with this, of course) do something diary. That is to say, think of writing it down and keeping it for yourself. Diaries give us a certain freedom that blogs or any other sort of online media don't. They can be kept absolutely secret (if you so choose). They can't be Googled, Yahoo'd, or searched. Your thoughts there are your own. And evidence suggests they make us more mentally-healthy. I'm of the opinion that they make us more eloquent and literate.

Thinking your thoughts and putting them on paper also preserves the time for the future. Days fly by; they fade into memory, but if you write down what delights you, moves, you, makes you happy (or sad) then you've captured them, and they're yours.

Also, with increasingly fewer people writing letters in the old-fashioned way, there's a real risk of our cultural memories going with it. You diarists aren't just feeding your own head; you're leaving a record that people in a future time might actually find enlightening.

So, between now and next Friday, think about how you'd keep a diary. Blank book with a ribbon bookmark? Looseleaf binder? Spiral bound notebook? The only real rule is to write it down.

If you feel like sharing you're thoughts here … please, feel free.

[typography] Because the SarcMark™ Worked So Well …

2011-12-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

2730.Now someone's come up with a "sarcasm font" which is … wait for it … just regular typed obliqued leftwards instead of rightwards.

Yeah, that'll work. Like the SarcMark™, that went over so just so very well.

It's the Sarcastic 'Font', and you can find it at http://glennmcanally.com/sarcastic/index.htm.

Yeah. This'll go over well, too.

The nifty thing about that answer is it'll hold true whether that is especially dry satire … or not.

[net_liff] What Yelp! Needs … More Cormac McCarthy

2011-12-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

2729.What Yelp! needs? A voice with style, with gravitas (which is a veggie I think I had on one of my salads recently), with world-weariness and the ability to see through lies.

I mean, of course, Cormac McCarthy:

Four stars.
I am going to remove a star, he said.
Please don’t mister.
Don’t move. It’s better if you don’t move.
Please.
It’s important you know why. Do you understand why this is happening?
Oh God.
It is because I clearly shared with you my condition. I cannot countenance gluten. And yet I see croutons here. Do you see them as well?
Yes. I’m sorry.
Do you understand that sorry does not remove the croutons?
Yes. Oh God.
Good. Then we can agree your action has changed the course of the universe in some infinitesimal but irrevocable way. To remove the croutons would not remove the action. You see?
The waiter closed his eyes.

That was Cormac at Chili's. Rating: four stars. Read the rest, and here's the whole thing.

[web_design] Google Chrome … Winning the War

2011-12-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

2728.Remember those days when they said The browser wars were over, and MSIE had won?

Remember?

Yeah, those were good times. Then MS went complacent, stopped developing Internet Exploder, and pretty soon, Mozilla and Firefox were, at first nibbling at, then eating up, its lunch. It left the Mac market to all the other browsers too, so us Mac users had to find something else.

Then IE begat tabs … years after FF made them first fashionable, then de rigueur, then freakin' indispensable.

Then Google, at last, came along, and put Chrome on the thing. By that time, being a Mac user, I'd made Firefox pretty much the most important app on my machine, no matter what else I was doing. And I was a hard sell on Chrome … I was very dependent on Firefox extensions such as ScribeFire for blog posting and other things. If there was a way for the Web to be made easier and more intuitive, the Fox had it.

I liked Chrome at first, but not enough to switch. Then ScribeFire came to Chrome and I started using it. that got me over. Since then I've moved away from using a blog-posting app as the cloud-interface - the Blogger interface - gives me all the functionality I need, and then some.

No offense, ScribeFire. It's not you; it's me. Well, it was you, just a little bit, but no harm - no foul, eh?

That's not to say Chrome is perfect; the number of Web Workers, Renderers and null processes it spawns never fail to make me raise an eyebrow. And, once in a while, the browser crashes on startup – a quick reinstall usually fixes this problem. But I like Chrome a lot.

So, when I found out that Chrome had passed IE8 in popularity, I was surprised only that it happened so quickly – never underestimate an installed base, someone once said to me. Browsers, I guess, obey somewhat different laws of physics.

Here's the word: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/12/google-chrome-internet-explorer.html

[diary] Diaries of the Just and the Unjust And Everyone In Between

2011-12-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

2727.When I talk to people about creating diaries, I find that a lot of folks think this is the province of the 13-year old girl, the young lady who loops her i's instead of dots them, and who begins every entry in a little pastel book with a cute little lock with the phrase Dear Diary.

That's not necessarily to disrespect a notional, stereotypical 13-year old girl. But adults who have little time for reading, never mind writing, think that it's not for them because it's something kids do.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

This diary was kept by Robert Goddard, credited as the father of modern rocketry. His word made possible - even necessary - such things as the Apollo moon missions and the Space Shuttle, and, sadly, ICBMs as well. Here's a graphic of what he wrote on the day he launched his first liquid-fueled rocket, an event which opened the modern age of astronautics:

For the rest of the pictures and transcriptions, go to Clark University's page on it at http://www.clarku.edu/research/archives/goddard/diary.cfm.

For a more modern person of renown, the recently-released-from-Italian-prison Amanda Knox also kept a diary:

The subtitle in Italian, Il mio diaro del pngione (sic), is poignant. The pages are dense with text, neatly scribed in that particular oval, almost uncial, font stereotypically favored by young women. You can read it (the photocopies are a little tough on the eyes, though, be warned) at TruTV here: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/amanda-knox-diary/1.html

And wars create war diaries, and diaries by soldiers. Ed Blanco kept a war diary as a soldier in Vietnam which was just a day-by-day chronicle. The thing which attracted me about it was the medium … he picked up a bookkeeper's journal in a Brooklyn stationers shop, and he kept it with him throughout his tour. It lived in has back pocket for a year, and recorded what happened each day as well as the members of his company who got wounded and who he lost. You can see a few graphics here:

http://vietnamdiary.com/Diary_Page.htm.

Diaries are here and now, they're real, and despite what you've heard about the Internet (much as I love it) taking over, they're happening.

They're also for everyone.

[art] Real-Time Animation, With Bicycle

2011-12-13T01:55:00.001-08:00

2726.Just found this on YouTube, after the words 'real-time animation' caught my eye. Of course, you can't film animation in real time, the terms seem to be at odds; animation is designing frame-by-frame and real life is much more analogue.

But, as it turns out, if you lay out your animation on a bicycle wheel … and spin it just so …

Kinda brilliant.

