Friday, February 27, 2009

Exhausted, But With Complete Consensus



Yesterday I spent the entire day at the offices of ID Magazine, judging the Annual Design Review for their Interactive category. Boy, did we see some amazing work. It was exhausting, spending about 11 hours there, but any day that I can not be chained to my desk making commercials, but rather meet and converse (and debate with) some of the brightest minds around is a pretty great day indeed.

I was supposed to have been one of the 3 judges for this particular category on this particular day, but a last minute cancellation by one of the judges (illness, apparently) left us scrambling at the 11th hour to find a third person. Everyone I suggested was too "close" to me (Alicia, Mike Essl, etc) and some of the other big-wigs I suggested are too busy to drop everything (Emily, Scott, Cadin) and one of the big-wigs was already judging another category another day, so it was pretty much a bust. But we soldiered on, the two judges that we were, and we ended up having a fantastic time! My other Judge was Neri, a brilliant Artist and Architect from the MIT labs, who lectures at every major university in the world and who's work has been shown at the MoMa, among many many others.

She was a joy to converse with, and inspiring to debate with and compare and contrast the work. I can't talk too much about the work until the issue comes out, just rest assured that it was (mostly*) jaw-dropping, and our top 3 were decided unanimously and instantly.

The Issue should hit newsstands in June, where not only will you read our commentary and see our choices (and reasonings behind it) but you will see a picture of the 2 of us as well... some of the photos they took of us looked like the prom! Ha!

I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say about our choices, and hope that our decisions hold up to the test of time. I think we did our best, and sure met some fun and interesting people in the process. Thank you again, ID Magazine, for the honor of allowing me to participate!


* There was some crap, and some by people Alicia and I knew too! Ha Ha Ha... At least nobody there knew I worked on Botulinum Toxin**... that is an Alan Smithee project for sure!

** Speaking of Botulinum Toxin, the project is wrapped, the witch is dead, and we are drinking ourselves into oblivion tonight after work... 7:00pm at the Rodeo Bar... Be there, or be square.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Thanks (Again), Lou!



Alicia had a Hood College Alumni event last night, a cocktail reception in the posh Midtown Executive Club. Andy Rooney was there, after his brief appearance at the last event (that Alicia and I reccomended the location for, the funky West Village's La Pallapa, wherein Andy came in, looked around, asked "What the Hell is THIS place?" and left after 15 minutes!) Ha! The Midtown Executive Club was MUCH more his scene.

Obviously not being a Hood Alum, I really didn't know too many people and didn't want to get in the way, so I hung back by the bar, where the gentleman in front of me was having a lively conversation with the bartender, being very specific about how he wanted his martini. This piqued my interest, and I mentioned to the two of them that it looked good, make mine a martini as well.

Then I noticed the gentleman pull out a silver container from his pocket, and he smiled and told me that he always brings his own vermouth! Double Ha! He spritzed some in his, politely asked if I would care for some as well, and I dutifully (and curiously) accepted.

He proceeded to tell me how he comes to this place at least once a month, because a club he belongs to meets on the top floor penthouse bar, and that this bar makes the best martinis in Manhattan (I guess it's just BYOV). I asked what club he belonged to, and he told me it was the Young Presidents Organization, a social organization of young titans of industry and robber barrons, who get together, and basically give each other work. He said that one of the requirements to join is that you need to be president of a company, and under 40... of course I meet these requirements. He mentions that it is a long waiting list, and it is very exclusive, etc etc, and I assure him I did not expecct to get in, laughing it off, and saying that my company was probably way too small to qualify anyway.

We change the conversation, and he asked where I went to school. I mention Cooper Union, and he asks me if I know Lou Dorfsman (ex-creative Director of CBS for 45 years)... Of course I do, he is only one of my biggest mentors, getting me my first job in television, and pretty much insisting that I even START in television, ditching my work in the web!

It turns out, he knew Lou very well, and had not one, but 2 company business cards designed by him in his wallet! I gave him one of MY cards, and he was taking down all my info, and he made a funny remark about talking to the Young Presidents Organization! Triple Ha!

