Sunday, May 8, 2011
journal13
Larry Lessing spoke of remixing and recreating. He shows this through a comedic yet interesting way. Each video clip shown was very unique in its own way. It seems that today it has become harder and harder to come up with brand new never done before ideas. So, we as a culture have taken to refreshing and remaking things in a new light. He also started off talking about how business and law are choking creativity, but times change and so do laws.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Journal12
Each of the videos were very inspirational. Paula made many good points about process and how she works by instinct. I feel many times the first idea tends to work out the best, but on many occasions it isn't till the end that something finally clicks. so, process is set to weed out all the bad ideas and make sure you have thought about your idea in the round. David spoke about designing through self indulgence. if you feel the design is right then go with it. design to what YOU like, what YOU feel is right. The last designer i watched was lawrence weiner. I thought his work was simple but powerful. his ideas about the universe and the his example of the stone and what it could be used for was powerful and thought provoking. oh and i really enjoyed his beard and how soft spoken and wise his words felt.
journal11
Debbie Millman is President of the Design division at Sterling Brands, New York, host of the radio show "Design Matters" on DesignObserver.com, the Chair of the new Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts, a contributing Editor at Print Magazine, and a design blogger for Fast Company. She is the President of AIGA and the author of three books.
I listened to the talk with Steve Frykholm. It was interesting to hear about his start in the peace core. My cousin was in el Salvador for 2 years in the peace core, so it is always interesting to hear about other peoples experiences abroad. Also, interesting that he grew up in KS. I really like how he has been everywhere and has worked in such a broad variety of work. over all the interview shows that life is full of twists and turns and to never leave an opportunity left behind.
I listened to the talk with Steve Frykholm. It was interesting to hear about his start in the peace core. My cousin was in el Salvador for 2 years in the peace core, so it is always interesting to hear about other peoples experiences abroad. Also, interesting that he grew up in KS. I really like how he has been everywhere and has worked in such a broad variety of work. over all the interview shows that life is full of twists and turns and to never leave an opportunity left behind.
journal10
GOOD is good. It has many links to a wide variety of media. quite inspirational. everything has a purpose. personally i enjoyed looking through all of the infographics and observing the array of different topics they cover. The videos were intriguing. great bled of type and graphic illustrations. the two i watched were very similar. in both i liked to continuos music in the background combined with the narration then the little sprinkles of sound fx here and there. over all the i bookmarked good, and hope to maybe subscribe to the magazine.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
PROBLEMS OF YESTERDAY, TODAY
Who is speaking? Ronald Reagan
Why was/is the speech important to society? For the first time, an inauguration ceremony was held on the terrace of the West Front of the Capitol. Chief Justice Warren Burger administered the oath of office to the former broadcaster, screen actor, and Governor of California. In the election of 1980, the Republicans won the White House and a majority in the Senate. On inauguration day, American hostages held by the revolutionary government of Iran were released.
Why do you feel in is important or interesting? The issues he speaks about are still an issue today, 30 years later.
What is the emotion, mood, tone, personality, feeling of the speech? He speaks of a reform and of change. Dispair is in his voice, but confidence to lead us to a better tomorrow.
What is intonation, emphasis, what is loud, stressed, or soft. Where are there pauses... Economics, today, WE, bonded, deficit, "those who Do work", decades, etc.
What do you FEEL should be loud or soft, long pause or rushed? his run ons are quickly spoke, and when he used pronouns he draws them out.
Is there a call to action? When listening to it what are key/emphasized words? Gov't is the problem. STOP OVER SPENDING
How does it make you feel? doomed, concerned, ready to take action.
How do you imagine that the audience felt? the same way I do, cheated and weighed down with the burdens of the past.
Could there be another interpretation of the speech? Over run the gov't, our grandparents screwed us over, or a call to save ourselves from digging a deeper hole.
Write/find a short bio, of the person giving the speech.
At the end of his two terms in office, Ronald Reagan viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his innovative program known as the Reagan Revolution, which aimed to reinvigorate the American people and reduce their reliance upon Government. He felt he had fulfilled his campaign pledge of 1980 to restore "the great, confident roar of American progress and growth and optimism."
On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. He attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way through Eureka College. There, he studied economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays. Upon graduation, he became a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood. During the next two decades he appeared in 53 films.
From his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman, he had two children, Maureen and Michael. Maureen passed away in 2001. In 1952 he married Nancy Davis, who was also an actress, and they had two children, Patricia Ann and Ronald Prescott.
As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan became embroiled in disputes over the issue of Communism in the film industry; his political views shifted from liberal to conservative. He toured the country as a television host, becoming a spokesman for conservatism. In 1966 he was elected Governor of California by a margin of a million votes; he was re-elected in 1970.
Ronald Reagan won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to 49 for President Jimmy Carter.
On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty. His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar.
Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and Government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit.
A renewal of national self-confidence by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. Their victory turned away Democratic challengers Walter F. Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro.
In 1986 Reagan obtained an overhaul of the income tax code, which eliminated many deductions and exempted millions of people with low incomes. At the end of his administration, the Nation was enjoying its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression.
In foreign policy, Reagan sought to achieve "peace through strength." During his two terms he increased defense spending 35 percent, but sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union. In dramatic meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Reagan declared war against international terrorism, sending American bombers against Libya after evidence came out that Libya was involved in an attack on American soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub.
By ordering naval escorts in the Persian Gulf, he maintained the free flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war. In keeping with the Reagan Doctrine, he gave support to anti-Communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, and Africa.
Overall, the Reagan years saw a restoration of prosperity, and the goal of peace through strength seemed to be within grasp.
RONALD REAGAN: FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS
Senator Hatfield, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President, Vice President Bush, Vice President Mondale, Senator Baker, Speaker O'Neill, Reverend Moomaw, and my fellow citizens:
To a few of us here today this is a solemn and most momentous occasion, and yet in the history of our nation it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place, as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of ma in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.
Mr. President, I want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition. By your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our Republic.
The business of our nation goes forward. These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.
Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, human misery, and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.
But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.
You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we're not bound by that same limitation? We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding: We are going to begin to act, beginning today.
The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we as Americans have the capacity now, as we've had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.
We hear much of special interest groups. Well, our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we're sick—professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truckdrivers. They are, in short, "We the people," this breed called Americans.
Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunities for all Americans with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination. Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work. Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs. All must share in the productive work of this "new beginning," and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy. With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America, at peace with itself and the world.
So, as we begin, let us take inventory. We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.
It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.
Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it's not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work—work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.
If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.
It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we're too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We're not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope.
We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are not heroes, they just don't know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter, and they're on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They're individuals and families whose taxes support the government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet, but deep. Their values sustain our national life.
Now, I have used the words "they" and "their" in speaking of these heroes. I could say "you" and "your," because I'm addressing the heroes of whom I speak—you, the citizens of this blessed land. Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God.
We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup. How can we love our country and not love our countrymen; and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they're sick, and provide opportunity to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?
Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic "yes." To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I've just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy.
In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity. Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government. Progress may be slow, measured in inches and feet, not miles, but we will progress. It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles there will be no compromise.
On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, president of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, "Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of . . . . On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves."
Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children, and our children's children. And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world. We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.
To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen our historic ties and assure them of our support and firm commitment. We will match loyalty with loyalty. We will strive for mutually beneficial relations. We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for our own sovereignty is not for sale.
As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it, now or ever.
Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act. We will maintain sufficient strength to prevail if need be, knowing that if we do so we have the best chance of never having to use that strength.
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.
I'm told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I'm deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inaugural Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.
This is the first time in our history that this ceremony has been held, as you've been told, on this West Front of the Capitol. Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista, opening up on this city's special beauty and history. At the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.
Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man, George Washington, father of our country. A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly. He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence. And then, beyond the Reflecting Pool, the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery, with its row upon row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David. They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom.
Each one of those markers is a monument to the kind of hero I spoke of earlier. Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno, and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Vietnam.
Under one such marker lies a young man, Martin Treptow, who left his job in a small town barbershop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.
We're told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading, "My Pledge," he had written these words: "America must win this war. Therefore I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone."
The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.
And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans.
God bless you, and thank you.
