You know the movie They Live?
No?
Ok, without spending too much time on it, it is a movie (starring a wrestler as an actor, so you know it's great acting) about a man who finds that the world he lives in has been taken over by aliens. And he puts on these sunglasses and normal people now look like these skeletal aliens, and billboards/advertisements turn into black and white messages that say "OBEY!" and other generic threats.
It's a bit ridiculous and the people who live in this world are completely unphased by the alien takeover that has already ocurred (been occuring?) since they don't have magic sunglasses and can't see that the aliens took over. Which of course results in this wrestler-actor just yelling at people throughout the movie trying to convince them that there are aliens and weird signs, to which people really don't care. Also, the aliens are not threatening. If you live in a normal world populated by aliens, but they aren't threatening and nothing has changed, then why make a big stink? It is like there's some underlying message about race or something in there, but the writers of this movie didn't even realize it.
Speaking of stink, there is a great line where the lead character is wearing his magic sunglasses and sees an alien woman put on lipstick in a mirror. He shouts at her "IT´S LIKE PUTTING PERFUME ON A PIG!" Of course, the other surrounding people are just like "Dude, wtf?" Which is basically like the entire movie.
So, where am I going with this, you might ask?
I saw one of those banner ads today that has a splotchy-skinned girl magically airbrushed to a smooth-skinned beauty with some "photo software" that I am sure is just a virus when you click on the banner ad.
It got me into thinking about They Live for some reason, because I think I once read something about a girl who was like "If only people could see the airbrushed me all the time!"
What if the They Live glasses really existed, and we all wore them all the time? Then we could use them for the opposite effect, allowing for the entire world to see airbrushed, abnormally perfect versions of ourselves! If someone dared take them off, they might see people's pimples or other "imperfections." So, of course, no one would ever take them off.
Just thinking out loud.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Flea Markets are interesting places.
This past Saturday I went with my dad and uncle to the nearby flea market that has taken over what used to be a massive hardware store.
If you have never been to a flea market, I will have you know that you can find ANYTHING, literally anything, at this type of market.
The idea is much like having a ton of garage sales all crammed under one roof. There are booths run by different individuals who come back every week to that same booth to peddle their wares. And their wares range from VHS players to bicycles to magazines to candy. Yes, people sell food in this place.
The smell of a flea market is much like that of your attic or crawlspace, if there had been a hobo living in it for the past few years. Like when you find a box of newspapers in your closet, for example, and you get the stagnant odor of old paper and possibly mold. That is just one of many stenches you will encounter at the local flea market.
Much like a garage sale, you encounter the types of people who attend garage sales. If you have had a garage sale, you know what I mean. You could live in the richest of suburban neighborhoods in the yuppiest of communities and you would still encounter the type of people who scour the newspaper listings for garage sales, hoping to find a non-functional fondue set from 1976 to make those summer driveway BBQs on mismatched lawn chairs that much more classy. Or the type of person who finds your how-did-I-end-up-with-this Budweiser bar mirror the most treasured find of all their hunting.
After visually assessing the surroundings of the flea market, I wondered to myself, then aloud to my uncle and father "Which is worse/creepier/seedier: the people who work at the flea market, or the people who frequent the flea market?" Then, after making a decision, I posed the next question "Are they worse/creepier/seedier than carnies?"
Several booths caught my eye. And when I say booths, I really just mean squares drawn with masking tape on the floor that divide the each vendor's property from the next. Although, about 80% choose to supply a tent or curtains of some sort to block sight of neighboring sellers. Many vendors are the type of people who couldn't work a normal sales job. By this, I mean that they sit watching a TV (for sale!) playing an old DVD of Full House episodes (also for sale!) with absolutely no interest in trying to get you to buy anything. Their signs, which are black sharpie scrawled on torn pieces of cardboard, exclaim GREAT DEAL!!! and ONLY ONE DOLLAR!!! You wonder if the people running the booth are the same excited people who created those hopeful signs. Their facial expression is apathy, without a care to be there or sell goods. At this point, right now, their only thought is focusing on merely existing, to just being there and breathing.
