"Taking his cue from Evans, Friedlander crops a letter at a time from signs (the K of CAR PARK, the B of BAR), window displays, notices and advertisements, breaking the alphabet down into its constituent characters. Once the alphabet has been itemized in individual photographs, he moves on to numbers."
(From Geoff Dyer's 'The Ongoing Moment' which is a rather splendificious book about photography.)


Dammit, that's what I wanted to do, the number-thing. I wanted to make a wiki for photographs of physical manifestations of numbers (house numbers, price tags, floor numbers in lifts, license plates, anything). Damn you Lee Friedlander. :P



I wanted to share something else with you too, but I forgotted what it was.

...

I lost my working notage from my diary. And when I say working notage, I mean uni working. :/ Thoughtings, decisions and reasons for decisions which way I was going with the work, questions that I had to think about and address, etc...

*trying really hard not to swear*

That'll teach me to keep copies of stuff.
*cries*

The Offspring's finally releasing a new album, after 4 years. That's a long time. I'm kind of amazed how dormant a fan I have been about them... I kind of grew up out of them I suppose (especially after Splinter and Original Prankster... Didn't like that single <_< ), but now I'm finding out that I still like them. :) I grew up with this band, goodness sakes. It's like old friends. So I'm finding myself getting rather excited about the album release (17th of June) and I've been listening to Hammerhead¹ today, and I do like the sound of it. I think I'll go and buy the album properly on CD when it comes out, as a treat. It's been so long since I've bought records of any sort. If I'm not uber-broke, I might even get Ixnay on the Hombre too, as I've never actually bought it properly. And then I'd have them all (given that I could find my copy of Smash - I have thieving siblings and I haven't a clue where it is but I know I have it).

Yesterday I found out that I'm actually rather behind with my current popular music - me and a friend went to dinner with a family from church, and after the meal their boys (6 and 14) were quizzing my friend about musicians and bands whether she likes them (they had pretty different tastes in music, my friend being rather gothy/punky and the boys being more into softer pop) and I didn't recognise 90% of the names they mentioned. o.O



^{1 http://www.imeem.com/theoffspring/playlist/H-rX4DtI/rise_and_fall_rage_and_grace_music_playlist/
My Facebook actually said that the whole album will be streaming in full today at 4pm UK-time... If that's true, it'll be awesome :3}

*edit*

It's true! The full CD is there for listening! :D



I'm really keen on the album, I've been listening to it all day today as well as Monday. Trust in You and Kirsty Are You Doing Okay are awesome, although I'm not that keen on Stuff Is Messed Up, which is a silly title, as he sings "shit is fucked up" in that song... The excessive swearing in it puts me off. <_< *ish mormon*

Attenshun!
<URL:stuff/558PrototypeWIP1.swf>

Because I love you enough to humiliate myself for the entertainment of yous all:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDzFEXnMe8

There's a bit where I explain about my kingdom, and my giant snail. Also something about jumping into a tree. Ignore the ginger bastard :P

Dear creative beasts (aka my friends)
Please submit something for the Elftown Museum Permanent Exposition. Why? Because it's a brilliant idea. And because I ask you to? :3 Note that it's not a contest, it's a personal best, and I know you all have that. So go there now, please. :)

kthnxbai

Reading on copyrighty things again (someone still has the Orphan works -bollocks in their house even though there was a very extensive conversation about what it's for, so I'm in an aggravated mood). But here cometh a quote from
http://www.carfac.ca/2006/11/copyright-law-and-the-visual-artist/

"if artists are not paid for what they create, why would anyone make art?"

This question stumped me. Not because I can't answer it, nor because I've never thought of it, but because I can't understand the concept that anyone would need to ask this question. Look at art history. Did any of those people do it for the money (except for Salvador Dali :P And he didn't do it for the money, he did it because he was mental, but happened to like money :P) ? I honestly think that if there is an artist out there, who can't think of any other reason for doing the work than the money, then I'd dare say that that artist is in the wrong game. This is not the field to go for if you want to get money. Because art is so high risk. You really need to have a lot better reason to do this line of work. I do my work because I have to. If I wasn't in art school, I'd be doing my work on my spare time. If I never ever get paid for anything art related that I do, if I end up being a cashier in a supermarket for the rest of my life -- I will still do my work. In some form or shape, I will keep doing it. Why? Why? Y'know, I haven't a clue. But I will, and I have to. Because I wouldn't be me if I didn't. Sure, it's nice to get paid for the creative work that you do. It's nice to be in art school and preparing to make art a career - because that'll mean I don't have to split my time into "work" and "artwork", so that I won't have to have what would essentially be two full-time jobs just to sustain myself financially and personally. So yeah, if it pays off, good for me, means I can do better work. But in the end, if no one pays me for my work, if I'd manage somehow to do my art fulltime with no money involved -- that'd be just fine with me.



For those who couldn't care less, here's an interesting observation:
This group, CARFAC¹ is associated with another group called SODART XP Yeah, I'll trust their opinions about art, won't I? XD

^{1 Pronounced "car-fuck"}

As you may know, I am a bibliophile. If you are also, then have a look at this article from the New Yorker, about libraries and cataloguing information throughout history, especially now in the light of digitising books.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/05/071105fa_fact_grafton

Duguid describes watching a fellow-historian systematically sniff two-hundred-and-fifty-year-old letters in an archive. By detecting the smell of vinegar—which had been sprinkled, in the eighteenth century, on letters from towns struck by cholera, in the hope of disinfecting them—he could trace the history of disease outbreaks.

...

Thousands of forgotten men and women have covered Bibles and prayer books, recipe collections, and political pamphlets with pointing hands, underlining, and notes that give insights into which books mattered, and why.

...

But these streams of data, rich as they are, will illuminate, rather than eliminate, books and prints and manuscripts that only the library can put in front of you.


Have I mentioned that I love the New Yorker? :3 <3

An enticing medieval-esque staging of the first (or last) movement from Carmina Burana, O Fortuna:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBrgUbQs0A

Soft values

Quickly sharing something percussioney with you guyses:
http://dekku.blogspot.com/2006/03/music-for-one-apartment-and-six.html

Remember the Free Mickey -video some time back? (If not, I think [Hedda]'s diary has a link to it somewhere.) Here's another Lawrence Lessig lecture video - sort of a sequel - that I'd appreciate if you guys watched:

http://www.opensourcecinema.org/lessigfinal

I was very impressed with this (as I am with most of Lawrence Lessig's work - he is a very charismatic speaker), and my work for uni (and beyond my course, too) is beginning to revolve more and more around these questions. There is also a bit in the video that explains the harm in letting orphan works, these cultural assets, turn to dust.

I think I'm headed towards making open source art, by the way. I'm doing this sort of generative program thing in Flash, but I think in the end I'll let the image assets loose, too. :)

I found my ideal home ^^
http://www.erindalerealestate.com/4a_custpage_16798.html

And now a posting a la [Viking]:
Scientists Flesh Out Plans to Grow (and Sell) Test Tube Meat
^{I'd eat it}
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/04/invitro_meat

I fellded in love with Flickr Commons. <3
http://flickr.com/commons

Particularly the News in the 1910s -set from the Library of Congress.

Click-it. :)

Damn you Tempie :P If you hadn't guessed iippo and then added 'edit: or Silvie' I wouldn't be doing this now.

1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
The one in the back of my hand, my dog bit me. He was having a great time tearing up the sofa in the veranda, I went to tell him no and he accidentally chomped on me. I had to go to the hospital to get a stitch and a tetanus shot. And after the incident we had the dog's balls removed. And then he calmed down a little and got fat. o.O

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
Posters, drawings by me, a drying flower and a fine art print I bought at a student auction. <3 They all keep falling off though. Teh annoy.

3. WHAT DOES YOUR CELL PHONE LOOK LIKE?
Gray Nokia 3210, with masking tape to keep the back cover in place, and some stickers. Looks battered.

4. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Rock, punk, alternative, musical, movie soundtracks, Sinatra-ish things, classical... Sort of around there. My current obsess-over-song is Rascal Flatts' Life is a Highway

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
Around 6.30-7 pm.

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
This place to be warm. I am freezing and in pain, and if at least one of those went away it's rool.

7. WHO DO YOU MISS?
My dog. ;_;

10. WHAT'S YOUR MIDDLE NAME?
Tuulikki. Yeap, you love it.

11. THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED:
Right now I'm in the disposition to say Gilmore Girls because I get the pop-culture references (they keep mentioning Algonguin Round Table people!) but Lost is probably greater as far a TV-show creating abilities go.

12. THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO?
Michael (the one who threw my free hugs -tag into the canal)

13. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
Yes. Over-active imagination.

14. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
My mom.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOGNE / PERFUME?
Amorito from the Body Shop. It smells like chocolate!

16. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
I'm pretty keen on the hair-shaved-off -thing, and eye colour, I don't really care.

17. WOULD YOU RATHER BE SMART OR FUNNY?
Smart

18. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS?
Neither :3

19. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
I go for pepperoni.

20. IF YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I dunno, I feel a bit icky right now. I had cake for breakfast and I don't feel so hot atm...

