http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

http://www.lasagnacat.com/

http://xkcd.com/

http://pbfcomics.com/

My general feeling is that education has a huge impact on the rest of the goals. With proper education, people can cultivate lands better to produce more food. They can learn about gender equality. They can learn math so they can invent things like medicine. They can progress themselves so they hope to achieve a global partnership, allowing them to converse among different nations. The information in this topic is endless, but I digress to talk about the group's presentation.

The group did a good job about finding a real, physical thing to hold the education in: a building. The flaws of the building (the tin roof specifically) were rather amusing to see. I think the saying 'the worst things come from the best intentions' fits in this area, even though nothing bad had happened yet. Just the fact that such a thing was overlooked, and pushed forward for so long was comical.

I enjoy the presentation, with a good amount of pictures, and the group maintained a certain flow that can be attributed to a decent amount of work put into their project. I was rather stunned they were able to get the architect who made the design of the building so quickly, and much more, conduct a mini-interview with him to get an inner-view on this project. I enjoyed the play of the architect's minor obsession behind his denial, along with the project's overall message of education being the key to a lot of things in life, especially survival on this planet.

I think the overarching issue about starvation is the fact that there is enough food in the world to support everyone. Infact, there is more than enough food in the world to support everyone. A law states that so long as there is more food than the population, the population will grow to fill this need. However, in this idea, food production is increased to help pad the gap between abundence and just barely getting by.

I think the presentation was well thought out, and more importantly, heartfelt from the group. they seemed interested in it, and going to a factory/packing station where the rice was actually made was a nice touch. It showed they put a lot of effort into their project, and took it very seriously. Anything less than a A for the group would simply be mean! I'm looking at you Derek! =D

Then it hit me.

I'll post stuff that didn't motivate me at all, so I know what -not- to use in my project. Broad? Yes. However, it will help decide what I need to do to add 'flare' to my Goals project.

It incorporates a butterfly into the scene, however, its wings are made up of different names, icons to the movie. It lacks definition. It lacks reason. A butterfly is beautiful, yes, but the image itself is a lie. Other than the wing pattern, no other form of a butterfly exists. It's merely a representation that fools the mind into thinking it simply is a butterfly. It clutters the picture with a rainbow of raindrops falling down to create the title 'Beautiful Losers'.

It uses this collage of thing to present a montage of 'losers' that did great things. However, because it's so cluttered with 'beautiful' things, it lacks any real reason. Why is there leaves on the border? Yes, leaves in autumn are beautiful, but leaves by themselves, without any sort of setting is mundane and meaningless. I want to create absolute understanding with a clear, concise message, but with artistic reasoning behind it. I don't think anything should just be to be, I want complex reasoning behind it, so it has a solidary.

I like the idea behind this. I can't hate on it... well, yes I can. I think the design is tacky as hell. I'm not going to bring a date back to my place, then go 'Hey! Check out this door I made! It has a dragon on a sword! This will get me laid, right?' Cynical? Yes. Crude? Yes. True? ...well, I dunno, maybe some girls love dragons. There's weirder fetishes. I adore the design behind the door, however. The actual print is kinda lame, but the use of LED lights in a pattern such as that is very interesting. One of my friends is a Electrical Engineer, and I appreciate a lot of that stuff more once I've seen him working on a project like that. It can be tedious, and there's very little to tell you what you're doing is right or wrong. It's all based on self-interest and admission of defeat. (If you get stuck, that is).

However, I cannot sit back and agree with the claims hinted at in class. Math is Art. Infact, Math is probably the hardest form of art to ever accomplish. Just like Art, it's under appreciated to some people, and understood by even less. It guides everyone in our world, and even inspires them. (Take Calc 4 and try not to get inspired into committing frisbee seppuku. Inspires anger like no other.) Math is also like a language. It flows. It bases itself in all the other sciences, and has the ability to connect people without sharing the same language. If that isn't art, then art is dead to me.

I get this. We wanna be more European or Japanese and try to combine things into smaller things, so it saves room.
But, no, just no. I don't want to do my laundry when I sit down to get down to business. I'm never going to think, 'Lemme go to the bathroom to do my laundry!'. It's not intuitive. It just seems stupid. I want to make something intuitive, so my project will make sense to people who look at it.