[type] The Most Horrifying Picture A Graphic Designer Can See …

2011-12-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

2725.… is the opening splash to any Adobe Creative Suite app … in Comic Sans …

There's even more tomfoolery at The Comic Sans Project, a tumblr blog whose unholy purpose seems to be re-imagining all sorts of logos and stuff with CS in instead of what belongs there.

Sinful. You'll want to watch, of course: http://comicsansproject.tumblr.com/

[teh funnay] Thomas Paine Remixed

2011-12-06T05:25:00.001-08:00

2724.A graphic I've had on my mind for a while:

He was, you know.

[design] The Apple Logo And Natural Proportions

2011-11-28T22:52:00.001-08:00

2723.Seen today, via Google+, was this picture, which appears to suggest that the famous logo of Apple, designed by Rob Janoff, was developed using the mathematic princples of the Fibonacci sequence and the golden proportion:

The diagram was created by Thiago Barcelos, and is dead clever and quite insightful. On the left, a rectangle in the golden ration subdivided via the mean; inside are circles of radii that fit within and work out to be the Fibonacci numbers. And, on the right, you see the various circles as they might have been used to construct the logo.

The diagram does tempt one to think that the designer used the mathematical principles in designing the shape. Janoff, so far as I know, has never said, but I have a feeling that he didn't actively use them.

They may have, rather, informed what he did.

I'm about to go down a rhetorical rabbit hole of my own making. Come along, if you wish. I grasp this on the gut level, but whenever I try to put this in words I wind up chasing my own tail and gibbering like an idiot at the end. Words sometimes fail.

When someone creates a bit of work with the idea that it should be pleasing to look at, we reach down to a common intellectual store. Each of us has this. The reason each of us has this is that we were all grown in the same world. This is not zeitgeist strictly speaking, but it contributes to that. Kind of a naturalistic weltanschauung, if you will.

The Fibonacci sequence is recapitulated in nature, or maybe our mathematics recapitulates it. The fruitlings of a pineapple; branchings of a tree and leaves; the honeybee's family tree. This all combines into a sort of gestalt sense of what the world is and how it pieces itself together. You may tune the world out around you, but you can't not notice it.

This feeds into a sense of what we find 'right' and 'pleasing' in a visual sense. Since the golden mean and Fibonacci numbers come into play there, then this informs our thinking, kind of like a voice gently whispering into our ears.

So when Janoff set down to create the Apple logo, he didn't work out circles and arrange them about until they supported the apple shape. However, this gestalt awareness probably informed him when he was nudging the curves about until everything had a sort of visual resonance. It's why the gap between the leaf and the apple seems just right. It's why the bite in the apple seems more or less at the right shape and in the right place. All the parts obey rules that nature and intellect have hard-coded into our skin and bones.

Have you ever looked at something that 'just wasn't quite right' somehow? Not everyone wants to design or create art, but we all have, I believe, this sort of sensibility, and we all rely on this shared experience. How? I take a naturalist approach, you may take a more mystical one, it doesn't matter and that isn't really the point. It's something we sense in the world around us and we feed back into it in a way. We all intrinsically know when something is well-proportioned. We may not be able to see it or put it into words, and maybe some of us don't care all that much, but we know. And when you know, you're probably tasting the same thought process that Janoff used to make all the parts of the apple just so.

In a real way, design comes from the world around you. It has ever been thus.

[type] A Peek In Typographer's Sketchbooks

2011-11-28T18:43:00.001-08:00

2722.(via my newsfeeds) One of my favorite things to do is to watch artists work, and artists' sketchbooks are amazingly fun to get a peek inside.

Ryan Heshka, amongst others, have contributed to yet-another-design-book-coauthored by Steven Heller, Typography Sketchbooks, by him and Lisa Talarico, published by Princeton Architectural Press. I'm hoping to get a look at this myself sometime soon, because it's filled with wonderful pictures of the insides of these wonderful little tomes, including this by Heshka:

Good gosh, I don't draw nearly enough.

Here's also a link to a bit at the Laughing Squid.

[teh_funnay] Why Is This Man Applauding?: Juxtapostion Funnies #2

2011-11-27T09:19:00.001-08:00

2721.Sometimes one wonders if the newsy-feeds are trying to mess with our heads. I think so, myself:

My guess? That's got to be an Arsenal supporter.

[liff] What I Learned At NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-11-26T10:33:00.001-08:00

2720.The culture that's sprung up around NaNoWriMo is your atypical typical Intertube social culture, with history and customs that're all its own.

Herewith a brief list of customs and cute terms I learned whilst submerged in NaNo culture, in no particular order:

NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month, aber naturlich. Obvious from the brouhaha, but I thought that putting this up first would set the table for what follows.
NaNo: What WriMos (which see) call it for short.
WriMo: What members of the NaNo tribe call themselves and each other. I'm a WriMo, you're a WriMo, he's a WriMo, she's a WriMo … wouldn't you like to be a WriMo too?
NaNoMail: Every social website has their own internal messaging system. Did you think this one would be any different?
Regions: Activities in NaNo are organized geographically, as are the forums on the site. Portland has one, Salem has one, Vancouver has one.
Pep Talk: Regional coordinators and national team members send out emails of encouragement to WriMos each week. These are Pep Talks, and any of them can be useful. They're not so long that I'd kill you taking a few minutes to read each one. One of them helped me a ton and generated an interesting sub plot.
Winning: There's just one condition for 'winning' NaNo: produce a novel, a prose work of 50,000 words or more, by midnight, November 30th. Since you're participating in NaNo to test your mettle or just to have fun, the biggest prize is bragging rights. Other prizes include knowing you can do this thing, increased creativity, a slightly limbered imagination, the desire to go create something else. You get this even if you don't cross the 50K Rubicon, but completing the victory conditions is just … so … satisfying.
WriteIn: When a group of WriMos get together to work on their novels in a social setting. Since everyone is together for the social, many times, not a lot of actual writing gets done, but a lot of bonding does. In the end, it's all good.
TGIO: Thank God, It's Over … the sigh of relief when NaNo is finally over, whether or not you get that novel done. TGIO parties ensue.
OLL: The Office of Letters and Light, the group of crazies who push this stuff, year-after-year. Big on teachin' y'alls how to create, n'stuff.
WordWar: When two regions go up against each other in order to produce even moar verbiage. Works great as a group motivator. I don't know how PDX stacked up against others, but the graph I just saw indicates that PDX area WriMos produced, in the aggregate, nearly thirty million words. If I had a nickle for every one of those words I'd have … well, I'd have a whole lot of money!

