It's 78-year old Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, of Baden-Baden Germany. This is a clear victory for the conserivative wing of the Roman Catholic Church.
More news to come, of course.
By Samuel John Klein of Portland, Oregon - Graphic Designer without Portfolio, aspiring artist who dawdled too long.
19 April 2005
[pope_watch] Well, that was fast!
Just heard that the white smoke's been seen over the Sistine Chapel. New Pope to be announced any moment.
18 April 2005
[design] Surprise! Adobe assimilates Macromedia
Didn't see this one coming...
Read all about it!
This is monster. Adobe makes three of the most successful software tools in the designers toolbox...InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Photoshop is as near as no odds as being the standard to which similar programs aspire, Illustrator represents for Adobe in vector drawing, and InDesign is on the way to becoming the layout king. Macromedia, I need tell nobody really, gives us Dreamweaver, and of course there's Flash, which one finds everywhere and without which sites like homestarrunner.com would not be possible (or, in some cases, necessary).
The question I have is this: web design. Adobe has GoLive, which is technically brilliant but curiously non-intuitive (relatively speaking, when compared with the rest of the CS apps). Macromeda has Dreamweaver, which is an easier program to learn and use (I've done so) and thus is rightfully the dominant web design app on the market today.
So, what I'm wondering is, whither GoLive? Or will Adobe preserve the Macromedia mark and family? Stay tuned.
Read all about it!
This is monster. Adobe makes three of the most successful software tools in the designers toolbox...InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Photoshop is as near as no odds as being the standard to which similar programs aspire, Illustrator represents for Adobe in vector drawing, and InDesign is on the way to becoming the layout king. Macromedia, I need tell nobody really, gives us Dreamweaver, and of course there's Flash, which one finds everywhere and without which sites like homestarrunner.com would not be possible (or, in some cases, necessary).
The question I have is this: web design. Adobe has GoLive, which is technically brilliant but curiously non-intuitive (relatively speaking, when compared with the rest of the CS apps). Macromeda has Dreamweaver, which is an easier program to learn and use (I've done so) and thus is rightfully the dominant web design app on the market today.
So, what I'm wondering is, whither GoLive? Or will Adobe preserve the Macromedia mark and family? Stay tuned.
[design tools] Travels With FontForge
The following is a post I made to the Yahoo! Graphic Designers Resource Group
A while back, I asked a question about font composing programs. Not too far down the road I want to produce my own fonts and wanted to find that program that would help me do it.
I got a few good suggestions, but in the main, I was surprised at how little there actually seems to be available. Fontographer and FontLab were suggestion (thanks, guys!) and I checked them out, Fontographer is the grand old program of the two, and is still available, but apparently still works (for the Macintosh) in OS9, which means Classic Enviro if your running OS X. FontLab is a very very capable program that has more than the features that I want.
The obstacle here is price. Prosperity may or may not be just down the road for me, I dunno, but with Fontographer at $349 and FontLab at $549 I won't be going there just yet.
The search began for alternatives. It's astounding how very little there is out there for those who want to create type. FontLab has a lighter-weight app called "TypeTool" which I've tried out. It's a very capable little program that will produce TrueType and PS Type 1 but doesn't have at least one crucial deal breaker for me-I want to make drawings and import them to trace off. TypeTool does not do this. But, at $99, it runs well, looks good under OS X, and seems good for the beginner. My survey of it found that it wasn't terribly intuitive and if you want to get beginning help on the demo version...well, good luck. There's no online help at all.
So I ventured out onto the web again in hopes of finding an alternative. Like I said, there's not much. It took a while to locate, but I seem to have stumbled onto something.
Once upon at time, George Williams wrote a utility called PfaEdit. It has been updated and called "FontForge", and is available at
http://fontforge.sourceforge.net. It has much to speak for it. There are considerable ups and considerable downs.
Upsides: Cost (it's free). Versions available for Wintel, Sun, and OSX, both source (so you can compile it yourself if your sufficiently geeky) and compiled binary. You can generate PS Type 1, Type 3, TrueType for Win and Mac, SVG, OpenType. More range than I need right now actually. Interface very close to what I've seen of Fontographer, with familiar tools to create beziérs and all that. Also-imports graphics for tracing-sweet!
Downsides...well, here we go. It's neither OS X nor Win native. It's an application designed to run under X Windows, the unix gui windowing system. This means you have to let your inner geek out to implement it, or, if you have none, get one. For Windows this means you have to install an open-source gem called 'cygwin' (Google for this). OS X users have a bit of an easier go of it; if you installed all the OS X you've got the Developer Tools and that means you have X11 for Mac. If you run OpenOffice.org (as I do) you've already used it. So far as I've had the experience, X starts up automatically when you launch an X Window application.
Not only that, but you have to grok...at least a little...your file system. I have no experience with this under Windows, but I do know unix enough to get around the file system and I know OS X. Fontforge installs in one of the unix directories, though, that aren't displayed in the Finder window...you either have to navigate there in Terminal and do "open ." or get your TinkerTool on. I then created an alias and put it where I could easily find it.
Since the icon for a unix executable is so dreary I made a graphic for the alias. Gill sans, maj F next to min f, little drop shadow on a white background square. Looks cute down there in the dock. Anyway.
More geekery required. Once the app is launched I try to import a PNG from the tutorial and it don't go. Says it can't load dynamic library and that the file is bad. I find that you can import bmp's but not anything else unless you also install a few libraries-that handle tiffs, pngs, and jpegs, amongst others. MacOS versions of these are obtained through the Fink project, so I get Fink, download, install (wake up out there!) and download and install the libraries.
Still can't import the PNGs. Humph.
Subscribe to the developers mailing list. Correspond with the app's author, who says that ff doesn't look where it's supposed to for these libraries and you have to set an environment variable to make ff look in the right place...or recompile ff with a patch. I go for the simple solution, which is the environment variable.
So, now it's working. Got my inner geek out to play (never was much of a coder but can hold my own in some geekery situations), and I'm ready to learn the app and compose some really killer fonts.
I'll be coming out with the next Gill Sans any. day. now.
A while back, I asked a question about font composing programs. Not too far down the road I want to produce my own fonts and wanted to find that program that would help me do it.
I got a few good suggestions, but in the main, I was surprised at how little there actually seems to be available. Fontographer and FontLab were suggestion (thanks, guys!) and I checked them out, Fontographer is the grand old program of the two, and is still available, but apparently still works (for the Macintosh) in OS9, which means Classic Enviro if your running OS X. FontLab is a very very capable program that has more than the features that I want.
The obstacle here is price. Prosperity may or may not be just down the road for me, I dunno, but with Fontographer at $349 and FontLab at $549 I won't be going there just yet.
The search began for alternatives. It's astounding how very little there is out there for those who want to create type. FontLab has a lighter-weight app called "TypeTool" which I've tried out. It's a very capable little program that will produce TrueType and PS Type 1 but doesn't have at least one crucial deal breaker for me-I want to make drawings and import them to trace off. TypeTool does not do this. But, at $99, it runs well, looks good under OS X, and seems good for the beginner. My survey of it found that it wasn't terribly intuitive and if you want to get beginning help on the demo version...well, good luck. There's no online help at all.
So I ventured out onto the web again in hopes of finding an alternative. Like I said, there's not much. It took a while to locate, but I seem to have stumbled onto something.
Once upon at time, George Williams wrote a utility called PfaEdit. It has been updated and called "FontForge", and is available at
http://fontforge.sourceforge.net. It has much to speak for it. There are considerable ups and considerable downs.
Upsides: Cost (it's free). Versions available for Wintel, Sun, and OSX, both source (so you can compile it yourself if your sufficiently geeky) and compiled binary. You can generate PS Type 1, Type 3, TrueType for Win and Mac, SVG, OpenType. More range than I need right now actually. Interface very close to what I've seen of Fontographer, with familiar tools to create beziérs and all that. Also-imports graphics for tracing-sweet!
Downsides...well, here we go. It's neither OS X nor Win native. It's an application designed to run under X Windows, the unix gui windowing system. This means you have to let your inner geek out to implement it, or, if you have none, get one. For Windows this means you have to install an open-source gem called 'cygwin' (Google for this). OS X users have a bit of an easier go of it; if you installed all the OS X you've got the Developer Tools and that means you have X11 for Mac. If you run OpenOffice.org (as I do) you've already used it. So far as I've had the experience, X starts up automatically when you launch an X Window application.
Not only that, but you have to grok...at least a little...your file system. I have no experience with this under Windows, but I do know unix enough to get around the file system and I know OS X. Fontforge installs in one of the unix directories, though, that aren't displayed in the Finder window...you either have to navigate there in Terminal and do "open ." or get your TinkerTool on. I then created an alias and put it where I could easily find it.
Since the icon for a unix executable is so dreary I made a graphic for the alias. Gill sans, maj F next to min f, little drop shadow on a white background square. Looks cute down there in the dock. Anyway.
More geekery required. Once the app is launched I try to import a PNG from the tutorial and it don't go. Says it can't load dynamic library and that the file is bad. I find that you can import bmp's but not anything else unless you also install a few libraries-that handle tiffs, pngs, and jpegs, amongst others. MacOS versions of these are obtained through the Fink project, so I get Fink, download, install (wake up out there!) and download and install the libraries.
Still can't import the PNGs. Humph.
Subscribe to the developers mailing list. Correspond with the app's author, who says that ff doesn't look where it's supposed to for these libraries and you have to set an environment variable to make ff look in the right place...or recompile ff with a patch. I go for the simple solution, which is the environment variable.
So, now it's working. Got my inner geek out to play (never was much of a coder but can hold my own in some geekery situations), and I'm ready to learn the app and compose some really killer fonts.
I'll be coming out with the next Gill Sans any. day. now.
14 April 2005
[us_politics] It's Law: The Credit Card Companies 0wnz0r You Now
This just in: The "Screw the Working Class"...ehr, sorry...the "Bankruptcy Bill" just passed the House.
Now, creditors can jack up your interest rates because of late fees beyond 30 percent. Now credit card companies can jack up your interest rates because of late payments on your other bills (you didn't know this? Go Google up "universal default" and when it sinks in, get back to me. No, no, on second thought, go get that second job, or curl up in the corner and cry, whatever works for you). And when you get in over your head because you got huge medical bills, you can't find any work, and you're at the end of your rope. you are going to have to go in front a judge who will make you do a means test and most likely force you into a repayment plan, which will amount to being on a debt treadmill for the rest of your life regardless of what you do.
And they can market you incessantly to get even more credit cards so they can get even more hooks in you. However, unlike working class addicts, they get to shift the blame and take no responsiblity.
No more fresh starts for the working guy. They sure loved us when they needed to get into power. Now we are The Enemy.
If you voted GWB, this is what you voted for. How'd'ja like it so far?
The vote in the House: 302 to 176.
73 Democrats voted in favor of business against thier constituents (unless business is thier constituent). Republicans all voted yes; no surprises there.
On the side of the angels and the working class:
On the side of Democrats voting Republican to cover thier ass, forgetting that, in a race between a Republican and a fake Republican, the Republican will win:
On the side of Republicans who're screwing thier constituents, who, in this case, are ranchers and farmers who are barely getting by in this tenuous economic climate:
Remember, everyone it's an ownership society. Me, I'm going to find my owner before we get divvied up. I'd rather choose mine than have one choose me.
Now, creditors can jack up your interest rates because of late fees beyond 30 percent. Now credit card companies can jack up your interest rates because of late payments on your other bills (you didn't know this? Go Google up "universal default" and when it sinks in, get back to me. No, no, on second thought, go get that second job, or curl up in the corner and cry, whatever works for you). And when you get in over your head because you got huge medical bills, you can't find any work, and you're at the end of your rope. you are going to have to go in front a judge who will make you do a means test and most likely force you into a repayment plan, which will amount to being on a debt treadmill for the rest of your life regardless of what you do.
And they can market you incessantly to get even more credit cards so they can get even more hooks in you. However, unlike working class addicts, they get to shift the blame and take no responsiblity.