Why was/is the speech important to society? For the first time, an inauguration ceremony was held on the terrace of the West Front of the Capitol. Chief Justice Warren Burger administered the oath of office to the former broadcaster, screen actor, and Governor of California. In the election of 1980, the Republicans won the White House and a majority in the Senate. On inauguration day, American hostages held by the revolutionary government of Iran were released.
Why do you feel in is important or interesting? The issues he speaks about are still an issue today, 30 years later.
What is the emotion, mood, tone, personality, feeling of the speech? He speaks of a reform and of change. Dispair is in his voice, but confidence to lead us to a better tomorrow.
What is intonation, emphasis, what is loud, stressed, or soft. Where are there pauses... Economics, today, WE, bonded, deficit, "those who Do work", decades, etc.
What do you FEEL should be loud or soft, long pause or rushed? his run ons are quickly spoke, and when he used pronouns he draws them out.
Is there a call to action? When listening to it what are key/emphasized words? Gov't is the problem. STOP OVER SPENDING
How does it make you feel? doomed, concerned, ready to take action.
How do you imagine that the audience felt? the same way I do, cheated and weighed down with the burdens of the past.
Could there be another interpretation of the speech? Over run the gov't, our grandparents screwed us over, or a call to save ourselves from digging a deeper hole.
Write/find a short bio, of the person giving the speech.
At the end of his two terms in office, Ronald Reagan viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his innovative program known as the Reagan Revolution, which aimed to reinvigorate the American people and reduce their reliance upon Government. He felt he had fulfilled his campaign pledge of 1980 to restore "the great, confident roar of American progress and growth and optimism."
On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. He attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way through Eureka College. There, he studied economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays. Upon graduation, he became a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood. During the next two decades he appeared in 53 films.
From his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman, he had two children, Maureen and Michael. Maureen passed away in 2001. In 1952 he married Nancy Davis, who was also an actress, and they had two children, Patricia Ann and Ronald Prescott.
As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan became embroiled in disputes over the issue of Communism in the film industry; his political views shifted from liberal to conservative. He toured the country as a television host, becoming a spokesman for conservatism. In 1966 he was elected Governor of California by a margin of a million votes; he was re-elected in 1970.
Ronald Reagan won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to 49 for President Jimmy Carter.
On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty. His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar.
Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and Government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit.
A renewal of national self-confidence by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. Their victory turned away Democratic challengers Walter F. Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro.
In 1986 Reagan obtained an overhaul of the income tax code, which eliminated many deductions and exempted millions of people with low incomes. At the end of his administration, the Nation was enjoying its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression.
In foreign policy, Reagan sought to achieve "peace through strength." During his two terms he increased defense spending 35 percent, but sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union. In dramatic meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Reagan declared war against international terrorism, sending American bombers against Libya after evidence came out that Libya was involved in an attack on American soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub.
By ordering naval escorts in the Persian Gulf, he maintained the free flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war. In keeping with the Reagan Doctrine, he gave support to anti-Communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, and Africa.
Overall, the Reagan years saw a restoration of prosperity, and the goal of peace through strength seemed to be within grasp.
RONALD REAGAN: FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS
Senator Hatfield, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President, Vice President Bush, Vice President Mondale, Senator Baker, Speaker O'Neill, Reverend Moomaw, and my fellow citizens:
To a few of us here today this is a solemn and most momentous occasion, and yet in the history of our nation it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place, as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of ma in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.
Mr. President, I want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition. By your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our Republic.
The business of our nation goes forward. These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.
Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, human misery, and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.
But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.
You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we're not bound by that same limitation? We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding: We are going to begin to act, beginning today.
The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we as Americans have the capacity now, as we've had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.
We hear much of special interest groups. Well, our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we're sick—professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truckdrivers. They are, in short, "We the people," this breed called Americans.
Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunities for all Americans with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination. Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work. Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs. All must share in the productive work of this "new beginning," and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy. With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America, at peace with itself and the world.
So, as we begin, let us take inventory. We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.
It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.
Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it's not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work—work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.
If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.
It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we're too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We're not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope.
We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are not heroes, they just don't know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter, and they're on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They're individuals and families whose taxes support the government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet, but deep. Their values sustain our national life.
Now, I have used the words "they" and "their" in speaking of these heroes. I could say "you" and "your," because I'm addressing the heroes of whom I speak—you, the citizens of this blessed land. Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God.
We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup. How can we love our country and not love our countrymen; and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they're sick, and provide opportunity to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?
Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic "yes." To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I've just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy.
In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity. Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government. Progress may be slow, measured in inches and feet, not miles, but we will progress. It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles there will be no compromise.
On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, president of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, "Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of . . . . On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves."
Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children, and our children's children. And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world. We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.
To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen our historic ties and assure them of our support and firm commitment. We will match loyalty with loyalty. We will strive for mutually beneficial relations. We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for our own sovereignty is not for sale.
As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it, now or ever.
Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act. We will maintain sufficient strength to prevail if need be, knowing that if we do so we have the best chance of never having to use that strength.
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.
I'm told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I'm deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inaugural Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.
This is the first time in our history that this ceremony has been held, as you've been told, on this West Front of the Capitol. Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista, opening up on this city's special beauty and history. At the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.
Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man, George Washington, father of our country. A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly. He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence. And then, beyond the Reflecting Pool, the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery, with its row upon row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David. They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom.
Each one of those markers is a monument to the kind of hero I spoke of earlier. Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno, and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Vietnam.
Under one such marker lies a young man, Martin Treptow, who left his job in a small town barbershop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.
We're told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading, "My Pledge," he had written these words: "America must win this war. Therefore I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone."
The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.
And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans.
God bless you, and thank you.
journal09
Jakob Trollback as a self-taught individual has done wonders with motion graphics and design in general. In his three part talk he covers a lot of ground speaking of anything from the work he has created to his personal beliefs about design and creativity. Many of his motion graphics were very powerful in their use of type and sound. one of my favorite was the one he did for the discovery channel. The transitions were flawless when switching words. Many times the word just remarkably bled into the picture it was panning and to add to this the music was emotionally effective and captured my undivided attention. I also liked the way he created short simple brandings for companies where you could use the template so universally.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Journal08
I personally like Gotham as a font that is very similar to Futura. They are both geometric sans-serifs, but gotham tends to set a bit wider. In response to Jessica Helfand's article, I found it intriguing that so many people are using futura. I have been drawn to use it myself, because of its sleek geometric qualities. It is interesting that a typeface created in 1927 is now considered to be modern and hip. As a designer it seems that I do tend to lean on which typeface I like more. It seems a rookie mistake to tend towards that, so before choosing futura again, I will ask myself, "Does this portray the right meaning and feeling of what i am trying to say?"
The other article I read was by Michael Bierut. Once again it seems that Futura is causing problems. With so many people designing these days, it is becoming harder to create something completely new and fresh. It seems our only chance left right now is to remix what has come before us. I hope I do not fall victim of ignorance in design. There is much to learn yet.
The other article I read was by Michael Bierut. Once again it seems that Futura is causing problems. With so many people designing these days, it is becoming harder to create something completely new and fresh. It seems our only chance left right now is to remix what has come before us. I hope I do not fall victim of ignorance in design. There is much to learn yet.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Journal06
“What single example of design inspires you most?”
“What problem should design solve next?”
I agree with Georgia Christensen, that it is almost impossible to figure out one thing that inspires us more. Also, I continue to agree that the next thing that needs to be tackled is public transportation. My brother works for the Lawrence Public Transit. So, I have a small insight into what it is like to move people from place to place efficiently.
Daniel Pink nominated the eraser as an example of inspirational design. Not a bad idea, I use my eraser quite often and I have used the backspace button several times in creating this post. The erasing idea is to clean away the mistakes to make way for a new and better idea.
Pete Docter had a great introduction and a clever way capturing my attention. He believes story is both the most inspirational and the problem design should solve next. Interesting on how much one can looking into a story and analyze it to figure it out.
K. Kirk & N. Stranberg both are inspired by the iPhone. I also am inspired by apple and the inovation apple brings about. Sadly, I feel like we need to start working for more interaction between human and human instead of hardwiring ourselves to a server.
