Kerry + Elsa

Kerry and Elsa were married this summer in Chicago.
Elsa made these awesome coasters for her guests!
That wasn't the only awesome thing about their wedding.




Of course, it was beautiful, and lots of fun.
A big part of the fun was their photo booth idea.
On one side of the reception our photos were taken in sequence.
Kerry and Elsa had a bunch of fun props to use in the photos.
(like stuffed parrots, funny glasses, and cowboy hats..)
Then, then photos were printed out on the spot!

We had the idea to spell E-L-S-A with our 4 frames.
Amazingly, she ran into frame unknowingly at the end!
Watch our excitement grow in the photos..
Elsa saw us from across the floor, and ran over!



Congratulations to Kerry and Elsa!

Happy Halloween!

I signed up for trick-or-treat-ing visitors this year.
There was a poster downstairs in the Willowstan Park lobby.
A little girl has been growing up down the hall from me.
The poster said her and a few tiny friends were going around tonight.

I signed up on the poster because she is too cute.
When I first moved here, she was such a little one.
These days, shes talking to me and doing art and knows the alphabet.
My how much things change in 3 years!

Solving some last minute problems at work made me run a bit late.
I ended up not seeing any trick-or-treat-ers after all.
Perhaps I got home too late and missed them.
I was disappointed, which surprised myself.
It was still fun to make the sign - I think I'll leave it up a while.

I had borrowed the treats from work's snack cabinet anyways.
I better bring them back... ...I have enough cavities.
Leaving work, I wished I had some apples or fruit to give out.
But I was rushed and improvised the best I could do.
Snack cabinet.

It is actually a good thing the trick-or-treat-ers never showed up.
This mask is pretty scary.
This image or memory could have been quite harmful!
I looked in the mirror and scared myself.

I miss Karl

It really sucks watching your friends get let go.
In retrospect, I wish we would have communicated more.
Why wasn't Karl helping out up here?
He would have been a huge asset.

Why didn't I ask him to work with these tools?
Why didn't he ask me about the engine?

Hindsight.
20/20.

Fixed Tangents

I am glad I can do pre-viz animation and get paid!
Fun stuff - I guess I am a jack of all trades, king of none.

Grizzly Beer

I found a box of crap from college.
It yielded many treasures.
Like a single bottle cap.
(just what I needed for my floor mat)
Also, a complete book series on wizardry.
Informative motorcycle pamphlets.
Unimportant newspaper clippings.
A swimsuit calendar.
A CINEFEX or two.
Rebate checks.
Unpaid bills.
Loan info.
Goodbye.

Eye Glass Repair

Mom buys lots of cheap seeing glasses.
She has a pair just about everywhere - for convenience.
In her car, in the bathroom, in a jacket pocket.
They help her see close up.

She has been using these non-prescription glass for some time.
At least two or three years now, I believe.

The last time I visited her, I was sent home with some.
You see, Mom struggles with eye glass repair.
(remember, she needs aided for seeing close up)

Being cheep and everywhere makes damage just around the corner.
Some of the ones I brought home simply needed new hinge screws.
Others were smashed or stripped or sliced beyond repair.

I had just the visual acuity and mini-tool set to do this job justice.
It feels good to do work for someone you love.

Ring Bore

I like to use this large janitor style key ring.
It enables me to use a single ring for all of my keys.
In isolating a key for use, the remaining keys slide away.
The selected key is glorified in isolation.
The unused keys cower in passive respect for the one in use.

I had to modify my Wyoming bottle opener, though!
The large key ring requires a larger than stock bore!

Drilled June 28th, 2009
(note the screen wasn't broken on my camera.
I was able to toggle 'macro' mode.)

lego music

wow.

Steering Stabilizer

A steering stabilizer is basically a lateral shock absorber.
It attaches to the axle and the drag link.
All modern trucks are equipped with them from the factory.

Bump-steer occurs when your tire hits something and turns.
For instance, running over a curb on one side.
Steering stabilizers minimize the tendency for your tires to turn.
This keeps the steering wheel from being ripped from your hands.

I installed a new steering stabilizer after upgrading my steering.
This will aide in combating a phenomenon called bump-steer.

Parts, Pre-assembly/Installation:

Black poly bushings are pressed into the shock eyelets.
I used a hammer to start them, and a C-clamp to seat them.

A bracket is clamped the drag link with 2 U-bolts.
The shock is bolted to the axle to determine bracket placement.

The shock is now bolted to the bracket.

Steering stabilizer is installed.

STOP WORK started

Why does destruction sound so scary?
As I walked down the stairwell to work..
..I heard sledgehammers on the other side of the wall.
The concrete shuddered with each swing.

Apparently, they got their permits.

STOP WORK, make friends.

Change Hurts, Change is Good
My building was sold this July.
We now have new managers, new methods.

I am so sad to see Norman go.
Norman was a wonderful friend and building manager.
He was by far a friend before anything else.
When I rented my space, he went with vibe.
We talked about it, and felt it, as I applied.
He said 'I can just tell about people'...
...Norman built a community here.

All of my neighbors are wonderfully unique.
This is true of all people, I suppose.
Anyways, my building is a kind and friendly place.
For 10 years, Norman built this consciousness.