No more fresh starts for the working guy. They sure loved us when they needed to get into power. Now we are The Enemy.
If you voted GWB, this is what you voted for. How'd'ja like it so far?
The vote in the House: 302 to 176.
73 Democrats voted in favor of business against thier constituents (unless business is thier constituent). Republicans all voted yes; no surprises there.
On the side of the angels and the working class:
- Blumenauer (good on ya)
- DeFazio (always solidly on the side of the little guy)
On the side of Democrats voting Republican to cover thier ass, forgetting that, in a race between a Republican and a fake Republican, the Republican will win:
- Hooley
- Wu
On the side of Republicans who're screwing thier constituents, who, in this case, are ranchers and farmers who are barely getting by in this tenuous economic climate:
- Walden
Remember, everyone it's an ownership society. Me, I'm going to find my owner before we get divvied up. I'd rather choose mine than have one choose me.
[or_politics] The Oregon Supreme Court Decision
I just can't ignore the fact that the real defending of marriage needs to be done from the people who the conventional wisdom seems to acknowledge are most entitled to it: heterosexuals. You know, breeders.
Rogues gallery:
It strikes me as hypocritical for people in power who can't come up with a successful marriage to then go out and lecture everyone, but everyone, about who should get marriend, and possibly how.
And how can I pass up mentioning Arthur Finkelstein...the heavy Republican operative who furthered a party which strove to nose it into everybody's bedrooms, to say who should have civil rights between consenting adults and who shouldn't, whisked himself and his man off to eeeeville Massachusetts to get a marriage.
This is another part of the poison that's contaiminating America these days. These high and powerful people feel they have the perfect right to tell us regular folks what to do and where to go and who to do it with...to define our lives...whilst they reserve the same freedoms we all thought we had to themselves. You see..the powerful really are different.
Feeling like peons yet?
If you don't feel like objecting to what these people are doing to gays, then watch and at least keep strict notes. Because once gays are subdued as a scapegoat, they'll go looking for others. They always do.
Rogues gallery:
- Britney Spears, who treats marriage like a personal playtoy.
- What seems to be the majority of the self-righteous Republican political leadership on this issue, who seem to have been married more than once.
- Newt Gingrich, who left one of his wives on a cancer treatment bed to marry a younger aide (why, again, do people look to this man for moral leadership?)
- Ellizabeth Taylor
- Cher, in her early years
It strikes me as hypocritical for people in power who can't come up with a successful marriage to then go out and lecture everyone, but everyone, about who should get marriend, and possibly how.
And how can I pass up mentioning Arthur Finkelstein...the heavy Republican operative who furthered a party which strove to nose it into everybody's bedrooms, to say who should have civil rights between consenting adults and who shouldn't, whisked himself and his man off to eeeeville Massachusetts to get a marriage.
This is another part of the poison that's contaiminating America these days. These high and powerful people feel they have the perfect right to tell us regular folks what to do and where to go and who to do it with...to define our lives...whilst they reserve the same freedoms we all thought we had to themselves. You see..the powerful really are different.
Feeling like peons yet?
If you don't feel like objecting to what these people are doing to gays, then watch and at least keep strict notes. Because once gays are subdued as a scapegoat, they'll go looking for others. They always do.
[pdx_airwaves] This Just In: KPOJ Getting Live Local AM Talker
Just heard a promo over the radio, and haven't seen this menched much elsewhere, which I find curious, but here goes:
According to KPOJ's promos, as of next Monday we're getting a live liberal talker, broadcasting from KPOJ itself, 0600-0900. The host will be Thom Hartmann, who is apparently relocating here from Vermont. To make way, the Morning Sedition will be moving from its current slot to the 0300-0600 time frame. The upside to that is, locals will hear Marc and Mark live for the first time, and that is actually kind of an improvement for major local radio- when it comes to current news and events rerun programs tend to dominate.
I am encouraged by this but also puzzled. Thom Hartmann will be a good fit; he is a solid progressive thinker with considerable intellectual throwweight (check his website here, check out his bio, and the books he's written). He seems to be acknowledged as a rising progressive writing and broadcasting star. Moreover, he says things that make sense and can be unpopular, saying the unsayable that has to be heard.
There are things that make me go "hmmm" though. There is a strong thread on what is called "Neruo-Linguistic Programming" which he has woven into his syndicated show. While it has a history of practice stretching back to the mid-70s and a community of committed professionals it also has skeptical objections. That being said, as far as I know, it hasn't hurt anybody, at least not so far as has been heard. The worry I have is that this would become part of the Portland broadcast, and my honest opinion is that it wouldn't be wise. I think the priority of a local AM progressive talker should be local issues, and not forwarding a therapy program, good, bad, or otherwise. We lefties are hungry for real Lars-less talk about real local issues.
Another puzzler is, why the sudden relocation from Vermont to Oregon? Not that I think he has poor taste in moves, mind. It seems fairly precipitous. Perhaps it's just me not being familiar with how the radio business works. If KPOJ wanted star power, they found it, that's for sure.
Despite my discomfiture, however, I'm perfectly willing to give him a chance. Last time KPOJ was worth listening to was when it went from music to talk, whilst it was still over at 1501 SW Jefferson, called itself KGW 620-The Talk Station, and was home to one of the many lives of Ralph Steadman. I missed that show....
I'll only get to listen to the 0800-0900 hour of the show on Monday. But I will be listening!
According to KPOJ's promos, as of next Monday we're getting a live liberal talker, broadcasting from KPOJ itself, 0600-0900. The host will be Thom Hartmann, who is apparently relocating here from Vermont. To make way, the Morning Sedition will be moving from its current slot to the 0300-0600 time frame. The upside to that is, locals will hear Marc and Mark live for the first time, and that is actually kind of an improvement for major local radio- when it comes to current news and events rerun programs tend to dominate.
I am encouraged by this but also puzzled. Thom Hartmann will be a good fit; he is a solid progressive thinker with considerable intellectual throwweight (check his website here, check out his bio, and the books he's written). He seems to be acknowledged as a rising progressive writing and broadcasting star. Moreover, he says things that make sense and can be unpopular, saying the unsayable that has to be heard.
There are things that make me go "hmmm" though. There is a strong thread on what is called "Neruo-Linguistic Programming" which he has woven into his syndicated show. While it has a history of practice stretching back to the mid-70s and a community of committed professionals it also has skeptical objections. That being said, as far as I know, it hasn't hurt anybody, at least not so far as has been heard. The worry I have is that this would become part of the Portland broadcast, and my honest opinion is that it wouldn't be wise. I think the priority of a local AM progressive talker should be local issues, and not forwarding a therapy program, good, bad, or otherwise. We lefties are hungry for real Lars-less talk about real local issues.
Another puzzler is, why the sudden relocation from Vermont to Oregon? Not that I think he has poor taste in moves, mind. It seems fairly precipitous. Perhaps it's just me not being familiar with how the radio business works. If KPOJ wanted star power, they found it, that's for sure.
Despite my discomfiture, however, I'm perfectly willing to give him a chance. Last time KPOJ was worth listening to was when it went from music to talk, whilst it was still over at 1501 SW Jefferson, called itself KGW 620-The Talk Station, and was home to one of the many lives of Ralph Steadman. I missed that show....
I'll only get to listen to the 0800-0900 hour of the show on Monday. But I will be listening!
12 April 2005
[pcc_life] Tales from the Breach:Whiners
In a class I had quite recently, the teacher had to clamp down on the chatter. It was noticeable and irritating for me, too.
She had to get kind of rude about it. It worked and class could proceed.
After the lecture she had to leave for a few minutes and we students were left to thier own devices. Many of us got to work on our projects. Some moaned about her behavior whilst she was out of the room.
The nature of the whiners was something like: The nerve! She had no right to talk at me like that! If it would've gone on much longer i'd of given here a piece of my mind, that's for sure!
Okay, maybe I'm old school but that attitude really, really bothers me. Gets under my skin. You see, teachers come in many types, many temperaments. Unless that teacher is out-and-out insulting you for no good reason, though, or doing something that is clearly out of line, we ought to be doing what that teacher is saying...and if we've been put in our place, in a behavioral context, we need to address what it was we are doing that is causing the instructor to get all rude on us.
During my training in design, I had an epiphany early on. I think I've writtien on this before, but I rarely review what I write. Anyway, I soon saw that each instructor I had, whilst training toward a common goal, had different ways of looking at the same thing...and they brought that into thier instruction. This obstacle is an unexpected gift. For, in the future, I will hopefully have a range of clients or bosses that give me work, and here's my chance to learn how to communicate with a range of people in person, and to learn how to do it efffectively.
Since the first term of design, I've thought of my instructors as my clients, in a way.
So, when I interface with an instructor, I try to assay what kind of student they hope to teach to, and try to become that target. I refuse to acknoweldge this as mere 'sucking up', because when I'm on the instructor's wavelength, I am most apt to recieve thier message...and that's what I'm there for, anyway.
So, if I'm addressed as being to noisy...I button up, and figure what it was I was doing wrong, and figure out another way to do it if it was something I needed to do.
And I don't whine if I think my dignity has been affronted.
She had to get kind of rude about it. It worked and class could proceed.
After the lecture she had to leave for a few minutes and we students were left to thier own devices. Many of us got to work on our projects. Some moaned about her behavior whilst she was out of the room.
The nature of the whiners was something like: The nerve! She had no right to talk at me like that! If it would've gone on much longer i'd of given here a piece of my mind, that's for sure!
Okay, maybe I'm old school but that attitude really, really bothers me. Gets under my skin. You see, teachers come in many types, many temperaments. Unless that teacher is out-and-out insulting you for no good reason, though, or doing something that is clearly out of line, we ought to be doing what that teacher is saying...and if we've been put in our place, in a behavioral context, we need to address what it was we are doing that is causing the instructor to get all rude on us.
During my training in design, I had an epiphany early on. I think I've writtien on this before, but I rarely review what I write. Anyway, I soon saw that each instructor I had, whilst training toward a common goal, had different ways of looking at the same thing...and they brought that into thier instruction. This obstacle is an unexpected gift. For, in the future, I will hopefully have a range of clients or bosses that give me work, and here's my chance to learn how to communicate with a range of people in person, and to learn how to do it efffectively.
Since the first term of design, I've thought of my instructors as my clients, in a way.
So, when I interface with an instructor, I try to assay what kind of student they hope to teach to, and try to become that target. I refuse to acknoweldge this as mere 'sucking up', because when I'm on the instructor's wavelength, I am most apt to recieve thier message...and that's what I'm there for, anyway.
So, if I'm addressed as being to noisy...I button up, and figure what it was I was doing wrong, and figure out another way to do it if it was something I needed to do.
And I don't whine if I think my dignity has been affronted.
[sundial_life] Raydidio on the Internets
In a way, thank God for mp3 files. They make it possible for me hear radio programs that I'd otherwise miss.
Of course, under this economy, I can't afford other than dialup. No broadband for this city mouse, at least not yet. Anyway, I've had an addiction to Air America's Mike Malloy of late. There are two places to download his broadcasts if you've missed them.
One is Air America Place, which seems to be blog/message board/audio archive adjunct to AAR. They got lots of archived shows. Each mp3 file of Malloy is about 12.9MB, however, which is about an hour's dowload time, more or less, on dialup. If I don't get dumped because I tried to load a graphics-intensive web page.
The other is The White Rose Society. Named for the White Rose Society that resisted the Nazis in Germany by distributing leaflets criticising Hitler and his cronies during WWII, the spread the news by archving a whole armload of progressive talk. They archive not just the show, however, but all the commercials: a Malloy stored by White Rose has a throwweight ov just over 30MB. Download time over dialup: completely out of the question.
It's actually a pity. I enjoy the commercials I hear on radio, with some exceptions. You see, it's alarming, but true: you really are judged by the words you use.
But, at least I get to hear Malloy I miss. Better than nothing.
Of course, under this economy, I can't afford other than dialup. No broadband for this city mouse, at least not yet. Anyway, I've had an addiction to Air America's Mike Malloy of late. There are two places to download his broadcasts if you've missed them.
