Fall Break 2005: Keane and Coldplay
Click here to see a 4-minute movie of what's been going on over our fall break. I saw Coldplay last night at Philips Arena. Admittedly I'm not a hardcore fan, but they put on an incredible show. And who shows up for the encore? Georgia's own Michael Freakin' Stipe for a little Nightswimming. Enjoy the show.
Thursday, September 29 at 8:22 AM
Sigge Snagge
Ikea, why are you so awesome? They recently opened Atlanta's first IKEA, and even though you have to power slide around construction workers and parking cones to get there, it's worth it. I love walking through the showrooms and imagining myself in these rooms; it's a great shopping experience. I have an Aunt and Uncle living in Sweden, so my love for Ikea dates way back to when they gave us a puppet theater called something like Sigge Snagge. So today I sleep on a Dalselv, sit on a Poang and keep my tee shirts in a Leksvik.
New OKSMM movie on Friday...
Tuesday, September 27 at 10:23 AM
4400 Numbers
I haven't been feeling well, so I've caught a lot of TV lately. Last night I caught the show "Numbers" (10PM, Friday, CBS, http://www.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/). It was the premier of the second season, which I found amazing, considering that intellectual shows seem to have a penchant for getting cancelled by networks who would rather show reruns of Taradise than make new, intelligent, shows. The show is based on two brothers who work for the FBI. One of them is a traditional-type G-man, investigating mob crimes, etc. The other is a Ph.D. in math, who uses mathematical equations and computer models to try to solve crimes. The premise is pretty cool, unfortunately, the story development was a little bit lacking. If I'm home on a Friday night again (way to go CBS, great time slot for this show. Can we say "death sentence?"), I'll give it a second look.
On the other hand, one of the best shows on TV is "The 4400" (USA, between seasons, http://www.the4400.com/). I caught a marathon of the second season, and got hooked, so I bought the first season DVD (Only 20 bucks, but also only a 2 hour pilot and 4 other one hour shows). This show also features a unit of the FBI, NTAC (made up, I think). Well anyway, in the pilot, this meteor is heading toward Earth (think Armageddon, and that other movie that was like the same plot and released at the same time). But, when everyone thinks the World as We Know it is over, the meteor stops just above a lake in Washington, explodes, and then 4400 people who have been missing for 3 months to 60 years suddenly appear on the beach, and they haven't aged a day since their abduction. As the show progresses, you find that the people have special powers, and a purpose for why they are taken. The acting is fantastic, with an especially great performance turned in by Mahershalalhazbaz Ali. I've never really been into sci-fi, never watched the X-files, but I'm hooked. If you're reading this and you have a Nielsen box, watch the show so it doesn't get cancelled.
Speaking of Nielsen boxes, I wanted to try to get a Nielsen box for my apartment, (hoping that would mean we could get free cable) and seeing that my roommate and I fall into the 20-35 year old male beer-drinking, football-watching demographic, I figured Nielsen would want us. But no, Nielsen doesn't accept people applying for boxes. Their statistical approach dictates that they must have a random sample, so people requesting a box would skew the statistics. Problem being, they have difficulty measuring what us young, college grads watch, because we move frequently and we're off the grid (only cell phones, no land-line phone). Checking out the Nielsen site, they talk almost exclusively about being a "Nielsen family." Welcome to the 1950s everybody, I wonder what kind of ratings TV will get when we finally land on the moon? It seems that the Nielsen people don't realize the changes in society in the last 50 years and that their methodology may be outdated, considering the number of non-traditional families and the complaints by networks and advertisers about the Nielsen system. Oh well, as long as they don't cancel The 4400, I'll be cool.
And Dave, use the Pickachu Lightning Attack inn Super Smash Brothers. Cheapest move in the book.
Saturday, September 24 at 6:48 AM
Fall Break
Critiques went very well on Thursday night. Special thanks to Katie for helping me make a hardcover book (pictures next week). She bought an old-school Nintendo64 recently and has become a Mario Kart champion. This fact, coupled with the Revolution controller announcement and fall break, has reinvigorated an interest in video games. A few friends came over today and we were trash-talking and yelling while playing all sorts of multiplayer games. It was so much fun, bringing me back to the countless Okay Samurai days of Bomberman, Tetris Attack and Mario Kart. So today I rearranged our living room in preparation of a video-game-saturated break...it looks like a whole new place!