Other vendors, however, take it to the next level. One in particular, let's call him Cowboy Ned, with his grey ZZ Top beard falling over his shirt and cutoff jean shorts (for sale?) , was sleeping. My dad and uncle looked over some things of his, like some mechanical doodad (for sale!) that only dads and uncles know what it could possibly be used for since they probably had six of them in their house in 1961. We picked things up, looked them over, and put them back down again, all without a stir from Cowboy Ned, who uncomfortably slumped in his metal chair with nothing to lean his head on.
That's another thing. There is so much junk and distraction that you could be looking at stuff in a booth and not even realize that you are standing right next to the vendor. It is as though they lurk in the shadows and pounce when you least expect. Some human-like things like dolls and mannequins start to make you edgy, when you begin to wonder if that doll in the corner is going to start trying to sell you some belt buckles made out of lead.
At one point in our shopping excursion, we passed by a man playing some indistinguishable tunes on his guitar, while a woman danced. The woman, possibly pushing 100 years old, was wearing a flowing multicolored dress and a red cowboy hat (for sale!) and moving off-beat to the guitar strums as she greeted passing customers with "Hello!" "How do you do!" and "Good evening!" It should be noted that it was noon.
The things people are selling, and the quantities in which they are selling them, are unimaginable. You have not one, not two, but 60 pairs of gardening gloves? How did you come across that many? Did you collect them? Who collects gardening gloves? Some people don't just sell old things that they found in their basement, their attic, the garbage cans, or other garage sales, but instead sell NEW things. Not good quality new things, but knockoffs of new things. Like "Nicke" shoes and "Calvin Cline" underwear. Again, in cases like these it is best to not ask questions.
You wonder if the $100 mattresses sold by vendor D-6 are the reason why the market is in fact called a "flea" market. After seeing so many things of weird origin, and metal objects like knives intended for food use that probably contain unimaginable amounts of lead, my mind wanders to the horrific and maybe not-so-unlikely origins of these things. I turn to my dad and say that if you committed a crime, this would be the easiest place to get rid of evidence. Cash exchange, object never to be seen again. What are those, some bloodstained leather gloves? For only $2? I'll take 'em!
One vendor is even selling Thin Mint cookies. In jest, my dad says we should look for the hidden Girl Scout's body. A joke with serious afterthoughts.
Speaking of food, the Flea Market even has a food court in the back, selling the type of food you'd see at a movie theater or skating rink. Soft pretzels, popcorn and hot dogs are some of the many unhealthy options offered. As we walk past, a man walks up to the cashier and says "Now, did I hear you announce this morning that you were having $2 burgers for lunch?" One might ignore such a comment until you think about it little more in depth: how long has this man been here? He says "this morning" as though it were more than an hour ago. Has he been waiting all morning for flea market burgers? Considering that entering the flea market costs $1, could he possibly have paid that dollar to have access to flea market burgers? How good could flea market burgers possibly be? What kind of meat are those burgers? Where IS that girl scout?!
If you have never been to a flea market, I will have you know that you can find ANYTHING, literally anything, at this type of market.
The idea is much like having a ton of garage sales all crammed under one roof. There are booths run by different individuals who come back every week to that same booth to peddle their wares. And their wares range from VHS players to bicycles to magazines to candy. Yes, people sell food in this place.
The smell of a flea market is much like that of your attic or crawlspace, if there had been a hobo living in it for the past few years. Like when you find a box of newspapers in your closet, for example, and you get the stagnant odor of old paper and possibly mold. That is just one of many stenches you will encounter at the local flea market.