One is Air America Place, which seems to be blog/message board/audio archive adjunct to AAR. They got lots of archived shows. Each mp3 file of Malloy is about 12.9MB, however, which is about an hour's dowload time, more or less, on dialup. If I don't get dumped because I tried to load a graphics-intensive web page.
The other is The White Rose Society. Named for the White Rose Society that resisted the Nazis in Germany by distributing leaflets criticising Hitler and his cronies during WWII, the spread the news by archving a whole armload of progressive talk. They archive not just the show, however, but all the commercials: a Malloy stored by White Rose has a throwweight ov just over 30MB. Download time over dialup: completely out of the question.
It's actually a pity. I enjoy the commercials I hear on radio, with some exceptions. You see, it's alarming, but true: you really are judged by the words you use.
But, at least I get to hear Malloy I miss. Better than nothing.
10 April 2005
[meme] Saturday Slant: Recent Scare
And, now, for this week's question:
That's easy. But, with all due respect to the Grand Slantmaster, I'm changing the rules on this one just a small amount. I'm going back three years. It's relevant.
So, there I was, sitting in the Clackamas Red Robin with The Wife[tm], and I'm enjoying my favorite and least guilt-ridden item on the menu, the turkey burger (it really is quite excellent, folks, you oughta checkitout). Be it duly noted that I am largely erasing whatever benefits I'm bestowing upon myself by liberally partaking of the bottomless steak fries, because, yummmmmm, steak fries.
Anyway.
I'm sitting there, and all of a sudden I get this...feeling. There's an emptyness in the chest, and there's a hitch in my breathing. Now, I'm a bit of hypochondriac, and it comes out at the oddest times. Like this one.
Crap, I think, am I having a heart attack?
When the panic finally consumes me, I gulp down two asprin and ask The Wife[tm] to signal for help. The medics show up soon after, and I'm loaded up into the ambulance and whisked off to Providence Milwaukie and duly examed. I get this horrid tasing orange-colored beverage that is loaded with potassium and wait whilst they take readings and look me over.
They are nice people and work efficiently and quick. There are definitely worse places to find oneself in in a percieved medical emergency than the E/R at Prov Milwauke. Please make a note of it.
I get a chest X-Ray.
Long story short, nothing. I'm okay. There isn't even any reason to keep me there. I'm released in about an hour and a half. The Wife[tm] and I go for a ride, pick up a bottle of rum at the Liquor Store at King Road and Southeast 82nd Avenue, and we make ready for a drive to see SCA friends in Idaho Falls next day (we amounted to the An Tirian ambassadors to the royal court of Artemisia, but that's another story).
Ever since then, I've been a little less afraid to try things. They say you only get one go-around, and I suspect it's true, but until you have to really think am I dying, you just kind of rationalize it all. It's just a philosphical conceit until you get stuck in such a situation.
Until that time I was toying with the idea to go back to school and studying art or design. Before long after that incident I was registered for classes.
Sure, it's kind of cliche'd. But many (if not all) cliches, I think, have thier basis in authentic human behavior. People who have had health scares realize that they may only have one chance at it and characters do change. Ever wonder why Larry King is always on the radio advertising anything that may give you a few extra minutes of life? He's probably still devastated after he was declared clinically dead for a few minutes during one of his heart events and didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing. So, depending on your POV, he's either going to the bad place (which might very well be the Plaid Pantry at the corner of North Interstate and Going) or just going out into oblivion at the end. His behavior seems very desparate to me. But I digress.
Others of us act to try and achieve some goals that we've been putting off in the interest of comfort for a very very long time. And for me, that was to let my inner artist and designer out. I've always wanted to carve a niche for myself, and this seems to be the way; with the writing and editing I'm doing lately, it seems to be paying off.
Of course, I hope there'll be more. I desparately want more; if I leave this mortal coil having little else to show for my productive life than the last twelve years at a place I'm not so proud of, then I will close my eyes at the last being a very disappointed man.
Another cliche' is, that you'll never know what can happen if you don't try and strive, and at least, I'll know that I did positively and constructively try something.
(PS:no, I apparently have no heart problems at present. And, as far as I can tell, I'm nowhere near death).
In the last two years, what was the scariest moment you recall? It’s a simple question, loaded with implications. I won’t contaminate the results by providing examples. Be as honest as your conscience (and readership) warrants.
That's easy. But, with all due respect to the Grand Slantmaster, I'm changing the rules on this one just a small amount. I'm going back three years. It's relevant.
So, there I was, sitting in the Clackamas Red Robin with The Wife[tm], and I'm enjoying my favorite and least guilt-ridden item on the menu, the turkey burger (it really is quite excellent, folks, you oughta checkitout). Be it duly noted that I am largely erasing whatever benefits I'm bestowing upon myself by liberally partaking of the bottomless steak fries, because, yummmmmm, steak fries.
Anyway.
I'm sitting there, and all of a sudden I get this...feeling. There's an emptyness in the chest, and there's a hitch in my breathing. Now, I'm a bit of hypochondriac, and it comes out at the oddest times. Like this one.
Crap, I think, am I having a heart attack?
When the panic finally consumes me, I gulp down two asprin and ask The Wife[tm] to signal for help. The medics show up soon after, and I'm loaded up into the ambulance and whisked off to Providence Milwaukie and duly examed. I get this horrid tasing orange-colored beverage that is loaded with potassium and wait whilst they take readings and look me over.
They are nice people and work efficiently and quick. There are definitely worse places to find oneself in in a percieved medical emergency than the E/R at Prov Milwauke. Please make a note of it.
I get a chest X-Ray.
Long story short, nothing. I'm okay. There isn't even any reason to keep me there. I'm released in about an hour and a half. The Wife[tm] and I go for a ride, pick up a bottle of rum at the Liquor Store at King Road and Southeast 82nd Avenue, and we make ready for a drive to see SCA friends in Idaho Falls next day (we amounted to the An Tirian ambassadors to the royal court of Artemisia, but that's another story).
Ever since then, I've been a little less afraid to try things. They say you only get one go-around, and I suspect it's true, but until you have to really think am I dying, you just kind of rationalize it all. It's just a philosphical conceit until you get stuck in such a situation.
Until that time I was toying with the idea to go back to school and studying art or design. Before long after that incident I was registered for classes.
Sure, it's kind of cliche'd. But many (if not all) cliches, I think, have thier basis in authentic human behavior. People who have had health scares realize that they may only have one chance at it and characters do change. Ever wonder why Larry King is always on the radio advertising anything that may give you a few extra minutes of life? He's probably still devastated after he was declared clinically dead for a few minutes during one of his heart events and didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing. So, depending on your POV, he's either going to the bad place (which might very well be the Plaid Pantry at the corner of North Interstate and Going) or just going out into oblivion at the end. His behavior seems very desparate to me. But I digress.
Others of us act to try and achieve some goals that we've been putting off in the interest of comfort for a very very long time. And for me, that was to let my inner artist and designer out. I've always wanted to carve a niche for myself, and this seems to be the way; with the writing and editing I'm doing lately, it seems to be paying off.
Of course, I hope there'll be more. I desparately want more; if I leave this mortal coil having little else to show for my productive life than the last twelve years at a place I'm not so proud of, then I will close my eyes at the last being a very disappointed man.
Another cliche' is, that you'll never know what can happen if you don't try and strive, and at least, I'll know that I did positively and constructively try something.
(PS:no, I apparently have no heart problems at present. And, as far as I can tell, I'm nowhere near death).
06 April 2005
[geography] Street Name Blues
Here's something, from Bend area blog Utterly Boring that is something only address nerds like myself can love.
Click this link to read a short story about the renaming of a certain street in central Bend, which is apparently the start of what may turn out to be a citywide street name regularization.
These things are usually brought on when residents and local officials notice that the idea of picturing a location in town, or giving a newcomer or tourist directions, is a bit of a problem. Without a coherent street-naming rationale, developers can-and do-name the streets in the subdivisions they build anything they want. This happened in 1900-1930's Portland, after the merger of the original three towns of Portland, East Portland, and Albina into one City of Portland. There were armfuls of duplicated street names because nobody cared to control them.
As Portland grew in the first three decades of the 20th Century, duplicate names were gradually eliminated and an ad-hoc system of names and address evolved. In 1933, according to Eugene E Synder, the present system of N, NE, SW, SE, NW was established. I'll not go over the process now, that's for another entry. Suffice it to say that it made any address in Portland more intuitively findable..not pefectly so, but good enough so that newcomers could get round with a minimum of confusing directions.
About seven or eight years back, a similar system, resulting in street names sounding similar to those in Portland, was insituted in McMinnville when it was found that it wasn't intuituively obvious were in town any given street was, when mentioned off-the-cuff. Now, with NW,NE,SW,SE address sectors, you at least know what part of town to be looking in.
Now it's Bend's turn. The city has grown outward immensely from even its 1980s bounds; the street names tend to change unintuitively (the example in the Bulletin, Hill Street, is being changed to Wall Street to reflect the street that it feeds into from the main drag). Additionally, the city address grid is quadranted in the way discribed for McMinnville and Portland, but that system, which is somewhat unintuitive because it's baselines are the railroad and two east-west named streets that line up (but on opposite sides of town, peters out now before you get to the city limits.
A good street name system and address grid does a few things for you; gives you an idea of where you are in town in relation to a center; gives an orderly progression of addresses, from which you can reason which directions you are going in relation to that center, and is consistent-that is, names behave in predictable ways in most cases. Ideally that center is in a notable and logical location-most Oregon towns have addresses that radiate in all directions out from a locus that is usually located in the city center, and address base on notable baselines that more or less converge on and extend out from that center (rivers, renowned streets, and the like).
It makes things in the city findable. I'm hoping Bend comes up with a good rationale, and sticks to it.
Click this link to read a short story about the renaming of a certain street in central Bend, which is apparently the start of what may turn out to be a citywide street name regularization.
These things are usually brought on when residents and local officials notice that the idea of picturing a location in town, or giving a newcomer or tourist directions, is a bit of a problem. Without a coherent street-naming rationale, developers can-and do-name the streets in the subdivisions they build anything they want. This happened in 1900-1930's Portland, after the merger of the original three towns of Portland, East Portland, and Albina into one City of Portland. There were armfuls of duplicated street names because nobody cared to control them.
As Portland grew in the first three decades of the 20th Century, duplicate names were gradually eliminated and an ad-hoc system of names and address evolved. In 1933, according to Eugene E Synder, the present system of N, NE, SW, SE, NW was established. I'll not go over the process now, that's for another entry. Suffice it to say that it made any address in Portland more intuitively findable..not pefectly so, but good enough so that newcomers could get round with a minimum of confusing directions.
About seven or eight years back, a similar system, resulting in street names sounding similar to those in Portland, was insituted in McMinnville when it was found that it wasn't intuituively obvious were in town any given street was, when mentioned off-the-cuff. Now, with NW,NE,SW,SE address sectors, you at least know what part of town to be looking in.
Now it's Bend's turn. The city has grown outward immensely from even its 1980s bounds; the street names tend to change unintuitively (the example in the Bulletin, Hill Street, is being changed to Wall Street to reflect the street that it feeds into from the main drag). Additionally, the city address grid is quadranted in the way discribed for McMinnville and Portland, but that system, which is somewhat unintuitive because it's baselines are the railroad and two east-west named streets that line up (but on opposite sides of town, peters out now before you get to the city limits.
A good street name system and address grid does a few things for you; gives you an idea of where you are in town in relation to a center; gives an orderly progression of addresses, from which you can reason which directions you are going in relation to that center, and is consistent-that is, names behave in predictable ways in most cases. Ideally that center is in a notable and logical location-most Oregon towns have addresses that radiate in all directions out from a locus that is usually located in the city center, and address base on notable baselines that more or less converge on and extend out from that center (rivers, renowned streets, and the like).
It makes things in the city findable. I'm hoping Bend comes up with a good rationale, and sticks to it.
[design, sundial_life] Doors Ajar
The activity I've been making for myself is, yes, starting to pay off, just a little.
QuarkVsInDesign.com. 'Nuff said there.
