Friday

A lot of my blogs have been about how people have been abusing the internet to make a quick buck. And currently, no internet scam is more apparent than the Ark Music factory record lable. They are the masterminds behind the Friday song, which is quickly becoming the most viewed (and hated) video on youtube. I believe that it is a scam, creating such a terrible song just to create controversy and ad revenue. They're basically mass producing awfulness and making money off of it. If nothing else, it's proof that an entrepeneur or a scam artist (funny how often those lines cross) can exploit any situation.

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/55610 
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/a-look-inside-ark-musics-factory-farm/

Animation has come a long way, baby.

This is an example of older animation that was done by an entire staff of animators.


And this is an example of what one person did on his own.



It's pretty nuts how much the world of animation has changed.

Technophilia, the coolest of the philias.

Searching around wikipedia and I find technophilia, which is apparently a very strong love of technology. I read it a bit and I know at least five people who are like this. Pretty weird stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technophilia

Yet another webcomic!

I linked this comic in a past blog I think. This is one of my favorites, it's called Gunshow. It's a hilarious gag a day type webcomic that does develop an overriding story towards the end. I've already made my spiel about webcomics but once again I really like the idea of making your own comic site.

http://gunshowcomic.com/

Ace Ryder!

A funny short done by Harry Partridge. Usually he does animations but this is a great example of the movie making technology available to people today.

Flash!

Flash animations! I remember when I was younger, I'd go for hours just watching flash animations and the crazy stuff that regular everyday people did. It is a huge inspiration to me, it connected the world of animation to people who would otherwise be undiscovered. Here is some amazing flash animation:

http://www.newgrounds.com/

No Rapture, phew.

The Rapture was a no-show and a radio host might be in trouble in Oakland. As I said in my last post, the internet is an amazing place for sharing ideas and creations, but it can also be used for less than noble intentions. I don't mean just the horrifying images you can stumble upon but also the use of it as a tool to incite histeria and panic. No, there really wasn't anyone going crazy in the streets over the rapture but it's still a frightening thing to think that it is so easy to spread a crazy idea like that (regardless of how that idea is received.)

Links:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/22/BAKO1JJIK7.DTL&tsp=1

Cashing in on the Rapture

More Rapture stuff. Amazing how the internet made everything so accessible to the wingnuts and the conment of the world isn't it?

The video can't be embedded but here's a link:
http://youtu.be/5uS1IzUj4_k

When the Rapture comes, only the fuzzy will remain

Now see I don't know how to feel about this. It's awful and a little bit sick, but at the same time you've got to respect a resourceful entrepeneur and question the mental health of someone who's primary concern in the event of the Rapture is their pet. I might buy Rapture insurance, I wonder what the premiums are...

http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com/

Another Webcomic!

This one is called Manly Guys doing Manly Things. It focuses on the rediculously macho characters in video games, from recent characters like Marcus Fenix from gears of war to classic idols of outlandish machismo like Duke Nukem

http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/

Nuzlocke Comics

Again with the pokemon, this is a funny comic that starts just crazy but exposes a darker side of pokemon. Mostly it's just very funny.

http://www.nuzlocke.com/

UP

It's very old news by now but I can't help but love the ever-improving animation style of Pixar. Here's a clip from the tearjerker that is UP:

Pokemon, the endless supply of milk

Nintendo has a tendency to milk its game series for longer than is necessary, and this is especially true for pokemon. Pokemon is like a crown jewel for Nintendo, along with Mario and the Super Smash Bros. games. It is a rare jewel indeed, they continuously rehash the same old thing in a new package and everyone buys it. Before I go on I am not one of those elitists who believe that other people are sheep-like beings incapable of original thought, the games are just legitimately fun.

I grew up when pokemon was just starting, everyone was nuts about it. I remember I collected the pokemon box tops that came with lunchables and got a gameboy just for the pokemon games themselves. I was not immune to the pokemon craze but looking back on it, it's just amazing how a collection of cute freakish animals can gather such love. I saw the same behavior for each consecutive release of a new game. Everyone is nuts about them.