Gotta thank Lou again. That guy is the most "connected" person in the world, even in his afterlife! And maybe nothing will come of any of this. But Aliciia remarked at the end of the night that I was "Something else" and that I wasn't even an ALUM and I had a great night. And if nothing else, it IS funny to picture a hippie like me hanging with the NY money men! I guess I should look into getting fitted for a monacle.

Monday, February 16, 2009

A Tribute To George Washington, Coke Doer And Cannibal



From 236.com:

Yeah, ok, George Washington didn't actually eat the brains of his foes, but this video's pretty awesome anyway. We resurrected it to help you celebrate President's Day in the lewdest way possible. Enjoy!

Friday, February 13, 2009

From The BBC: Fresh Start For Lost File Formats



From the BBC:

Long lost file formats could soon be resurrected by pan-European research.

The 4.02m euro (£3.58m) project aims to create a universal emulator that can open and play obsolete file formats.

Using the emulator, researchers hope to ensure that digital materials such as games, websites and multimedia documents and are not lost for good.

The emulator will also be regularly updated to ensure that formats that fall out of favour remain supported in the near and far future.

Called Keeping Emulation Environments Portable (Keep), the project aims to create software that can recognise, play and open all types of computer file from the 1970s onwards.

As well as basic text documents it will also let people load up and play old computer games that technology has left behind.
"People don't think twice about saving files digitally - from snapshots taken on a camera phone to national or regional archives," said Dr Janet Delve, a computer historian from the University of Portsmouth and one of the research partners on Keep.

"But every digital file risks being either lost by degrading or by the technology used to 'read' it disappearing altogether," she said.

Without work to preserve ways to access the formats that are common today, 21st century citizens risk leaving a "blank spot" in history, said Dr Delve.

Already the number of unreadable documents in archives is beginning to mount up.
Britain's National Archive estimates that it holds enough information to fill about 580,000 encyclopaedias in formats that are no longer widely available.

Research by the British Library estimates that the delay caused by accessing and preserving old digital files costs European businesses about £2.7bn a year.

"We are facing a massive threat of the loss of digital information. It's a very real and worrying problem," said Dr David Anderson, who will work with Dr Delve on the UK end of the project.

"Things that were created in the 1970s, 80s and 90s are vanishing fast and every year new technologies mean we face greater risk of losing material," he said.

Dr Anderson said emulation was more workable in the long term than the usual method of preserving old files which involves migrating information on to new formats with its attendant risks of data degradation and corruption.



Thanks to Paul Rachman for sending this my way!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Former Student Makes "GOOD"



Erik Winkowski, a former star pupil from Cooper's Motion Graphics class, has just completed a fantastic and informative animation on the complexities of Corn in America for GOOD Magazine. Go watch it, and leave him a great comment! And don't forget to pass it on to friends if you like it!

Way to Go, Erik! (Nice GIGANTIC CREDIT at the top of the piece, too! ha ha ha)

Monday, February 9, 2009

NYT: Applications Surge At Cooper Union



From NYTimes.com:

By LISA W. FODERARO
Published: February 8, 2009

Afreen Juli, a senior at the Bronx High School of Science, applied early to Cooper Union, a college in Manhattan that specializes in engineering, art and architecture. So did 10 of her classmates, the most ever from Bronx Science, one of the city’s most selective public schools.

Ms. Juli, who lives in Coney Island, said that she wanted to study film and art; she also applied to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. But, as she explained in an interview: “N.Y.U. is pretty expensive and I might not be able to afford it. Basically, Cooper Union is free.”

Founded 150 years ago by the industrialist and inventor Peter Cooper, Cooper Union is perhaps best known among New Yorkers for its iconic brownstone hall near Astor Place where Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Barack Obama have held forth. But for many high school seniors who are applying to college in the midst of an economic meltdown, Cooper Union’s commitment to full scholarships — regardless of need — has given the institution an almost mythic allure.