And, since Adobe has announced the release of CS2 I can intimate that I've known of some these things for a while (see the post about two-three back where I announce the announcment). I don't think I can say why just yet, but I can say that I've been liking what I've been seeing.
I'm also Tech Editing the first chapter on Pariah's Illustrator CS2 book. It's quite an educational experience, I'll tell you, going through all of this. Tests and expands my Illustrator knowledge and it's like I get Pariah training me, which is just gravy, no doubt about that.
And all along I'm wondering what's next, is anything next, what's next?
QuarkVsInDesign.com. 'Nuff said there.
And, since Adobe has announced the release of CS2 I can intimate that I've known of some these things for a while (see the post about two-three back where I announce the announcment). I don't think I can say why just yet, but I can say that I've been liking what I've been seeing.
I'm also Tech Editing the first chapter on Pariah's Illustrator CS2 book. It's quite an educational experience, I'll tell you, going through all of this. Tests and expands my Illustrator knowledge and it's like I get Pariah training me, which is just gravy, no doubt about that.
And all along I'm wondering what's next, is anything next, what's next?
[pcc_life] Tales from the Breach:Swimmingly, So Far
Am moving forward into that ultimate term of PCC Graphic Design training. Am quite amazed at what it's prepared me for...but more on that later.
The GD6 course is running along fine, so far. The first project...the product is dirt. We get to make it look good!
Here's the deal: the notional client wants to sell dirt. They want to sell it in three varieties to two markets in each; six different ways. The first one, Dert, is for kiddies. Perfect for making mudpies, building mud cities, invading mudcountries. The second one, Durt, is down-to-business, industrial grade fill. The third one, Düyrt, is your basic, high-end, 'gourmet' product, for tasteful landscaping, fine gardening, and cordon-bleu mudpies.
The point here seems to be unity across a range. The question to be answered is, given a range of objects to be sold or marketed, how to make them unmistakably related whilst still asserting each's appropriate individuality. I'm going for a solution that uses layout to make the unifying connection, type and simple graphics to define the economic stratum (kids/low-end, adults/middle-end, toff/high-end), and color to indicate gender-based market slant.
To be honest, I have a little trouble with the standard blue-for-boys/pink-for-girls sterotype. But in our culture, it IDs the gender line like nothing else. This is playing the hand you're dealt, working in the seeming-societal verities that one is supplied.
The real triumph of the past few days was the portfolio class. however. Even as I evaluate portfolio cases and decide which way to go in that direction, I have a range of projects already that I can start to work into portfolio pieces.
The instructor, Precious (I love saying that for some bizarre reason) requires that we have a minimum of ten projects for display. In my selection of what I thought of as best, she found eleven. Moreover, the star piece was a poster I did to illustrate the term project I did for Geography of Oregon class last term...friends,this thing was a one-off, a knock-off, a tossaway, and it somehow distilled everything good I've been struggling to learn and apply about design into one lodestone for the rest.
There's a moment when everyone knows that they've accompilished something. And there are other nice things happening to me right now. But this one had me coming home on tiptoes with a grin on my face, something The Wife[tm] couldn't help but react to, and The Day Job tends to wipe the smile off my face on a fairly regular basis.
The GD6 course is running along fine, so far. The first project...the product is dirt. We get to make it look good!
Here's the deal: the notional client wants to sell dirt. They want to sell it in three varieties to two markets in each; six different ways. The first one, Dert, is for kiddies. Perfect for making mudpies, building mud cities, invading mudcountries. The second one, Durt, is down-to-business, industrial grade fill. The third one, Düyrt, is your basic, high-end, 'gourmet' product, for tasteful landscaping, fine gardening, and cordon-bleu mudpies.
The point here seems to be unity across a range. The question to be answered is, given a range of objects to be sold or marketed, how to make them unmistakably related whilst still asserting each's appropriate individuality. I'm going for a solution that uses layout to make the unifying connection, type and simple graphics to define the economic stratum (kids/low-end, adults/middle-end, toff/high-end), and color to indicate gender-based market slant.
To be honest, I have a little trouble with the standard blue-for-boys/pink-for-girls sterotype. But in our culture, it IDs the gender line like nothing else. This is playing the hand you're dealt, working in the seeming-societal verities that one is supplied.
The real triumph of the past few days was the portfolio class. however. Even as I evaluate portfolio cases and decide which way to go in that direction, I have a range of projects already that I can start to work into portfolio pieces.
The instructor, Precious (I love saying that for some bizarre reason) requires that we have a minimum of ten projects for display. In my selection of what I thought of as best, she found eleven. Moreover, the star piece was a poster I did to illustrate the term project I did for Geography of Oregon class last term...friends,this thing was a one-off, a knock-off, a tossaway, and it somehow distilled everything good I've been struggling to learn and apply about design into one lodestone for the rest.
There's a moment when everyone knows that they've accompilished something. And there are other nice things happening to me right now. But this one had me coming home on tiptoes with a grin on my face, something The Wife[tm] couldn't help but react to, and The Day Job tends to wipe the smile off my face on a fairly regular basis.
04 April 2005
[design] Adobe Creative Suite 2 Arrives!
Links:
1. QuarkVsInDesign.com:Creative Suite 2 Announced
2. QuarkVsInDesign.com:Top 10 New InDesign CS2 Features
3. R. Allan White on CS2's Release
4. Adobe Creative Suite 2 Main Site:Read about it, Preorder it
A new way to tie the products together...an new way to get stock photography...live trace...PSD layer support...read all about it, people!
More thoughts later. Pressed for time.
Props as always to Pariah S. Burke, without whom much would be impossble. Allan just has a cooly-designed site, and you all should check it out.
1. QuarkVsInDesign.com:Creative Suite 2 Announced
2. QuarkVsInDesign.com:Top 10 New InDesign CS2 Features
3. R. Allan White on CS2's Release
4. Adobe Creative Suite 2 Main Site:Read about it, Preorder it
A new way to tie the products together...an new way to get stock photography...live trace...PSD layer support...read all about it, people!
More thoughts later. Pressed for time.
Props as always to Pariah S. Burke, without whom much would be impossble. Allan just has a cooly-designed site, and you all should check it out.
02 April 2005
[meme] Saturday Slant: A Different Kind of Question
Here is that question:
As a so called "lapsed" Catholic (born, baptised, confirmed) I feel compelled-no, obliged-to answer this question.
When I think of John Paul II I think along two lines.
The positive aspects...the numerous pilgrimages he conducted, the immense popular support where he traveled, the sheer vitality and activity of the man...I shouldn't have to detail too much. As a (still) semi-disenchanted Catholic, I must say that the general positive face he put on the Roman Catholic church was inspiring and encouraged me to look upon the Church with a good face even when I felt farthest away from it. His towering stature and his influence, the span of his tenure-27 years, the longest of any Pope in memory, all these will combine to a historical feature that will be called John Paul the Great.
Seriously. There's been academic buzz about the way historians will refer to him. Look forward to seeing his name in print that way, if not now, in future.
The negative aspect...I will be direct and honest. As someone sympathetic to the Roman Catholic Church, I think his conservatism hurt in a certain way, rather than helped. There are actually lay factions within the Church which seem to have formed because of his conservative stance or were reinforced by them (Opus Dei) or as loyal oppostion (Voice of the Faithful). Whilst it is foolish to expect utter unity in such a huge population (over 1 billion avowed members in numerous countries and even in differing Catholic traditions) i despair over the power that the Pope had to heal and to promote general unity, which he did not use.
The writings of Gary Wills (I recommend) suggest that the big guns in the Church are just as political as any temporal authority, and are just as willing to play both ends against the middle as any temporal political authority is. But then, as I mentioned elsewhere, whether one finds the Church divinely guided or not, they are an organization of humans, and humans are as humans do-flawed, mistaken, prone to misunderstanding, arbitrary and sometimes cruel in the name of a greater good.
The other thing that JPII missed was the chance to effect real change in the matter of the recent child abuse scandals here in America. The Pope was usually given a pass on this, the matter being seen as a mishandling laid at the feet of the American Catholic bishops. And this may be true and valid. But as the Man In Charge, the Pope could have, and should have, done something. He could have promoted healing and revitalized the church by doing the right thing, giving a sense of direction from the top. Nothing ever came from him. A big chance was missed here.
I look to the future with a sense of apprehension and hope. Who will be the next pope? It won't be an American. It may be a Hispanic or African bishop. It could certainly be an Italian. He may be as conservative as JPII, in fact, that's what I expect.
I, like many, will miss John Paul II. There are things I wish he'd done; but I enjoy and appreciate what he did do as much as my heart aches for what he didn't.
What does the passing of Pope John Paul II mean to you?
As a so called "lapsed" Catholic (born, baptised, confirmed) I feel compelled-no, obliged-to answer this question.
When I think of John Paul II I think along two lines.
The positive aspects...the numerous pilgrimages he conducted, the immense popular support where he traveled, the sheer vitality and activity of the man...I shouldn't have to detail too much. As a (still) semi-disenchanted Catholic, I must say that the general positive face he put on the Roman Catholic church was inspiring and encouraged me to look upon the Church with a good face even when I felt farthest away from it. His towering stature and his influence, the span of his tenure-27 years, the longest of any Pope in memory, all these will combine to a historical feature that will be called John Paul the Great.
Seriously. There's been academic buzz about the way historians will refer to him. Look forward to seeing his name in print that way, if not now, in future.
The negative aspect...I will be direct and honest. As someone sympathetic to the Roman Catholic Church, I think his conservatism hurt in a certain way, rather than helped. There are actually lay factions within the Church which seem to have formed because of his conservative stance or were reinforced by them (Opus Dei) or as loyal oppostion (Voice of the Faithful). Whilst it is foolish to expect utter unity in such a huge population (over 1 billion avowed members in numerous countries and even in differing Catholic traditions) i despair over the power that the Pope had to heal and to promote general unity, which he did not use.
The writings of Gary Wills (I recommend) suggest that the big guns in the Church are just as political as any temporal authority, and are just as willing to play both ends against the middle as any temporal political authority is. But then, as I mentioned elsewhere, whether one finds the Church divinely guided or not, they are an organization of humans, and humans are as humans do-flawed, mistaken, prone to misunderstanding, arbitrary and sometimes cruel in the name of a greater good.
The other thing that JPII missed was the chance to effect real change in the matter of the recent child abuse scandals here in America. The Pope was usually given a pass on this, the matter being seen as a mishandling laid at the feet of the American Catholic bishops. And this may be true and valid. But as the Man In Charge, the Pope could have, and should have, done something. He could have promoted healing and revitalized the church by doing the right thing, giving a sense of direction from the top. Nothing ever came from him. A big chance was missed here.
I look to the future with a sense of apprehension and hope. Who will be the next pope? It won't be an American. It may be a Hispanic or African bishop. It could certainly be an Italian. He may be as conservative as JPII, in fact, that's what I expect.
I, like many, will miss John Paul II. There are things I wish he'd done; but I enjoy and appreciate what he did do as much as my heart aches for what he didn't.
31 March 2005
[us_politics] Simon LeBon, Circa 1985, Addresses A Joint Session Of Congress
Hi Guys! By the way, are you aware you're being illegal?
It's making your savior behavior look evil.
'Scuse my timing, but, hey, how'd'j'you fit in
with this flim flam and judy?[1]
Screw Nostradamus and the Bible Code. You want prophecy, look to Duran Duran and Arcadia.
[1] lyrics from "Election Day", by Arcadia, from the album So Red The Rose (1985)
[net_life] It's Sam Klein's World, You Just Live There
I'm very fond of my given name. Being a type geek helps. To people who love type, type holds more than mere letterforms they have interesting or uniniteresting looks and form words with nice or not nice shapes. I've always been partial to names in which the forename (first name) is longer than the byname (lastname) and the middle name. My name, "Samuel John Klein", works on that level most certainly.