Much like a garage sale, you encounter the types of people who attend garage sales. If you have had a garage sale, you know what I mean. You could live in the richest of suburban neighborhoods in the yuppiest of communities and you would still encounter the type of people who scour the newspaper listings for garage sales, hoping to find a non-functional fondue set from 1976 to make those summer driveway BBQs on mismatched lawn chairs that much more classy. Or the type of person who finds your how-did-I-end-up-with-this Budweiser bar mirror the most treasured find of all their hunting.
After visually assessing the surroundings of the flea market, I wondered to myself, then aloud to my uncle and father "Which is worse/creepier/seedier: the people who work at the flea market, or the people who frequent the flea market?" Then, after making a decision, I posed the next question "Are they worse/creepier/seedier than carnies?"
Several booths caught my eye. And when I say booths, I really just mean squares drawn with masking tape on the floor that divide the each vendor's property from the next. Although, about 80% choose to supply a tent or curtains of some sort to block sight of neighboring sellers. Many vendors are the type of people who couldn't work a normal sales job. By this, I mean that they sit watching a TV (for sale!) playing an old DVD of Full House episodes (also for sale!) with absolutely no interest in trying to get you to buy anything. Their signs, which are black sharpie scrawled on torn pieces of cardboard, exclaim GREAT DEAL!!! and ONLY ONE DOLLAR!!! You wonder if the people running the booth are the same excited people who created those hopeful signs. Their facial expression is apathy, without a care to be there or sell goods. At this point, right now, their only thought is focusing on merely existing, to just being there and breathing.
Other vendors, however, take it to the next level. One in particular, let's call him Cowboy Ned, with his grey ZZ Top beard falling over his shirt and cutoff jean shorts (for sale?) , was sleeping. My dad and uncle looked over some things of his, like some mechanical doodad (for sale!) that only dads and uncles know what it could possibly be used for since they probably had six of them in their house in 1961. We picked things up, looked them over, and put them back down again, all without a stir from Cowboy Ned, who uncomfortably slumped in his metal chair with nothing to lean his head on.
That's another thing. There is so much junk and distraction that you could be looking at stuff in a booth and not even realize that you are standing right next to the vendor. It is as though they lurk in the shadows and pounce when you least expect. Some human-like things like dolls and mannequins start to make you edgy, when you begin to wonder if that doll in the corner is going to start trying to sell you some belt buckles made out of lead.
At one point in our shopping excursion, we passed by a man playing some indistinguishable tunes on his guitar, while a woman danced. The woman, possibly pushing 100 years old, was wearing a flowing multicolored dress and a red cowboy hat (for sale!) and moving off-beat to the guitar strums as she greeted passing customers with "Hello!" "How do you do!" and "Good evening!" It should be noted that it was noon.
The things people are selling, and the quantities in which they are selling them, are unimaginable. You have not one, not two, but 60 pairs of gardening gloves? How did you come across that many? Did you collect them? Who collects gardening gloves? Some people don't just sell old things that they found in their basement, their attic, the garbage cans, or other garage sales, but instead sell NEW things. Not good quality new things, but knockoffs of new things. Like "Nicke" shoes and "Calvin Cline" underwear. Again, in cases like these it is best to not ask questions.
You wonder if the $100 mattresses sold by vendor D-6 are the reason why the market is in fact called a "flea" market. After seeing so many things of weird origin, and metal objects like knives intended for food use that probably contain unimaginable amounts of lead, my mind wanders to the horrific and maybe not-so-unlikely origins of these things. I turn to my dad and say that if you committed a crime, this would be the easiest place to get rid of evidence. Cash exchange, object never to be seen again. What are those, some bloodstained leather gloves? For only $2? I'll take 'em!
One vendor is even selling Thin Mint cookies. In jest, my dad says we should look for the hidden Girl Scout's body. A joke with serious afterthoughts.