Finally, Marc Lathuilliére spoke wonderfully about his inspiration. I am truly intrigued by his favorite book Pornographe. I agree to never judge a book by its cover. I also agree with his idea of creating more diversity and this idea of being aable to speak in more ways and move away from compete simplicity.
“What problem should design solve next?”
I agree with Georgia Christensen, that it is almost impossible to figure out one thing that inspires us more. Also, I continue to agree that the next thing that needs to be tackled is public transportation. My brother works for the Lawrence Public Transit. So, I have a small insight into what it is like to move people from place to place efficiently.
Daniel Pink nominated the eraser as an example of inspirational design. Not a bad idea, I use my eraser quite often and I have used the backspace button several times in creating this post. The erasing idea is to clean away the mistakes to make way for a new and better idea.
Pete Docter had a great introduction and a clever way capturing my attention. He believes story is both the most inspirational and the problem design should solve next. Interesting on how much one can looking into a story and analyze it to figure it out.
K. Kirk & N. Stranberg both are inspired by the iPhone. I also am inspired by apple and the inovation apple brings about. Sadly, I feel like we need to start working for more interaction between human and human instead of hardwiring ourselves to a server.
Finally, Marc Lathuilliére spoke wonderfully about his inspiration. I am truly intrigued by his favorite book Pornographe. I agree to never judge a book by its cover. I also agree with his idea of creating more diversity and this idea of being aable to speak in more ways and move away from compete simplicity.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Answers to Some Questions?
What are the advantages of a multiple column grid?
A multiple column grid organizes a layout and acts as an guide for placing information in a stronger hierarchy. It allows for complex information to be well-guided and seamless for linear reading and understanding.
How many characters is optimal for a line length, words per line?
50-65 characters works best for line length. There should be anywhere from 6-8 words per line.
Why is the baseline grid used in design?
It allows for the bottom of every line of text to be set at similar increments, thus all of lines match up across the columns and create visual rhythm.
What is a typographic river?
Gaps that appear to run down a paragraph of text, due to a coincidental alignment of spaces. They can occur regardless of the space setting, but are most noticeable with wide inter-word spaces caused by full text justification or monospaced fonts.
From the readings what does clothesline or flow line mean?
An imaginary line that aligns text horizontally to allow for good readability and flow.
How can you incorporate white space into your designs?
White or negative space can be incorporated into designs by grouping or breaking up text into sections. Also leaving margins blank and maintaining asymmetry in white space makes for a dynamic composition.
What is type color/texture mean?
Typographic color is determined by the typeface, weight, spacing, leading, line length and more. It can be used to create depth, contrast, and varying densities and values throughout the design.
What is x-height, how does it effect type color?
X-height is the height from the baseline to usually the top of a lowercase letter in a typeface. It affects typographic color because it can give the copy varying values of color through its size differentiation.
In justification or H&J terms what do the numbers: minimum, optimum, maximum mean?
Minimum refers to the least amount of words before and after a hyphen. Maximum refers to the space being manipulated so the right and left margins are straight. Optimum refers to fitting the most amount of words in a given space with consideration to page style.
What are some ways to indicate a new paragraph. Are there any rules?
There are many ways. It can be done through use of rules, color fields, dropcaps, different font-styles like bold or italic, weight, leading, size, indentation, highlights, spacing, and more. The only rule I know of is to not indent the first paragraph.
What are some things to look out for when hyphenating text.
Make sure there are no more than 3 consecutive hyphenated words. Avoid frequent hyphenating, and avoid hyphenating headings.
What is a literature?
Art of written work
What does CMYK and RGB mean?
CMYK is the acronym for Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black and is commonly used in the color printing process. RGB means Red-Green-Blue and is an additive color spectrum that reproduces vast arrays of color in a similar way CMYK does, but is predominately used in electronic color display.
What does hanging punctuation mean?
Hanging punctuation is when the first quotation hangs outside the line of copy.
What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe?
A foot mark is a straight line used for measurement, while an apostrophe is a single quotation mark used to close a word
What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?
Quote marks indicate dialogue or speech, inch marks represent measurement.
What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used.
Hyphens are used to break words and lines. En dashes are used between words indicating duration of time. Em dashes are used for sudden changes in thought.
What are ligatures, why are they used, when are they not used, what are common ligatures
Ligatures are single forms incorporating two or more letters, parts that touch or overlap for instance fi and fl. A set of standard ligatures would be- fi fl ff ffl or ffi. There are also special ligatures in which an extended set of many letters are combined for visual effect. The designer may choose when to use ligatures.
A multiple column grid organizes a layout and acts as an guide for placing information in a stronger hierarchy. It allows for complex information to be well-guided and seamless for linear reading and understanding.
How many characters is optimal for a line length, words per line?
50-65 characters works best for line length. There should be anywhere from 6-8 words per line.
Why is the baseline grid used in design?
It allows for the bottom of every line of text to be set at similar increments, thus all of lines match up across the columns and create visual rhythm.
What is a typographic river?
Gaps that appear to run down a paragraph of text, due to a coincidental alignment of spaces. They can occur regardless of the space setting, but are most noticeable with wide inter-word spaces caused by full text justification or monospaced fonts.
From the readings what does clothesline or flow line mean?
An imaginary line that aligns text horizontally to allow for good readability and flow.
How can you incorporate white space into your designs?
White or negative space can be incorporated into designs by grouping or breaking up text into sections. Also leaving margins blank and maintaining asymmetry in white space makes for a dynamic composition.
What is type color/texture mean?
Typographic color is determined by the typeface, weight, spacing, leading, line length and more. It can be used to create depth, contrast, and varying densities and values throughout the design.
What is x-height, how does it effect type color?
X-height is the height from the baseline to usually the top of a lowercase letter in a typeface. It affects typographic color because it can give the copy varying values of color through its size differentiation.
In justification or H&J terms what do the numbers: minimum, optimum, maximum mean?
Minimum refers to the least amount of words before and after a hyphen. Maximum refers to the space being manipulated so the right and left margins are straight. Optimum refers to fitting the most amount of words in a given space with consideration to page style.
What are some ways to indicate a new paragraph. Are there any rules?
There are many ways. It can be done through use of rules, color fields, dropcaps, different font-styles like bold or italic, weight, leading, size, indentation, highlights, spacing, and more. The only rule I know of is to not indent the first paragraph.
What are some things to look out for when hyphenating text.
Make sure there are no more than 3 consecutive hyphenated words. Avoid frequent hyphenating, and avoid hyphenating headings.
What is a literature?
Art of written work
What does CMYK and RGB mean?
CMYK is the acronym for Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black and is commonly used in the color printing process. RGB means Red-Green-Blue and is an additive color spectrum that reproduces vast arrays of color in a similar way CMYK does, but is predominately used in electronic color display.
What does hanging punctuation mean?
Hanging punctuation is when the first quotation hangs outside the line of copy.
What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe?
A foot mark is a straight line used for measurement, while an apostrophe is a single quotation mark used to close a word
What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?
Quote marks indicate dialogue or speech, inch marks represent measurement.
What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used.
Hyphens are used to break words and lines. En dashes are used between words indicating duration of time. Em dashes are used for sudden changes in thought.