Obviously, we have some work to do.

Anasazi.

Ever see that episode of the X-Files? It's like the last one, with the smoking man inside the pueblo home, smoking through his trachea, and spouted some last minute crap about Mulder? Honestly, if Lost ends like that, I'll go insane. However, this episode did showcase much of the Anasazi's art. And by art, I mean it's architecture. This is an adaptation to the environment, but their structures defined what they were as a culture. Besides their freaky 'disappearance', these structures defined their culture as who they were, and left a footprint for the world to find. This is similar to what we are doing currently with US buildings. We're leaving footprints behind to what kind of culture and society we held. From stop signs and mailboxes to jails and Coffman.

CAR PARKZ!

But what does this come to? Does the parking ramp across from Coffman mean anything to me personally? Well, I did get a parking ticket infront of Coffman once, so I am a bit sore over that. However, as an American identity, these stone structures speak to my ancestry of... stone structures. No, as the individual, these buildings don't make who I am. But they do help define the national identity that I am behind.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The tomb of the unknown soldier makes up the identity of this soldier, who has no name, no face, no history behind him. In this, the structure BECOMES who he is. Any past experiences are wiped, because he is merely a icon of a man. If he raped and murdered a woman, it doesn't matter, because now he's merely a avatar of his previous life. This marks the person's identity, not with actions, words, and a voice of reason or chaos, but merely a stone symbol of courage that will be forever unknown of its origin.

Auschwitz.

Most people know what this is. I don't really have to even explain the feeling that nearly every person would feel. This iconic structure defines evil for most people. Moreso, it defines the entire generation of Germans, the Nazi party, and hatred for an entire religion. This place modified people's ideas of what humans can accomplish. Moreso, during the time of World War II, it was a sign of hope for Germans, that they were turning over a new leaf and accomplishing something good for their country. Whether or not the ends justified the means was put away by promises of change without these specific people in the way. Horrible? Yes. But it still defined hope and change for an entire group of people.

what would
you do architecturally, artistically, bodily, lyrically, etc that
would still have an impact on your environment.

Bodily? That makes me feel like I have to secrete some sort of liquid from my body that somehow has to deal with architecture and will leave an effect on my environment. Barring the thousands of sexual innuendos going through my head at the moment, I think I'll stick to the other ideas much more closely.

I'd make a amazing house. I've always had a interest in Art Deco style stuff. The game Bioshock has definitely influenced this idea.

I like the odd colour usage, the ability to pick out 1930's style building types seem to be almost timeless, at least in my eyes. Another one that's infinitely interesting is Gothic (American Gothic is a pretty cool painting too) styles that involve some sort of turrent. Castle-like housing has always been pretty cool in my eyes. Maybe that's the DnD coming out in me. Oh well!

I guess this would make the area that I make this supposed house in slightly more unique. I don't think there's ever been an Art Gothic Deco house before. That would be a pretty hardcore combination.

Anyways, if I were to design something for other people, I'd probably have to make some sort of entertainment related building. Since I definitely identify with nerds and the like, videogames would probably have to be the prodominant thing behind this fictitious building. I would put it as a throw-back building, similar to my idea of a art deco-style building. I'd make it rustic and interesting looking. Steampunk style is definitely something to look into.

http://thesteampunkhome.blogspot.com/
http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml

This sort of building is interesting, and would probably provoke many people to simply enter it, and upon finding out what it was, maybe stay a bit longer than they normally would in a glorified arcade.

And actually, it's interesting how broad this question can really be. Even with the given outlines of simply trading and financial systems that should be standardized to make the fairness worldwide, this idea is more than a bite and a half to look at. So simply, I will adhere to the idea of using quotes, pictures, and music to help.

" 'Only one thing can save us. We have to increase our mastery of the world. All this damage has come about through our conquest of the world, but we have to go on conquering it until our rule is absolute. Then, when we're in complete control, everything will be fine. We'll have fusion power. No pollution. We'll turn the rain on and off. We'll grow a bushel of wheat in a square centimeter. We'll turn the oceans into farms. We'll control the weather--no more hurricanes, no more tornadoes, no more droughts, no more untimely frosts. We'll make the clouds release their water over the land instead of dumping it uselessly into the oceans. All the life processes of this planet will be where they belong-- where the gods meant them to be--in our hands. And we'll manipulate them the way a programmer manipulates a computer.