This is an open invitation to anyone in the Atlanta area for the next week: stop by the Alamo (that's what Zack and I call our apartment) at any time; we will always be up for anything...but especially anything Gamecube-related. The current Alamo rotation includes F-Zero GX, Mario Kart Double Dash, Timesplitters 2, Super Monkey Ball 2, Super Smash Brothers and Star Fox Assault (all 4-player games). I'll even let you use the neon orange controller.
Friday, September 23 at 10:19 PM
Keane @ The Tabernacle
Holy crap, this show was amazing. The Tabernacle is one of, if not the best, music venues I've ever been to. A new OKSMM movie will be up next week after Coldplay.
Wednesday, September 21 at 6:30 AM
New Harry Potter 4 trailer here. It's officially PG-13 too.
And here is a video of the new Nintendo controller's potential.
Friday, September 16 at 2:08 PM
Virtual Reality Becomes One Step Closer
That remote control thing on the left is the controller for the new Nintendo system coming out sometime next year. I still don't understand exactly how it works (this was just unveiled for the first time at a conference in Tokyo tonight), but it's essentially a mouse that can move in three dimensions and is tilt-sensitive. It's definitely unexpected and strange, but could lead to some completely new interactive experiences. I mean, the remote control is essentially like a gun (there's a trigger button on the bottom) and the screen is your target. Like it or not, Nintendo is stepping outside the conventions of what a video game could be, which sets it apart from Microsoft and Sony. See it in action here.
Thursday, September 15 at 8:32 PM
They Call Me Hadoken Because I'm Down Right Fierce
There's very little new to share; just been working towards next Thursday's critique. Bought Sigur Ros' new album Takk, loving it so far. Will be seeing Keane on the 20th and Coldplay on the 28th. Ate all the chocolate out of a gallon of Neopolitan tonight. Enjoyed Fever Pitch and Red Eye, recommend them both. When saving design files, I call them stuff like flashymcgeepants.swf or holycraparoo.psd, then later forget what they were named.
Wednesday, September 14 at 6:35 PM
83 Images
In January of this year, I began a project for a class that challenged us to take an unfamiliar subject matter, learn about it, and somehow transform the results into a finished piece (for me, that meant no cartoons, music, treasure maps or interactive stuff).
The thinking process took me back to a series of experiences with a close friend; a time where I felt completely helpless. She began to tell me about how she threw up after eating. These incidents were sporadic, but when they did happen, I didn't know what to do or how to react. No matter how many times I honestly told her she was beautiful, it didn't seem to matter. The numbers on the scale and the figure in the mirror were her definitions of beauty. I tried to be supportive, but after it happened a few times, my emotions unfortunately turned to frustration and anger instead.
It took a few years to realize that she wasn't alone in her daily struggles with self-image...and how disproportionate the impact was towards women. Research shows that 75% of average/healthy weight women think that they are overweight, and that women account for 90% of all eating disorders. So, mostly out of guilt, female self-image became the focus of the project. You might remember the process with the magazine, envelopes and story submissions. But then the New York thing happened and cut everything short.
Luckily, the project was picked back up as an independent study this quarter. To date, 83 women have sent in stories through the anonymous form (no longer active). The honest, realistic glimpses into these diverse lives are all equally amazing. Now I have to figure out how to do them justice and present them in the most meaningful way (in other words, not a Dr. Phil book or any cheesy "beauty is really on the inside!" crap). Well, it's getting there, and by the end of this month all the stories will be put online.
Hank always says that we remember things better when there's a story attached to them. An acre is just an abstract number until you're told it's roughly the size of a football field, endzone to endzone...and then you'll never forget it. There's something to be said for 83 women taking the time to share their personal stories with some complete stranger. These aren't fictional characters. These are our friends, family, and the people we walk or drive by every day...and their lives are consistently impacted in a negative way by self-image.
More is to come, but here are three sample stories that affected me.