What are ligatures, why are they used, when are they not used, what are common ligatures
Ligatures are single forms incorporating two or more letters, parts that touch or overlap for instance fi and fl. A set of standard ligatures would be- fi fl ff ffl or ffi. There are also special ligatures in which an extended set of many letters are combined for visual effect. The designer may choose when to use ligatures.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Time for Change
Clement Mok wrote an interesting article on the change graphic designers are pushing for. The article speaks about how designers are needing to push for more professionalism. As a student I am interested in where the design community is progressing to. It is difficult to completely comprehend the way designers worked in the past as the work horses for larger corporations. Much of the reason why many businesses do well is due to amazing design. The amount of thought put into advertising is astounding and underrated. This article states that we as designers need to be heard. We need to rise up and push for a better tomorrow. Start thinking about where we want to go.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
journal05
Jonathan Harris is a computer wiz. He combines his computer science knowledge with architecture, statistics, storytelling and design. Harris speaks about how technology consumes life. His speech is full of sorrow and the problems with trying to create art with technology. He continues talking about how he feels like he is a slave to his computer. This thought scares me. I have always tried to balance my time at my computer with time with real people and my sketch book. It is terrible to think on how efficient the internet and technology can make social life. Nothing compares to actual human contact. I have always preferred to talk to someone in person than over the internet or phone. To write code is a completely different language, it can make you lose your humanity. But to know it helps create your own "space". When Harris talks about how people have their own "housing" on the internet. He speaks so truly, so very interesting on how companies can sell the same space to hundreds of thousands of people. I agree with his statement on how designers need to help push for humanity rather than technology. It is quite interesting the way the mind is moving toward code. This idea of the mind computing like a computer is similar to the novels I am reading right now by Frank Herbert. These novels were written in the 60's and 70's, so it is interesting that humanity is becoming immersed in technology. Maybe soon these books may come near to reality? hahaha
Journal04
Bruce Mau is the Chief Creative Officer of Bruce Mau Design. Clients of his Chicago and Toronto studios include Coca-Cola, McDonald's, MTV, Arizona State University, Miami's American Airlines Arena, New Meadowlands Stadium, Frank Gehry, Herman Miller, Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus, and the feature length documentary The 11th Hour. Since founding his studio in 1985, Mau has used design and optimism to originate, innovate, and renovate businesses, brands, products, and experiences.
15. Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
I chose this mantra because knowledge is so important. Also, you never want to look a fool if you do something wrong because you didn't question what you were doing. Sometimes little things can become big problems. For example, When i was in middle school I worked for our neighbor who trained dogs professionally. I learned very quick to make sure I was doing things correctly and the way she wanted. I found this out my first day when I was letting the dogs out to air from the kennels. It was a rainy day and I thought all I had to do was let the dog out and clean the kennel while it ran about and did its business. It went well for the first few kennels but then I got to this energetic mixed lab. I let it out and it took off with a vengeance. I began to clean its cage and did not pay attention to the dog much, thinking it would come back when it was done. Little did I know that I was supposed to put a lead on it and watch this one. I felt stupid that I did not take the time to ask if I was supposed to take special care with any of them. The thought had crossed my mind but it seemed dumb to ask, because I assumed the dogs were all well trained. In the end it took a while but we finally got the dog back and I got my ass chewed.
15. Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
I chose this mantra because knowledge is so important. Also, you never want to look a fool if you do something wrong because you didn't question what you were doing. Sometimes little things can become big problems. For example, When i was in middle school I worked for our neighbor who trained dogs professionally. I learned very quick to make sure I was doing things correctly and the way she wanted. I found this out my first day when I was letting the dogs out to air from the kennels. It was a rainy day and I thought all I had to do was let the dog out and clean the kennel while it ran about and did its business. It went well for the first few kennels but then I got to this energetic mixed lab. I let it out and it took off with a vengeance. I began to clean its cage and did not pay attention to the dog much, thinking it would come back when it was done. Little did I know that I was supposed to put a lead on it and watch this one. I felt stupid that I did not take the time to ask if I was supposed to take special care with any of them. The thought had crossed my mind but it seemed dumb to ask, because I assumed the dogs were all well trained. In the end it took a while but we finally got the dog back and I got my ass chewed.
journal03
Stefan Sagmeister is wonderfully quirky and subtly funny. He has done great work with packaging for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones, HBO, the Guggenheim Museum and Time Warner. I personally enjoyed his position of being happy while designing. Quite humorous with the images of the designers. He also talks about other designers work and how it made him happy. I thought the idea of the word bubbles was great, but the box with the open sky was brilliant. Over all his list of things that he like about his job seemed to be what I would hope my life will be like as a professional designer.
I also watched Sir Ken Robinson and Scott McCloud. Ken Robinson's presentation made me think very deeply about today's society and the way we are educating today. The idea he brought up about how we are teaching children for the future that we cannot even predict, caught my attention the most. It is crazy to think that things can change so much in five years. Scott McCloud spoke about his past and family and how it has affected his life. So interesting that his father was blind and still an amazing inventor and engineer. His father's faith in him even when he cannot see lead to him speaking about how certain people could see the shape of the future. It is interesting to listen to Scott after listening to Ken, because each talk of the future. Yet Scott speaks more of how we see. His list of the four basic principles is one to live by.
Learn from everyone
Follow no-one
Watch for patterns
Work like hell
All in all these designers are looking to the future to try and make the world a happier place.
I also watched Sir Ken Robinson and Scott McCloud. Ken Robinson's presentation made me think very deeply about today's society and the way we are educating today. The idea he brought up about how we are teaching children for the future that we cannot even predict, caught my attention the most. It is crazy to think that things can change so much in five years. Scott McCloud spoke about his past and family and how it has affected his life. So interesting that his father was blind and still an amazing inventor and engineer. His father's faith in him even when he cannot see lead to him speaking about how certain people could see the shape of the future. It is interesting to listen to Scott after listening to Ken, because each talk of the future. Yet Scott speaks more of how we see. His list of the four basic principles is one to live by.
Learn from everyone
Follow no-one
Watch for patterns
Work like hell
All in all these designers are looking to the future to try and make the world a happier place.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
personas
Keagan is a 16-year-old male. He is a high school senior and is youngest in his class. He enjoys playing chess and computer games, such as Age of Empires and StarCraft. When he is not going to school or playing video games, Keagan swims at the public indoor pool. Over the summer he is a lifeguard there and has his certification in water safety, so he can teach little kids to swim. Keagan plans to go to college in the fall and study aerospace engineering. When asked if he could go anywhere in the world where would he go, he replied: the moon.
Janne, is a 20 year old female struggling with her sexuality. In high school she was the captain of her volleyball team. She never dated anyone till she moved away from home after her senior year. Janne never had friends that were girls besides those on her volleyball team. She mainly hung out with the boys. As a young child she preferred to be outside playing in the mud rather than inside playing with dolls. She has never been stylish and usually buys her clothes from Finishline. The last time she was in a dress was prom and her mom forced her into it. Today she studies to become a large animal veterinarian and work with horses.
Philipo, is a 35 year old male who works on Wall Street. Over the years he has become quite wealthy. With his extra money that he doesn’t invest, Philipo buys vintage action figures and G.I. Joes. He currently has no wife, but is dating a smart 23-year-old female studying linguistics. They met at a vintage dolls convention and have been together for two years. Philipo plans to ask her to marry him soon. Currently they live together in a luxurious studio apartment. He rides a 2011 Honda CBR and drops her off every morning to her classes before he go to work. In the evenings they attend yoga together at a gym two blocks from their apartment.
Janne, is a 20 year old female struggling with her sexuality. In high school she was the captain of her volleyball team. She never dated anyone till she moved away from home after her senior year. Janne never had friends that were girls besides those on her volleyball team. She mainly hung out with the boys. As a young child she preferred to be outside playing in the mud rather than inside playing with dolls. She has never been stylish and usually buys her clothes from Finishline. The last time she was in a dress was prom and her mom forced her into it. Today she studies to become a large animal veterinarian and work with horses.
Philipo, is a 35 year old male who works on Wall Street. Over the years he has become quite wealthy. With his extra money that he doesn’t invest, Philipo buys vintage action figures and G.I. Joes. He currently has no wife, but is dating a smart 23-year-old female studying linguistics. They met at a vintage dolls convention and have been together for two years. Philipo plans to ask her to marry him soon. Currently they live together in a luxurious studio apartment. He rides a 2011 Honda CBR and drops her off every morning to her classes before he go to work. In the evenings they attend yoga together at a gym two blocks from their apartment.
Journal02
Dieter Rams: ten principles for good design
Good design is innovative: innovative design always develops in coexistence with technology.
Good design makes a product useful: keep in mind it must work
Good design is aesthetic: must work and be ridiculously good looking
Good design makes a product understandable: the product should talk for itself
Good design is unobtrusive: not really a piece of art, more of a tool
Good design is honest: do not attempt to manipulate the viewer with promises that cannot be kept.
Good design is long-lasting: avoid being fashionable, as a result the design will not be antiquated.
Good design is thorough, down to the last detail: care and accuracy show respect towards the consumer.
Good design is environmentally friendly: conserves resources and minimize physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Good design is as little design as possible.