That's just a smattering of it. I enjoyed the hell out of it. It's my serious intention to try to write a short story now, to see if I can sell it.

Yeah, I loves me some writins.

[liff] A Winning Score In NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-11-26T10:21:00.001-08:00

2719.I had always fancied what it would be like to write an actual book.

Now, I have some idea.

Over the past 25 days, I've taken the NaNoWriMo challenge, which is, as you know, to write a novel within 30 days. Novel, as NaNo defines it, is a document of 50,000 words or more. My "novel", The Way Of The Courier, clocked in at 50,712 words. As witness my stats page as of today, this day, like, right now:

The levelling-off means, of course, that I quit expanding at at that point.

As a person who hit the goal, I am entitled to display this badge:

… and ere shall I do so.

NaNoWriMo … it does a body good!

[PDX_liff] Portlandia Releases Her Sex Tape! Can An NBA Wedding Be Far Behind?

2011-11-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

2718.Portlandia has a point. Because, let's face it folks, you wouldn't know how to spell "Kardashian" if she didn't do the "nastah" on tape for everyone to see (aren't you sorry you paid attention now?):

Yeah, I'd tap that. But the love, it would ring hollow, I suppose.

If Raymond Kaskey were dead, he'd be rolling in his grave now.

(Please may I have a big hand for Mike Vogel, who apparently gets these ideas from a very dark, wet, and sometimes scary place)

[liff] NaNoWriMo Holding Post

2011-11-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

2717.Thanks to the cadging of a very good friend, I decided to take the plunge and do NaNoWriMo this year. Web badge!

Posting will therefore be more erratic than usual. This is a public service message. In the meantime, I leave you with this:

Funnay! Larf!

PS: On NaNoWriMo I'm SJKPDX_Diarist.

[liff] Be Nice To Others … They Outnumber You 7 Billion-to-One

2011-10-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

2716.Sometime today, the world will welcome its seven billionth human being. We'll never be sure for certain exactly which one of us will be #7,000,000,000, but, odds being what they are, it'll be someone in India.

If you counted out loud, at one per second, it would take you about 113 years to count to the number 7,000,000,000.

7,000,000,000 seconds ago, George Washington was being inaugurated President of the United states.

I went to this nifty website mounted by the BBC, The World At Seven Billion, and I found out this much about myself:

… so you can call me sir, thankyewverymuch.

No fair guessing my birthday from this. Have some couth.

So, take a moment. Celebrate. Have a Twinkie. And look with love upon the horizons before us … because, likely as not, you're probably staring at someone. And staring is rude, yo.

They say that seven billion people, if placed shoulder to shoulder, could stand on Los Angeles. Of couse, looked at another way, we could also say they could stand on Zanizibar.

And so it goes.

[type] A New Font For Dyslexics

2011-10-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

2715. (VIA) Dutch type designer Christian Boer's Dyslexie is a font which is designed to make reading for dyslexics much more possible.

The font is interesting even if you aren't so affected. Dyslexie achieves its aim by distorting shapes to, for instance, make the d and p less symmetrical, which prevents the dyslexic brain from "flipping" the shape. Other irregularities make for a very organic feel, which is not altogether unpleasant to look and is actually rather artistic.

Dyslexie font sample screenshot from designer's website

The font can be seen in action at this article in Scientific American (which has a link to a PDF of the article formatted in Dyslexie), and the designer's website Project Dyslexie (most of which is laid out with the font). A single-user license will set you back 69 Euros, or about USD 98.00.

[liff] France Is Bacon

2011-10-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

2714.Seen on Google+ today: a person who had recently added me to one of their circles posted a sweet little story apparently seen on Reddit somewhere in which the correspondent related how he'd misparsed the famous dictum, expressed to them as Knowlege is power - Francis Bacon as Knowledge is Power, France is Bacon.

A dumb graphic wasn't far off, for me.

Aural graffiti has always been one of my favorite things.

[teh funnay] Another Movie We'd Like To See: 2001 Dalmatians

2011-10-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

2713.The ultimate walkies:

Stardog. Groovy.

Since the joke is a little abstruse, compare:

[type] Can You Tell the Cheese From The Type?

2011-10-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

2712.Cheese or Font is a quick, nifty, and simple little game that throws up a word … it's either a cheese name or a font name … and then just asks you to choose.

It's surprisingly difficult.

Http://cheeseorfont.com

[pdx] When a FOX12 Newsie Identifies With the Occupy Portland Troops …

2011-10-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

2711. … even with all else being equal, it seems a game-changer, somehow, when a reporter from FOX 12 comes off so honestly.

I appreciate her candor. In a time like this, when so many are hurting and the news (FOX, particularly) just kind of hang on the sidelines with a "gosh, how interesting" detachment, it's nice to see honesty.

Jamie Wilson's been amongst our favorite KPTV reporters for a long time … oh, heck, we'll admit it, she's easy on the eyes.

But now we have to ask ourselves: how much will it cost someone like this to be caught out in the wild having an opinion … especially like this … of her own?

Stay (as they say in the biz) tuned.

[liff] And Now, This Word On Behalf Of My Bass Guitar

2011-10-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

2710.Some time ago (here, in fact) I rhapsodized about my humble Harmony bass. Over on the WordPress mirror of this blog (http://zehnkatzen.wordpress.com) I got a cool comment that I'm just in silly love with, so I'm repeating it here. A visitor named Victor wrote:

Sweet man, She’s a beauty, not worth a ton, but I have the same one. Got it for 25 bucks at a flea market. Mine plays like a dream, do her a favor, and play her! Start simple, like money, and work from there.
And I can confirm it’s a h704 there not expensive, but rare to come by.

What a nifty thing to say, yes? I love the fact that Victor clued me on the model humber (H-704) and just had such a nice thing to say about her.

I wasn't buying a famous geet, I knew that. Just a good bass that'll be there for me. And apparently, that's just what I got. And I do know something about rarities … a thing can be rare but not terribly valuable. What determines collector value, other than the availability, is the demand. If collectors don't care about it, no matter how rare it is, it won't have a huge monetary value.

But, as I said, that's not why I got 'er.

And the phrase Start Simple, like money? Is this not poetry or what?

This has been a word on behalf of the bass guitar.

[teh funnay] Movies We're Not Sure We Want To See: Baldwins In The Mist

2011-09-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

2709.At first we thought that this was a "Movie We'd Like To See", but the more we think about it the more we're not so sure:

Actually, I rather like Alec, and Billy is to be commended for his own efforts trying to remake Portland into Indiewood. But it's just so easy to make fun of Baldwins. So, I am a little guilty.

