We jest about the serious

I came up to a buddy and started going in for the handshake, then collapsed into a fist for a bump, then folded the elbow and stuck it out. It stuck and I'll be ebola free, just my friends and me!

Another Japanese Short Film Review

Kafkaesque

Runtime: 5:49
Link: Kafkaesque

 Labeled Kafka on the Vimeo site, I decided to screen this little gem. Kafka was a German author that wrote about strange things and strange relationships. I'd say that if he were around today, or five years ago when this movie was made, he'd approve.

 It's about two men who are in a situation of executioner and prisoner. The final meal the prisoner was given was so sorry that he asks for a little chat.

Begging for a little chat before death

 The executioner owes the man that much, since the fare was so unfair.

Not a sneeze about to occur, but a hesitation in pre-death chatting

During the flashbacks, the prisoner is replaced with the executioner, showing that he places himself into all stories told to him.

Seems both men use umbrellas for sunshades

Even the food given to the prisoner by his wife is eaten by the imagined executioner.

One final meal before the death of an unloved one

Explanations of wrongful conviction start bringing the men closer together.

I enjoy close-ups like this one

The use of imagery and solid color evoke feelings for both men.

Even better than close ups that cut portions off is time-lapse clouds

The action described in this portion of flashback aren't portrayed, but overlaid with images.

Nothing beats red grass

Time for chatting is done and both men look at the tool of death in anticipation.

Time for the noose to get a use

Credits roll 3/4 of the way through. After these, another glimpse of the prisoners last day of freedom is seen through the imagination of the executioner.

The technique of color here denotes suspicion

Seems the innocence of the accused was also very imaginary. 

Practicing accidental murder

The movie ends with a surprise ending. I couldn't spoil everything for you! Until next time, stay.

From a Pedestrian's Perspective

Hello again, internet earthlings. It sure has been a while since I've put anything permanent down here for your  loyal eyes to see. That's OK, though, because just as great friends can still get along famously after a long absence, I know that you won't hold my business this summer against me and my un-updated blog.

 I was prompted to write this post after two major current events. The first is the awful happenings in Ferguson, MO. The second is the very tragic death of a race car driver. They seem unrelated, save for that both tragedies occurred around the same time. I am here to tell you that they both started with the same decision I make plenty of times each day. The decision to be safe and survive.

 I am a pedestrian. I have been for around eight years now since a car wreck left me without transportation. There was a very bad taste in my mouth after that collision with a girl on a cellphone who just didn't pay attention to the red-light that she sped through to cause my journey of walking everywhere. Although I did get a modest amount of money from my vehicle being totaled, I felt that I did not wish to re-enter that risky life lottery of speeding metal and fiberglass. So, I had decided to boycott vehicles and figure out how to get everywhere on foot. This isn't to say that I didn't accept rides from time to time, but I did do a lot more travelling by walking than I ever had before in my life.

 So I started getting my 'sidewalk-legs', as I call them, back underneath myself. After driving for most of my life I had forgotten plenty of things about the most simple mode of travel. Things that I should have remembered that were integral to surviving when going from point A to point B without assistance of machinery.

The first point I came across was one that I misunderstood. It was taught to me in my first Driver's Education class and is a myth. A life-threatening fallacy:

• Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way

 The walking only have the right of way if they are in a crosswalk, and only if the walk sign is lit (if the crossing has a light). Plenty of people have been run over while jaywalking, which is a term for crossing where there are no crosswalks or against a light. Those people, or their surviving families do not get to sue for damages due to their own neglect of laws designed for their safety. Streets were built for vehicles, and they are the ones that get the most right of way.

 In the case of the two teens that started this whole thing in Missouri, they were spotted by an officer of the law walking in the street. Not crossing the street, but walking parallel to the curb. This is not only very unsafe, but against the law. A law designed to protect people, both in cars and on foot.

 I'm not sure why they decided to ignore the officer's command to move over to the sidewalk, but they continued to stay in the street after being told to take the safer route on the sidewalk. I can speculate on why disobedience was at the heart of their decision. This is the internet, so speculation on motive is my prerogative, and one of the reasons I wrote this post in the first place.

 A sense of entitlement and flaunting defiance of the law in opposition to personal safety is my opinion of the main reasons why they eschewed the sidewalk for the street. The second is social acceptance. If those boys were to follow what the officer was saying, they would be looked at in a different light by all those around them. That shame and the possibility of being shunned by their peers was greater than the chance of getting clipped by someone's SUV and ending up in a coffin that day. They had probably walked in the street for thousands of times before that day, and they weren't changing that for 'the man'. 

 If only they would have complied with the safety command, Mike Brown would still be alive today. But instead, the defiance and incomprehension of safety shown had drawn an anger from the officer who gave the order and started the events that snowballed into a the latest riots in the midwest. 

 I am not giving the officer who shot the young man dead any excuse for doing so. But I'm also not giving those two males an excuse for walking in the street in the first place. One of the first lessons of being a pedestrian was taught to me by my father when I was only five years old. As we stood on the corner of the yard he said, "Son, always look all ways before and during crossing the street". This is a safer deviation from the more common 'Look both ways before crossing the street". Safety was a primary concern for my father. He wanted me to survive long enough to make him proud. He did a pretty good job at getting me to be safe on the street, so I'm still here to try to make him proud.

 Those two defiant males may have not had such a caring father. I understand that. Lack of great parenting seems to be the main reason that there is a huge lack of respect for safety on the road. Lots of people have lacked the guidance I was tenderly given as a youngster, and I truly wish everyone was as fortunate as me. But, I've known orphans who figured stuff out on their own. They had a sense survival and common courtesy, even if they weren't instilled into them by a caring parent. I think since they lived in an area that did not see respect for others as a weakness, they had no problem following safety and the law.

 Now for the race-car driver situation. It was a total tragedy for Kevin Ward Junior, his family, and anyone who follows racing. The amount of regulations and rules designed to keep the drivers safe are astounding. Way more than my dad's one line of survival to me, these drivers have a veritable laundry list of things to do and follow to keep their lives in tact to race again another day. One of these is staying in the vehicle after a wreck. After the yellow flag is flown, there's a bit of time to wait before the driver is to be extracted. That is to say that the driver should wait for assistance before exiting the vehicle. It is very sad that the sport has been sensationalized to the point where it looks enticing to flaunt safety to exact revenge for a personal grudge against a fellow racer. 

 If only he would have followed the racing rules, he would most likely still be alive to race again. Tragedy was not averted, so we all have to deal with the outcome of this young man losing his life by being in traffic when he shouldn't have been. Such a sad way to go, for sure.

 So, if you ever find yourself without wheels, please follow the advice of my father as well as the rule of the law. It is designed to keep everyone out of danger.

 Thank you so much for taking the time to take in my viewpoint on these awful situations. Have a great day and remember to look all ways before and during a street crossing at the walk with the light.

                                                                                                                Shockgrubz

So, you want to teleport, do you?

I also would enjoy the instantaneous travel amenities that teleportation would have. Imagine paying a little more for your belly to be full with yummy veggie candy before you port to your destination?

Or how about having everyone on a contest set the hair growing function to max, and you all show up very covered in hair to guess who each other are. Winner get's to have a shear and shave first.

Just some of the randoom thoughts going through my head about now. They always happen, never really stopping. I'm certainly not down about that, even if it does cause quite a few difficulties in the 'normal' world. Not here, no. This is a place that I can just let my randoomness exploid into wonderfully insane happiness for everyone on the internet to either find and smile or pass by unaware.

 I made a logo for myself today. It really didn't take much time, so I'm thinking that means I might need to spend a little more on it to give it some extras. Here's the first version.

The first thoughts I have are Seventies(as in that time period that was groovy enough to produce Feline Stevens) and Gumby, also from that era.

 Might be considered a bit funkadelic, but I'm ready to roll with it, anyway.

On the real life front, I am gaining ground as a mentor while slipping as a breadwinner. My sage-like advice has been taken by a light-seeing friend and his payoffs are astounding.

 Been working a few odd jobs. One for this homo(now just wait aminute, I'm all for the gay peeps, homo is just short for Home Owner), who won big on a betting tip from me. Being the millionaire and rich person that he is, he shared none of his winnings. Fair enough, I say, because I chose not to spend my last fifty bucks on a longshot.

 Girlfriends are nice, but they are even nicer if you don't see them very often. That's how I feel right now, or at least what I tell myself when I'm alone and wish for her company. We have a nice, neat arrangement that doesn't let feelings ruin the fun. It's a strange day, indeed, when I start chucking feelings for a relationship. But it happened. Hopefully it continues for quite some time. My favorite part about it is the double dating. I am mad about double dates! So much so that I kinda want everyone to agree to have them filmed. I don't have the car salesman chops to pull that off, though. I hang out with too many private people for them to agree to something like that. Oh well, I can always have my way in my fantasies.

 So thanks for stopping by, having a little look at my new logo and learning just a bit more about me. I'm happy to have you here. Keep kicking gluteus shaped things! 

Life and Photography: Death of a Devoted Dame and a Dual Critique

 Hookay, I'm back and just in time for the end of spring( which feels more like late fall or early winter to me), and I've some news from life and such with some learning thrown in the bag.

 School is hool. I'm not what kind of word hool is, but if it's created sometime in the near or distant future, it will be exactly what school is to me right now.

 I received my first bad grades this semester. When I had come to terms with the subjective failures( two weeks before grades were posted), I thought of how I could improve. Going from Dean's list to D-list was something I can't afford to focus on. "Just pinpoint the mistakes and think of how to overcome them next time.", I told myself.

 This year has already been very rough. The woman that raised me passed away after v-day. It was all too quick. One day she's fine, the next in the hospital. After a week, she gives up the angel. I did not get to be at her bedside to see her last physical moments, but I was able to speak to her on the phone when she was refusing everybody's call but mine. That in itself was her way of saying that she felt I was special to her. I was still in denial of her mortality before, during, and after the short two-minute conversation. We spoke about the last game involving our favorite college team and how proud of them we were. Through her speech, there was a indication of finality. I didn't hear it then, but going back to the last words she ever said to me, I know that she believed in me and cared for me with all of her heart.

 "I love you". They sounded like a language that was more than English. It surpassed being an amalgamation of all languages interpreted into one and became the simplest human feeling. I was very blessed to not only know one of the most caring individuals on earth, but have her in my life for guidance, advice, and unconditional love. Hardly anybody gets to be lucky enough to have that kind of love.

 Since her passing I have had two would-be fatal experiences. Saved by either inexplicable or too explicable ways, I quickly attribute my physical safety to that angel that helped shape who I am. She always said I had a big heart, and it's time to show her that I can use it.

 I spoke with a new friend the other day and an idea came to me. He told  me of his friend who had a few serious health issues. The lady has leukemia, and sometimes has to wear a mask in public to keep from inhaling dust or particles that would attack her already weakened immune system. I knew that those patients had to seriously be aware of cuts and scrapes, but I had not factored in the air we breathe.

 There is a stigma to wearing any sort of medical device in public. Deep down people perceive weakness, sickness, and their own mortality when they see others around them wearing an apparatus in public. Due to this aversion of thinking about such things, those who are being helped to normalize their life through these devices are shunned and stigmatized by the society they wish to assimilate to.

 This is where my idea comes in. A designer respiration mask, worn by the afflicted in public would help shape a change in the perception of the wearers of the mask by the public. Instead of being stark-white with clinical styling, these filtering units would sport different art and graphics on them.

 Several different styles and categories come to my mind, animal faces, prints, and textures, are at the forefront. Next would be the famous robot mouths series featuring all the great binary pie-holes from television and movie history. The options go on and on.

 Now to the photographs. Since I got what I deem a bad grade in my photo class, I'm doing some off-season learning of my own. This is a comparison of two digital photographs that I took last fall. Both are from the same building and shoot. Both feature peeling paint as the main subject.

No.1

This photograph was taken at a shutter speed of 1/6th of a second with an f-stop of 5.5 and ISO set to 1600. Although the fore and background are blurry, the only in-focus area is shrouded by shadows as well as obfuscated by the sharp lines of the folded paint's edges. This could be due to my precarious position atop a chair to take the photo. If a tripod were used, there'd most likely be more mid-ground in focus. The overall composition seems better than average, however with the orientation as it is we are able to tell this was above a door frame, making it predictable. Usually peeling paint makes for great textures, but with the sections of paint here being so large, these pieces would not lend themselves to repetition easily. The lighting in this one creates good shadow play in the foreground and center, but the background is devoid of any the interesting organic curves. I describe the colors as mismatching. The pale blue and off-white seem to work well together, but mixed with the green and yellow makes the whole piece seem like an undone patchwork. This photo gets a C-.

No. 2

This photograph was taken at a shutter speed of 1/80th of a second with an f-stop of 5.6 and ISO set at 400. The first thing we notice in difference to the first photograph is the orientation. I did rotate this in my program before putting it here, but I took this with portrait orientation instead of landscape. This creates the illusion of a floor or base, instead of showcasing a wall. Floors>walls every time, plus how many times are you going to find peeling paint on floors? Not too many. The second thing we find here in contrast to the first image is that the area of focus is larger than the previous. This is probably due to my holding the camera flush against the wall before pressing the shutter. A steady shot equals less blur and more interest for sure. Even the peeling paint is curling into cones and cylinders which creates a great variety with that ever-needed element of repetition. The specular highlights from the unpeeled paint give this piece a feel of liquidity and newness. For the old to co-exist with the new is to capture a social reality in aging materials. Those peels that sport the highlights in the foreground assist the eye in moving around the photograph. This photo gets a B.

 Thanks for sticking around and reading, looking, and commenting. I'll be working on a collaboration this summer, so look forward to seeing some design work. 

 Have fun and stay on earth,

                                           Shockgrubz 

Deadlines and Life!

Seems I am doing everything I can do not to get my final projects finished. That includes the rare treat of writing you, so it's not as bad as it seems.

 I wrote a little bit on Newstuff before this one. I'm taking time out while letting glue and stuff dry to update this space.

 I found me a woman. She is very accomplished and loves her some me, so I feel a bit of stress over making sure that I don't end up seeming needy through my starving artistry phase. Although, she and I both came to an immediate agreement that this may be just for now or something else and that no one has possession of anyone else.

 The sense of freedom from jealousy has been delightful. I have yet to find someone on the same page with me in that department and with her, she's peachy keen.

 School has been going. That is one of the major reasons I don't update this blog much. It feels that much of my time has been ripped away from the computer, but now I'm able to come back and write/create it up for the summer.

 There are so many projects due and so many ways I can distract myself from doing them. Let's hope that this editing and such goes very well.

 Thanks for allowing my language to massage your retinas for a minute. Much obliged.

SS from a recent project in Blender. Fun Stuff!!

The Femininity of the Interrobang

When posing a question in an excited way, I like to utilize the interrobang. ‽

It's an amalgamation of male and female shapes. The curves of the question mark tend to remind me of a 

subtle curiosity that exists within the female form. The straightness and bold image of the exclamation point 

get me to thinking along the male way of thinking, straight and to the point. 

When I ask "What is that!?", I'd better allow the femininity of the question mark to overrule the excited state 

of the exclamation point if I expect any sort of plausible answer.