21. WHO IS THE LAST PERSON YOU MADE MAD?
The guy who made the Supermen in bottles. :( He doesn't understand that when I avoid him it's for his own good.

22. DO YOU SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE?
Yes.

23. WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIFT SOMEONE EVER GAVE YOU?
o.O what, ever? Or someone specific? The first present Silvie gave me was a large coffee mug with 'iippo' written on it. It's one of my most precious treasures.

24. DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE?
A gigglesnort yes. x)

25. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
What does that mean?

26. FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND?
I don't care for brands. Levi's jeans are always classy.

27. WHAT'S YOUR DREAM CAR?
Some kind of vintage Ford.

28. WHAT COLOR IS IT?
A car can be any colour as long as it's black.

29. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF EXERCISE?
Walking I guess. But it is also a means of getting around. I dislike exercise for the sake of exercise.

30. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING?
What, you can control it?

31. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TELL SOMEONE HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU?
I really don't know.

32. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
32

33. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
Brunettes.

34. WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN?
I hate calling on the phone.

35. WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST?
Feeling cold.

35. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE U.S.?
Never been in it. <_< But I've never been out of Europe.

36. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
Quiet and I seem uncaring

37. TATER TOTS OR FRIES?
Fries

38. FIRST JOB?
None yet :S

39. EVER PRANK CALLED SOMEONE?
Nope.

40. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED OUT THIS?
Sort of trying to get back to work.

41. IF YOU COULD GET PLASTIC SURGERY WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I've had plastic surgery on my jaw. I'm perfect now :3

42. WHY DID YOU FILL OUT THIS SURVEY?
Because Tempie said so ;_;

43. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
Appearances.

44. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ALCOHOL BECAME ILLEGAL?
Say, "Good." :P <<--I agree with Tempie's answer

45. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
Hmm, it's very far away... I'm not lacking anything terribly right now... Maybe a date with a nice feller?

46. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT?
I haven't picked a number. So, I guess, keep 'em coming. :P

47. WHERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Not anyone, but a place.

48. DO YOU WISH ON STARS?
No

49. WHICH FINGER(S) IS YOUR FAVORITE?
Right hand little finger. I let the nail grow long on it, and it comes in handy with fiddly things.

50. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY?
Last week, when at home.

51. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Not terribly. It is very normal and plain.

52. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Ham

53. ANY BAD HABITS?
Nervous habits of tearing the skin off my lips and the sides of my thumbs; getting sulky when pissed off.

54. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING CD ON THE SHELF?
I got rid of most of the embarrassing ones... Titanic soundtrack is probably the closest to embarrassing because of the Leonardo DiCaprio connection, but it's actually pretty good music. Irish. :3

55. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
No.

56. HAVE YOU EVER TOLD A SECRET YOU SWORE NOT TO TELL?
I'm not sure. o.O Think so.

57. DO LOOKS MATTER?
Yes. It'd be hypocritical to say that they don't. Now whether they matter more than some other things is a whole different issue.

58. HOW DO YOU RELEASE YOUR ANGER?
I don't >_>

59. WHERE IS YOUR SECOND HOME?
I have two first homes, one in Finland and one in England... ET is my 'other' home.

60. DO YOU TRUST OTHERS EASILY?
Yes

61. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
I can't recall properly. I had an unnamed stuffed dog that survived the ages.

62. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
(I don't have it on me right now to check) But there is not a lot of space on my phone for numbers for some strange reason. Less than 80?

63. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Sometimes. Sometimes I fail.

64. DO YOU KNOW ANYONE FAMOUS?
No.

65. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A MOSH PIT?
Yes.

66. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
Priesthood holder. Interesting conversation.

67. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
iippo and variants.

68. HOW MANY PAIRS OF SHOES DO YOU HAVE?
Five. Docs, DDRs, trainers, two pairs of heels.

69. DO YOU UN-TIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Not trainers, but I have to with the Docs because I couldn't get them off without untying :P

70. WHERE YOU UPSET ABOUT STEVE IRWIN DYING?
No, I didn't even know who it was before everybody made a big deal of him dying.

71. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Raspberry.

72. ARE YOU LAZY?
No, I don't think so.

73. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE COLORS?
The Right colour. It's this sort of light wood/sand/dry leaves/pale skin/off white -tone.

74. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BAND?
All-time favourite, lets say the Beatles.

75. HOW MANY WISDOM TEETH DO YOU HAVE?
They've all been torn out.

76. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
No, then I'd have to read them all. o.O

77. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
"Someone keeps moving my chair" by They Might Be Giants.