-----
I'm a 25 year old anorexic. They say it's like alcoholism, you never fully recover, you just have good days, and when they pile up you have good weeks, good months, good years. I got my undergrad degree in May 2002, right on time and I wasn't so prepared for the fast loss of identity that was graduation. I come from the great American success story, my dad was raised poor, my sisters and I have been raised wealthy. He pulled himself up by the bootstraps and I felt I would do the same, catapult myself even further into success, international fame, ostentatious wealth, famous hubby, etc. When I graduated and no longer had the student label to explain my unexceptional identity, I panicked. I was not brave enough to risk failure if I did go out on a limb and try to be successful at doing what I loved. Instead I decided to build my identity as a runner, then as a thin girl, then as a super thin girl, then as a sick girl.
That brilliant decision landed me in a mental hospital in September 2002. The bottom had come and I was 30 lbs underweight, forcibly removed from my adult life and living at home with my parents, bedridden due to high risk of heart failure, and still thinking I was superior, strong, and in control. A long two years later I know I was weak, totally lost and out of control. I was looking for some standard to be judged against, and it brought me to war against my body. Popular imagery in the media impresses on women an inaccurate idea of beauty, and society, at least that in which I was raised, pressures all of us to have an identity that is built on a comparison with the accepted notions of beauty, intelligence, wealth, etc. I'm in recovery now because I have met women who are strong, noble, beautifully exceptional and now I know what that looks like. Generally, it doesn't look too thin.
-----
I'm fat. I put up a good front, pretend that my size is not always hovering in the back of my mind when I'm out in public, but it is. Oh, I'm a lot of other things, too - 31, an artist, married, shamelessly liberal.
I didn't used to be as self-conscious about it (at least after high school), or my memory is more selective than I realize. But now, it's with me everyday - the constant waiting for the nasty comments (they happen), feeling certain people are watching me as I pass. Recently at an IHOP, hanging with friends, I was on my way to the restroom and tripped over a turned-up corner of carpet. The table nearest just couldn't stop laughing. They giggled and smirked every time I passed by for the rest of the night.
I won't go out to eat by myself anymore. I won't go to movies by myself anymore. Sometimes it feels like nowhere in public is "safe". I walk quite a lot, and go to the gym pretty regularly. You'd think that people wouldn't make fat cracks when you're working out, but you'd be wrong. In fact, people seem to be nastier when it looks like you are trying to lose weight. My weight has been stable since I was eighteen. I look like every other woman in my family. I don't eat that much more than my skinny friends. My blood pressure and cholesterol levels and vital signs are perfect, always have been. I can walk five miles with no problem, ride the stationary bike for 45 minutes and still have the energy to walk home. I'm as healthy as I'm going to get.
But people persist in assuming I'm lazy, out of control, can't keep my mitts off the fried chicken. And it hurts and makes me angry. But yet, I find myself staying home, rather than telling these people to go screw themselves. And that makes me angry at myself. And sometimes it makes me cry.
-----
I am 55 and at this age you think about how changes are going in regards to how you look. I am an active, outgoing person. I exercise regularly and eat right. I have been married for 31 years to a great guy...and he still finds me attractive. But it is how I see myself...and it isnt really as a pretty or attractive person. I find myself not wanting to go certain places because of this aging process. I feel I just look so different than I did when I was 35...it does bother me. I have to be perfectly put together when I do go out and I have issues with the way my hair looks. I want to feel that freedom of when I could just jump up and go for a whole day without really thinking of how I looked.
I try not to say these things to anyone else because they don't really see what I see. It seems so shallow to focus on my looks when there is so many other phases to my life. I am at a good place in my life and I am a happy, satisfied person...except when I look in the mirror.
Saturday, September 10 at 9:14 PM
Friday Five
* Armchair Media just put together a sweet site for Coca Cola's new M5 campaign. They're these awesome aluminum bottles with custom designs from studios around the world, linked to some conceptually cool music videos. The bottles glow in the dark, leave extra room at the top for mixing in shots, and will be distributed internationally around elite, trendy party hotspots. I think everything about this campaign is forward-thinking and exciting, and that's not just an Atlanta-induced bias towards Coke speaking.
* My NYC roommate Suzanne (you know, from the Graham Home for Old Ladies?) and her sister Nadine made a New Orleans online store...all proceeds go to the recovery and relief process.