Already among the nation’s most competitive colleges, with an admissions rate of about 8 percent — on par with Juilliard or Harvard — Cooper saw about a 70 percent surge in applications for early decision this year, after annual increases of 5 percent to 10 percent over the last decade. Over all, the school expected to receive 3,300 applications this season for the 265 spots in the Class of 2013, including 750 students vying for 30 seats in the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture.

“I’m pretty confident that the economy played a big role,” said the dean of admissions, Mitchell Lipton. “You probably had a lot of parents who said: ‘Look, I know you’re looking at Cooper Union. You ought to make it your first choice.’ ”

While many of the nation’s elite colleges underwrite the education of poor students, Cooper is among a handful of private colleges that are tuition-free for everyone (it does not, however, pay for room and board, though financial aid is available for living expenses, and many students from New York City live with their parents). Some of the free schools are even smaller and more narrowly focused, like Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Mass., with 300 students, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, with 160.

Cooper’s applications have climbed steadily since 2000, and really took off this year amid the recession. That has complicated things for the admissions office, which involves faculty members in reviewing hefty portfolios that include take-home tests to determine a student’s creativity as well as drawings, architectural models and narrative writing.

“The home tests are a series of exercises that are difficult to fake,” said Anthony Vidler, dean of the architecture school. “We find it a very good filter for looking for talents that aren’t necessarily indicated by grades and SAT scores, even though those numbers are very high.”

At Fiorello H. La Guardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts, 63 of the 556 seniors applied to Cooper Union, 14 of them early. At Bronx Science, 11 seniors applied early decision — up from 7 last year and 1 in 2006. “What you hear over and over is that early decision demonstrates interest loud and clear,” said Darby McHugh, the college coordinator at Bronx Science. “Combine that with the economy, and it’s a perfect storm for Cooper.”

Paul Shao, 17, a senior at Bronx Science who lives in Hollis Hills, Queens, and plans to study engineering, had his early application deferred. If he gets in, he said, his parents plan on using the money they save on tuition to buy him a small apartment in Chinatown.

“It would really help my family out a lot,” said Mr. Shao, the son of a librarian and an accountant who himself works part time for a test-prep center. “My sister’s a freshman in high school, and my brother is 8. I don’t want my parents to pay more than they need to for my college experience.”

Each year, Cooper Union allots about $35 million to cover tuition. It is a tradition that was easier to sustain when the board of trustees included Andrew Carnegie and J. Pierpont Morgan. “There were five trustees and at the end of the year they would look at the deficit and divide by five,” said George Campbell Jr., the college’s president.

More recently, the college ran multimillion-dollar deficits every year, with its endowment bottoming out at $100 million after Sept. 11. But since then, the college changed its strategy regarding its significant real estate assets, renegotiating the lease on the Chrysler Building, which it owns; signing a 99-year lease on a large parking lot for $11 million; and leasing out its engineering building to a developer for $97 million. Last year, the college had its first positive financial ledger in a quarter century, and the endowment peaked at $608 million.

And because Cooper is so heavily invested in real estate, rather than the stock market, its endowment has held up better than most, and is currently valued at $594 million. This spring, the school’s first new academic building in decades is set to open at 41 Cooper Square.

“Cooper is ranked very highly both for quality and selectivity, and yet it’s an institution that has had to manage by its wits,” said Molly C. Broad, president of the American Council on Education, which represents two- and four-year colleges. “It is a great example of a set of characteristics that you just don’t typically find in American higher education.”

Yet Cooper Union and the other schools that offer free tuition have become so selective and are so focused that experts caution students and parents against putting too much stock in them. The Curtis Institute of Music received nearly 900 applications for about 40 spots in its incoming class, for example.

“It’s great that some people can go to these places, but they are few and far between and only the right school for certain students,” said Sandy Baum, senior policy analyst at the College Board and a professor of economics at Skidmore College. “And most people won’t get in.”

Those who do will enter an institution rich in history. The Foundation Building, where Mr. Obama gave a campaign speech on the economy in March, was also the site of the N.A.A.C.P.’s first meeting. The American Red Cross was organized there, and Susan B. Anthony had her offices there. It was built with its entrance facing the immigrant neighborhoods of the Lower East Side, symbolically welcoming the poor to a future of opportunity; each spring, graduates exit through another door, pouring out toward Fifth Avenue.

