The Fredösphere

At Tor.com, Dexter Palmer urges us to give the movie Speed Racer a second look. As with Mel Gibson's Passion, it seems the magic incantation is "art film." They are the words that have the power to transform a confusing cinematic experience into an aesthetic one.

I link to Mr. Palmer mainly as a hat tip, however, because the main interest lies in his link to blogger Into The Abyss, who writes compellingly about the rising menace of teal and orange. Compellingly. . .but not convincingly, I'm afraid. I happen to like teal and orange. Love 'em, frankly. My home's interior is strongly, yea even overwhelmingly, oppressively governed by a teal and orange color scheme. Teal is my favorite color. Do not mock teal. We'll be seeing a lot more of teal in movies in the coming years. This is a good thing.

Labels: Design, movie

More crazy awe: the announced Death of Cursive Handwriting has the curmudgeon (what a wonderful word, curmudgeon!  Makes me want to write it down 500 times.  In cursive) in me denouncing our feckless afterbearers who no longer learn that discipline.  Here's one link, but google the topic if you doubt there has been much hand wringing over the state of handwriting.

Mind you, I completely get the temptation never to learn the not terribly easy craft.  What I don't understand is the poor confused, lying zitbrains you find here and there who claim that block letters are faster. Obviously they haven't practiced their cursive enough to discover what a beautiful, efficient, and downright elegant (in the engineering sense, especially) technique cursive writing is.  Avoiding the tedious act of lifting the pen or pencil off the page once or more per letter is a wonderful thing.

And I would personally like to take this opportunity to denounce whatever pathetic (no doubt self-appointed) panel of so-called experts who were in charge of deciding what the official style for cursive letters would be taught to schoolchildren of my generation. In particular, I'd like to complain that the look of many of the capital letters are goofy, ugly, unwritable, tasteless, and/or generally exactly what you would expect coming from a bunch of education bureaucrats (the kind of people who spend their Friday nights memorizing tables of statistics published by the Soviet Union).  What's with that letter Q, looking like the number 2?  Why can't the capital F look like, you know, an F?  And, speaking as someone with the middle name Gero (a committee of one, no doubt) who therefore occasionally needs to write a capital G and make it look decent, I ask:  who's the genius who came up with that hopeless tangle of worms?  To write a decent G one must loop counter-clockwise, come to a full halt, then loop clockwise.  I've never seen any other person pull it off, and of course, most people don't even try:  most people have brains enough to abandon the system and write their capitals as ordinary block letters.  The capital requires an extra lift of the pen or pencil, so block letters cost almost nothing in time or effort, and look much more tasteful.

(The Time article linked above says a new system, the Zanerian alphabet, is much cleaner.  Sadly, not even that system is being forced upon our lazy spawn.)

I remember the shock I had recently of reading the handwriting of a college student who's penmanship seemed to be lifted right off a poster on the wall of a 2nd grade classroom.  To be blunt, it was the penmanship of a dork.  The kid should have figured it out by that late stage to break the rules, but still, can we agree?­­­­ He was the victim of educational malpractice.

Labels: Culture, Design

Today I address you, gentle reader, in my role as an aspiring but, for now, frustrated science fiction writer.  First, I direct you to this wonderful bit from Nielsen Hayden, a slush pile reader.  You'd think such an avenging angel would derive sufficient spiteful satisfaction from writing all those rejection letters, but no:  upon discovering a website exists for disgruntled and rejected authors, the angel turns demonic:

What I find weirdest about their take on rejection is that it's all completely personal. I don't just mean the rejection itself, which they're bound to take personally, being writers and all. They take things personally which have nothing whatsoever to do with them [. . .]

and then he tears the authors to shreds.  For example, to the person who was insulted because the rejection came typed on a half-sheet of paper:

Right. I can just see the staff at Prominent Science Fiction Magazine doing the slush, with all their different-size rejection notes stacked up in a little row in front of them. If your story really sucks, you get a rejection note that's mimeographed on a sheet of paper the size of a large postage stamp. If you've got strong writing but defective storytelling skills, you get a half sheet. Acceptances come on foolscap. And so on.

Great stuff.  Read and savor the whole thing.  Thanks to the ever-fascinating John C. Wright for the link.  John has his own list of authorial boo-boos, and his commenters (why can't I seem to attract dozens of clever, literate commenters?  No offense, Steve) riff at length on his "empirical storm troopers."  Not to be missed.

By the way, since I know you're dying to ask me, I have sufficient experience as a writer to have attained Nielson Hayden's level 9 (Nobody but the author is ever going to care about this dull, flaccid, underperforming book) which is something I'm pretty proud of.  Sadly, the final level (Buy the book) is level 14.  Five more to go, which doesn't sound like a lot until you realize each level is 20 times harder to attain than its predecessor.