 To acknowledge that there are two opposed gender views inside of a symbol allows me to view other things

in life with the same gender-sharing qualities. There are so many things that can take on both masculine and 

feminine characteristics at the same time. And like the interrobang, it doesn't become clear until the symbol, 

or subject is viewed in a zoomed in or blown up fashion. So let's look a little closer and find the femininity in 

everything!

Just another thought in an hour I had to spare. Thank you and have a wonderful day!

‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽‽

sf city hall logged into my facebook? Wild. Please leave an invite to the next Comic-con next time, plx.

Randoom Cryptogram

 Have I ever told you that I adore cryptography? Oh, well I'm telling you now of my love for coded words and the process it takes to decrypt them. I am now going to give you my latest cryptogram.

SCPCI -UIKNA-DTKBB-CLIEM-YKDXK-BBKPC-SKDOX-DUNAB-BMOZC

PUQABB-BEMBH-XUEMS-ADKDM-QJSMK-IAGMS-MDKAU-UKDJM

LCSYK-DNADO

so, I could give you some hints, but I'll wait until someone asks in the comments. I'll edit this to include the hint.

Themes, experience, and hope for the creative future

 This year I've decided to eschew resolutions and embrace a singular theme. This change is due to the many years of not getting much of anything on my list done. A great thing about a theme is that there is no list, just one broad subject.

 The theme I've decided to go with for 2014 is "consideration of others". It's pretty broad, so I will have plenty of ways to apply it this year.

 One of the first ways is to tell you, my dear readers, that I am reading your comments and looking at your blogs. I cannot, however, comment on my own or your blogs due to some sort of technical snafu with my $20 laptop. I will be upgrading soon, so you will see my words upon your pages sometime before the second quarter.

 Consideration of others will also spill into my academic life as well. Being a Graphic Design major, I will have a chance to touch people with the messages and concepts I create through visual advertisements. The amount of creative freedom I've been given will only be as powerful as my keen sense of consideration of others, my audience.

 Also, I've started a photo group. I enjoy being unique, and there are about a gazillion photog groups around the world and they are all a bit different, but a lot of them use the same formula. I have found that formula to not work well for me, so I've changed it to account for others that may have the same feelings.

 First off, I didn't want to name it with 'walk' in the name. We are all walking when we take photos in a group(unless there is an assignment to sit in one place and just take pics of passers by), so I named it an "experience".

 Secondly, I had seen that previous groups had weekly assignments. I'm already chock-full of assignments from my classes and don't want to add to the load. Plus, I know when those not in school hear the word "assignment", it starts to feel like work and procrastination starts to rear it's ugly head. So instead of going the common route of getting people to take pics outside of the "experience", I've consolidated the whole thing into a three hour collaboration effort on the weekend.

 I had four signups this first week, but only one showed up. This may be due to my inability to use social media. I want this group to be word of mouth only, as to add to it's exclusivity. So, when my pal and I set out to work on this weeks theme, "uncommon perspective", we got out of our comfort zones and worked on getting shots that we may not have if we were working as normal.

 Out of fifty-five shots(I should have taken hundreds), I got about five I liked. Unfortunately, I have to wait for my pc upgrade to show them to you. By that time I hope to have a good amount of prime photographs to show you from a few more "experiences".

 There is a revolution in the making. It will cause much hardship to many people who are not in tune with their creative side. Their daily lives and manual labor jobs will be upended by a contingency of automated machines. The growing amount of robots will cause rise to more and more humans embracing the arts. Creativity and imagination are going to be our bread and butter in the coming days. As an artist, this excites me. I hope to help those who may find difficulties in finding the artisan within themselves. I hope to work with great artists to create assessment apps to ferret out their hidden skills.

 So, I'm still here and working to create a better tomorrow. I hope to see and hear from you soon.

P.S. Thank you Pat Hatt and Bersercules for commenting on my last post. Your consideration does make a difference.