What is Architecture?

Cool short video I found, explaining architecture:

(he also has a similar video explaining information)

Architecture from MAYAnMAYA on Vimeo.

IF- Hollow

Oklahoma Visit

My parents and sister came up this weekend and we all went up to Oklahoma this weekend to visit my great aunt Sut and great uncle Buck. Some pictures of early morning fishing.

Insect Lab

Ran across an interesting site while doing some image research for the new IF topic. This guy takes dead insects (and arachnids) and adds old machine parts. Really fascinating. Here is the link: http://www.insectlabstudio.com/

Grave of the Fireflies (movie review)

Grave of the Fireflies
Genres: Anime, World War II, Drama
Plot: Two orphaned Japanese children try to survive the latter part of WWII.

Thoughts: A meticulously animated, unveiled look into the horrors that humanity throws upon itself and must subsequently contend with. Shows both large scale depravity (the war) and small scale depravity (selfishly turning away kids for starvation) from the point of view of a 12 year old boy and his 4 year old sister. One of the most depressing movies I have ever seen.

I came away from this movie with the thought that “survival mode” is inherently anti-Christian. If I ever find myself in a position of desperation, I would hope that God grants me enough grace so that I will continue to look for opportunities to serve and uplift humanity around me.

IF- Shaky

I found a cool site called Illustration Friday, in which every week a topic is posted and anybody who wants to participate is invited to illustrate the topic. It is a great way to have some fun and keep up my illustration skills. This week’s topic is “Shaky” and here is my drawing:

Blowing Things Up

It is the fourth of July this weekend. Do all the parades, patriotism, flags, sentimentalizing of nationalism make this one of my favorite holidays? Not really. Does a cultural acceptance of explosives make it one of my favorites? You bet.

Ever since I was a kid, I released my inner pyro-technician (or what some would label pyromaniac) on the fourth of July; splicing fuses and spilling powder to my heart’s content, hoping to set off a truly impressive explosion.

To continue a well honed tradition, this year (with the help of my handy-dandy laser cutter) I made a shoulder mounted four cylinder bottle rocket launcher complete with fold-up sights and hinged storage mode. Here are some pics:

And here is the warning sign I etched into it: