recalcitrant
The camera is still refusing to share, so here are some great places to wander:
Antikythera Mechanism, part 2
Happy day (yes, I am that much of a geek)! I was sent this link to a beautiful piece on the Antikythera Mechanism (it looks fantastic when watched full-screen) which also has glimpses of some other re-creations I’m going to have to look into.
*[Kris Hirst's article complements the 'Nature' video and has photos and diagrams from the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.]
frustration
My camera is refusing to upload pictures of what I’m constructing today. We’ll fight it out tonight and get the photos up tomorrow.
Antikythera Mechanism
I was hoping, since the news this summer, that someone would come up with better animations of the Antikythera Mechanism but this was the best I could find (besides poor animation and visuals most of the videos have such irritating soundtracks).
*[Later note: A wonderful video with great animations is at Antikythera Mechanism, part 2, and here is a photo essay to complement it with photos, x-rays, and diagrams from the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.]
ink
I can see why some people specialize in painting, studying, rescuing, or just watching crows, besides their boldness and intelligence that playful trickster nature is hard to resist. This is one of the study photos I took for a series of works on paper – I wish I had video of the aerial acrobatics that were going on. The crows were showing off and showing up each other with somersaults and tumbling falls. Absolutely amazing.
Although West Nile virus has been especially bad for crows these last few years they keep adapting to exploit more of our technology (I first saw this in Joshua Klein’s TEDtalk which also shows a crow making a hook):
vitreous
I was thinking that I should be putting more photos of my work on here, and thinking about how dull yesterday’s post and photo were (repeated apologies to the readers who clicked in to just that post from Korea, the U.S.A., and Cork, Ireland!), but today I’ve been asked to write an article for a magazine and the part of the project I’m working on is not yet visually interesting. What to do. So then, here is one more wave from last week’s day at the beach, and I’ll be over my ocean photo quota for the season. Also over my post-about-writing-a-post quota.
And I’m thinking I shouldn’t make a habit of posting before my morning tea. Or in the hours after midnight.
empty
This sliding compartment will be held shut by a winding pin, tomorrow I’ll build the setting.
p.s. Clearly if this were to be nominated for the ‘Most Boring Post of 2008′ award the competition would slink away knowing they had no chance. And a thumbnail photo, really! I owe a thousand apologies.
beach glass
At the beach the other day it occurred to me that I have never lived more than ten miles from an ocean (not always the same one). I had a pet starfish when I was a kid, I’d get mussels and clams from the beach across the street to feed him.
Years later, and further inland, I had a enormous one-eyed frog as a pet (named Argus, of course), who would act peevish when I tricked him into eating a mouse instead of his preferred goldfish. He was actually a mouse-eating species of frog but apparently felt more comfortable as a pescatarian.
fabulous
So often people plea to keep the arts in schools because learning to play piano helps math performance, dance enhances cognition, etc. usw. I always thought why not keep the arts in schools for their own sake – because we are civilized, and they are an important part of our lives? Never mind what I say though, Sir Ken Robinson is so much more eloquent in this TED talk:
boundaries
One problem with not having a regular job is that people tend to forget I am working because when they come by and knock on the door I’m at home. Especially if my current projects are frustrating it is easy to put water on for tea and bring out the desserts, letting things go until the next day. I hate deadlines, but the occasional one helps the procrastination not get out of hand.