Still, I've got to wonder - isn't this the time of year they clone the newest Baldwin?

[comics] Comics Code Authority Seal Now Belongs To The Good Guys

2011-09-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

2708.The unassuming little mark you see illustrated hereunto is the seal of approval of the Comics Code Authority, and as of today, it's switched sides.

Back in the day when self-censorship was essential to stay in business (as William Gaines found to his travail - fortunately, that guy never would lay down) The CCA stamp was a powerful thing. Having it meant advertisers would like you, and if they liked you, the money would follow.

Times have changed. More channels exist; Marvel and DC have their own ratings systems, and even Archie comics have given up using it. The Comics Code Authority has died with not just no bang, but not even a whimper.

Through legal means I'm certain I have no means of understanding, the stamps new owners are the CBLDF - The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, standing for First Amendment rights for creators:

(CBLDF Executive Director Charles) Brownstein adds “It’s a progressive change that the Comics Code seal, which is yesterday’s symbol of comics censorship, will now be used to raise money to protect the First Amendment challenges comics face in the future. That goal probably would have been unimaginable to the Code’s founders, who were part of a generation of comics professionals that were fleeing a witch-hunt that nearly trampled comics and any notion that they deserved any First Amendment protection.”

So now the stamp has changed sides, and it's not at all a bad thing.

[teh funnay] As A Matter Of Fact, Gordon Ramsay WOULD Make A Kickass Russian Army Officer

2011-09-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

2707.Replaceface is the project of a so-far-anonymous artist that does the old mash-up with the unexpected twist of putting modern celebrities and well-known-personalities' heads on the tops of uniform portraits of Imperial Russian Army officers done by the English portraitist George Dawe during the late 1810s and early 1820s, all officers who helped successfully repelled Napoleon's invasion. There were 329 of these portraits done, and Replaceface has perched heads such as Mickey Rourke, Sean Connery, iSteve, and, of course, Charlie Sheen.

Tiger blood, indeed. My favorite, though:

Gordon Ramsay, of course. You know he would have made a mean, kickass officer.

The mashup is amusing, the technique immaculate.

[teh funnay] Mormons Are Borg? Juxtaposition Funnies, #1

2011-09-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

2706.Sometimes YouTube's related lists and the sponsored video work together to suggest disturbing connections which may (or may not) lurk beneath the surface of This Modren World. I swear the next screenclipping is not Photoshopped:

Now, you all know how these things work. You go looking for things and YouTube's engine (they all are engines these days, like you'd find them under the hood of the car or sommat) serves up suggestions based on whateverall it is you're doing. So, I go looking for videos about the Borg … and YouTube serves up a promoted video about Mormons.

Artificial intelligence, artificial stupidity, or artificial humor in dubious taste? You be the judge. This blog offers no opinion one way or the other on Borg, Mormons, or religion in any form, for what that is worth.

[design] Infographic Cliches You've No Doubt Seen

2011-09-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

2705.Design humor is at its best when it's metareferential, sometimes.

Via Google+ user Dustin Hoffmann (no, not the actor) and served forth from the blog of FastCompany, there's a very chuckle-funny summary of the most popular infographic cliches:

That's four of them. To see the whole magila, click on the graphic or the link in the text above to the FastCompany blog. The artist is Alberto Antoniazzi, whose site is http://www.albertoantoniazzi.com/

[comics] How iSteve Ruined Comics

2011-09-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

2704.(via Gizmodo) Well, iSteve didn't ruin comics, per se, but Apple, with it's dead-brilliant design regime, have made technology that was once easily renderable … such as the phone, the TV, and such - so subtly designed that, when they're used, they need almost as much exposition as a supporting character:

Compare with the idea off a man getting outraged at a magazine or newspaper article. You don't need to be told what that is. This? Why is that tiny replica of the 2001 monolith making that monkey so angry?

The subtle, usually elegant design regime inspired by the Apple iLine of, oh, just about everything, has created articles that are beginning to require entire new ways of storytelling, causing a sort of evolution in comics. Just how do you tell a story with props that, depending on the context, need to have their stories told before you know what they and what the characters are doing with the small oblong objects that could be, well, just about anything?

Tom Pappalardo asks the question in the article Cartooning vs Technology: How Steve Jobs Ruined Comics … but he's trying to make a point with that title. He don't really hate iSteve, or the toys he created. But it's a smart, funny article that asks a good question.

[design] Books We'd Like To See: I Am Not Claudius, By Derek Jacobi

2011-09-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

2703.Of course, the character Claudius never was as big for Jacobi as the signature character of the inspiration of this photoshoppery:

[or_liff] Ringo Not Here; Try Next Ocean Liner

2011-09-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

2702.Remember that ginormous luxury yacht (actual pronounciation throatwobbler mangrove) that everyone thought Ringo Starr was on that was supposed to be history-buffing Astoria?

Well, it was a luxury yacht. But it wasn't Ringo's.

Yet another Oregonized brush with fame averted.

[design] It's Lorem Ipsum's World; We Just Consecectur There

2011-09-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

2701.Happily found by one Scott Sanford, a post at the (obviously ad-supported) The Daily WTF, go scroll down to the third photo:

"I was at the Mission San Juan Bautista museum and noticed this professionally printed and mounted exhibit stand," writes Tim Gustafson, "my first thought was that's odd; why would they post Latin text above an exhibit in California? and then I took a double-take and realized that I was looking at Lorem Ipsum."

Lorem Ipsum. It's everywhere you want to be.

[bloggage] Confirmation That I Kick Ass: ZehnKatzen Enters The Alltop Zone

2011-09-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

2670.Apparently, as Aretha once sang, we been livin' right:

As of now, the feed of this blog has been added to the aggregator Alltop, which is the niftiest thing that's happened of late. I'm in the Graphic Design topic, aber naturlich, which can be peeped here:

http://graphic-design.alltop.com/

Now it's time to really up my game. And this is quite an inspiration to do so.

That badge - and the newsfeed from the Alltop aggregator - will henceforth be found in the Connections section of the sidebar, up immediately to the right of the topmost posting.

Thank you, Guy Kawasaki!

[design] When You're Tired of Mother&@!ing Lorem on a Mother&@!ing Ipsum!

2011-09-21T02:25:00.000-07:00

2699.All credit goeth to Darrel Troxel for stumbling on this one.

Placeholder text. To the experienced designer, even your regular Lorem Ipsum becomes a bit tiresome. Sometimes you're just Puckish enough to want to imbue a certain sense of style, and Klingon Ipsum and Hipster Ipsum have become dreary, and nobody cares you know Etaoin Shrdlu and all the little Shrdlu kids anymore.