The name Samuel, whilst having Biblical proportions, has a nice majuscule S up at the front, ends with a strong minuscule l at the back, and the low area between are all nice, orderly x-height type, mostly vowels. I've always liked vowels just a little better than consonants, with a few exceptions. And the byname Klein, with it's strong-backed starting letter and the x-height minuscule n at the end, has a profile something like a wedge. Together just the first and last name work very well, visually, and when you add the middle name John, you get a pivotal center for the other two wordforms to work on.
I really can't say it otherwise: my name rocks. I'm happy and proud to have it.
The name itself comes from a man long dead. I am the second Samuel John Klein, my father's father was the first. Mom adored Grandpa Klein, always said he was a happy fellow and he loved her as his daughter-in-law. Regrettably, in the mid 1960s before I was too very old, Grandpa Klein died, in his 80's, I understand, happy Silverton-area dairy farmer. I've only ever seen a picture of him, with a little hat on and dressed up with an Oregon Centennial pin on his lapel. His son and myself are both chips off the old block, and the older I get, the more I will resemble them, although I do think they would have looked askance at the long hair.
Anywho. I told you all that, to tell you this.
This will sound somewhat deranged, but I like looking at my name so much I'm compelled to get it into print. I load up the articles I've written at Quark VS InDesign just to see my name at the top. It's on those websurfs that I cast my Googlegillnet far and wide to gather other Sam Klein's that are out there.
Occasionally I find some interesting results.
This Link will take you to a Wikipedia profile page for someone calling themselves Sj, and who says thier name is Samuel Klein. Though he doesn't say what the "J" stands for, he does say that he goes by "SJ", which is coincidental, because that's what Mom called me when I was a neat thing.
I must abashedly say that the rest of the Wikipedia profile page makes little or no sense to me. But he does take the time to say who he is not, and one thing at the end of that string really caught my eye: "Winnipeg-based dectective Sam Klein".
Sa' wha"?
So, I followed this link to the Thrilling Detective site, which is apparently a detective fan's ominbus on the web. Seems our fictional Sam Klein is a street tough who lived in the rough North End of Winnipeg in the first and second decade of the 20th century, and becomes a detective as most interesting characters in these stories do...accidentally.
The Canadian author Allan Levine has written two Sam Klein novels, The Blood Libel(1997) and Sins Of The Suffragette(2000). I'm going to check them out, even though I'm not a fan of historical detective fiction, I am, as has been overly documented already, a fan of Sam Kleins.
Up to now my Googlegillnet sweeps have turned up a Dr Samuel Klein, a specialist in obesity (I ought to talk with him as I do need to lose a few pounds) and a handful of other Samuel Kleins as well as a Samuel J. Klein or two. But so far, Google has coughed up only one Samuel John Klein, and that is YT. So, to paraphase Fafnir, I am the whole worlds only source for Samuel John Klein.
Being Samuel John Klein is sometimes great and sometimes shabby, and rarely is it ever ideal. But if you look at it the right way, it's always interesting.
The name Samuel, whilst having Biblical proportions, has a nice majuscule S up at the front, ends with a strong minuscule l at the back, and the low area between are all nice, orderly x-height type, mostly vowels. I've always liked vowels just a little better than consonants, with a few exceptions. And the byname Klein, with it's strong-backed starting letter and the x-height minuscule n at the end, has a profile something like a wedge. Together just the first and last name work very well, visually, and when you add the middle name John, you get a pivotal center for the other two wordforms to work on.
I really can't say it otherwise: my name rocks. I'm happy and proud to have it.
The name itself comes from a man long dead. I am the second Samuel John Klein, my father's father was the first. Mom adored Grandpa Klein, always said he was a happy fellow and he loved her as his daughter-in-law. Regrettably, in the mid 1960s before I was too very old, Grandpa Klein died, in his 80's, I understand, happy Silverton-area dairy farmer. I've only ever seen a picture of him, with a little hat on and dressed up with an Oregon Centennial pin on his lapel. His son and myself are both chips off the old block, and the older I get, the more I will resemble them, although I do think they would have looked askance at the long hair.
Anywho. I told you all that, to tell you this.
This will sound somewhat deranged, but I like looking at my name so much I'm compelled to get it into print. I load up the articles I've written at Quark VS InDesign just to see my name at the top. It's on those websurfs that I cast my Googlegillnet far and wide to gather other Sam Klein's that are out there.
Occasionally I find some interesting results.
This Link will take you to a Wikipedia profile page for someone calling themselves Sj, and who says thier name is Samuel Klein. Though he doesn't say what the "J" stands for, he does say that he goes by "SJ", which is coincidental, because that's what Mom called me when I was a neat thing.
I must abashedly say that the rest of the Wikipedia profile page makes little or no sense to me. But he does take the time to say who he is not, and one thing at the end of that string really caught my eye: "Winnipeg-based dectective Sam Klein".
Sa' wha"?
So, I followed this link to the Thrilling Detective site, which is apparently a detective fan's ominbus on the web. Seems our fictional Sam Klein is a street tough who lived in the rough North End of Winnipeg in the first and second decade of the 20th century, and becomes a detective as most interesting characters in these stories do...accidentally.
The Canadian author Allan Levine has written two Sam Klein novels, The Blood Libel(1997) and Sins Of The Suffragette(2000). I'm going to check them out, even though I'm not a fan of historical detective fiction, I am, as has been overly documented already, a fan of Sam Kleins.
Up to now my Googlegillnet sweeps have turned up a Dr Samuel Klein, a specialist in obesity (I ought to talk with him as I do need to lose a few pounds) and a handful of other Samuel Kleins as well as a Samuel J. Klein or two. But so far, Google has coughed up only one Samuel John Klein, and that is YT. So, to paraphase Fafnir, I am the whole worlds only source for Samuel John Klein.
Being Samuel John Klein is sometimes great and sometimes shabby, and rarely is it ever ideal. But if you look at it the right way, it's always interesting.
[pcc_life] Tales from the Breach:No Rest for The Weary
So, I've spent the entire night (the last two-three hours of it anyway) going through my CD-Rs of my saved work and hauling bits and pieces out of storage to put together a selection of what I consider my bestest work to take into the first session of Portfolio Prep tomorrow.
See, this is why I think designers and design students are some of the best people in the world. One menches, "hey, you're in the Portfolio class too, aren't you?"
You see, due to exterior pressures I've taken three years to go through the program. Me and just a few other stragglers from the class who entered in 2002 are finishing up now. But we designers seem to know our own.
"Why, yes," I said.
"Well, you do know that you have to bring your stuff in, don't you."
"I didn't know that", I replied.
"Yes," she said, "Precious told us we should get together what we feel is our best stuff to start our portfolios with."
And then it came back to me. If I were on the normal track, the progression would be from Professional Studio Practices, where we ginned up our first personal promo, straight into Portfolio Prep, and that's just what Precious Bugarin, the appropriately-named instructor (the "Precious" part, silly...I don't know that a "Bugarin" is supposed to look like, per se) told us as we left that course that we should gather up that sort of thing.
I tucked it into the back of my mind at the time. Once I recalled that (thanks to the prompting), I found I had a very good idea of what constitutes my "best" stuff, so the selection was fairly easy. What surprised me was that I had so much of it. Logos, a couple of newsletters, a magazine concept, a few illos.
Actually, I've come quite a way in three years. And the Columbia Overlook, a real-world app, should go quite a ways, I think. I even have an InDesign project from last year. that I liked. So, right now, I have this bulging folder in my Dock called "Portfolio" that I'm going to cull when I get up.
And if it wasn't for that fellow GD student who started a year after I did, I'd not of come in with anything. I tell you, my friends, my people, we designers, we are a tribe. Quote me on that.
See, this is why I think designers and design students are some of the best people in the world. One menches, "hey, you're in the Portfolio class too, aren't you?"
You see, due to exterior pressures I've taken three years to go through the program. Me and just a few other stragglers from the class who entered in 2002 are finishing up now. But we designers seem to know our own.
"Why, yes," I said.
"Well, you do know that you have to bring your stuff in, don't you."
"I didn't know that", I replied.
"Yes," she said, "Precious told us we should get together what we feel is our best stuff to start our portfolios with."
And then it came back to me. If I were on the normal track, the progression would be from Professional Studio Practices, where we ginned up our first personal promo, straight into Portfolio Prep, and that's just what Precious Bugarin, the appropriately-named instructor (the "Precious" part, silly...I don't know that a "Bugarin" is supposed to look like, per se) told us as we left that course that we should gather up that sort of thing.
I tucked it into the back of my mind at the time. Once I recalled that (thanks to the prompting), I found I had a very good idea of what constitutes my "best" stuff, so the selection was fairly easy. What surprised me was that I had so much of it. Logos, a couple of newsletters, a magazine concept, a few illos.
Actually, I've come quite a way in three years. And the Columbia Overlook, a real-world app, should go quite a ways, I think. I even have an InDesign project from last year. that I liked. So, right now, I have this bulging folder in my Dock called "Portfolio" that I'm going to cull when I get up.
And if it wasn't for that fellow GD student who started a year after I did, I'd not of come in with anything. I tell you, my friends, my people, we designers, we are a tribe. Quote me on that.
29 March 2005
[design, tools] Massive Adobe Creative Suite Chatter
In the interests of full disclosure, nota bene that I am an irregular contributor to QuarkVsInDesign.com
Accoding to this post on the QuarkVSInDesign site. details of the improvments to Adobe's signature Photoshop application, dubbed Photoshop CS2 (the second release of Photoshop under the Creative Suite banner, essentially Photoshop 9) have been leaked to the world.
Apparently what happened is that someone accidentally posted a press release at Adobe. Think Secret and AppleInsider both pounced on it. Cue QuarkVSInDesign, a website devoted to covering what we like to call "Desktop Publishing War II".
There's some mighty tasty features there. If this is the sort of thing you like, go look via the link above, which has links to the two rumor websites as well as a link to a PDF (appropriate?) of the press release.
As May comes closer, I also understand we are to expect the full release of the whole Creative Suite 2. Some feel this sets the stage for a marketing hearts-and-minds battle that will be joined in full when Quark, Inc finally releases XPress 7. The best I've been able to find out is "sometime this year", in a stream of rumor and chatter that is utterly devoid of XPress 7 screenshots.
That's where it's gonna be for me. See, some time ago I vaguely remember chatter that a goal for Quark was to make
XPress 7 "more InDesign-like". As far as I'm concerned, interface is all, or nearly all. The look of the Adobe apps go for a common theme and a common look and atmosphere. With the preponderance of positive press that Adobe has gotten over the Suite, the well-designed interface of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator reinforce an overall positive user experience.
It feels modern and up-to-date.
QuarkXPress, on the other hand got a great facelift when it moved out of the Classic shell and into a spiffy new Aqua outfit. But it was still the old QuarkXPress; the palettes were still the same palettes, the toolbox was still the same toolbox. It still, even with PSD Import and QuarkVista, feels like release 3, 4, and 5.
XPress 3 was released back in 1990. You didn't misread that: Nineteen Ninety. Xpress 4 was the version you encountered between 1997 and 2002...that's five years with nothing more than a point update. The front end of QuarkXPress hasn't significantly changed in fifteen years.
Here's Quark's dilemma. They not only have to update the application, to make it relevant to layout artists and prepress pros in a world where Adobe offers such long sought-after features as native transparency support (QuarkXPress users: no clipping paths!!!), built-in PSD support, and superior PDF output, but they also have to make XPress users feel like they're moving into the future in all ways. And that happens when the interface design evolves along with the program. Adobe users already feel this way.
I predict (I have no info to base this on, just a hunch) that QuarkXPress's interface will evolve with 7. I think we'll be working in an XPress that looks a lot like InDesign. Quark has a great negative legacy it's trying to live down; so far, with the new XTensions, the free upgrades, and the quick and courteous email support, they've made strides. But it still, so far, is a qualified success at best; PSD Import and QuarkVista aren't perfect, and email support quality has been hit-and-miss.
Quark could add even more spiffy new features (like inline drop shadows), but unless Quark scores major style points, Adobe will increase its lead over Quark, because in Adobe you get Viper styling at a Saturn price, instead of Quark, which gives you Saturn styling at a Viper price.