" 'And that's where it stands right now. We have to carry the conquest forward. And carrying it forward is either going to destroy the world or turn it into a paradise--into the paradise it was meant to be under human rule.' "

This is not the exact quote I wanted to lift, which talked about third world nations and the idea that the more we give to them, and support them, the more they become dependent upon this help and the less they can support themselves as a whole. So as we continue this benevolent act of giving and helping, we are in effect hurting them continuously. Quite a horrid idea, if true, but it's one I will certainly bare in mind as I do this project.

So for songs... this is harder. Not a lot of songs directly introduce themselves to a worldwide scale interest, more focused areas of interest.

I'm going to have to be cliche and do 'Where is the Love' by Black Eyed Peas (Featuring muh boi J Tizzle)

It's a broad song for a broad subject. It's basically about why do we do the things that hurt everyone. It poses the simple question 'Where is the love?' Why do we not help our fellow man. It's a simple question, and very corny selection, but poignant to the subject.

Another song is basically anything by Bob Marley. Many of his songs dealt with Jamaica, a country hard hit by tariffs, making them hemorrhage money and unable to sell their primary product: bananas.

Another slightly unfair pick, but one that is definitely resonating to my own decisions at the moment, is a speech, changed into a song by Will.I.Am. Barack Obama is the first canidate to actually change my views on everything. For the first time in my life, I'm looking at the other side of the coin, and voting on the opposing party. Not out of spite, not out of fear, but out of understanding. His speech 'Yes We Can' is one of the most startling, powerful speeches I've ever seen with my own eyes, live on TV. It may not be a true song, but it's certainly something that is going to stay with me.

And now finally the 'wtf!' pick. Vicarious by Tool. I love this band far more than I probably should, it's a very nerdy/goth band, that has a stigma of having many nerds/goths liking it. I think that's an entirely different topic, but the song 'Vicarious' helps me keep humble. The song is simple enough: people enjoy violence. Suffering. Torture. They're enthralled by it, in a sickening fashion. The old saying 'it's like a car accident: you want to look away, but you can't' is on this very basis. I think understanding this principle of humans is not directly related to this topic, but one that should be kept in mind with people as they are doing all of their projects: humans are fallible. So don't think that you can simply create a perfect idea for a perfect world and be able to transpose this idea into the real world, because humans ultimately aren't rational.

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/02/13/hip-hop-homeless-benefit-show-rock-triple-rock.html

The image that most people identify with a homeless person is the panhandler on Nicollet Mall, the vodka-guzzling man on the bus, or the mentally ill person hearing voices on the corner. These stereotypes are the visibly homeless. In reality, they are the exception rather than the norm. On any given night an estimated 8,600 people are homeless in Minnesota (Wilder Research Center, 2000). Many people don't know that these people live in shelters, abandoned buildings and under bridges. Who is homeless in the Twin Cities today? You'd probably be surprised to know.>

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/2989

The flow of a city relates the amount of energy needed to pass. For example, if a bus line is needed, then energy is built up at a point in which it cannot be released fast enough. This energy is most likely people needing to get to a location. Because of this build up, energy is wasted in the middle of the city and is thus undistributed. This makes for a poor city, as a city without transportation is one that is poorly designed. This energy flow is attributed to people. However, there are other versions of energy flow. Just ask a bus diverts energy from the populace to transportation, buildings and landmarks are versions of energy.

A slum population is created for the high desire of housing, but lack of adequate funds/housing to support the individuals that need the housing. Thus, as the build up continues of low income housing, so does the ability for poverty to spread. This energy, while not positive, is still energy built up around the city. Just as the 'crack stacks' mark a poverty line, it also marks a high energy area of the city. It has a lot of people, so it needs more around it to support it, even though it is a poverty line. These kinds of landmarks make city designing important. However, not at all up to just a architect to design. Far from it.

Then again, this guy seems to be kinda nutty. I was rather surprised that his wife put up with that shit. Seriously? Stacking sticks on a tree all day? Thanks for helping raise the children, jackass.