Other fun links:  a 13-year-old boy tries out a music-playing gadget called a Walkman and finds it inadequate.  Don finds an animation to accompany the Hoedown from Rodeo.  And finally, Jalopnik has fun with a rendering of a gorgeous but hopeless Bugatti concept car:

[. . .] French industrial designer Bruno Delussu's rendering of a modern Bugatti Type 57 is so far removed from reality that the mind is free to conceive of anything. Say, a France removed by tractor beams from the way of an imminent Nazi invasion. Then allowed to grow in isolation for decades, acquiring high technology on the border of magic, to come up with this thing. A modern take on the Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic, powered probably by ion cannons instead of the original's clockwork straight-eight.

Not to mention that this princess has a chassis clearance so minimal, she would crash if she hit a rock the size of a pea.

Labels: Design, Fiction, Futurism, sci-fi, VideoClip

"Those who love their vision of community will destroy it, but those who simply love will create community wherever they go."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Labels: Architecture, Design

So, what's modernism good for, anyway?  Gas stations, definitely.  (Hat tip to Design Observer.)

I have the unusual pleasure of owning one of the few (the only?) anti-MacArthur-Grant rants referenced by a future grant recipient.  Congratulations to Alex...although, I'm a little confused; you are neither a hack, weirdo, or fraud, so by process of elimination you must be a subversive, but that doesn't seem quite right either.  Maybe I need to reevaluate this whole Genius Grant racket.

Michigan composer Michael Daugherty gets a mention by Charles T. Downey, but that picture I barely recognize.  A bit of my father's family seems to be sneaking into Daugherty's looks, which may hint at a long-forgotten, distant relationship.  Cousin Michael ... I should be so lucky.

Labels: Composer, Culture, Design

The one headline I did not expect to read today:  Black Bear Busts Secret Utah Pot Farm.

The work of gearing up for the fall season has left me with little energy for blogging.  Today I taught my first choir class for my kids' homeschool co-op.  I'm directly in charge of about a dozen of the older elementary children, plus sharing responsibility with a co-teacher for about a half-dozen younger elementary kids.  I've always been out of touch with the co-op, the Wifeosphere being much more involved, and I was stunned by how many of the children I didn't even know.  Nevertheless, the hour went well, and I'm very glad now to have gained experience working with young voices through giving lessons to my own kids.  By the end of the hour I had them singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight like angels, and I thought I had walked onto the set of a sequel to Les Choiristes--okay, okay, not quite that impossibly good, but still....

My other new effort involves organizing a study group for creative artists within a Christian context.  I have absolutely no idea if this group has a chance of taking off, but I badly want to give it a try.  This effort (for me, at least) is more about making an opportunity for a group like this to exist than succeeding in making it exist.  Ann Arbor cannot be a half-bad place to try, of course, and I'll be advertising the group on two major campuses (University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University) so we'll see.  I spoke last night to the three other people whom I expect to form the core of the group, and that filled me with optimism.  Also present was the estimable Pastor Scott Geiger of the University Lutheran Chapel, who is cheering us on with cries of "great idea," which is nice.

One core member of the study group is Norma, a graphic artist who also happens to be the Wifeosphere's best friend.  She showed me her ideas for the logo of the group, which we're calling Ex Nihilo.  (I wanted X Nihilo--ooh, that's so trendy, so edgy) but Norma let me know that change completely screwed up her logo idea, so nevermind.  She's chosen a swirl to represent the creative process, which I think it a great idea.  (We both also thought about a potter working clay on a wheel but I was afraid that idea was a bit stale.)  I've talked before about another artist who thinks swirly whenever he thinks creation.

Labels: Choral, Creativity, Design

Whoa, whoa, whoa!  I pour all kinds of creative energy into composing my music; do you really think I have any left over to design original fonts for the score???

(This is on my mind because I just sent out a score this week for a competition.  The music is a setting of an ancient Irish poem.  For the title, I used a free, Tolkieny-looking Icelandic font called Edda.  For the rest of the score, I used the Finale defaults, except for the complete text printed on the first page; the text is so long, I had to use Arial so the tiny letters could be read.  I know what you're saying:  font promiscuity!  ...but that was the best I could do without rethinking every font decision in the score, which I had no time for.  Why, why, why did you people ever get me noticing fonts?!  Cure you, Daniel Wolf!  Curse you, James Lileks! 

I am pleased, however, that M. Wolf and others like Georgia; after an exhausting review of my choices a while back, I settled on Georgia as the most - interesting - yet - commonly - available - and - without - being - too - weird choice for my outgoing email.)

Meanwhile...