What to do, what to do.

How about a little Pulp Fiction, instead?

Do you see any Teletubbies in here? Do you see a slender plastic tag clipped to my shirt with my name printed on it? Do you see a little Asian child with a blank expression on his face sitting outside on a mechanical helicopter that shakes when you put quarters in it? No? Well, that's what you see at a toy store. And you must think you're in a toy store, because you're here shopping for an infant named Jeb.

That was the "Slipsum Lite" version. Attitude without the salty language. Slipsum comes in "classic" Ipsum … no Samuel L. or attitude, and full-on NSFW Samuel L. Ipsum, mutherf&@#$er.

Just go to http://www.slipsum.com. The proper choices are on the upper right of the screen. And fill that placeholder text with some pulp ipsum.

[net_liff] "Spot the Unicorn", Zach Dundas Twitter Edition

2011-09-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

2698.If you love something, they say, set it free.

Whoever came up with that folksy aneurysm must have had the internet in mind. Latterly, this bit of Unicorn-oriented Photoshoppery:

Which I created in March, 2010, has been showing up in interesting places. The newest find? The Twitter icon for Portland Monthly editor, Zach Dundas:

Am I irritated? Hardly! Flattered! Look, I know this about that; when you create something like this and fling it down the 'tubes, it'll get lifted and passed about. That was kind of the idea here. Right now, it's as close as I'm getting to fame, so, hey, it's cool. Definitely cool.

Remember the unicorns, my friends. You don't know you flattered me, Zach, but if you read this article, now you do. Thanks. Long may Saint Unicorn fly. Even though he hath no wings, yes, I know this.

[bloggage] My Dallas/Space:1999 Theme Mashup Gets Kudo

2011-09-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

2697.Occasionally someone I've never known before notices something nifty I did and gives me a warm fuzzy about it, and I'm flattered and a bit happy.

This time, it was a TV theme-mashup I did some time ago … The opening to the 80s nighttime soap Dallas as seen through the stylings of the opening to Space:1999. And here it is:

.
It was so honored by the blog at Channel-37.net here: http://channel-37.net/?p=1727. It came in as a tie for fifth place with a dead-clever treatment Star Trek: The Next Generation as a Love Boat (even had Charo!).

In that company, a tie for fifth is nifty indeed! Thanks, Channel 37!

[pdx_liff] Sam Elliott Watch

2011-09-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

2696.That rugged Portland resident, actor Sam Elliott, is popping up here and there:

Here, Facebook Presence PDXPipeline catches a uniquely gray-touseled head from the back in what we presume is the Sunnyside Zupan's market (SE Portland, they say … the only SE one I knew of is along SE Belmont in Sunnyside).
And, here, world-famous Portland Mercury raconteur, lothario and occasional editor Wm.™ Stephen Humphrey happens to meet Sam who's stopped in to the Merc offices to say "hi" … and causes Ezra Ace Caraeff to man-cry (via iPhone).

Of course, those who are acquainted with local personalities know that Sam Elliott graduated from David Douglas High School, near my home out 122nd way, and it's said that his mom is still alive (about 97 years old, I think) and still lives out in this area.

So, to recap, Sam Elliott: Awesome, Sam Elliott sighted twice via PDX social media: Awesome, Sam Elliott's attitude about his mom: Awesome, and David Douglas High School graduates: Awesome.

[OR_liff] True Oregon Facts!, Volume One

2011-09-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

2695.Being an Actual Oregonian, born in Actual Oregon and All That, I can be considered to be an authority of Actual Oregon Stuff, provided you haven't Actually Checked With Anyone Else First.

But nevermind that now! I have decided, having little else to share, to share my immense trove of genetically-coded Actual Oregon Knowlege with you. Herewith, the first volume of True Oregon Facts!

Scotts Mills, Oregon, was founded specifically so that the residents of Molalla would have a town they'd be allowed to make fun of.
The locality of Four Corners, just outside of Salem, was named because State Street and Lancaster Drive met at an intersection with four corners to it. This also gave rise to the Intersection Act of 1905, which ruled that, to prevent confusion with Four Corners, all subsequent intersections must three or fewer or five or more corners to them. This greatly restricted urban sprawl.
Eugene, Oregon is only a legend and has no basis in fact; its reputation is based solely on a Ken Kesey novel in which the mythical town was laid out, titled "One Flew Over The Duck's Nest".
Oregon's only "town", the Town of Hammond, was made extinct in 1991 when it was eaten whole by the mayor of adjacent Warrenton. To this day, Warrentonian children are made to behave with veiled threats by their parents that if they don't shape up, the mayor's coming over.
Celilo Falls' name was based on a Chinuk word meaning "Great Thundering Water the White Man will soon submerge behind a dam, but at least we get to sell him fish at the side of the road, livin' the dream."
The city of Astoria was founded by about 50 New Yorkers who took a wrong turn on the Triborough bridge, found themselves 3,000 miles from civilization, and were too arrogant to admit to each other that they didn't know where they were.
Enterprise, Oregon was named after the USS Enterprise … just not the one you're probably thinking of.
We actually have a town called Milton-Freewater. We're all trying to figure out WTF about that, too.
Roseburg was named for a mysterious, gigantic floating flower of which only 1/10th showed above the surface of the South Umpqua River.
Frank Herbert write the iconic science fiction novel Dune after spending some time in Florence near the Oregon Dunes, but it was really the dry and arid social life there that influenced him. The Fremen, it is said, were inspired by the Florence City Council. Nobody knows where he came up with the spice. That stuff's whacked, man.
Scio, in Linn County, comprises 3/10ths of a square mile … all of it land, broken dreams, despair, and weariness.
Chinuk Wawa - Chinook jargon, the trade language of the Northwest native tribes - as 12 words for "waterfall", fifteen words for "salmon", forty words for "rain shower", but only three for "leveraged buyout".
Salem" was a name chosen for the capital city that was inspired by the Santiam name, "place of rest", or "Chemeketa". Other alternative names were "Kickoffyershoes", "Youkidsstayouttamyyard", or Lars Larson's suggestion, "R'lyeh".
The Willamette Valley is estimated to have been inhabited for the last 10,000 years … but only stylishly for the last 30 or so.
"The Dalles" were taken from the French "La Dalles". It's said that "La" is French for "The". Nobody knows what the hell "Dalles" are. Or were. Or if there's more than one of them. Or … hey! Look over there! Milton-Freewater!
Tom McCall was Oregon's first cyborg governor. All governors since (with the exception of Kulongoski) were, to some degree, augmented bionically in a plan to create the perfect Governor. Saxton was a clone. We're ALL still trying to figure out what Sizemore is/was.
Oregon's current motto is "She Flies With Her Own Wings",changed from "The Union" (1957-1987). Other mottos we used include "Between Washington and California" (1901-02), "Pull My Finger" (Most Holiday Seasons Between 72 and 76), "Not Idaho" (Jun-Aug 1943), "No, Cut The RED Wire" (37-39), "Take the Red Pill, Neo" (Odd numbered months in 97), "Home Of Leverage" (Sundays 8pm, 7pm Central) and "Nadine, Get Me A 6-Pack of Beer At the Plaid Pantry" (incomes of $30K and under)

My personal research is coming up with new discoveries all the time. So stay tuned to this blog and I'll post them … as soon as I can find them.