Don Norman: 3 ways good design makes you happy:
Positive thinking creates focus. When one is happier they are more susceptible to thinking outside the box.
The 3 Ways
Visceral - Emotional association through colors, sounds, etc. You can choose different typefaces to evoke certain moods.
Behavioral - Playing on the subconscious, the automatic. Good behavioral design makes the user feel in control. Design to signal certain actions or feelings.
Reflective - Looking over actions, focusing on the superego. Appealing to ideal images.
Good design is innovative: innovative design always develops in coexistence with technology.
Good design makes a product useful: keep in mind it must work
Good design is aesthetic: must work and be ridiculously good looking
Good design makes a product understandable: the product should talk for itself
Good design is unobtrusive: not really a piece of art, more of a tool
Good design is honest: do not attempt to manipulate the viewer with promises that cannot be kept.
Good design is long-lasting: avoid being fashionable, as a result the design will not be antiquated.
Good design is thorough, down to the last detail: care and accuracy show respect towards the consumer.
Good design is environmentally friendly: conserves resources and minimize physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Good design is as little design as possible.
Don Norman: 3 ways good design makes you happy:
Positive thinking creates focus. When one is happier they are more susceptible to thinking outside the box.
The 3 Ways
Visceral - Emotional association through colors, sounds, etc. You can choose different typefaces to evoke certain moods.
Behavioral - Playing on the subconscious, the automatic. Good behavioral design makes the user feel in control. Design to signal certain actions or feelings.
Reflective - Looking over actions, focusing on the superego. Appealing to ideal images.
Monday, February 7, 2011
journal01
the writers tool box, sums up many creative creation strategies. many of these strategies we have been taught though out our lives. the use of the methods help generate more ideas by helping us dig deeper. like little mind shovels. each method is different and can help in different ways.
mind map. simple, quick, and good at starting up the think tank.
concept map. relationships and associations.
free writing. 3-5 mins of writing what comes to mind. blah blah blah if needed.
brainwriting. allows the whole group to participate. not just those who can move the mouth.
word list. quick associations, one word. describe
all in all these strategies were created as was to build ideas and approach things in new ways, also to think around, behind, on top, inside, outside, up, down, over, above, below, under, and through the task at hand. personally i like the word list and mind map. they both allow for quick brain storming. they can be thought of a kind of lighter fluid to my minds smoldering coals. once applied sometimes the fire can get out of hand, sometimes it can just flare up, and sometimes if i am lucky it will get my hamburgers cooking nice!
mind map. simple, quick, and good at starting up the think tank.
concept map. relationships and associations.
free writing. 3-5 mins of writing what comes to mind. blah blah blah if needed.
brainwriting. allows the whole group to participate. not just those who can move the mouth.
word list. quick associations, one word. describe
all in all these strategies were created as was to build ideas and approach things in new ways, also to think around, behind, on top, inside, outside, up, down, over, above, below, under, and through the task at hand. personally i like the word list and mind map. they both allow for quick brain storming. they can be thought of a kind of lighter fluid to my minds smoldering coals. once applied sometimes the fire can get out of hand, sometimes it can just flare up, and sometimes if i am lucky it will get my hamburgers cooking nice!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
nice!
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2oZTaz/blog.reflexstock.com/2010/08/50-extremely-awesome-examples-of-typography/
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Book Covers
While going through the book cover archives I found a few I liked, but I found one that was just too bland and too simple to be a decent design. I found the texture of the background to be nice, but it has no connection to the story besides maybe color. Then there is an issue about the centered gill sans type that is just way too simple. all in all I yawned when I saw it.
The next image I found had wonderful hard lettered type. I enjoy the style and the color. the position is a little askew but works fine. The bright yellow and red are very attractive and pull you in.
Finally I found a nice type and image based cover. I really enjoy the old style illustration with the cursive vintage type. The authors name is a little large in comparison to the rest of the cover but over all the image and type work well together.
The next image I found had wonderful hard lettered type. I enjoy the style and the color. the position is a little askew but works fine. The bright yellow and red are very attractive and pull you in.
Finally I found a nice type and image based cover. I really enjoy the old style illustration with the cursive vintage type. The authors name is a little large in comparison to the rest of the cover but over all the image and type work well together.
sign.index.symbol
sign: Something that suggests something not immediately apparent
Verbal example: "you are a very nice guy and all..." a common statement saying i am just not into you and i see you only as a friend
Visual example: a sign with a bicycle on it suggest to drivers to be weary of bicyclers
index: Something that directly points out something
Verbal example: "watch out" an exclamation to make sure everyone is alert.
Visual example: the index at the back of a book can give the exact place for information
symbol: Something that represents something else
Verbal example: many analogies and metaphors represt another meaning
Visual example: swastika was originally a symbol for many eastern religions but was later adopted by the nazi party durning hitler's rise to power.
Verbal example: "you are a very nice guy and all..." a common statement saying i am just not into you and i see you only as a friend
Visual example: a sign with a bicycle on it suggest to drivers to be weary of bicyclers
index: Something that directly points out something
Verbal example: "watch out" an exclamation to make sure everyone is alert.
Visual example: the index at the back of a book can give the exact place for information
symbol: Something that represents something else
Verbal example: many analogies and metaphors represt another meaning
Visual example: swastika was originally a symbol for many eastern religions but was later adopted by the nazi party durning hitler's rise to power.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Book Redesign 03
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card - American author primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the only author to win both of American science fiction's top prizes in consecutive years. He is also known as a political commentator.
In the novel's opening, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin has a device removed from his neck which was used to monitor his thoughts and activities. No longer under Government surveillance, another boy, Stilson, attacks him. Ender severely injures the boy, believing that this will prevent his friends from attempting to continue bullying him. Because of the logic behind his decisionmaking, he is selected for training at the elite Battle School. After some deliberation, Ender accepts out of a sense of duty and a desire to escape from the torment he suffers at the hands of his sociopathic older brother Peter. At Battle School, the commander Hyrum Graff publicly recognizes Ender as the most intelligent attendee. This acknowledgment causes other students to resent Ender, isolating him from most of the other children. Ender soon ranks among the school's elite child soldiers, eventually achieving the school's top rank. Even after his success the other children continue to ostracize him. Ender attempts to escape his isolation and frustration in various ways, but experiences little comfort until he receives a letter from his older sister Valentine, reminding him of his reasons for attending Battle School in the first place.
Meanwhile, Valentine and Peter form an uneasy alliance. Under the aliases of "Locke" and "Demosthenes", they publish scholarly essays advocating, respectively, diplomacy and all-out war with Russia. The end goal is to create a global emergency so that Peter can seize power. Valentine, who sees Peter for who he truly is, is horrified at first, but relents when he unexpectedly reveals that he truly believes he can make the world a better place. Their writings find audiences at the highest levels of government, powerful people who (at first) have no idea they are reading the works of children. Graff eventually figures it out, however, and resolves to use Valentine as a tool to keep Ender under their control.
The Battle School brass soon promote Ender to commander of a new army called "Dragon Army" in the school's zero-gravity wargame league. He molds his young soldiers into an undefeated team, despite working with an inexperienced army. Ender's army implements innovative tactics, abolishing old methods like the use of formations in the battle room. Eventually the other commanders begin to resent him, and Ender is forced to defend himself from an assault by one particularly malicious commander, Bonzo Madrid, whom Ender unwittingly kills. At this point, it is revealed to the reader that Ender also killed Stilson, though Ender is unaware of the fact.
The Battle School administration promotes Ender to Command School ahead of schedule. In Command School, and under the tutelage of Mazer Rackham, the legendary hero of the Formic wars, Ender plays a game very similar to the Battle Room, where he commands ships in a 3-D space battle simulator. His subordinate officers are fellow students advanced early from the battle school who later become known as "Ender's jeesh". Each day the games become increasingly grueling, and Ender is slowly worn down to exhaustion. Waking and sleeping blend together as Ender nearly loses his mind, while still maintaining his military innovation and leadership. During his restless sleep he has recurring dreams of a fantasy game he played early in his training, as well as visions of the Buggers vivisecting him and removing his memories.
