This evening, I was out in the yard playing with the kids, when they
noticed the full moon rising above a house a little ways down the
street.
Continue reading Full Moon Rising.
Aesthetics: August 2007 Archive Page
26 Aug 2007
Full Moon Rising
This evening, I was out in the yard playing with the kids, when they
noticed the full moon rising above a house a little ways down the
street.
18 Aug 2007
Thunder Mountain Lenape Powwow
Today we drove to the Thunder Mountain Lenape powwow, which was full of color and music. There were two drums — that is, groups of singers who sat around the same drum, chanting in rhythm.
Dancers mostly moved around the circle. The younger the dancer, the fancier the footwork and the more the likelihood of spins and twirls.
The two elders in the lead pretty much just walked, stepping in time. But look at the stage presence of the woman -- she was impressively regal. (I heard someone say she was the clan mother.)
A younger male and female lead dancer not only took on major parts in the ceremonial dances, but also made sure that the little kids felt welcome. Elsewhere on the grounds there were child-size teepees and little houses made out of shipping pallets.
Between the dances, the powwow leader told stories, mostly illuminating some cultural detail. One story was about how the Lenape give thanks for their food while they plant it, while they harvest it, as they cook it, and after they finish it -- but not right before they eat it, which is considered an awkward time to give thanks. Another story was about how an older relative invited the speaker over to visit when the speaker was a young boy, but when the boy arrived at his relative's house and knocked, the relative wouldn't get up to open the door... he later told the boy that he'd already given him one invitation, and it was rude to stand outside his relative's house and expect another one.
A younger male and female lead dancer not only took on major parts in the ceremonial dances, but also made sure that the little kids felt welcome. Elsewhere on the grounds there were child-size teepees and little houses made out of shipping pallets.
Between the dances, the powwow leader told stories, mostly illuminating some cultural detail. One story was about how the Lenape give thanks for their food while they plant it, while they harvest it, as they cook it, and after they finish it -- but not right before they eat it, which is considered an awkward time to give thanks. Another story was about how an older relative invited the speaker over to visit when the speaker was a young boy, but when the boy arrived at his relative's house and knocked, the relative wouldn't get up to open the door... he later told the boy that he'd already given him one invitation, and it was rude to stand outside his relative's house and expect another one.
Continue reading Thunder Mountain Lenape Powwow.
09 Aug 2007
Danny Ledonne on Super Columbine Massacre RPG
There is ultimately no way to "justify" SCMRPG in the minds of those who find it deplorable but I believe even the game's detractors will find that the film fleshes out the controversy to better understand the future of games as a medium. The film is essentially a challenge to game developers to rethink the limits of their medium and a challenge to the general public to expect (demand!) more from games than mere entertainment. --Danny Ledone (interviewed by Keith Stuart) --Danny Ledonne on Super Columbine Massacre RPG (Guardian GamesBlog)Filing for future reference.
08 Aug 2007
Artists climb the uncanny valley
Masahiro Mori's Uncanny Valley hypothesis states that, as artificial beings get closer to resembling real humans, the slightest errors or inaccuracies can shift our responses from empathy to disbelief and even disgust. It's why, in Toy Story, we love Woody and Buzz Lightyear, but are totally unmoved by Andy, their human owner.A good introduction to the subject.
This is something both videogame and movie special effects artists are having to grapple with now that processing power is allowing ever more naturalistic representations of human characters. And grappling with it they are. --Artists climb the uncanny valley (Guardian)
08 Aug 2007
Photo tool could fix bad images
James Hays and Alexei Efros from Carnegie Mellon University have developed an algorithm to help people who want to remove bits of photographs.I wonder whether such a database could also be used to detect doctored images? Thanks for the suggestion, Rosemary.
The parts being removed could be unsightly lorries in the snaps of the rural idyll where they took a holiday or even an old boyfriend or girlfriend they want to rub out from a photograph.
To find suitable matching elements, the research duo's algorithm looks through a database of 2.3 million images culled from Flickr.
"We search for other scenes that share as closely as possible the same semantic scene data," said Mr Hays, who has been showing off the project at the computer graphics conference Siggraph, in San Diego. --Mark Ward --Photo tool could fix bad images (BBC)
08 Aug 2007
Recommend a few good text adventure games!
Lately I've had the urge to play text adventure games, but I'm not sure what to play. I've been googling, but I'm overwhelmed by the variety of games available and can't seem to find a useful review site.I missed this thread when it appeared... Thanks, Matt, for pointing it out to me.
So... what should I play? --Recommend a few good text adventure games! (MetaFilter)
Many of the games I'd recommend were on this list. I'd add 9:05, Christminster, and Jigsaw, too.
04 Aug 2007
3D Hectopus Animation
Just a 3D, six-legged character animation. Not the best walk cycle I've ever seen, but it was fun making it.