But how long can Nintendo keep the pokemon franchise going? Has it even gotten stale yet? Every time they announce a new game I say "Well this has to be the last one, no way can they go further" and every time Nintendo proves me and a bunch of other likeminded people wrong.

Minecraft is for squares (or is it cubes?)

Minecraft is an outrageously addictive little game that looks deceptively bad. It features different kind of cubes that do different things. There are dirt cubes, rock cubes, sand cubes, even water and leafy cubes. There is an abundant use of cube in this game, oh and the clouds are, you guessed it, rectangular prisms.

It's a game about making things, there are monsters you can fight but the primary purpose is to build whatever you can with the different cubes available. It sounds very tame and unexciting but it has somehow  become a phenomenon with over 1 million players. So how have the cubes excited so many people? In my opinion it's because minecraft is a game that allows players to be creative and at the same time manages to create a sense of adventure as the player explores the massive world they go in. Or maybe it's just a bunch of squares playing with cubes.

Well that's my spiel about this game, I suggest everyone try it out but be prepared to have time taken away from your other daily activities.

Bobrauschenburg America.

I'll start this off saying that I completely forgot about the art events section of the project, my prior entry about going to the drawing event was true but it was only because I was interested in the subject. However, thinking back I suppose the only real artsy type of events I've been to were the various plays and shows put on by the drama department. I also suppose that the best one to write about would be Bobrauschenburg America, which is a play about the abstract artist Bob Rauschenburg. It wasn't a terrible play, it had no real story and was hard to follow but that wasn't the point. The point was that it was a play about being abstract. It was taking an surreal piece of artwork and giving it life through actors and lighting. The point, which I hope was the point, was well recieved but that does not forgive the fact that not many people could understand it. It was a fun time though, and it's the closest thing I've done to going to an actual second art event.

Figure Drawing

One of the art events I attended was a figure drawing class at anderson. It was very fun and a great way to relearn how to draw. You see I hadn't drawn anything in a while, not even cartoons and I wanted to get back into it. Something caught me off-guard however, I should have assumed this but for some reason I did not expect there to be a naked model that we would be drawing. It was indeed awkward at first but it really wasn't a big deal. I just drew and drew and after a while I was more involved trying to get the pose correct than spending time being embarassed that the model was naked. I didn't do too terribly at drawing either though I'm not in a hurry to drop everything and become an artist. Overall it was a very rewarding experience and since the figure drawing classes are held weekly, I'll try to attend more of them.

RIP Macho Man Randy Savage

This isn't about art and I'm not a fan of wrestling either, but Macho Man Randy Savage's death is a huge blow that transcends all hobbies and fandoms. I'm not joking either, I really liked that guy, his persona was absolutely amazing. We've lost a great wrestler.

Links:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/05/macho-man-randy-savage-dies-in-car-accident.html

Webcomics

Webcomics are sweet. Some people hate them but I have been hard pressed to find one that's bad enough to blast the whole media. I myself have some artistic talent (read: minimal) and my favorite thing to do is to draw comics. I only follow a few consistently but I am always interested to read more of them. Here are some of my all time favorites:
http://www.johnnywander.com/  
http://gunshowcomic.com/
http://rice-boy.com/order/

There are some terrible ones out there too. For example there's Sonichu, the story of a pikachu/sonic crossover abomination. I can't link it because I think I'd get in trouble for linking some very NSFW content. I might be in trouble just talking about it. Oh well I hope not.

Moneytube.