Ling Jessica Chu, a senior at La Guardia High School whose early application has already been accepted, said she was drawn as much to the small classes and the environmental credentials of the new academic building as the free cost. She planned to keep living with her parents, in Chinatown.

“I wanted to live in a dorm just for the experience, but then again I figured I’d save my parents the money,” said Ms. Chu, whose mother is a homemaker and whose father is a home attendant. “My parents were happy wherever I went. But I was pushing Cooper because of this economy.”

Other students, who come from out of town or out of state, have learned that tuition-free in Manhattan is hardly a free ride.

Natasha V. Broodie, a third-year art student from West Palm Beach, Fla., has had to juggle jobs to help cover her living expenses, namely rent on an apartment in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.

Last semester, she had three campus jobs, working a total of 52 hours a week. Now, she is looking for a fourth. “My parents don’t pay for any of this,” said Ms. Broodie, who has a 3.6 grade-point average. “I’m pretty much on my own.”

Friday, February 6, 2009

House Of The Dead



Life in the Vondracek/Cruz house has been hell the past few days. Fevers, coughing, insomnia, blacklung, skin burning in sunlight, snot, drool, levitation, pea soup, crucifix desecration, speaking in tongues... you name it.

Too sick to be at work this week, but was here all week anyway. Alicia had it way worse than ME, and IIII feel like crap.

Enjoy the music:

Download: Mudhoney: Touch Me, I'm Sick

Download: Rob Zombie: Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones)

Download: Matthew Sweet: Sick Of Myself (live)

Download: The Fever: Gray Ghost (my friend's old band!)

Download: Faith No More: Zombie Eaters

Download: Sufjan Stevens: They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come

Now Excuse me while I go eat some brains.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Excuse Me, There Seems To Be Some C**k in My Superbowl



From DeadSpin.com:

For those Cardinals fans who claimed that Larry Fitzgerald's fourth-quarter touchdown catch was better than sex, they got a quick chance to compare. Immediately following the TD, instead of a replay, some Tucson area Comcast viewers got an eyeful of some full frontal male nudity from Club Jenna, an adult cable station. The porn flick images lasted anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, according to which reports you read.

Fleshbot has the extremely NSFW video.

"KVOA will continue to investigate what happened to our clean signal and make sure our viewers get answers," Nielsen said in the statement. Comcast spokeswoman Tracy Baumgartner confirmed that the company's standard feed was interrupted during the Super Bowl, although she said its high definition feed was not.

Baumgartner said engineers at Philadelphia-based Comcast were investigating Sunday night. Tucson media outlets reported that they received calls from irate viewers about the pornographic material. Joel Hilander of Tucson told The Associated Press that he and his young children saw the clip. "I couldn't believe it. And I couldn't believe that my children were watching it either," Hilander said.

(Innocent children were not the only victims).

For more on this breaking story, let's go to the Arizona Daily Star message board:

• Yes, they did. I had two teenagers and a 10 year old watching the game with me and they all saw every graphic segment of it. What on earth is Comcast doing? I can't believe I pay them. — Celeste L. (Watchdog), February 1,2009 @ 8:35PM

• I saw it. Definitely about 30 seconds of a porn flick. — Kathy K. (kmkahle), February 1,2009 @ 8:35PM

• It was pretty bad. A Keith Urban-type guy is sitting down, and there's a woman next to him and she appears to have her hands down his pants. Then he gets up, and his pants drop, and there's a full reveal. It happened right after the Cards' last touchdown, so I wonder if there was a hacker/steelers fan on the loose at Comcast. — Gin R. (AZPainter), February 1,2009 @ 8:48PM

• This was disgusting and heads should roll. I would love to have someone come and explain this to my first grade students tomorrow! I am canceling my Comcast subscription tomorrow and I hope that all the other Comcast members do also. — jammie s. (densan), February 1,2009 @ 8:36PM