Accoding to this post on the QuarkVSInDesign site. details of the improvments to Adobe's signature Photoshop application, dubbed Photoshop CS2 (the second release of Photoshop under the Creative Suite banner, essentially Photoshop 9) have been leaked to the world.
Apparently what happened is that someone accidentally posted a press release at Adobe. Think Secret and AppleInsider both pounced on it. Cue QuarkVSInDesign, a website devoted to covering what we like to call "Desktop Publishing War II".
There's some mighty tasty features there. If this is the sort of thing you like, go look via the link above, which has links to the two rumor websites as well as a link to a PDF (appropriate?) of the press release.
As May comes closer, I also understand we are to expect the full release of the whole Creative Suite 2. Some feel this sets the stage for a marketing hearts-and-minds battle that will be joined in full when Quark, Inc finally releases XPress 7. The best I've been able to find out is "sometime this year", in a stream of rumor and chatter that is utterly devoid of XPress 7 screenshots.
That's where it's gonna be for me. See, some time ago I vaguely remember chatter that a goal for Quark was to make
XPress 7 "more InDesign-like". As far as I'm concerned, interface is all, or nearly all. The look of the Adobe apps go for a common theme and a common look and atmosphere. With the preponderance of positive press that Adobe has gotten over the Suite, the well-designed interface of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator reinforce an overall positive user experience.
It feels modern and up-to-date.
QuarkXPress, on the other hand got a great facelift when it moved out of the Classic shell and into a spiffy new Aqua outfit. But it was still the old QuarkXPress; the palettes were still the same palettes, the toolbox was still the same toolbox. It still, even with PSD Import and QuarkVista, feels like release 3, 4, and 5.
XPress 3 was released back in 1990. You didn't misread that: Nineteen Ninety. Xpress 4 was the version you encountered between 1997 and 2002...that's five years with nothing more than a point update. The front end of QuarkXPress hasn't significantly changed in fifteen years.
Here's Quark's dilemma. They not only have to update the application, to make it relevant to layout artists and prepress pros in a world where Adobe offers such long sought-after features as native transparency support (QuarkXPress users: no clipping paths!!!), built-in PSD support, and superior PDF output, but they also have to make XPress users feel like they're moving into the future in all ways. And that happens when the interface design evolves along with the program. Adobe users already feel this way.
I predict (I have no info to base this on, just a hunch) that QuarkXPress's interface will evolve with 7. I think we'll be working in an XPress that looks a lot like InDesign. Quark has a great negative legacy it's trying to live down; so far, with the new XTensions, the free upgrades, and the quick and courteous email support, they've made strides. But it still, so far, is a qualified success at best; PSD Import and QuarkVista aren't perfect, and email support quality has been hit-and-miss.
Quark could add even more spiffy new features (like inline drop shadows), but unless Quark scores major style points, Adobe will increase its lead over Quark, because in Adobe you get Viper styling at a Saturn price, instead of Quark, which gives you Saturn styling at a Viper price.
[us_politics] Why Does Sun Myung Moon Hate America?
He owns the Washington Times. He heads a worldwide church. And the same fellow whose followers got married in groups of thousands during the Eighties thinks it's time to end American-style democracy.
A new daily stop for me is John Gorenfeld's blog. Far from being merely an eccentric leader of a heretical Christian sect, he's a Man with a Mission...a mission from God. Or, hey at least he thinks so.
For instance, did you know that, back in March 2004, this fellow was coronated King (of a sorts) of the USA? 'Srewth! It happened in the Dirksen Senate Office Bulding on 24 March 2004. "Rev" Moon, in a regal elevation ceremony, was crowned with a "Crown of Peace". And the host committee had six congessional...that's congressional, as in "member of Congress", as in "U.S. Representative"...members, representin' for us.
What's that? You say you don't care for Moon and his Unification Church? Too bad. Money was spent. Your tax dollars at work, people. Of course, it did cause a little bit of a stink back when it happened but, in contrast to what happens when a liberal Democrat is caught in a sex scandal, down the memory hole this bowser goes.
So, the question I ask myself is, why are my fellow Americans and some U.S. Congressmen supporting what this fellow does if he wants to end America As We Know It? Are they Unification Church members, or do they just like power and will accept whosever's help they can get to get it and keep it? Even if they use taxpayer money and taxpayer-supported public facilities to do what I'm sure they think is just sucking up to a self-made conservative sugar-daddy.
I mean, they're thanking him now. These types always expect thier temporal due for the favors they extend. They should wait to thank him until they get his bill, I'm just saying.
And, for those who still are bereft of clue, the ultimate goal of the Unification Church is just that...Unificataion. Of all faiths. Under "Rev" Moon, who sees himself as the actual Messiah (this, I believe is called "blasphemy". Look it up), and who calls himself and his wife the "True Parents".
Still think mixing Church and State is okey-dokey?
A new daily stop for me is John Gorenfeld's blog. Far from being merely an eccentric leader of a heretical Christian sect, he's a Man with a Mission...a mission from God. Or, hey at least he thinks so.
For instance, did you know that, back in March 2004, this fellow was coronated King (of a sorts) of the USA? 'Srewth! It happened in the Dirksen Senate Office Bulding on 24 March 2004. "Rev" Moon, in a regal elevation ceremony, was crowned with a "Crown of Peace". And the host committee had six congessional...that's congressional, as in "member of Congress", as in "U.S. Representative"...members, representin' for us.
What's that? You say you don't care for Moon and his Unification Church? Too bad. Money was spent. Your tax dollars at work, people. Of course, it did cause a little bit of a stink back when it happened but, in contrast to what happens when a liberal Democrat is caught in a sex scandal, down the memory hole this bowser goes.
So, the question I ask myself is, why are my fellow Americans and some U.S. Congressmen supporting what this fellow does if he wants to end America As We Know It? Are they Unification Church members, or do they just like power and will accept whosever's help they can get to get it and keep it? Even if they use taxpayer money and taxpayer-supported public facilities to do what I'm sure they think is just sucking up to a self-made conservative sugar-daddy.
I mean, they're thanking him now. These types always expect thier temporal due for the favors they extend. They should wait to thank him until they get his bill, I'm just saying.
And, for those who still are bereft of clue, the ultimate goal of the Unification Church is just that...Unificataion. Of all faiths. Under "Rev" Moon, who sees himself as the actual Messiah (this, I believe is called "blasphemy". Look it up), and who calls himself and his wife the "True Parents".
Still think mixing Church and State is okey-dokey?
[pcc_life] One Last Time Unto The Breach
It started today with two classes, Preparing Files for Print (PF>P) and Graphic Design 6.
Portfolio Preparation on Friday. I'm starting to get the feeling that that one will be the toughie. Can't say why just yet. Just know.
Portfolio Preparation on Friday. I'm starting to get the feeling that that one will be the toughie. Can't say why just yet. Just know.
24 March 2005
[type design] Microsoft's New Six
According to this article on poynter.org, MSFT plans on shipping six new fonts with its OSs beginning in 2006.
These are notable because, coming from an assumption that more and more content is being read on video display devices such as cell phones, laptop screens, and computer screens, the fonts are designed to this practicality.
There are the sans-serif Calibri, Candara, and Cordel; the serif Cambria and Constantia: and the monospaced Consola. The article itself is instructive because it acknowledges and illustrates some of the considerations designers go over when using and designing with type.
Over my typographic education, my instructors have shown something which I have (and, indeed, most of us) on a gut level understood for quite a long time. Type is more than merely figures and shapes on a page or on a screen. They carry weight, character, and atmosphere. You expect a certain sort of look from type on a contract, which is different than the look you'd expect from type used in a comic strip or even on a promotional poster. Picture a home mortgate document with Comic Sans MS (which has other sins, but that's for another post) even as only the headings to the sections, and you'll get an idea of what I mean here.
Moreover, there is a question of readability. The harder you have to work to read something, the less likely you will be to want to. Looking at something takes energy (what is one of the things we do when we are tired? Close our eyes momentarily) and the harder one has to work to read something the more unpleasant it will be. The designers answer to this is to obsess and design the small parts of the letter, the curves, the way the strokes flare (which also imparts a character), the size and aspect of the serifs. And this feeds back into the overall shape and character of the font. If done well, it's something that gives a solid feel.
Anyway, read the article. I want those fonts; they're good ones, and the comments say why.
These are notable because, coming from an assumption that more and more content is being read on video display devices such as cell phones, laptop screens, and computer screens, the fonts are designed to this practicality.
There are the sans-serif Calibri, Candara, and Cordel; the serif Cambria and Constantia: and the monospaced Consola. The article itself is instructive because it acknowledges and illustrates some of the considerations designers go over when using and designing with type.
Over my typographic education, my instructors have shown something which I have (and, indeed, most of us) on a gut level understood for quite a long time. Type is more than merely figures and shapes on a page or on a screen. They carry weight, character, and atmosphere. You expect a certain sort of look from type on a contract, which is different than the look you'd expect from type used in a comic strip or even on a promotional poster. Picture a home mortgate document with Comic Sans MS (which has other sins, but that's for another post) even as only the headings to the sections, and you'll get an idea of what I mean here.
Moreover, there is a question of readability. The harder you have to work to read something, the less likely you will be to want to. Looking at something takes energy (what is one of the things we do when we are tired? Close our eyes momentarily) and the harder one has to work to read something the more unpleasant it will be. The designers answer to this is to obsess and design the small parts of the letter, the curves, the way the strokes flare (which also imparts a character), the size and aspect of the serifs. And this feeds back into the overall shape and character of the font. If done well, it's something that gives a solid feel.
Anyway, read the article. I want those fonts; they're good ones, and the comments say why.
22 March 2005
[sundial_life] Palm Tungsten E...here.
As it transpired, there was money to replace the m130. I now have, for my very owners, a Palm Tungsten E. Used, from the store we call "Stuff", at SE 82nd and Otty Rd, for $129.
Hey, it works for me.
Not only that, The Wife[tm] was all for it. She understands geek bragging rights and wants me to have as many of those as I can. The only thing I still don't have is the Games card, but I got my cribbage and Dave Mayes' Rally 1000, and his excellent Cribbage for Palm. Dave Mayes has put togther a few free games for Palm, and as a matter of fact, if you like Cribbage you owe it to yourself to get his game because it's wicked smart and keeps your counting skills sharp-or improves them if they're dull.
Dave's freeware Palm games are here
Today we ran out trying to find a special thing: a snapshot of the street sign that displays the highest-numbered avenue in the greater Portland system. I know where it is, and I found the street but not what I"d hoped for, and we found some interesting things along the way and a gorgeous sunset. Expect a post on this in the next day or two.
Oh, and if you use QuarkXPress with the PSD Import XTension, and XPress starts crashing on startup, redownload it and reinstall it. Don't copy back the XTension, it's been corrupted somehow. It worked for me.
Hey, it works for me.
Not only that, The Wife[tm] was all for it. She understands geek bragging rights and wants me to have as many of those as I can. The only thing I still don't have is the Games card, but I got my cribbage and Dave Mayes' Rally 1000, and his excellent Cribbage for Palm. Dave Mayes has put togther a few free games for Palm, and as a matter of fact, if you like Cribbage you owe it to yourself to get his game because it's wicked smart and keeps your counting skills sharp-or improves them if they're dull.
Dave's freeware Palm games are here
Today we ran out trying to find a special thing: a snapshot of the street sign that displays the highest-numbered avenue in the greater Portland system. I know where it is, and I found the street but not what I"d hoped for, and we found some interesting things along the way and a gorgeous sunset. Expect a post on this in the next day or two.
Oh, and if you use QuarkXPress with the PSD Import XTension, and XPress starts crashing on startup, redownload it and reinstall it. Don't copy back the XTension, it's been corrupted somehow. It worked for me.
21 March 2005
[blog_life] Fafblog!
In my ongoing tradition of finding something everyone else has already found anyway and getting enthused about it, I institute a link to Fafblog!, the whole world's only source for Fafblog.
19 March 2005
[pcc_life] PCC Looks To Help Stranded BCTI Students
Just cruised by the PCC homepage, pcc.edu. Found this link at the lower right hand corner of the page.