Being a business/accounting major I get to know exactly what the business thinks about the new innovations in technology, art, and entertainment. We all know that youtube is a fantastic way to get up to date on the latest cat videos but it's also a way to advertise products and businesses. I'm not even talking about adspace, that's old news. I'm talking about viral videos. Many businesses, the movie industry in particular, have begun to make cheap viral videos to advertise their products. The recent movie "Kick-Ass" began it's ad campaign with a bunch of videos that were really low quality and confusing, but it was a success and Kick-Ass went on to make about 50 million dollars within the first 8 months. Not much of revenue compared to other movies, but a lot more than it cost to make and much more than it cost to advertise.

http://www.phoenixrealm.com/using-youtube-as-online-marketing-tool/

Watsky

This guy is pretty good. I'm a fan of Hip-Hop and rap and stuff like that and just like any music genre there's a lot of terrible stuff out there. But Watsky and others like him, the intellectual rappers, are making some really great stuff. I found this on youtube which has quickly gone from just a funny videos generator to an actual way to market oneself as an artist. Here's the video:

Facebook is watching you.

Not to make it sound like some kind of Orwellian big brother conspiracy, but it is a little weird that facebook can recognize you and your friends in any picture where one's face is showing. It can discern who's who from an impressive number of angles and records that data in the pictures. It's not really a big deal privacy-wise, as you can turn off the setting, but once again I'm amazed by what technology can do.

Here's the link:
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/16/5660488-facebooks-facial-recognition-knows-who-your-friends-are-  

Earthquake rescue robots

I know my past few blogs haven't been too much about art but I just can't get enough of these crazy robots that are being invented over in Japan. The newest thing is a machine that saves survivors of earthquakes by dragging them inside it and carrying them to a medical area. It's still being tested but if it turns out to save lives it will be a huge advancement.

Link: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/six-robots-could-shape-future-earthquake-search-and-rescue

Pop-up stores

With how rediculously fast Apple comes up with new products or changes existing ones you might think that they have a problem getting these new products to their customers. Well apparently they have a way to deal with that, it's called a pop-up store. It's a temporary store that goes up in a place where people don't have access to new Apple products and sells them. The first store will be open in Austin Texas for two weeks starting on March 11 to sell the Ipad 2. It seems that Pop-Up stores have been a growing phenomenon among retailers for a while and companies like Apple are just starting to get into it.

here's a link: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=3264664

Human-powered robot suit.

This is a pretty interesting thing I found, it's basically an exoskeleton that is very flexible and doesn't need an engine to make it move. It only needs a human to strap in and start walking around and it can go. It's very silly looking right now but I think it's pretty amazing for a student project.

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2011-03/video-diy-human-powered-exoskeleton-makes-you-bigger-stronger-funnier

It's Keepon!

Keepon may be old news by now but it's still a testament to the huge leaps that have been achieved in robotics. It looks like two tennisballs taped to eachother but it's actually a very complicated robot that is able to understand and react to human facial expressions and emotion. It can also dance to music which is pretty amazing.

Here's a link and a video.

http://beatbots.net/research/

Oh my god how horrifying.

Oh wow you guys need to see this thing. It's apparently the most realistic robot or android or whatever they're called that's ever been made. Watch the video too, if you want to be creeped out.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/video-goateed-geminoid-robot-guaranteed-freak-you-out

Facebook and the Contemporary Revolutionary.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/egypt-facebook-revolution-wael-ghonim_n_822078.html

This article is pretty nuts. I know that by now the revolution in Egypt is a bit of old news but I still think it's crazy how Facebook was used to overthrow an entire country's government. Not to say that Facebook is the reason that the rebellion happened, but it certainly helped unite the Egyptian people. Also this isn't the first time that Facebook had been used to start a rebellion. Below is a link to the Tunisian revolution which is also utilizing facebook. Also a link about a father in Egypt who named his newborn "Facebook" after the revolution.

http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2011/02/tunisia-the-facebook-revolution/  
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/baby-named-facebook-egypt_n_825934.html

I think it's strange that social networking websites are revolutionizing revolutions themselves. Strange in a good way, I have no idea what this means for the future of rebellions but maybe they'll be less violent. Perhaps the terrible bloody revolutions of the past will be replaced with these online revolutions. Maybe they'll still be just as bad as ever. Who knows? Regardless of what happens it's still pretty nuts.

fake stuff whatever

I searched whatever on Youtube and found this.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnarls_Barkley  

Above is a link to the band that plays the song.