• OMG! I am SOOO angry about this. I don't think I will be watching the super bowl anymore. I had just called my teenaged daughter in to have her watch the replay of the last play. And then that comes on. I am furious. And it kinda kept you watching cuz you were thinking, 'ok, this HAS to be part of a really bad commerical' — Ann C. (backroadsann), February 1,2009 @ 8:41PM

• I had a 2 and a 7 year-old in the room and it was totally disgusting. Comcast better get ready to give all subscribers at least one free month of service for having to be subject to this filth! — Lisa D. (lisamb27), February 1,2009 @ 8:42PM

• My 88 year old neighbor lady called to verify if we had seen the same thing that she saw......she says she has a new lease on life!!!! — Keri H. (Keri), February 1,2009 @ 8:49PM

• Dang! I had a full living room of kids from 3-17 and their friends!!! What a horrible thing to happen! I'm going to have to disconnect...I can't trust that it won't happen during Barney or Sesame Street! — Tess L. (TucsonTess), February 1,2009 @ 8:58PM

• Yeah, well they interrupted my porn movie with 30 seconds of super bowl action. Nothing quite so disgusting as full-frontal football. Yeech. — Rowan D. (RowD1), February 1,2009 @ 8:58PM


Wow. How many people are fired for this?

Monday, February 2, 2009

Radiohead Unreleased Early Demo Tracks



Mother lode. I had a few of these a long time ago, and was waiting for the right time to post it (After all, Radiohead on this site is LONG overdue). But today in my trolling, I found the remainder of the set, and 2 other amazingly rare finds.

These, dear readers, are the first recording sessions of Radiohead, looong before they were anything even CLOSE to being popular. I must admit, some of the tracks are terrible (just like the early NIN demos I posted last year! ha ha ha)

But many are still amazing. If you are like me, and remember fondly the good old days when Radiohead played "songs," then this is a no-brainer... Radiohead fan? Collector? Rarities Hunter? Like to brag about stuff at parties? This posting should have you all covered.

Radiohead 1988 Woodworm Studios Demos

01 - Happy Song
02 - To Be A Brilliant Light
03 - Sinking Ship


Thom Yorke - Vocals, Guitar
Ed O'Brien - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Jonny Greenwood - Keyboards
Colin Greenwood - Bass
Phil Selway - Drums, Backing Vocals
Rasmus Peterson - Saxophone
Liz Cotton - Saxophone
Charlotte Cotton - Saxophone
Recorded at Woodworm Studios, Oxfordshire
Engineered and mixed by Dave Pegg
Quality: Excellent A+

Download: Radiohead: 1988 Wormwood Demos (zipped)



Radiohead - On A Friday / Shindig Demos
June / July / August 1990


01 - Climbing Up A Bloody Great Hill - Clifton Hampden Village Hall
02 - Somebody - Recorded in one or more bedrooms
03 - Mr B - Recorded at Clifton Hampden Village Hall
04 - What's That You See? - Rec. at Nuneham Courtenay Village Hall
05 - Everyone Needs Someone To Hate - Recorded in a bedroom
06 - Upside Down - Recorded in one or more bedrooms
07 - The Greatest Shindig Of The World - Recorded in a bedroom
08 - Give It Up - Recorded in one or more bedrooms
09 - How Can You Be Sure - Recorded at Clifton Hampden Village Hall
10 - Life With The Big F - Recorded at Clifton Hampden Village Hall
11 - Keep Strong - Recorded at Clifton Hampden Village Hall
12 - Rattlesnake - Recorded in one or more bedrooms
13 - Burning Bush - Recorded in one or more bedrooms
14 - Tell Me Bitch - Recorded in one or more bedrooms

Download: Radiohead: 1990 On A Friday Shindig Demos (zipped)


You are all quite welcome!

*** EDIT: Thanks to Citizen Insane for notating the duplicate and incorrect posting! I got all the information from the included text doc in the DLs, and had not listened to the entire thing yet, I was so happy to rush and share it! Thanks Again, and I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!