True Oregon Facts! May we advise you to Accept No True Oregon Fact Subsitutes? Ours are the original and genuine!

[liff] The New Incuriosity

2011-09-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

2694.A very insightful article about the new crop of authors, many of which don't feel that they should also be readers.

Apparently, the journaling quality of these works lends itself to Justin Bieber fan fiction laced with text-message acronyms. Notions of “craft” are not a real issue for these authors. But let there be no doubt, if these are the sorts of books publishers can sell, then these are the books the publishers will champion. It follows, that in the same way certain fiction writers recognize aspects of themselves in books about writing fiction and propagate more of it, fans of social networking fiction will see themselves in it and continue this new tradition. Driven by sales, it will become popular and the thought of reading the canon, or even Danielle Steel, will be considered tedious and unnecessary.

Read more: The Consequences of Writing Without Reading — Imprint-The Online Community for Graphic Designers.

It explains a lot as to why some modern fiction is so ultimately non-compelling and self-indulgent. The article is well worth your time.

[logo] If This Logo Doesn't Return To You, They Call It A Stick

2011-09-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

2693.As reported by LogoLounge.com, a major rebranding has occurred on an Australian air carrier, and it caught my eye because of its cool modern style and the whimsy beneath the style.

You've heard of Qantas, no doubt … that's probably Australia's most famous airline. For about the last twenty years, though, there's been a up and comer. You haven't heard of it. Partly because it's just all about Australia right now (a country that's a continent, and easily as big as the USA), and partly because the name - Strategic Air - is kind of strange. It sounds like a very serious airline, one that only type-A business people and members of the military might enjoy.

The name grew from its original name and remit - Strategic Air Services, an airplane brokerage company. But now, it's Air Australia … and I love the new look.

The colors are light an appropriate, but not low-contrast. And since Quantas has staked out the 'roo as well as the koala, what great national symbol remains – why, the boomerang, of course.

I adore the boomerang design here. It's deft and clever. Allows a visual unity with the wordmark and lives comfortably on the tail. The boomerang is one of the most wickedly-funny and wickedly-clever things ever devised … a stick which comes back to you. Uniquely Australian. And it transmits a positive message … if you take an Air Australia flight, you're sure to come back, if that's what you mean to do.

[branding] When You "Make Your Brand Work" For A Bigger Brand, Does That Make You Seem Phony?

2011-09-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

2692.This may sound odd coming from me, since I don't really even care for Project Runway, but I happen to think that Tim Gunn is one of the most fun TV personalities out there right now.

The whole elegant, confident "Make It Work" thing. He's turned his personality into a pretty powerful brand and it's really taken him off and taken him places. As a matter of fact, he's recognizable and big enough now that he can hire his brand out to promote other brands, as this recently-released commercial where Expedia gets the Project Runway treatment …

I'm hardly a brand guru (yet), but I get a certain feeling when I see things like this.

Now, I've got to say, the commercial is very slick, and nails the PR vibe with preciseness. And it's not unentertaining. Expedia got their money's worth, and more. Tim Gunn's smoothness and personality lend a certain style to Expedia's brand that's hip and unique.

But here's where I think this might be going a bit far. I'll try not to ramble, because I'm going way subjective here … but then, that's what branding is all about.

Tim Gunn's signature phrases … Make it work, Major WOW factor … were uniquely him. They expressed his personality in ways nothing else quite could and that nobody else could ever own. He is suave and smooth in a way that's obviously sincere and authentic. I get the impression that, when we see Tim doing his Timness, we aren't seeing an act. He's not a put-on.

However, when he does it in the service of another brand, that removes a the honestness about it. More's the pity, it seems insincere now. I'm left with the impression that Expedia has enhanced his brand … but Tim's unenhanced his, and now, it's not as fun as it used to be.

Now, I'm not exactly saying that it's a bad thing to hire your brand out. Branding is a tool. It's a powerful tool with more edges than a Gillette disposable razor (see what I did there?). It can be used for evil, good, or awesome. But I do wonder if it's always a good thing to hire out your brand to support someone else's for advertising in this way. And branding, when it's used in this way, to me, sucks a bit of the sincerity out of human emotion.

Or … am I just being too sensitive here? Obviously this use of Tim Gunn's identity to promote Expedia obviously moved me in a way.

I'd be interested to know what people think. Comment, please.

[web_design] Jim Greenfield For Congress, Now Lorem Ipsum Free!

2011-09-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

2691.For a few posts I poked fun at Oregon 1st Congressional District Republican contender Jim Greenfield for apparently posting a website that consisted of a template and significant contributions from a Mr. Lorem Ipsum … that is, remarkable areas of placeholder text.

In fairness I am happy point out now that he has a proper campaign website with not a trace of placeholder text thereon, and its address is actually http://jimgreenfieldforcongress.com. H/T to his campaign manager, Richard P. Burke for pointing this out.

[type] It's A Wood Type Revival!

2011-09-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

2690.Via the HOW Blog: Wood Type Revival is an attempt (so far, succeeding) at bringing wood type into the digital age as OpenType fonts.

The way they're doing it is to print sheets on a Vandercook proof press (probably not too much different from this one) and scanning the result, then digitizing it.

So far, they have four sumptuous faces done, including a very delightful Roycroft:

Each so far will set you back $15.00.

The address to know is http://www.woodtyperevival.com.

[art] More People Have Walked On The Moon Than Photographed The Analemma

2011-09-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

2689.And just what is this analemma?