* Blue Vertigo is an awesome design resource for pretty much anything you would ever need...lots of free stuff here.
* Shaun Inman's site stats tool Mint just launched this week.
* Paris got me hooked on Pink is the New Blog, a hilarious celebrity gossip site. Preach!
Friday, September 9 at 12:18 PM
Studio Week Advice
Just posted a top ten list on the PC site.
Tuesday, September 6 at 11:09 AM
Wake Me Up When September Ends
The journal entries might be a little light this month. My last critique as a PC student is on September 22 (8th quarter is reserved for perfecting a portfolio), so I'll be finishing all this quarter's projects up over the next few weeks. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have some interesting work to share here. Looking ahead, eventually there will be a new okaysamurai.com design in preparation for a final online portfolio, but don't expect that until December. In the meantime, listen to some fresh beats from Jack Zerby (friend from NYC).
Monday, September 5 at 8:32 AM
Hooked on Irish Coffee
Check out some photos from my friend Alison's birthday (on Flickr).
Saturday, September 3 at 8:51 AM
Okay Samurai Multimedia is Dave Werner's personal site. I'm currently working at Minor Studios in San Francisco. Thanks for visiting! (more...)
Okay Samurai Journal (Subscribe RSS / XML)
Dave Werner's Portfolio (okaydave.com)
Archives (Cardboard Box)
Contact (Mailbox)
My Videos on Vimeo
My Photos on Flickr
Lars Amhoff: Kinkyform Design
Colin Anawaty: Cubed Companies
Chuck Anderson: NoPattern
Haik Avanian: HaikAvanian.com
James Bailey: The Kingdom of Sad Machines
Ben Barry: CarbonFour / Forced Connections
Dimitry Bentsionov: Arthero
Joshua Blankenship: JoshuaBlankenship.com
Casey Britt: CaseyBritt.com
Duncan Brook: Superfreaky Memories
Matthew Burtner: Burtner.net
Jeff Chin: JeffChin.com
Mary Campbell: Mary Campbell Design
Sarah Coffman: Minus Five
John Contino: drawings&co
Angie Cosimano: Angie Unit
Chris and Linda Doherty: Citizen Studio
Anne Elser: Annepages
Neil Epstein: Mediafactured
Bjorn Fagerholm: 3jorn
Dave Foster: Dave the Designer
Justin Genovese: JustinGenovese.com
J Grossen: Sugarcoma Labs
Audrey Gould: Aud's Blog
Greg Hackett: GregHackett.com
Sam Harrison: Zingzone
Todd Hammell: Solid Colors
Leon Henderson: LHJ Photo
Howard Hill: Fascination Streak
Peter Hobbs: Peter Hobbs Photography
Matt Ipcar: Ipcar Design
Michael Johnson: Michael J Rox
Melissa Jun: MelissaJun.com
Jiae Kim: Theme magazine
Zack Klein: ZackKlein.com
Katie Kosma: Flying Conundrum
Peter Lada: Proxima Labs
Josh Levin: Nothing Learned
Larry Luk: Epidemik Coalition
Mike Mates: Urban Influence
Alison Matheny: Life of a Harpy
Turi McKinley: Turi Travels
Alaa-Eddine Mendili: Furax
John Nack: John Nack on Adobe
Allen Orr: Anthem In
Scott Paterson: sgp7
Joe Peng: MacConcierge
Paavo Perkele: Astudios
Brian Perozo: Ephekto
Jason Puckett: Everyday Puck
Kate Ranson-Walsh: Thinkradical
Tania Rochelle: Stone's Colossal Dream
Angela Sailo: Peanut Butter Toast
Mohit SantRam: Santram.net
Dan Savage: Something Savage
Kevin Scarbrough: Thin Black Glasses
Scott Schiller: Schillmania
Jason Severs: JasonSevers.com
Anthony Sheret: Work By Lunch
Nick Skyles: Boats and Stars
Sujay Thomas: iSujay
Joe Tobens: JospehTobens.com
David Ulevitch: Substantiated.info
John Verhine: Verhine.com
Armin Vit: Under Consideration
Ian Wharton: IanWharton.com
Roger Wong: One Great Monkey
Clay Yount: Rob and Elliot Comics
Jack Zerby: Jack Zerby Music