Ender's "final exam" consists of a scenario where bugger ships outnumber Ender's fleet a thousand to one near a planetary mass. Ender orders the use of a special weapon, the Molecular Disruption Device, against the planet itself, destroying the simulated planet and all ships in orbit. Ender makes this decision knowing that it is expressly against the respectable rules of the game, hoping that his teachers will find his ruthlessness unacceptable, remove him from command, and allow him to return home.
Soon after Ender's destruction of the "simulated" Formic fleet, Rackham tells him that all the simulations were real battles taking place with real fleets, and that he had killed all the queens on their home planet. After Ender realizes that he is responsible for the destruction of an entire race, the guilt of the xenocide sends him into depressive sleep. He also learns at this point that he had previously killed two humans, Bonzo Madrid and Stilson, which only adds to his depression.
When Ender recovers, his sister Valentine explains that war has broken out on Earth, and been resolved. Ender will not be allowed to return to Earth because his special skills are too dangerous to fall under anyone's control, namely Peter. Ender is made Governor of the first human colony on a Bugger world, and they leave together on the first colony ship. While scouting out locations for future cities, Ender discovers a message from the Formics (expressed in the form of terrain matching that of the key fantasy game Ender played while in school) that leads him to an unborn Formic queen who can communicate with him through a psychic link. She explains that her race was initially unaware that human individuals were sentient creatures. The Formic defeat in the Second Invasion awakened them to humanity's true nature, and they resolved not to attack Earth again. With direct communication impossible between the species, the only connection they were able make was with Ender's dreaming mind, but he did not know who was reaching out to him. Ender realizes that the Formics left one Queen behind for Ender to find. This was the purpose of their communications with him, through his dreams; the Queen was left behind for Ender to ultimately understand, forgive, and establish in a new home to re-populate the Formic population. Selectively withholding the fact that one 'Bugger' still lives, Ender writes a book in the Queen's voice under the pseudonym "Speaker for the Dead" entitled The Hive Queen, wherein he tells the story of the Formic race. Peter, now the Hegemon, also contacts Ender, claiming to know that Ender wrote it, and that he wishes for Ender to write a similar book, detailing Peter's life. The book is titled 'Hegemon'. Publication of both books as "The Hive Queen and the Hegemon" results in the formation of a new religion on Earth and its colonies. In the end, Ender and Valentine board a starship and start visiting many worlds, looking for the right one for the unborn Queen.
Words- space, intelligence, command, youth, conquest, political power, strategy, games, anger
maintain peace amongst the human race. the buggers came to conquer through a misunderstanding. Ender is placed under pressure by the military to learn and become one of the greatest commanders ever so they may be able to defeat the buggers.
there are many different antagonists within the book the military use ender and push him to be the best, other students are jealous of Ender's potential and intelligence and they attempt to defeat him. Also the overal threat from the space invaders trying to take over the planet earth.
"Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth." - Ender
"Human beings are free except when humanity needs them." - Colonel Graff to Ender
"Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be." -Valentine
I was told to read this book and I really enjoyed it. The ideas and plot twists were very very nice.
Orson Scott Card - American author primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the only author to win both of American science fiction's top prizes in consecutive years. He is also known as a political commentator.
In the novel's opening, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin has a device removed from his neck which was used to monitor his thoughts and activities. No longer under Government surveillance, another boy, Stilson, attacks him. Ender severely injures the boy, believing that this will prevent his friends from attempting to continue bullying him. Because of the logic behind his decisionmaking, he is selected for training at the elite Battle School. After some deliberation, Ender accepts out of a sense of duty and a desire to escape from the torment he suffers at the hands of his sociopathic older brother Peter. At Battle School, the commander Hyrum Graff publicly recognizes Ender as the most intelligent attendee. This acknowledgment causes other students to resent Ender, isolating him from most of the other children. Ender soon ranks among the school's elite child soldiers, eventually achieving the school's top rank. Even after his success the other children continue to ostracize him. Ender attempts to escape his isolation and frustration in various ways, but experiences little comfort until he receives a letter from his older sister Valentine, reminding him of his reasons for attending Battle School in the first place.
Meanwhile, Valentine and Peter form an uneasy alliance. Under the aliases of "Locke" and "Demosthenes", they publish scholarly essays advocating, respectively, diplomacy and all-out war with Russia. The end goal is to create a global emergency so that Peter can seize power. Valentine, who sees Peter for who he truly is, is horrified at first, but relents when he unexpectedly reveals that he truly believes he can make the world a better place. Their writings find audiences at the highest levels of government, powerful people who (at first) have no idea they are reading the works of children. Graff eventually figures it out, however, and resolves to use Valentine as a tool to keep Ender under their control.
The Battle School brass soon promote Ender to commander of a new army called "Dragon Army" in the school's zero-gravity wargame league. He molds his young soldiers into an undefeated team, despite working with an inexperienced army. Ender's army implements innovative tactics, abolishing old methods like the use of formations in the battle room. Eventually the other commanders begin to resent him, and Ender is forced to defend himself from an assault by one particularly malicious commander, Bonzo Madrid, whom Ender unwittingly kills. At this point, it is revealed to the reader that Ender also killed Stilson, though Ender is unaware of the fact.
The Battle School administration promotes Ender to Command School ahead of schedule. In Command School, and under the tutelage of Mazer Rackham, the legendary hero of the Formic wars, Ender plays a game very similar to the Battle Room, where he commands ships in a 3-D space battle simulator. His subordinate officers are fellow students advanced early from the battle school who later become known as "Ender's jeesh". Each day the games become increasingly grueling, and Ender is slowly worn down to exhaustion. Waking and sleeping blend together as Ender nearly loses his mind, while still maintaining his military innovation and leadership. During his restless sleep he has recurring dreams of a fantasy game he played early in his training, as well as visions of the Buggers vivisecting him and removing his memories.
Ender's "final exam" consists of a scenario where bugger ships outnumber Ender's fleet a thousand to one near a planetary mass. Ender orders the use of a special weapon, the Molecular Disruption Device, against the planet itself, destroying the simulated planet and all ships in orbit. Ender makes this decision knowing that it is expressly against the respectable rules of the game, hoping that his teachers will find his ruthlessness unacceptable, remove him from command, and allow him to return home.
Soon after Ender's destruction of the "simulated" Formic fleet, Rackham tells him that all the simulations were real battles taking place with real fleets, and that he had killed all the queens on their home planet. After Ender realizes that he is responsible for the destruction of an entire race, the guilt of the xenocide sends him into depressive sleep. He also learns at this point that he had previously killed two humans, Bonzo Madrid and Stilson, which only adds to his depression.
When Ender recovers, his sister Valentine explains that war has broken out on Earth, and been resolved. Ender will not be allowed to return to Earth because his special skills are too dangerous to fall under anyone's control, namely Peter. Ender is made Governor of the first human colony on a Bugger world, and they leave together on the first colony ship. While scouting out locations for future cities, Ender discovers a message from the Formics (expressed in the form of terrain matching that of the key fantasy game Ender played while in school) that leads him to an unborn Formic queen who can communicate with him through a psychic link. She explains that her race was initially unaware that human individuals were sentient creatures. The Formic defeat in the Second Invasion awakened them to humanity's true nature, and they resolved not to attack Earth again. With direct communication impossible between the species, the only connection they were able make was with Ender's dreaming mind, but he did not know who was reaching out to him. Ender realizes that the Formics left one Queen behind for Ender to find. This was the purpose of their communications with him, through his dreams; the Queen was left behind for Ender to ultimately understand, forgive, and establish in a new home to re-populate the Formic population. Selectively withholding the fact that one 'Bugger' still lives, Ender writes a book in the Queen's voice under the pseudonym "Speaker for the Dead" entitled The Hive Queen, wherein he tells the story of the Formic race. Peter, now the Hegemon, also contacts Ender, claiming to know that Ender wrote it, and that he wishes for Ender to write a similar book, detailing Peter's life. The book is titled 'Hegemon'. Publication of both books as "The Hive Queen and the Hegemon" results in the formation of a new religion on Earth and its colonies. In the end, Ender and Valentine board a starship and start visiting many worlds, looking for the right one for the unborn Queen.