For those that don't know, if you record the position of the sun in the sky at the same time each day and plot that, it will form a long, graceful figure-8, with an angle that depends on the time of day and the latitude. Many globes have an analemma on the Pacific hemisphere, in the middle of the ocean where there's room to put it.

Photo source

This is a difficult thing to actually photograph, of course. This article claims that the analemma has only been successfully photographed seven times but if you run a Google image search you'll find a few more than that, or at least it seems that way.

A close approximation to what it should look like would be this photograph from Wikipedia (by a creator credited as "jailbird"):

Image Source

You would, of course, have a figure-8 pattern of solar images without the connecting lines and such. This is a simulation of what an analemma would look like. The images themselves are copyrighted, so I won't be posting them here, but here are some links:

This link (http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/undergrad/labs/analemma/index.html) contains Dennis DiCiocco's analemma image - reportedly the first successful attempt at such a work, done ca. 1979.

This link (http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Solar-Analemma.htm) contains the analemma work of a Grecian named Anthony Ayiomamitis, who has given his analemmae (?) suitable Greek landscapes to provide a certain thrilling effect.

And, this one (http://www.zullophoto.com/sub_analemmaphoto.html), the photography site of Frank Zullo, has some very accomplished and moody shots taken from the American southwest.

The question is raised, of course … how can one do this? It takes a great deal of planning. By hook or by crook, you have to be in the same place with the same camera pointing the same direction several times a year (all 365 don't seem necessary - I find the ones taken every few days or week or so to be a bit more interesting than one taken every single day - which would form a solid line. Because the real challenge for these photographers seems to be to get all the solar exposures on the same frame of film. Noticeably, the two most successful analemma photographers live in areas of extended fair weather - namely, Greece and Arizona respectfully. Enough cloudy weather and there's no use to it.

The photography of the Sun is of course taken with a very dark filter. This results in a series of exposures of the Sun but naturally excludes all the scenery. After the analemma is duly recorded, however, this photo can be composited into a photo of the scenery taken with a more routine lens, resulting in the analemma display.

This is something, quite clearly, most of us won't find the time, camera, or coordination to do. Fortunately, these people have done it for us. And the effect is not only quite lovely, but a little bit surreal.

[digital_tools] Bean: More Than TextEdit, Less Than MSWord, Free-As-In-Beer

2011-09-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

2688.I like little tools that do a lot. When it comes to creating digital text documents, I like programs that are just enough - not too much, and definitely not too little.

And I know from too little. I used EDLIN.

Bean is a nifty, extremely lightweight, free (as in beer) word processor for OS X. Well, not really a word processor, actually more of a rich-text editor, but it's got more and finer (and more intuitive) controls on text formatting than TextEdit does. It's a hell of a lot lighter than MSWord or NeoOffice - nothing against NeoOffice, but it's a behemoth when all you want to do is quickly throw together text files or edit an RTF. And while I heartily approve of TextWrangler, it always was a bit abstruse for me … more a programmers' text editor than a writers'.

It's got all the useitude and slickitiude and good looks that you expect from an OS X application, and it was done by someone who came at it from a UI direction. It's not meant to replace Word or your favorite full-service wp, but why go out for a big plate of greasy food when all you wanted was soup and half-a-sandwich?

It requires a PPC or Intel Mac, OS X 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6. It has not been tested on but may well run on 10.7.

Download Bean here: http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html.

(Via Cult Of Mac at Facebook)

[web_design] The Sort Of Website You'd Expect From The Country That Gave Us Existentialism

2011-09-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

2687.When I was a kid, there was this toy. It was in the form of a sort of crank, which was attached to a wooden block with two channels in a cross. Two sliders were in each of the cross-channels, and the handle of the crank was attached to both, and the leverage was such that, as you rotated the crank handle, one slider would be pulled in its channel, then, as the limit of that would be reached, the other one would be pulled through its channel … over and over and over … never quite touching but coming very close, and if you did it long enough it would make you this sort of crazy, that you'd vary the cadence of the thing, trying to make the two sliders meet, which was, of course, impossible.

Sort of my introduction to existentialism, I guess.

Anyway, somehow I stumbled on this German site, Nirgendwo is irgendwo, http://www.nirgendwo.de/. Go ahead and go there, and come right back. I'll wait.

Back? Good. Did you see what they did there?

First you see a black screen with the words as such:

This, if you'd not yet figured it out, means nowhere is somewhere. Mousing around the screen you find no links except for over the words, and when you click it, you get this:

Or, somewhere is nowhere. And when you click on that, you just go back to the other one. And that's all there is, there is nothing more. Has the online experience been better encompassed ever? It's like this bizarre German version of the taijitu.

But that isn't all. If you missed it before, go back now and click the links, but this time look at the address bar.

Did you see it this time?

Not satisfied with just this sere experience, the designer didn't stop at making this one site with two pages, no sir. He/She actually put the two statements on two seperate webpages. The second phrase is at a site called http://irgendwo.de. This is truly awesome.

Web design is complete with this website. Screw Web 2.0, or even 3.0, this transcends that. We can close up the internet and all go home now.

[pdx] The Great Seal Of The City Of Unicorns

2011-09-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

2686.Everyone knows …

Everyone knows. Don't you just love appeals to authority? Well, everyone knows that this is the city seal of the City of Portland …

But we know what they seal they really use, don't they?

They use this seal for the really important stuff.

I'm taking something into my own hands by telling you this, I'm sure. Not my life, no … they may take away a bicycle pedal or something though.

[map_design] Cameron Booth Gets Portland's Rail Map To Grow Up

2011-09-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

2685.While i like the TriMet rail system map and have grown to like the new TriMet empire style, it has not been lost on me that, just as the old style (which I still miss) was destined to give way eventually, this style will too, eventually, give way to another look. And I've seen the direction it ought to go.

Cameron Booth likes designing maps, and he's come up with a brilliant take on the combined Portland area rail display that makes the current look rather … well, provincial. A bit of it is at right for illustration's purposes, and the rest of his work is at his blog here. Go there, because that's where all the closeups are.

The thing I enjoy the most of it is that this map feels like it could stand, style-wise, next to the great transit maps of the world - the NYC subway, the London Underground. By eschewing the ever-present 45-degree angle, using instead 60- and 30-degree angles, he's hit upon something the other map doesn't have … a high degree of congruence with the way the Portland street and ground grid actually looks, so it's easy to picture where you might actually be in relation to the reality, but it allows it to be schematic enough to clearly show the system in a usable way.

The choice of type face is quietly sophisticated, and the choice of using a dark background brings a sort of drama to it and lets the network stand out from the supporting background. Nice touch.

