Oscar Animated Shorts

Watched the Oscar nominated animated shorts last night.  They were really enjoyable and my pick to win is the film ‘Madagascar’.  It truly felt like a travel sketchbook come to life.

My other favorites were Shawn Tan’s ‘Lost Thing’ and Pixar’s ‘Night and Day’.  Shawn Tan has drawn a couple of children’s books that I really like and it was a great surprise to see a movie by him.

I think ‘Night and Day’ is one of Pixar’s most creative efforts in the short film department (and that is saying a lot), not to mention the tremendous homage to Chuck Jones.  Also while on the subject I am also rooting against Pixar in the full length animated file department.  ‘Toy Story 3’ was great but ‘The Illusionist’ was sublime.

IF - Swarm

So I came up with a ‘Sand’mobile based on a grasshopper.  I wanted to come up with a clever acronym for it then I remembered that I am horrible at coming up with acronyms.  So if coming up with phrases from letters is your thing – give it a shot.

Modular Slotted Toys

At work I am in a small lull between big projects and I was asked to help out on a design for a modular display system for our firm’s work.  So with the help of the ever handy laser cutter I ended up making what amounted to several fun, tinker-toy-esque models.  Once we complete the finished display I'll put up pictures (will be ready in early April).

The circular module.

Ended up being rather organic - almost leaf like.

The diamond module.

Ended up being crystaline with a complex spatial quality.

The square module.

This is the one we'll go with as it provides the most stability with the most display type of areas.

IF - Layer

Michael Pawlyn on Biomimicry

An architect talking about the benifits of learning form nature in building technology. (long video but worth it)

Noteslate

I have yet to get really excited about the Ipad.  Most everything it offered was already available to me in my home computer – and it seemed to have many drawbacks: closed software and input being the most looming.  Also I was waiting for someone to come up with a really slick drawing app for it. 

And then I stumbled onto this today: http://www.noteslate.com/

I really didn’t expect to see a really good digital sketchpad come out anytime soon yet this looks to be it.  And almost everything else about this guy appeals to me: you draw directly on the screen, it tries to excel simply at what it is, it doesn’t try to do everything or connect to everything, has USB and SD inputs, it is relatively cheap, and looks great.  Probably will get one when they come out this summer, depending on reviews and such. 

If - Sweater

Josh Ritter - The Curse

A music video of one of my favorite Josh Ritter songs:

IF - Reverse

Snow in Dallas (just in time for the superbowl)

I wasn't expecting 6" of snow when I stepped outside today.  Been a crazy week in Dallas due to an ice storm on Monday night and below freezing temperatures throughout the week.  And today we get snow - which is fun. 

Our house this morning.

Waiting for the bus.

The DART in the west end.

Hopefully the superbowl fans enjoy the snow.

The Passover

Drawing of the tenth plague of Egypt – otherwise known as the Passover.  (and before anyone comments on it, I am aware that an ‘angel of death’ is not specifically noted in Exodus)