Words- space, intelligence, command, youth, conquest, political power, strategy, games, anger
maintain peace amongst the human race. the buggers came to conquer through a misunderstanding. Ender is placed under pressure by the military to learn and become one of the greatest commanders ever so they may be able to defeat the buggers.
there are many different antagonists within the book the military use ender and push him to be the best, other students are jealous of Ender's potential and intelligence and they attempt to defeat him. Also the overal threat from the space invaders trying to take over the planet earth.
"Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth." - Ender
"Human beings are free except when humanity needs them." - Colonel Graff to Ender
"Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be." -Valentine
I was told to read this book and I really enjoyed it. The ideas and plot twists were very very nice.
Book Redesign 02
Redwall
Brian Jacques - English author best known for his Redwall series of novels, as well as the Tribes of Redwall and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series. He also completed two collections of short stories entitled The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns and Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.
A young mouse named Matthias dreams of times of adventure rather than a life of quiet servitude, but he is counseled to patience by his elders. Redwall is a fixture in the local community, set in the heart of Mossflower Woods, and was designed to be a place of refuge for the beasts of the forest in times of trouble.
Trouble arrives in the form of Cluny the Scourge, in the Summer of the Late Rose. Cluny is an evil, infamous rat, owning an extra-long tail with a poisoned barb on the end, and commander of a horde of vermin. He has only one eye, having lost the other in a battle with a pike. The foebeasts arrive at the beginning of the book and make their headquarters at the Church of St. Ninian, to the south of Redwall, with the intention of taking the Abbey for themselves.They conduct some conscription amongst the vermin in the woodlands. The Abbey inhabitants, who refuse to back down, make ready to defend themselves if necessary, especially since most of the inhabitants of the surrounding area are now within its walls. None of them are particularly martial, but Redwall folk, and indeed much of the Mossflower population, are generally described as slow to anger but fierce fighters when roused, and they are able to make an effective defense. Matthias, fearing that Cluny will still overrun them, begins a quest to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior, which is supposedly hidden somewhere within the Abbey, stored away for a time of need. He is helped particularly by Methuselah, an old and grizzled librarian mouse. Matthias is a brave-hearted young mouse, if small in stature, and as the story continues, his natural leadership abilities begin to emerge. Clues to the location of Martin's sword, as well as his shield and the sword's scabbard, have been built into the Abbey. Matthias recovers the latter two, and with Methuselah's help eventually divines where the sword is hidden. Unfortunately, it isn't there any longer, having been stolen by a wild sparrow tribe that dwells on the Abbey roof and then by an adder (snake) named Asmodeus, who appears throughout the novel to pick off wandering creatures. After killing the crazed Sparrow King, Matthias continues to the lair of the gigantic snake Asmodeus, acquiring several allies: Log-a-Log, the leader of a local band of shrews; Basil Stag Hare, wandering do-gooder and general cad, and Warbeak Sparra, the princess of the aforementioned sparrow tribe. He also befriends Captain Snow, an owl, and Squire Julian Gingivere, a cat. Matthias and Log-a-Log succeed in retrieving the sword from Asmodeus's cave (in the process killing the snake) and Matthias rushes back to Redwall to save his friends after being tipped off by the sparrows about the fall of the abbey.
Cluny, in the meanwhile, has been attempting a number of unsuccessful strategies to gain entrance to the Abbey. He has had to deal with traitors such as Sela the vixen and her son Chickenhound, who kills Methusaleh, and had also been seriously injured from a fall. When all else fails,such as a tunneling attempt, a siege tower, and a battering ram, he captures a family of dormice and forces Plumpen, the head of that family, to open one of the gates or his family will be killed. Plumpen complies but he is knocked unconscious by Cluny. However, his victory is short-lived; soon after he takes over the Abbey, Matthias returns. Matthias, his new allies, and the assembled Redwall population turn on their captors; Matthias himself takes on Cluny, and defeats him by crushing him under the Abbey's bell, called the Joseph bell. However, a great deal of damage is done and there are many casualties. Abbot Mortimer, who was inflicted by Cluny's poisoned barb, dies after proclaiming Matthias Warrior of Redwall and Brother Alf the new Abbot of Redwall.
Words- adventurous, tasty, mystery, clues, heroic, leadership, history, courage, a sense of home and safety.
The protagonist seeks to find the sword of the hero Martin so he may be able to save the Abby.
The antagonist wishes to control all of Mossflower and enslave all other animals.
"Redwalllllllll!"
"By the moonlight, on the hour,
In my threshold space lay me.
Watch the beam reflect my power,
Unite once more my sword with me.
I -- am that is, stand true for all.
O warrior mouse, protect Redwall." The Rhyme on the Back of the Door
"Fur and whisker, tooth and claw,
All who enter by our door.
Nuts and herbs, leaves and fruits,
Berries, tubers, plants and roots,
Silver fish whose life we take
Only for a meal to make." Grace, said by Abbot Mortimer at his Jubilee Feast
This book is from my childhood and has continued to capture my imagination.
Brian Jacques - English author best known for his Redwall series of novels, as well as the Tribes of Redwall and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series. He also completed two collections of short stories entitled The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns and Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.
A young mouse named Matthias dreams of times of adventure rather than a life of quiet servitude, but he is counseled to patience by his elders. Redwall is a fixture in the local community, set in the heart of Mossflower Woods, and was designed to be a place of refuge for the beasts of the forest in times of trouble.
Trouble arrives in the form of Cluny the Scourge, in the Summer of the Late Rose. Cluny is an evil, infamous rat, owning an extra-long tail with a poisoned barb on the end, and commander of a horde of vermin. He has only one eye, having lost the other in a battle with a pike. The foebeasts arrive at the beginning of the book and make their headquarters at the Church of St. Ninian, to the south of Redwall, with the intention of taking the Abbey for themselves.They conduct some conscription amongst the vermin in the woodlands. The Abbey inhabitants, who refuse to back down, make ready to defend themselves if necessary, especially since most of the inhabitants of the surrounding area are now within its walls. None of them are particularly martial, but Redwall folk, and indeed much of the Mossflower population, are generally described as slow to anger but fierce fighters when roused, and they are able to make an effective defense. Matthias, fearing that Cluny will still overrun them, begins a quest to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior, which is supposedly hidden somewhere within the Abbey, stored away for a time of need. He is helped particularly by Methuselah, an old and grizzled librarian mouse. Matthias is a brave-hearted young mouse, if small in stature, and as the story continues, his natural leadership abilities begin to emerge. Clues to the location of Martin's sword, as well as his shield and the sword's scabbard, have been built into the Abbey. Matthias recovers the latter two, and with Methuselah's help eventually divines where the sword is hidden. Unfortunately, it isn't there any longer, having been stolen by a wild sparrow tribe that dwells on the Abbey roof and then by an adder (snake) named Asmodeus, who appears throughout the novel to pick off wandering creatures. After killing the crazed Sparrow King, Matthias continues to the lair of the gigantic snake Asmodeus, acquiring several allies: Log-a-Log, the leader of a local band of shrews; Basil Stag Hare, wandering do-gooder and general cad, and Warbeak Sparra, the princess of the aforementioned sparrow tribe. He also befriends Captain Snow, an owl, and Squire Julian Gingivere, a cat. Matthias and Log-a-Log succeed in retrieving the sword from Asmodeus's cave (in the process killing the snake) and Matthias rushes back to Redwall to save his friends after being tipped off by the sparrows about the fall of the abbey.
Cluny, in the meanwhile, has been attempting a number of unsuccessful strategies to gain entrance to the Abbey. He has had to deal with traitors such as Sela the vixen and her son Chickenhound, who kills Methusaleh, and had also been seriously injured from a fall. When all else fails,such as a tunneling attempt, a siege tower, and a battering ram, he captures a family of dormice and forces Plumpen, the head of that family, to open one of the gates or his family will be killed. Plumpen complies but he is knocked unconscious by Cluny. However, his victory is short-lived; soon after he takes over the Abbey, Matthias returns. Matthias, his new allies, and the assembled Redwall population turn on their captors; Matthias himself takes on Cluny, and defeats him by crushing him under the Abbey's bell, called the Joseph bell. However, a great deal of damage is done and there are many casualties. Abbot Mortimer, who was inflicted by Cluny's poisoned barb, dies after proclaiming Matthias Warrior of Redwall and Brother Alf the new Abbot of Redwall.
