Category Archives: PLAY

LIVE, PLAY

nineoneone


Today’s an important day to a lot of people for a lot of different reasons.

“Patriot’s Day” is seen by some as an unwarranted attack and declaration of war upon our country and Freedomâ„¢….

Other’s see it as the popping of the festering boil created by a few decades (or more) of really, REALLY bad foreign policy.

We see it as the day (some thirty *mufflemufflemuffmuff* years ago) that devcubber was born.

It has to be a buzz-kill to share your birthday with *the* date in history that shattered the enlightened utopian promise of a new millennium and ushered in an era of terrorism, war, fundamentalist radicalism (Islam *and* Christianity), cultural polarization and fear.

hmmm… or is it?… or is it somehow morbidly neat that your special day also happens to be the first significant historical event in the twenty-first century?

We leaned toward “morbidly neat” and decided to bake a cake. Providing she keeps her nose out of LiveJournal today – we’ll be surprising her tonight with it and some presents. P.S. = it’s way harder to make a skyscraper out of yellow cake than one might imagine… I think Kevin did a kick ass job considering this was his first stab at confectionary sculpture.

So anyway… Today while the talking heads on television shake their fists and evoke the memory of those twenty-seven hundred sum-odd lives lost on this day… we’ll be celebrating the *one* life this day created a little further back on the timeline.

Happy birthday Elise – we love you so chicken.

OBSESS, PLAY

the greencoats are coming… the greencoats are coming!


I keep hearing rumors that Crestwood, (the big mall by our house), is in going to close down / sell / or / (?).

It’s a monster… The original part was constructed in the 60’s and is a lovely cathedral of poured concrete, late-mid-century fab.

They put a mammoth addition onto the mall back in the 80’s that has all the architectural appeal of barf.

I don’t know if it’s the rumors or precognition, but I’ve really taken an aesthetic interest in the old beast lately.

The guys were patient with me the other night while I cruised the garage looking for images.

I returned later by myself to set up a dusk shot of the anchor store but before I could get my shot security showed up and asked me to leave. (*nicely though).

I’ll never understand this…

If you build something for public consumption, say like… a market square. (*a mall) – What is the interest behind prohibiting photographs of it?

Possible lost sales of said image?

Will the photograph reveal something that a person standing there and looking at the building with their eyes wouldn’t see? … and if so…. what are you hiding?

Will taking a picture create a reference for a competitor to steal your trade secretes?…
*in the case of a retail store, if I wanted to rip your concept off – what’s to stop me from simply walking in with my design team and architects and simply take notes? How would you stop that? …and even if I did all that and ripped your idea off – you could sue me for infringing on a little something called “Trade Dress”.

so…

What’s the harm in some artfag with a camera who likes taking pictures of structures?

None of course…

It’s simple… Greedy paranoia conceived, fostered and perpetuated by the legal industry….

It’s why you can’t walk in off of Michigan Ave in Chicago to buy some kettle corn if your cellphone has a camera in it.

It’s also why now in order to scratch a personal creative itch: I’m going to have to type a lengthy introduction letter introducing myself as a fairly well respected (albeit obscure) designer photographer that works in the historic restoration field…. and about how I have a personal obsession with the mid-century structures of our area… in which I was born and raised…. and about how I live right behind the mall… and… then wait for them to clear it with legal.. then get back with me… then…

I suppose the conservative stance on this matter would cite that we *are* talking about private property… Owners can mandate whatever they want.

I’ll send that intro letter… and I’m sure they’ll let me take my shot…

It’s just the principle behind it all I find silly and sadly telling in a way.

Wooah there rant boy.. this was just going to be about a cool view of a tree in a chicken.

OBSESS, PLAY

the devil you say?

So if I went out of my way to find a supplier who sold trash containers that come in different colors, (yet were all the same)…. and then design and fabricate vinyl labels for said trash cans to label them… would that mean I’m O.C.D. as well or just really pissy?

I think I’ve finally lost it.

Because,… well.. this side of snuggles, venution love pods, molded plywood furniture, oral sex and old Duran Duran singles…. these make me happy.

Like crazy happy… Like I take out the recycling just so I can gaze upon at their clean, ordered simplicity sitting in the carport. I drag friends out to show them… they give me the same nervous nods of approval as when I got the Dyson and felt compelled to demonstrate it to anyone fool enough to walk through our front door. (“Wow… he’s really lost it this time.”)

It’s a longing I started to articulate a while back after we ate at the Contemporary Art Museum.

Now if I can just apply this to everything else.

An uphill battle… I live with and love two clutterbugs…. The score last I checked: YINS: 1 YANGS: 2

Did anyone else notice it’s 06/06/06 today?

I know biblical scholars have discovered that “666” has been inaccurate all these years and it’s really more like “333”…. so that means today doesn’t really mean very much unless you’re Ozzy Osborne….. Nonetheless, I think I’m going to enjoy making my christian coworkers nervous today by pointing out the date.

The Devilâ„¢ can be found wherever you want to project him.

A specific date.

Rock music.

Dancing.

A flank steak.

A chicken.

PLAY

I’m not saying “mayday” ever again.


hey… I missed you.

The nice folks Apple replaced my hard drive for free. (*insert more AppleCareâ„¢ praise here*)

I’d never encountered a crash before… Since my backup was incomplete I had to do a lot of stuff manually and I learned more was lost that just the pictures I’d taken this year. Didn’t realize until I started re-installing things…

“Where’s my Quicken discs? oh right… I bought that online and downloaded it…”

“Where’s my FTP quick-links… oh right – my preferences file didn’t get backed up… How do I upload pictures again to my blog?”

“Where’s my friggin recipe program. (thank god I found the original data file for that one) – but still had to re-download the program and unlock it.”

The time spent reconstructing these things can only be likened to sitting through back to back Kevin Kosner films… You’ll just never get that time sucked out of your life back.

Surprisingly I only got fidgety a few times being sans-laptop… I translated some of the nervous energy into sliding my perspective about what it means to have so much of your everyday existence tied-to and reliant on a 15″ x 9″ x 1.5″ piece of metal and plastic.

Simple… I just made my own laptop to tide me over till I got mine back…. fitting since I’d love to get my paws on one of the new MacBook Pros but just can’t swing it till next year.

Feh.. Who needs to spend $2500 on a new laptop.

My new one cost $12.00….

Check out its features and then the poll result:

*CHICKEN*