Speaking of food, the Flea Market even has a food court in the back, selling the type of food you'd see at a movie theater or skating rink. Soft pretzels, popcorn and hot dogs are some of the many unhealthy options offered. As we walk past, a man walks up to the cashier and says "Now, did I hear you announce this morning that you were having $2 burgers for lunch?" One might ignore such a comment until you think about it little more in depth: how long has this man been here? He says "this morning" as though it were more than an hour ago. Has he been waiting all morning for flea market burgers? Considering that entering the flea market costs $1, could he possibly have paid that dollar to have access to flea market burgers? How good could flea market burgers possibly be? What kind of meat are those burgers? Where IS that girl scout?!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
hurt vs. injured
"So are you hurt or injured? Hurt means you can play. Injured means you can't. If someone steps on my foot, I am hurt. If my bone is sticking out of my thigh, then I am injured."--Eric
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Hey, Idiot.
Hey Idiot,
They're called U-turns. Not "four-points-in-the-freaking-middle-of-the-road-turns."
They're called U-turns. Not "four-points-in-the-freaking-middle-of-the-road-turns."
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Data crunching as art
A couple years ago, Wired.com featured an article about artist Aaron Koblin, who uses data to create beautiful visual art.
While many people would see lists of numbers and data as dull and mundane, Koblin proves them wrong with exceptional masterpieces compiling data into thought-provoking pieces.
My current desktop background has been one of Koblin's Flight Pattern pieces for quite some time. The graceful beauty of the lines representing flight patterns in 24 hours outline the continental United States and show the power of technology and travel.
He has also done some music videos, one of which I am a huge fan, called The Wilderness Downtown. It is the interactive video project for Arcade Fire's single "We Used to Wait." Utilizing Google Maps to animate the viewer's childhood neighborhood, it creates a sentimental touch that isn't expected in a data-filled world.
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/
His project, Ten Thousand Cents, (http://www.tenthousandcents.com/) puts new meaning to the phrase E Pluribus Unum (From Many One). He divided a picture of a ten-dollar bill into tiny little pieces, then asked people (for one penny each) to re-draw the segment that was sent to them. All the tiny pieces, when put together, look just like a ten-dollar bill, but represent 10,000 different laborer's work.
A project similar to the aforementioned crowdsourced piece is The Sheep Market, where participants were paid to draw "sheep facing to the left. The result, thousands of cartoon sheep, is both funny and unique. Check it out at http://www.thesheepmarket.com/.
To see more of Aaron Koblin's works, go to his website at http://www.aaronkoblin.com/.
While many people would see lists of numbers and data as dull and mundane, Koblin proves them wrong with exceptional masterpieces compiling data into thought-provoking pieces.
My current desktop background has been one of Koblin's Flight Pattern pieces for quite some time. The graceful beauty of the lines representing flight patterns in 24 hours outline the continental United States and show the power of technology and travel.
He has also done some music videos, one of which I am a huge fan, called The Wilderness Downtown. It is the interactive video project for Arcade Fire's single "We Used to Wait." Utilizing Google Maps to animate the viewer's childhood neighborhood, it creates a sentimental touch that isn't expected in a data-filled world.
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/
His project, Ten Thousand Cents, (http://www.tenthousandcents.com/) puts new meaning to the phrase E Pluribus Unum (From Many One). He divided a picture of a ten-dollar bill into tiny little pieces, then asked people (for one penny each) to re-draw the segment that was sent to them. All the tiny pieces, when put together, look just like a ten-dollar bill, but represent 10,000 different laborer's work.
A project similar to the aforementioned crowdsourced piece is The Sheep Market, where participants were paid to draw "sheep facing to the left. The result, thousands of cartoon sheep, is both funny and unique. Check it out at http://www.thesheepmarket.com/.
To see more of Aaron Koblin's works, go to his website at http://www.aaronkoblin.com/.
Wait...WHAT?!
Today I was catching up on some missed episodes on the cwtv.com website when I saw this:
Take a closer look...Vampire Diaries wants viewers to catch WHAT?
Take a closer look...Vampire Diaries wants viewers to catch WHAT?
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