The real innovation about the map is that it shows all passenger rail services here in Portland - unlike the TriMet Rail System map, which reduces the Portland Streetcar line to an unannotated line that kind of fades into the background. Showing the Amtrak lines gives a sense of a link into the greater world. To top it off, it includes proposed or under-construction lines and stops extending to Vancouver and Milwaukie.

The whole effect is very big-boy, very sophisticated, information-rich without being cluttered … very grown-up. And very well-done.

[pdx] Portland: It's The Unicorns. Specifically, My Unicorn.

2011-09-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

2684.As shared on Twittah by a longtime compadré, now known by the deliciously cryptic monicker "-b-" (Twittah: brx0), he of the Cyclotram blog, this now-famous Unicorn Photoshoppery of the erstwhile Made In Oregon sign (now the publicly-owned Portland Oregon sign) has been shared around tumblr like a … well, like something that gets shared alot around tumblr…

It originally appeared on this blog after I created it here (http://zehnkatzen.blogspot.com/2010/03/pdx-made-in-oregon-sign-belongs-to-city.html) and it's being shared about on tumblr here (http://fyeahportland.tumblr.com/post/9798949606/powells-fuckyeahportland-kyanpepper-i). Thank you, FYeahPortland.

Of course the fame, wealth, power, and influence that should attach to such a notice has not yet descended upon me. I shall alert you all when it does and remind those of you who supported me over the years that positions of astoundingly embarrassing wealth and power may well be yours soon - well, as long as you have already purchased one of equal or greater value.

And so it goes.

[design] Livin' The Dream, Diagrammed

2011-09-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

2683.From the friendly folk at the How blog:

I started out wanting this sort of life. You know what? I still do. Some of it anyway.

[bloggage] Blogger On The New Blogger Interface

2011-09-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

2682.Blogger Product Manager, Chang Kim, on the new Blogger interface …

It’s been a few years since we made major updates to Blogger’s look and feel, and there’s a lot more to these changes than just shiny new graphics. We’ve rewritten the entire editing and management experience from scratch so it’s faster and more efficient for you—and easier for us to update and improve over time.

That pretty much nails it. The new Blogger interface has a ton of good mojo working through it. As I earlier mentioned, I'd used a number of other offline-blog posting software, some stand-alone, some browser based, with a variety of experiences.

Why? Because the old Blogger interface was tired and non-intuitive. When they rebuilt this thing from the ground up, my friends, they did it right. Photos are now easy-peasy-lemon-crushy to place. Text formatting is now very word-processor-like, with the familiar CMD-I for italic, CMD-B for bold, CMD-U for underline. I don't have to go looking for things, and everything is where I need it … even labels are quick and easy.

This Blogger gives the new interface an enthusiastic thumbs-up, and I'd encourage every other blogger to at least give them a try. They did them up right.

[pdx] The Martians Have Landed At SE 32nd And Taylor

2011-09-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

2681.The big castle-shaped church at 32nd and SE Taylor has a new and well-known tenant.

I first assayed it in this post, in which we found that the church - which had appeared inactive - was apparently claimed by Pastor Melissa Scott, the successor to the mantle of her late husband, the inimitable, amusing, bemusing Pastor Dr Gene Scott, perhaps the most unique televangelist the US has brought up in the last fifty years. Many were louder than him, but none more entertaining. I don't care who your pastor is, when it comes to sheer entertainment, they still labor in his shadow.

Anyway, after a comment on the older post the news broke … the colossal (and growing) Mars Hill Church, from Seattle, is coming to town, and prayer (and, no doubt, some savvy real-estate buying) got them what was the Portland branch of the comparatively moribund Scott empire.

It's very near the corner of SE Hawthorne and César E Chávez Boulevards, near a area full of, well, liberal stuff. An international youth hostel that has a bio-roof; several "world crafts" stores that sell smoking paraphernalia; a New Seasons supermarket; a New-Age apothecary where tarot readings are available; a major street recently-renamed after a left-wing political figure; and, on Friday and Saturday nights, about eight hundred thousand drunk hipsters, clubbers, and type-A personalities.

I still didn't understand why God would direct the Martians to this part of the Sunnyside neighborhood, but then I realized … the Bagdad must have played Avatar once. That must have been the last straw.

I was reviewing what the Pastor, Mark Driscoll, appears to believe. With any due respect, I shan't be joining the Martians anytime soon. I certainly wish them no ill will, and would like to remind them that their about-to-be-new neighbors are, typically, very tolerant of lifestyle choices.

[web_design] Presumably He Has A Significant Greeking Constituency*

2011-08-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

2680.Jim Greenfield, hopeful Oregon 1st Congressional District Republican candidate to succeed David Wu, still, at this date, has significant lorem ipsum (or, placeholder text) issues with his significantly-uninspired website, http://greenfieldforcongress.com.

I've detailed his problems here. They still exist as enumerated thereon. I suppose it's possible that the candidate's site is a prank. If it isn't, I'm asking myself - as a voter, now, and this speaks to branding as I've said before - does he really care all that much?

If you want a look at a site about someone who actually cares about getting elected, check out Brad Avakian's. Not a ton of song'n'dance, no fireworks, just effective layout and sensible design and communication. And no placeholder text.

Just sayin'.

* "Greeking" is also designer-speak for random placeholder text, as in the old saw it's all Greek to me, and awkwardly-written designer-political jokes.

[teh_funnay] And Syntax Will Tumble For Ya, Too

2011-08-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

2679.Who knew grammar was so wanton:

Well, actually, based on most of the speaking and writing I've latterly seen, we could be wanton a bit more of it.

And, of course, I absolutely love the type-on-thick-paper look. Makes love to the eyes. So to speak.

(via Google+ User Jhoanna Canlas at this link hyar)

[teh_funnay] Internet Communication - You're Doing It Wrong

2011-08-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

2678.Just figures, just when we're all having fun with it, some killjoy comes along:

This pair of websites was created in response to the deterioration of interesting words and catchphrases. They are not intended to solve a problem, but to participate in the natural development of the English language. We intend for you to link them in AIM conversations, IRC channels, message boards, Twitter, and any another forms of textual communication, whenever someone abuses a word.

Those websites are stopsay.in and dontru.in. They take a lot on themselves. Myself, I'm torn. Some good points are made (you mean people are actually getting themselves tattoed with the Weighted Companion Cube?), but those who even indirectly attempt to influence the evolution of communication seem devoted to a Sisyphean task with about as much chance of success.

Well, I wish them luck anyway. For the win, of course.