What's the greatest choir on earth?  Chanticleer gets my vote.  Richard Morrison (quoted at A Cappella News) seems tempted to nominate the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir directed by Paul Hillier.  He pulls his punch, however, and for the same reason I would:  their programming lacks the brilliance of Chanticleer.  (Maybe they could compensate with better fonts.)

Finally...

The Sci-Fi Catholic demonstrates how awkward confession can be for the anime fan.  It is no easier for the hardcore MMORPGer.

Labels: Choral, Design, fun, Religion

Science Fiction gets all the cool designed environments; see the 15 best locations from futuristic movies at Oobject (my favs being the Marin County Civic Center and Seaside, Florida), then visit the City of Ember (but only visit; it looks like you wouldn't want to live there; and what's with Bill Murray as Big Brother???  And why does Ember remind me of Ambergris so much?)

Labels: Design, Futurism

I like DesignObserver, I really do, but sometimes they play to the stereotype.  Here they are, analyzing Spirograph:

The Spirograph demonstrates, if not promotes, the belief that design can be formulaic and that good design has something to do with simplicity and objectivity. However, qualitative aspects such as emotion, irrationality, and instinct are largely missing. The patterns themselves make no direct reference to a user’s nationality, ethnicity, social class, or gender. Choices are officially confined to color and template combinations.

...and inevitably, the Tet Offensive also gets a mention.  Only near the end does the essay get back on track.  I wonder what ominous visions of militarism one could see in Major Matt Mason (one of my favorite childhood toys) if one went looking?  I loved the space crawler, which one could mount atop the moon base and use as a crane (since it had a winch in its tail).  Don't make my mistake and confuse it with the crater crawler, another toy I owned but which is not of the MMMM (Major Matt Mason Mythos).  Don't forget, James Lileks has beautifully deconstructed the MMM Big Little Book.  Beat me to it--dang.

Labels: Design, sci-fi

My previous post on random album cover generators proved to be hugely successful, by my standards.  Do read the comments, which have links to other great examples of serendipitous album art.

I strongly recommend you read what Books Under the Bridge has to say about religion in science fiction.  It's a series of four blog posts, each with a long, stimulating comments section.  Read part one, part two, part three, and part four.

In the comments of part one, you'll see I grab an opportunity to flog one of my favorite religion-in-SF novels, The Mote In God's Eye, which is remarkable for the casual (and to me, believable) way religion is depicted:  always there, in the background, neither impotent nor menacing.  Also of note are the very long comments by SF author John Wright, a former atheist and current Christian (hmmm, what are the implications of that word "current"?  What will he logically turn into next--a Rosicrucian?  An anarcho-socialist post-Jesuit with a soft spot for vegetarian triumphalism?) who, oddly, is a skeptic on the question of including religion in any fiction at all, except in its extreme forms.  (Read his argument; it's more plausible than my summary makes it sound.  More plausible, and somewhat convincing, but not completely.)

Labels: Design, Religion, sci-fi

I grabbed a meme from Scuffulans Hirsutus and gave it a try.  Here are the rules:

1 - Go to wikipedia. Hit “random”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Random quotations:
http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to mix it all up.

I think my result is highly serendipitous.  I chose the font Justinian to tie in with the Latin theme of the band's name and the (probable) ethnicity of the woman in the image (by flickr photographer Luiz Alberto).  The album's title sounds like an earnest plea on behalf of the poor of the third world:  our proffered solutions don't work because we never trouble ourselves to listen to the poor.  (In fact, the title's source is a quote from Tolstoy:  "Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.")  I'm pleased with the S-shape of the unjustified left edge of the album title snaking its way around the woman's elbow and fist--but I'm an amateur at graphic design, so probably it violates some rule of taste written down in the secret rule book of graphic design techniques that only real graphic designers are allowed to read.

I'd say the result is better than Don's (of Scuffulans Hirsutus) thanks to dumb luck.  It makes me wonder how many times one would need to turn the crank before a genuinely compelling album concept would pop out.  Maybe not too many.

Labels: Design, Meme

It really does look like Obama has a lock on the graphic design vote.  Cool, calm, and beautiful.

(Like everyone, I like Obama, but this post does not constitute an endorsement.  I'm a bit put off by the hype.  My pipe dream for this election was that Fred "voting for me will be by invitation only" Thompson could somehow win without burdening the country with his campaigning.  There's something achingly appealing about a candidate who attends a fundraiser and ends up as the only person present not working the room.  Alas.)