But that era ended with the new owners.
They are 'improving' things.
Change is hard and difference is different.
But not all change hurts.

You see..
..we have had new energy efficient lighting installed!
This is excellent (I even wrote a thank you card)!
Ultimately, though, the new management style is..
..abrasive.

I have embraced this reality.
I strive to make the best of it.

The new guard is the old guard.
Where compassion once reigned supreme..
..cold calculation now designates.
Norman was young, and all about community.
John, the new manager, is older and more rigid.
John is very nice, though, and I like him a lot.

I will describe the new changes some other time.
And document my reactions and reflections.
I need time for perspective first.

The short version:
My building was sold, and the future is different.
I used to write rent checks to 'Churchill Property Group'
Now they are written to 'Chartwell Construction INC'
It is scary to write to a construction company.
They are replacing windows and renovating kitchens.
This is good, but already I miss the quaint past.

Recently, the City of Vancouver posted this out front.
It is a Stop Work order, for failure to acquire permits.
The City Inspector noticed new interior/exterior constructions.
These included new windows, dry wall work, and plumbing.
It is interesting how this information is posted publicly.





I'm not sure how to feel about it.
I want confidence in the new owners of my building.
There is a militaristic ordinance vibe in manager-to-tenant interactions.
If they would only show such diligence in how they run their business!
i.e. permit acquisition..

So, I embrace the new rigidity, in all its hypocrisy.
Making friends makes life easier.

Skate

The Skate3 team wrapped up deveolpment this summer.
They have now moved on to other projects.
There was a bunch of reference materials laying around.
Reference for a skateboarding game is.. ..awesome.
It comes in the form of skateboards and wheels..
..t-shirts, bearings, and many other awesome things!


I was able to score some good loot:
* 3 sets of trucks
* 2 decks
* 1 set of wheels

(thanks to my friend karl on the team)

Kerry is my only true skateboarding friend here.
I decided to give him a new deck and trucks.
He recently got married, lets call it a wedding gift.
So, Kerry came over and we drank a beer while setting up.
Fun!

New gear ready for set-up.


My new board is signed by Professional Skateboarder Colin McKay.


I didn't hesitate to slap on the new grip tape right over his signature.


Gripped, ready for wheels and trucks.


Set up and ready to skate!

designing the Post-Materialist age

A long time ago, I ripped this page out of a magazine.
I recall a fondness for the background design.
Forgotten to me, was the meaning of the text.
Today, while using this page to decorate a package, I re-read it.
I am glad I did, as it is very inspiring and profound.

The text describes a future unbound by consumption, sounds perfect.
A transition to such will be tough in my opinion, as we are built to consume.
Almost every living thing is built to consume.
Our lives and societies are built around corporate consumption on all fronts.

Against these odds..
..our contributions and attitudes towards society will mold our future.



Here is what the page said:

"De Stijl, Bauhaus, constructivism and Dada ... Heartfield, Dumbar and Kalman ... Design has long stood at the forefront of aesthetic and political change. But after the Second World War we became entangled in the thicket of consumer capitalism and lost our way. Our magazines decayed into toxic mindscapes - noisy, fractured places ruled by ads. We designed millions of glittering, short-lived products to spend eternity in the purgatory of landfills. We championed consumption, aestheticized and validated waste and constructed false emotional glows around brands. For 50 years we glorified corporate power and kissed corporate ass. The marketplace became the soul of our profession. Now facing a warming planet and precarious future, a new generation of designers is stepping beyond that sorry history to forge our professions path into the future.

Do we still have it? Can we invent a new magazine aesthetic and transcend the death of print? Can we design sustainable products and rid our cities of waste? Can we cultivate new sensibilities for our post-materialist age? There are hints of this new aesthetic in Kenya Hara's Designing Design when he talks about 'a future without artifice,' 'whispered value systems' and creating 'vehicles of thought and feeling.' There are clues of it in Jean-Marie Massaud's mission to create 'a new art de vivre' and inspired examples of it in Banksy's (and other street artists') heady mix of politics, design and the intimacies of everyday life.

The first steps in the fight for the soul of our profession are to boldly rise against the obnoxious billboards springing up in our cities, to combat the antidemocratic viruses invading cyberspace and to resist the corruption of our identities and brands. Our century will be a time of tremendous ideological clashes, paradigm shifts and meta-meme warfare on all fronts. As designers, we must be the advance guards - positioning ourselves at the forefront of mindscape. We must nurture it and care for it and make sure that there will always be wilderness, diversity and freedom there.

for the wild, Kalle"

Mikey-bot

Mikey gave me this robot.
I think he thought it was useless.
Sometimes it is hard to get rid of useless things.
Mikey and I often exchange these useless things.
It is time to take a stand!
Stay away from useless!

ENGAGED!

My lack of updates is due to overwhelming excitement!
Rachel and I are getting married!
The whole world should know!

I have been looking for the perfect ring for her for ages.
At least 6 months now - its true!
Rae and I have known we were made for one another since we first met.
We mutually exchanged our vows through what we call an electric excitement!
It could be felt in the air the first time we made eye contact.
The rest, is, and always will be, history!
I feel like the luckiest man alive.



More about her ring, later!

cabby found!

thank goodness!
my sister's car was stolen a week and a half ago..
..thankfully it was found and impounded.