Essentially it looks like PCC is extending a helping hand to people who were done to by BCTI's dodgy business model, and is doing so by examining what they've done while in those other hallowed halls and tailoring a program to fit, and evaluating thier educational experiences to see what they might be able to get credit for already having been done.
The press release says it better that I can. And I'd advise anyone in this situation to check PCC out...it gives great value for the money. Sixteen large for 145 hours of course? That sounds kind of insane.
Essentially it looks like PCC is extending a helping hand to people who were done to by BCTI's dodgy business model, and is doing so by examining what they've done while in those other hallowed halls and tailoring a program to fit, and evaluating thier educational experiences to see what they might be able to get credit for already having been done.
The press release says it better that I can. And I'd advise anyone in this situation to check PCC out...it gives great value for the money. Sixteen large for 145 hours of course? That sounds kind of insane.
[sundial_life] Palm m130...gone.
Sad news to report. My Palm m130 has simply disappeared. I am a little sad about this.
It was kind of fun to have a Palm. And I'll be honest, I wasn't using it for organizing jack squat; I've always been better at using paper. I have an unCalendar for that. But I did have cool games. There was an SD card that had SimCity, Backgammon....I had ularn for Palm on that. Isn't that neat?
No money to replace the Palm. That's the real thing. Maybe I ought to institute one of those wish-list thingys I see all over.
I'm unhappy it's gone. Oh, I'll get along..easy come, easy go...but I miss being able to play ularn at the drop of a hat.
Update
I decided to set up an Amazon Wish List. The link is in my sidebar just under my email contacts in the "Contact me" section, also clicky here.
As anyone can see, my needs are quite modest. See! I'd settle for the Zire! I'm not piggy!
It was kind of fun to have a Palm. And I'll be honest, I wasn't using it for organizing jack squat; I've always been better at using paper. I have an unCalendar for that. But I did have cool games. There was an SD card that had SimCity, Backgammon....I had ularn for Palm on that. Isn't that neat?
No money to replace the Palm. That's the real thing. Maybe I ought to institute one of those wish-list thingys I see all over.
I'm unhappy it's gone. Oh, I'll get along..easy come, easy go...but I miss being able to play ularn at the drop of a hat.
Update
I decided to set up an Amazon Wish List. The link is in my sidebar just under my email contacts in the "Contact me" section, also clicky here.
As anyone can see, my needs are quite modest. See! I'd settle for the Zire! I'm not piggy!
15 March 2005
[design] It's Done, For Now
As of this writing, the Spring 2005 edition of the Sierra Club-Oregon Chapter-Columbia Group's tabloid size four-page newsletter, the Columbia Overlook, is put to bed with the ftp'ing of the ZIP archive to the Oregon Lithoprint server. If anyone who reads this is curious about what I do, I provide links to PDFs of them on the bottom of my home page.
I dig this group, I love doing this for them, I love doing layout.
Now all I have to look forward to is tech editing Pariah's book, and the last term of instruction at PCC. Hell, I've done less before.
I'm gonna be frazzled, but it's been worse, believe it or not.
I dig this group, I love doing this for them, I love doing layout.
Now all I have to look forward to is tech editing Pariah's book, and the last term of instruction at PCC. Hell, I've done less before.
I'm gonna be frazzled, but it's been worse, believe it or not.
[blog_life] Aaron's Returned
A month or so back, I opined about how a person who linked to me...first person who linked to me...got so disillusioned by the amount of comment spam he was getting that he took his 'blog offline.
That 'blog was called pontifications. His was the first 'blog to link to mine, at all. Nobody asked him, I didn't ask him, he just found my words and like them, and liked them enough to link to me. Which, if you enjoy writing and telling the world what you think as I obviously do, is something ineffably cool.
Well, Aaron's back. He's finding his voice again and playing with his graphical style, and has improved on what he had before. I recommend. Visit the link embedded above.
]
That 'blog was called pontifications. His was the first 'blog to link to mine, at all. Nobody asked him, I didn't ask him, he just found my words and like them, and liked them enough to link to me. Which, if you enjoy writing and telling the world what you think as I obviously do, is something ineffably cool.
Well, Aaron's back. He's finding his voice again and playing with his graphical style, and has improved on what he had before. I recommend. Visit the link embedded above.
]
14 March 2005
[design] Two City Flags of Oregon
I wonder how many people are aware that major Oregon cities actually have official flags?
Portland does. Here it is:
It's a pleasing design. The symbolism is a little unclear, but if I correctly recall, the green might represent our forested landscape (in which case later this year, it might have to be updated to brown), the blue stripes our rivers, the gold might represent commerce, and the star tying it all together at the center the city itself. In design, it is evocative of the mysterious six pointed star hovering over the head of the lady on the Portland City Seal.
It's also a good design, at least by one organization's standard. There actucally are 'flag geeks', and they have an organiztion, the North American Vexillogical Association (vexillology, for those who don't know, is the study of flags, taken from Latin roots). They seem to be the acknowledged authorities in the area of flag design because, well, there doesn't seem anyone else doing it seriously for one, and for the other, they do a very thorough and credible job about it.
Last October, NAVA released a survey, American City Flags Survey. This poll included members of NAVA and about 400 members of the public, and rated 150 city flags along five criteria, as detailed in NAVA's Good Flag, Bad Flag, which can be found on thier site. The standards are direct and reasonable statements about how a flag ought to look for good effect, solid design, and, yes, emotion impact...because flags are meant to move people to pride, after all.
The standards are, paraphrased: Simplicity-the flag should be so simple that a child could draw it from memory; Meaningful-the design elements should relate to what they symbolize; Limit color usage-use two or three basic colors only, and choose standard colors that contrast well; No Lettering Or Seals-I think this is because lettering or seals compete with the main theme, causing distraction hence obscuring or confusing the message of the meaning, and Be Distinctive or Related-don't copy another design but draw similiarities where apprpriate. Survey respondents rated each pont from 1 (bad) to 10 (good), and the scores were averaged fo the aggregate number.
It's clear that Portland's flag has those qualities in strong proportion. Thus, out of 150 rated US city flags, Portland rated seventh, with a rating of 8.38 out of 10, behind Wichita KS, but ahead of Indianapolis IN.
Salem actually has a city flag, too, and here it is:
It ranked 51st out of 150, with a rating of 4.71 out of 10. Top third of the middle third of the class, better than most, not as good as the really good one. By the NAVA standards, it's easy for me to see why they might have done that. The word "salem" on the right would be a big negative hit on that score. Also, the yellow does not contrast well with the white field, making the word printed on the long, yellow stripe a bit hard to read and the yellow on the white is hard on the eyes generally.
The design's strength is in simplicity and meaning. I was a teenager in Salem when the flag debuted, and I remember vaguely the description of why the design was settled on. The Capitol cupola is an obvious reference, and is rendered with appropriate and almost poetic simplicity. The five stripes' beveled ends converge to form a star in the negative space, evoking a double symbolism as the state capital (the star being a traditional mapmakers' symbol) as well as Salem's regional prominence (all local roads lead to Salem) and even a geographic-schematic similarity (the state and federal highways in the greater Salem area do rather radiate out as spokes do from a wheel's hub). The colors of the stripes are open to interpretation, of course; to me the green symbolizes our environment, the gold the flow of commerce, and the blue the Willamette River.
My gut feeling is that the score on Salem's flag is a bit unfair; I think it's a fun design that carries a big message with economy. Moreover, I think that the graphic treatment of the type makes it straddle the middle ground between type and pure design element. However, the NAVA statement that there should be no type on the flag has merit and is well taken, so I'll be happy that Salem is better than average. After all, we could have got the design sense that rendered the Pocatello banner, which came in last at 1.48 out of 10, and for a very good reason; it's merely the logo of the Pocatello Chamber of Commerce put on a sheet of fabric. And, friends, that AIN'T design!.
Moreover, as one moves down the list, the things that begin to emerge as one goes from good to bad become obvious. More complex designs, more type on flags, more colors. Sometimes stacking the good next to the bad is more apt explanation than any amount of words can be.
In the meantime, we can be proud as Portlanders-our flag is officially cool!
(Source for all information and images: the NAVA survey page. Source for my opinions, my tiny little brain.)
Portland does. Here it is:
It's a pleasing design. The symbolism is a little unclear, but if I correctly recall, the green might represent our forested landscape (in which case later this year, it might have to be updated to brown), the blue stripes our rivers, the gold might represent commerce, and the star tying it all together at the center the city itself. In design, it is evocative of the mysterious six pointed star hovering over the head of the lady on the Portland City Seal.
It's also a good design, at least by one organization's standard. There actucally are 'flag geeks', and they have an organiztion, the North American Vexillogical Association (vexillology, for those who don't know, is the study of flags, taken from Latin roots). They seem to be the acknowledged authorities in the area of flag design because, well, there doesn't seem anyone else doing it seriously for one, and for the other, they do a very thorough and credible job about it.
Last October, NAVA released a survey, American City Flags Survey. This poll included members of NAVA and about 400 members of the public, and rated 150 city flags along five criteria, as detailed in NAVA's Good Flag, Bad Flag, which can be found on thier site. The standards are direct and reasonable statements about how a flag ought to look for good effect, solid design, and, yes, emotion impact...because flags are meant to move people to pride, after all.
The standards are, paraphrased: Simplicity-the flag should be so simple that a child could draw it from memory; Meaningful-the design elements should relate to what they symbolize; Limit color usage-use two or three basic colors only, and choose standard colors that contrast well; No Lettering Or Seals-I think this is because lettering or seals compete with the main theme, causing distraction hence obscuring or confusing the message of the meaning, and Be Distinctive or Related-don't copy another design but draw similiarities where apprpriate. Survey respondents rated each pont from 1 (bad) to 10 (good), and the scores were averaged fo the aggregate number.
It's clear that Portland's flag has those qualities in strong proportion. Thus, out of 150 rated US city flags, Portland rated seventh, with a rating of 8.38 out of 10, behind Wichita KS, but ahead of Indianapolis IN.
Salem actually has a city flag, too, and here it is:
It ranked 51st out of 150, with a rating of 4.71 out of 10. Top third of the middle third of the class, better than most, not as good as the really good one. By the NAVA standards, it's easy for me to see why they might have done that. The word "salem" on the right would be a big negative hit on that score. Also, the yellow does not contrast well with the white field, making the word printed on the long, yellow stripe a bit hard to read and the yellow on the white is hard on the eyes generally.
The design's strength is in simplicity and meaning. I was a teenager in Salem when the flag debuted, and I remember vaguely the description of why the design was settled on. The Capitol cupola is an obvious reference, and is rendered with appropriate and almost poetic simplicity. The five stripes' beveled ends converge to form a star in the negative space, evoking a double symbolism as the state capital (the star being a traditional mapmakers' symbol) as well as Salem's regional prominence (all local roads lead to Salem) and even a geographic-schematic similarity (the state and federal highways in the greater Salem area do rather radiate out as spokes do from a wheel's hub). The colors of the stripes are open to interpretation, of course; to me the green symbolizes our environment, the gold the flow of commerce, and the blue the Willamette River.
My gut feeling is that the score on Salem's flag is a bit unfair; I think it's a fun design that carries a big message with economy. Moreover, I think that the graphic treatment of the type makes it straddle the middle ground between type and pure design element. However, the NAVA statement that there should be no type on the flag has merit and is well taken, so I'll be happy that Salem is better than average. After all, we could have got the design sense that rendered the Pocatello banner, which came in last at 1.48 out of 10, and for a very good reason; it's merely the logo of the Pocatello Chamber of Commerce put on a sheet of fabric. And, friends, that AIN'T design!.
Moreover, as one moves down the list, the things that begin to emerge as one goes from good to bad become obvious. More complex designs, more type on flags, more colors. Sometimes stacking the good next to the bad is more apt explanation than any amount of words can be.
In the meantime, we can be proud as Portlanders-our flag is officially cool!
(Source for all information and images: the NAVA survey page. Source for my opinions, my tiny little brain.)