78. LAST THING YOU ATE?
Sticky chocolate cheese cake for breakfast. I don't recommend -_-

79. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
So long ago that I haven't a clue. Probably some sales person.

80. WHATS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
The overall shape? (I have bad eye sight >_>)

81. FAVORITE THOUGHT PROVOKING SONG:
I can't think right now, so lets go with the aforementioned Rascal Flatts -one.

82. FAVORITE THING TO HATE:
Cold houses

83. FAVORITE DRINK:
Water

84. FAVORITE ZODIAC SIGN
Err, scorpio?

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPORT?
I haven't really picked. I don't mind watching anything if required. Footie, mebbeh?

86. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Dark blonde, if such a thing exists. I call it highway colour. >_>

87. EYE COLOR?
Grey

88. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES?
Yes

89. SIBLINGS?
Two sisters and a brother.

90. FAVORITE MONTH(s)
I'm an autumn person, so september or october.

91. DO YOU LIKE SUSHI?
Never tried.

92. LAST THING YOU WATCHED?
Gilmore Girls, start of the second season.

93. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
I don't really care for individual days. Whenever I'm having a good day.

94. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT?
Almost. I've done it once.

95. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Ehm, out of those two, summer. But autumn wins all.

96. KISSES OR HUGS?
Hugs. Less complicated. *makes a mental note to go hug Templar*

97. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE-NIGHT STANDS?
Relationships, I suppose. Pretty bad alternative. It's like, "Cake or death?" <<-- leaving Templar's answer up, as one should not correct perfection.

98. WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Well, considering that Tempie already did, I think the likelyhood of him doing it is 100% :P

99. WHO IS THE LEAST LIKELY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Everyone sane? :P

100. CREATE YOUR OWN QUESTION
What is your MA project?
Some kind of piece of internet art that discusses authorship and copyright issues. I need to get back to working on it now.

101. IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU?
Yes. The wrong person. It's horrible. <_<

This week there was a huge Nato summit/meeting thingie. Finland isn't a part of Nato (yet?) but our president Tarja Halonen was there anyways, because Finland is friendly with Nato. In the paper there was a photograph that caught my eye. It was Tarja and George Bush at a lunch in the summit, sitting at a table. His arm was resting on the back of her chair (kind of an almost-hug) and they were both smiling lightly and looking at each other, as if in conversation). It was pretty nice as a picture. Every once and a while I have this kind of semi-realisation of understanding a little what George Bush has that could probably be attributed to at least some of his popularity when he was elected (twice). I mean in a completely non-political, only emotional, way. He has presence. I've understood he's a pretty poor talker and I reckon that's because he is a tactile - rather than verbal or aural - person. He's often said to be very charismatic when met in person, and I believe that's probably true. Also being a poor public speaker is quite rare amongst the kind of slimy smooth-talking slick politicians that are so common. It makes him appear more down-to-earth, more like one-of-us.

I don't know why I'm writing this. o.O I don't agree with the man's politics, I don't really have any kind of opinion about him. I guess it's just an observation.

Diary-spammy love, courtecy of [Isilando]

Earth Hour

Snowing. It feels like almost a sin to be the first one to walk across a freshly fallen untouched snow. Ruining the virgin perfectness of the ground. If only you could fly...
Snow always makes me blue :3


Poetics aside, I've been thinking of doing a pokemon thing here in ET. Where you either "catch" pokemans by drawing them or trade yours with others' drawings. So you'd have to draw at least one (no professor Oaks here giving you one :P unless you have a friend who would give you one... hmm...) and then trade for different ones. Or you could draw all your own. Or a mix. Now this wouldn't have any kind of battle/level/evolution/anything thing going on (at least I can't think of how to do that - unless maybe have levels indicated by the skillfulness of the drawing?) The obvious problem would be some moose stealing pictures of the nets and thus making it lame for everyone... But hopefully only cool people would be involved. There'd be some kind of size requirement to make all the pictures drawn be a part of it (something like "the image has to be 300px by 300px and plain background" or suchness). I might use the pokedex-wiki for that, it's a bit of a waste of a good name as it is...

How does this place comment in my diary thingie work? This is a test. Silvie, lemme know if you are notified, and in what manner. :3

*edit*
It's a different colour. That's interesting.

*second edit*
After editing things went really bizarre.

At the top it says

1036442
Written about every year at month number 12 and day number 31
Written:2008-07-12 12:08:09
Comment to: 1034386 In SilverFire's diary

WTF?


Directly after posting it said

1036442
Written about Thursday 1999-09-09
Written:2008-07-12 12:08:09
Comment to: 1034386 In SilverFire's diary

We went back in time?