Labels: Design

This ... Is ... Science!  You've got to read The Most Hated Holiday Song in the World at Design Observer, about a very intelligent but not very sincere attempt to use the science of opinion polls to design art with likableness maximized and minimized.  The most and least liked music are two utterly brilliant songs.  The satire is subtle; I honestly liked the likable song, at least the first half, which would not been out of place on a Kenny G (Mr. Likable himself) album.  In short, I liked it.  The unlikeable song is a patchwork affair with a rapping operatic soprano, accordion, pipe organ, banjo, tuba, Walmart jingles...aw, heck, just what you expect:

The Most Unwanted Song, however, is mesmerizing: over an accompaniment of bagpipe, tuba and accordian (statistically, America’s least favorite instruments), an operatic soprano (our least favorite type of singer) raps (ditto) about cowboys (ditto). Their research indicated that the most hated lyrical subject is holidays (disliked by 33%), so the song is suitable not only for Christmas, but Easter, Labor Day, Veterans' Day, and Halloween. These interludes are introduced abruptly by a children’s chorus (“Hey everybody, it’s Yom Kippur!”), who couple their refrains with cheerful commercial messages. By the end, the subject has shifted to human slavery and genocide. The whole thing, going on for nearly 22 minutes (the least favorite song length), is as impossible to ignore as a car crash.

Besides the music, there's painting.  You'll get George Washington in a landscape with deer, drinking from a stream--the deer, not the former president.  Plus, some utterly delicious Socialist Realist parodies.  I recommend Stalin and the Muses.

I haven't laughed this hard in ages.  Wow.

Labels: Composition, Creativity, Culture, Design

Throw that piano out the window of your garret apartment right now!  Reactable is the future of music making, and all those other crappy user interfaces--trombones, harps, Casio keyboards--are hereby obsolete!

Well, maybe not.  Still, it's fun, and slightly mesmerizing, to watch Reactable players (should we call them Reactablists?) work those funky blocks on the glowing blue table.  But would the music hold your attention without the visuals?

Labels: Composition, Creativity, Design

By way of ArtsJournal, we find an article in the NY Sun on an exhibition of "graphic scores," i.e., sheet music that employs composer-invented notation. Very interesting, and yet I can't help think it all seems timid when compared to the most uncompromising artistic visionary in the history of the world.

Elsewhere in the news....

I've been asked to play keyboard at the University Lutheran Chapel this weekend.  Regular readers of this blog know how I hate performing generally, and how this kind of responsibility fouls my attitude.  I have more than enough singing experience that I no longer sweat those jobs, but keyboards!  So many notes!  So many opportunities to screw up! 

Imagine your nation's government has arrested you because of your involvement in a seditious conspiracy.  Five minutes into the interrogation, you have told everything you know, but the officials want more.  Jack Bauer is brought in.  He turns loose a small but aggressive and very rabid ferret on your right leg.  The ferret proceeds to gnaw your leg off, in a process that takes several days to complete.  At that point, Jack Bauer announces he will set the ferret to work on your left leg, unless you give him more information.  You scream for the thousandth time that you know nothing more.  Just then, an officer comes in and informs Jack Bauer that all your co-conspirators have been arrested, and that there is no need to interrogate you further.  You are released.

Can you imagine the sense of delicious relief that would overwhelm you, knowing that, although one leg was gnawed off, the other leg was spared?  If so, you have some slight understanding of my joy whenever I have finished playing the piano in public, and am free to go home and forget about it.

Labels: Design

Don't miss Design Observer's take on the amusing but less-than-perfectly-settling world of faux-ethnic fonts.  Am I the first person in the world to notice that Circumcision is most appropriately used in its sans-serif version?

Another font available at myfonts.com is MCapitals, which Ian Moss should use the next time he redesigns his band's website. The font handles the umlaut-O with the unusual expedient of an E floating inside the O, rather than with double dots.  Give it extra points for creativity, but if you want those dots to act as a diacritic rather than an umlaut, I guess you're out of luck. Or, as the New Yorker's house style would have it:

Labels: Design

Did anyone else spot this? The Firefox logo may have drawn inspiration from Frederick Hart's Ex Nihilo, the sculpture above the western door of the Washington Cathedral.

Labels: Creativity, Design

My friend Dave the harpsichord hobbyist sent this photo of his near-completed masterpiece.  But is a harpsichord ever really "complete?" Each little quill needs infinite amounts of hand-sanding so the voicing of the instrument is perfectly, perfectly uniform at each key.  (Click on the photo for a bigger view of that beautiful mahogany veneer.)

My friend writes:  "there is still a bit of work to do in terms of voicing, but the main 8' choir sounds pretty decent." I like that:  "pretty decent."  No doubt the main 8' choir will be upgraded to "quite decent" after another two years of delicate adjustment.

I can't wait to try out the Shostakovich A-minor fugue on it. But will that be allowed? Dave is a confirmed baroque fanatic; he may have added one of those dissonance low-pass filters that shut the instrument down after too many minor ninths are played.

Labels: Design