13 March 2005
[sundial_life] The ONLY Flaw In The Duran Duran Concert
They didn't do Is There Something I Should Know.
Everything else was dead-on fscking perfect.
Everything else was dead-on fscking perfect.
12 March 2005
[meme] Saturday Slant: Statuesque
Without any futher ado, the Saturday Slant, , "Statuesque"
Bud. Freakin'. Clark. No question. Best mayor evar!
After all, what other mayor cut such a figure...and still doesn't have an indictment? Goldschmidt was quite the thing, back in the salad days, but he's devolved into someone who is more interested in serving big business than the people and his hidden life defines the word "disreputable".
No, Bud Clark really has the heart and soul of P-town. Consider the following:
* He was a cool bar owner before being elected mayor. He was the dark horse.
* He was a bike-rider in a city that fancies itself a bike Mecca.
* Two words: "Whoop-whoop!"
* The annual Mayor's Ball
* Expose Yourself To Art, The Poster. Certainly people remember this, but for those benighted: Picture a fella in a raincoat and floppy cap, holding his coat open. He is holding it open to an abstract sculpture of a woman, downtown, near Southwest 5th and Washington (the sculpture still exists). That fella in the raincoat was old "Whoop-whoop".
* Vera Katz, despite her interesting character, is still colorless when compared to Bud.
In short, he made following government fun, and you never knew what he was going to do next. We need more Bud Clarks in Portland life.
I do have a concept for the statue; a statue of him, in the raincoat, exposing himself to that statue down on the Transit Mall. But (wait for it), when you go round to the front (and you know you will), he won't be nekkid, thankfully. He'll be fully dressed, with a sign hanging on his chest, saying "Gotcha!"
Follow this button to the cultural center of the continent:
The town council has announced its intent to erect a new statue in front of the town hall. Since there are enough statues about town of the founder, explorers, and other long-dead figures, the council has decided to allow the citizens to nominate someone to honor with the statue. Entries are open to anyone, living or dead.
Who do you think deserves to have a statue erected of him/her in your town? The town council wants justification for the nomination, so why should this person be honored with a statue? Speak from your heart.
Bud. Freakin'. Clark. No question. Best mayor evar!
After all, what other mayor cut such a figure...and still doesn't have an indictment? Goldschmidt was quite the thing, back in the salad days, but he's devolved into someone who is more interested in serving big business than the people and his hidden life defines the word "disreputable".
No, Bud Clark really has the heart and soul of P-town. Consider the following:
* He was a cool bar owner before being elected mayor. He was the dark horse.
* He was a bike-rider in a city that fancies itself a bike Mecca.
* Two words: "Whoop-whoop!"
* The annual Mayor's Ball
* Expose Yourself To Art, The Poster. Certainly people remember this, but for those benighted: Picture a fella in a raincoat and floppy cap, holding his coat open. He is holding it open to an abstract sculpture of a woman, downtown, near Southwest 5th and Washington (the sculpture still exists). That fella in the raincoat was old "Whoop-whoop".
* Vera Katz, despite her interesting character, is still colorless when compared to Bud.
In short, he made following government fun, and you never knew what he was going to do next. We need more Bud Clarks in Portland life.
I do have a concept for the statue; a statue of him, in the raincoat, exposing himself to that statue down on the Transit Mall. But (wait for it), when you go round to the front (and you know you will), he won't be nekkid, thankfully. He'll be fully dressed, with a sign hanging on his chest, saying "Gotcha!"
Follow this button to the cultural center of the continent:
11 March 2005
[blog_life] Local Funny-Named Burg Goes National
Over at the 'blog Eschaton the word "wanker" gets a lot of use. It's intended as a pejorative toward our punditocracy, who usually do more harm than good in shaping public opinion.
With that sort of word-usery, you'd wonder why Wankers Corner hasn't been bandied about yet. Well, wonder no more; here it is.
Update, 11 Mar 05 @ 1607h:Credit for the photograph goes to Bill Dunlap of Lake Oswego, Wildunlap@aol.com.
With that sort of word-usery, you'd wonder why Wankers Corner hasn't been bandied about yet. Well, wonder no more; here it is.
Update, 11 Mar 05 @ 1607h:Credit for the photograph goes to Bill Dunlap of Lake Oswego, Wildunlap@aol.com.
[sundial_life] Best. Concert. Evar.
NOTA BENE: Some adult language in this post, splat-substituted for the TV-G crowd. A UNIX reference is used to obscure one instance.
We just returned from the Duran Duran concert, after a side trip to the Hot Cake House (you know the one, on SE Powell Blvd) to get some real food down us.
I overheard a fellow concertgoer say "I'm 20 years late for Duran Duran." As am I. But, fsck, it was worth the wait!!!!
I feel sorry for you if you couldnt make it to the concert. This was a peak experience.
My ears are still ringing and my throat is still coarse.
The concert got underway at 8pm. Some extremely forgettable band that couldn't even be bothered to announce thier own name. They did have one cute and acid song about how the lead's ex-girlfriend drove a black Jetta and now he sees black Jettas everywhere and he thinks he was stalking her.
Now, we got seats in the 220 section. Row "O". That's two rows below the top in the back left corner. Hell, like I said, I was just thankful to be there. And then, after the opening act concludes, we get a boon...a Rose Garden employee comes up to our level and starts counting us off to get moved forward. Me and The Wife[tm] jump at it, of course. We move lower...and up to 111 section. We are sittlng at the same level as the concourse and just back of the front row of the floor section.
I feel as though I could jump onto the stage without much effort.
After what seems an eternal wait, the lights go down, and the boys come out. Cue two solid hours of bliss. The energy in that room was fscking amazing. To see musicians I have idolized since the 1980's out there, in front of me, doing music I'd always listened to on LPs and then CDs...
Simon LeBon was still saucy. Andy Taylor was still wild. John Taylor was still cool. Roger Taylor was still intense and serious. And Nick Rhodes was...well, still Nick Rhodes
It was the loudest, most energetic, most soaring experience I've ever had. I now feel like I have a piece of DD for my very own, one that nobody can ever take away from me. For two and a half hours (don't tell me they don't give value for money!) I was part of thier world, and they gave me back in equal measure.
Duran Duran is quite probably the best band...evar.
Highlights:
* A drop-dead gorgeous female backup singer in a tiny skirt. She had..those kind of legs. Yes, you know the kind. Use the standard joke.
* A fairly gory anime backup video for the song "Careless Memories". This had to be seen to be believed. The boys have always looked good. They were devastatng as manga-characters. Roger, in particular, throws a mean pair of cymbals. And, not only did they defeat ninja bad-guys, they brought down an alien invasion and Godzilla's second cousin.
* There is nothing at all like being able t sing the "Sha-la-la-la" intro to "The Reflex" with about 20,000 of your closest friends.
* 20-30 minute encores RAWK. Especially when they include "Rio" and "Girls on Film"
* I forgive Andy Taylor for trying to go off to be a solo guitar hero when he should have stuck with the band.
* Simon LeBon has a dry wit. He duly informed the house that John Taylor doesn't play bass, he plays 'f**king bass'. What is that? Well, it's an excuse for him to lead the house in a chant of 'play that f**king bass, John, play that f**king bass, John..."
* Simon can carry off "The Chauffeur" with panache. That and a black coat and a black cap. Sizzling.
My ears should stop ringing by this time tomorrow.
Damn. Those boys can put on a show!!!
We just returned from the Duran Duran concert, after a side trip to the Hot Cake House (you know the one, on SE Powell Blvd) to get some real food down us.
I overheard a fellow concertgoer say "I'm 20 years late for Duran Duran." As am I. But, fsck, it was worth the wait!!!!
I feel sorry for you if you couldnt make it to the concert. This was a peak experience.
My ears are still ringing and my throat is still coarse.
The concert got underway at 8pm. Some extremely forgettable band that couldn't even be bothered to announce thier own name. They did have one cute and acid song about how the lead's ex-girlfriend drove a black Jetta and now he sees black Jettas everywhere and he thinks he was stalking her.
Now, we got seats in the 220 section. Row "O". That's two rows below the top in the back left corner. Hell, like I said, I was just thankful to be there. And then, after the opening act concludes, we get a boon...a Rose Garden employee comes up to our level and starts counting us off to get moved forward. Me and The Wife[tm] jump at it, of course. We move lower...and up to 111 section. We are sittlng at the same level as the concourse and just back of the front row of the floor section.
I feel as though I could jump onto the stage without much effort.
After what seems an eternal wait, the lights go down, and the boys come out. Cue two solid hours of bliss. The energy in that room was fscking amazing. To see musicians I have idolized since the 1980's out there, in front of me, doing music I'd always listened to on LPs and then CDs...
Simon LeBon was still saucy. Andy Taylor was still wild. John Taylor was still cool. Roger Taylor was still intense and serious. And Nick Rhodes was...well, still Nick Rhodes
It was the loudest, most energetic, most soaring experience I've ever had. I now feel like I have a piece of DD for my very own, one that nobody can ever take away from me. For two and a half hours (don't tell me they don't give value for money!) I was part of thier world, and they gave me back in equal measure.
Duran Duran is quite probably the best band...evar.
Highlights:
* A drop-dead gorgeous female backup singer in a tiny skirt. She had..those kind of legs. Yes, you know the kind. Use the standard joke.
* A fairly gory anime backup video for the song "Careless Memories". This had to be seen to be believed. The boys have always looked good. They were devastatng as manga-characters. Roger, in particular, throws a mean pair of cymbals. And, not only did they defeat ninja bad-guys, they brought down an alien invasion and Godzilla's second cousin.
* There is nothing at all like being able t sing the "Sha-la-la-la" intro to "The Reflex" with about 20,000 of your closest friends.
* 20-30 minute encores RAWK. Especially when they include "Rio" and "Girls on Film"
* I forgive Andy Taylor for trying to go off to be a solo guitar hero when he should have stuck with the band.
* Simon LeBon has a dry wit. He duly informed the house that John Taylor doesn't play bass, he plays 'f**king bass'. What is that? Well, it's an excuse for him to lead the house in a chant of 'play that f**king bass, John, play that f**king bass, John..."
* Simon can carry off "The Chauffeur" with panache. That and a black coat and a black cap. Sizzling.
My ears should stop ringing by this time tomorrow.
Damn. Those boys can put on a show!!!
10 March 2005
[us_politics] The Government Taketh Away
The Bankruptcy Act passed, as expected.
But...74 to 24? There are a lot more faithless Democratic Senators than I thought there were.
Ron Wyden voted the right way (no). He stands for the taxpayer first.
Gordon Smith voted the Right way (yes). He stands for the Republicans and money first, and then maybe the taxpayer. Maybe.
Click this link to go straight to the roll call vote pages at senate.gov to see the Hall Of Fame (nay voters) and the Hall Of Shame (yea voters).
Oh, and get the want ads out and start lining up those second and third jobs to get those credit cards paid off.
I'm serious. This means you.
But...74 to 24? There are a lot more faithless Democratic Senators than I thought there were.
Ron Wyden voted the right way (no). He stands for the taxpayer first.
Gordon Smith voted the Right way (yes). He stands for the Republicans and money first, and then maybe the taxpayer. Maybe.
Click this link to go straight to the roll call vote pages at senate.gov to see the Hall Of Fame (nay voters) and the Hall Of Shame (yea voters).
Oh, and get the want ads out and start lining up those second and third jobs to get those credit cards paid off.
I'm serious. This means you.
[design] The SunDial Graphic Arts Company, Founded 10 March 2005
Hot off the HP 6110 all-in-one, a freelance contract to do technical editing for Pariah Burke's upcoming book on Adobe Illustrator, to be published by Pearson Education.
I plan on reviewing it, signing it, and sending it back within the next 24 hours. But it's really sinking in now. Anticipation, intimidation, excitement, and acheivement in equal measure.
The future arrives, today.
I plan on reviewing it, signing it, and sending it back within the next 24 hours. But it's really sinking in now. Anticipation, intimidation, excitement, and acheivement in equal measure.
The future arrives, today.
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