Words- adventurous, tasty, mystery, clues, heroic, leadership, history, courage, a sense of home and safety.
The protagonist seeks to find the sword of the hero Martin so he may be able to save the Abby.
The antagonist wishes to control all of Mossflower and enslave all other animals.
"Redwalllllllll!"
"By the moonlight, on the hour,
In my threshold space lay me.
Watch the beam reflect my power,
Unite once more my sword with me.
I -- am that is, stand true for all.
O warrior mouse, protect Redwall." The Rhyme on the Back of the Door
"Fur and whisker, tooth and claw,
All who enter by our door.
Nuts and herbs, leaves and fruits,
Berries, tubers, plants and roots,
Silver fish whose life we take
Only for a meal to make." Grace, said by Abbot Mortimer at his Jubilee Feast
This book is from my childhood and has continued to capture my imagination.
Time for Another Redesign.
Dune
Frank Herbert - American science fiction writer born in Tacoma, Washington. A short story writer oddly known for his novels. He did not graduate from college, instead he worked as a journalist until he published his first short story The Dragon in the Sea in 1955. Then he set to work on a six year project to produce the first of the Dune Saga. During his time he wrote numerous books and pushed ecological and philosophical ideas. He died at the age of 65 in 1986.
Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, and God Emperor of Dune.
The Dosadi Experiment, The Godmakers, The White Plague
Over 23,000 years in the future, the human race has scattered throughout the known universe and populated countless planetary systems, which are ruled by aristocratic royal houses who in turn answer to the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. Science and technology have evolved far beyond that of our own time despite the prohibition of computers and artificial intelligence. Humans with highly-developed minds, called Mentats, perform the functions of computers. The CHOAM corporation is the major underpinning of the Imperial economy, with shares and directorships determining each House's income and financial leverage. Key is the control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the valuable spice melange, which gives those who ingest it extended life and some prescient awareness. Melange is crucial to space travel, which is monopolized by the Spacing Guild. Their Navigators use the spice to safely plot a course for the Guild's heighliner ships using prescience and "foldspace" technology, which allows instantaneous travel to anywhere in the universe.
The spice is also crucial to the powerful matriarchal order called the Bene Gesserit, whose main priority is to preserve and advance the human race. The secretive Bene Gesserit, often referred to as "witches," possess advanced mental and physical abilities in part developed through conditioning called prana-bindu training. A Bene Gesserit acolyte becomes a full Reverend Mother by undergoing a perilous ritual known as the spice agony, in which she ingests an otherwise lethal dose of an awareness spectrum narcotic and must render it harmless internally. Surviving the ordeal unlocks her Other Memory, the ego and memories of all her female ancestors. A Reverend Mother is warned to avoid the place in her consciousness that is occupied by the genetic memory of her male ancestors, referred to as "the place we cannot look." In light of this, the Bene Gesserit have a secret, millennia-old breeding program, the goal of which is to produce a male equivalent of a Bene Gesserit whom they call the Kwisatz Haderach. This individual would not only be able to survive the spice agony and access the masculine avenues of Other Memory, but is also expected to possess "organic mental powers (that can) bridge space and time." The Bene Gesserit intend their Kwisatz Haderach to give them the ability to control the affairs of mankind more effectively.
The planet Arrakis itself is completely covered in a desert ecosystem, hostile to most life. It is also sparsely settled by a human population of native Fremen tribes, ferocious fighters who ride the giant sandworms of the desert and whose tribal leaders are selected by defeating the former leader in combat. The Fremen also have complex rituals and systems focusing on the value and conservation of water on their arid planet; they conserve the water distilled from their dead, consider spitting an honorable greeting, and value tears as the greatest gift one can give to the dead. The novel suggests that the Fremen have adapted to the environment physiologically, with their blood able to clot almost instantly to prevent water loss. The Fremen culture also revolves around the spice, which is found in the desert and harvested with great risk from attacking sandworms. Bene Gesserit missionary efforts have also implanted a belief in a male messiah, born of a Bene Gesserit, who will one day come from off-world to transform Arrakis into a more hospitable world.
The book employs the coming of age story, it is full of different emotions and challenging ideas. words: religion, dogma, truth, good/evil, freedom, sanity, mortality, future, change, family, eugenics, gender, heroism, and environmentalism
The over all idea is to trust in oneself.
The Atreides family mainly Paul seeks to conquer the empire and bring peace to the galaxy
The Harkonnen's seek to gain control of the plant Arrakis so that they may control the spice production and gain political power and much wealth
"A popular man arouses the jealousy of the powerful." Thufir Hawat
"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience." Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam to Paul Atreides
"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it" The First Law of Mentat, quoted by Paul Atreides
This book was a very intriguing read and one of my favorite books. The series covers many great ideas and has many life lessons.
Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, and God Emperor of Dune.
The Dosadi Experiment, The Godmakers, The White Plague
Over 23,000 years in the future, the human race has scattered throughout the known universe and populated countless planetary systems, which are ruled by aristocratic royal houses who in turn answer to the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. Science and technology have evolved far beyond that of our own time despite the prohibition of computers and artificial intelligence. Humans with highly-developed minds, called Mentats, perform the functions of computers. The CHOAM corporation is the major underpinning of the Imperial economy, with shares and directorships determining each House's income and financial leverage. Key is the control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the valuable spice melange, which gives those who ingest it extended life and some prescient awareness. Melange is crucial to space travel, which is monopolized by the Spacing Guild. Their Navigators use the spice to safely plot a course for the Guild's heighliner ships using prescience and "foldspace" technology, which allows instantaneous travel to anywhere in the universe.
The spice is also crucial to the powerful matriarchal order called the Bene Gesserit, whose main priority is to preserve and advance the human race. The secretive Bene Gesserit, often referred to as "witches," possess advanced mental and physical abilities in part developed through conditioning called prana-bindu training. A Bene Gesserit acolyte becomes a full Reverend Mother by undergoing a perilous ritual known as the spice agony, in which she ingests an otherwise lethal dose of an awareness spectrum narcotic and must render it harmless internally. Surviving the ordeal unlocks her Other Memory, the ego and memories of all her female ancestors. A Reverend Mother is warned to avoid the place in her consciousness that is occupied by the genetic memory of her male ancestors, referred to as "the place we cannot look." In light of this, the Bene Gesserit have a secret, millennia-old breeding program, the goal of which is to produce a male equivalent of a Bene Gesserit whom they call the Kwisatz Haderach. This individual would not only be able to survive the spice agony and access the masculine avenues of Other Memory, but is also expected to possess "organic mental powers (that can) bridge space and time." The Bene Gesserit intend their Kwisatz Haderach to give them the ability to control the affairs of mankind more effectively.
The planet Arrakis itself is completely covered in a desert ecosystem, hostile to most life. It is also sparsely settled by a human population of native Fremen tribes, ferocious fighters who ride the giant sandworms of the desert and whose tribal leaders are selected by defeating the former leader in combat. The Fremen also have complex rituals and systems focusing on the value and conservation of water on their arid planet; they conserve the water distilled from their dead, consider spitting an honorable greeting, and value tears as the greatest gift one can give to the dead. The novel suggests that the Fremen have adapted to the environment physiologically, with their blood able to clot almost instantly to prevent water loss. The Fremen culture also revolves around the spice, which is found in the desert and harvested with great risk from attacking sandworms. Bene Gesserit missionary efforts have also implanted a belief in a male messiah, born of a Bene Gesserit, who will one day come from off-world to transform Arrakis into a more hospitable world.
The book employs the coming of age story, it is full of different emotions and challenging ideas. words: religion, dogma, truth, good/evil, freedom, sanity, mortality, future, change, family, eugenics, gender, heroism, and environmentalism
The over all idea is to trust in oneself.
The Atreides family mainly Paul seeks to conquer the empire and bring peace to the galaxy
The Harkonnen's seek to gain control of the plant Arrakis so that they may control the spice production and gain political power and much wealth
"A popular man arouses the jealousy of the powerful." Thufir Hawat
"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience." Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam to Paul Atreides
"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it" The First Law of Mentat, quoted by Paul Atreides
This book was a very intriguing read and one of my favorite books. The series covers many great ideas and has many life lessons.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)