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Searching for a new hope

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 12:00:19 GMT

Searching for "a new hope" on flickr yields an interesting contrast of flowers and Star Wars photos.

A new spudart.org coming soon!

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 21:19:18 GMT

In the coming weeks, a redesigned spudart.org will be launched. All 25,000 comments will be back on the site--including all the comments from Facebook. I'm also hoping that all the blog posts will be categorized and tagged. Although that feature might come later. From 2008-2011, spudart.org was regularly pulling in 70,000 visitors a month. But since I'm on an old platform (pMachine), my site is not structured well for google. So, the traffic dropped. While I still get about 5,000 visitors a month, it would be nice to bring the traffic back up. The first step is getting the site back onto a contemporary platform to host all the content. Therefore, the site will be using Wordpress, which powers 24% of the internet. Eventually I'll also switch over the email newsletter system from feedburner to Mailchimp. What does this mean for you? As the site gets more traffic, and I get more excited about the new fancy features in Wordpress, you'll see more blog posts from me, with more great creative content! You'll also be able to dig into more of the fun content that spudart.org has to offer. It's an exciting time for this website that has been around since 1999. The past 16 years has been fun, just wait for what is in store in the next coming weeks! I'll also share in the comments some of the progress that I've been making along the way with shifting the site over. This process has been an on-and-off effort by me in the past four years to switch over to Wordpress! The end goal is almost in sight!

Number of followers for 11 top webcomics

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 15:15:22 GMT

Have a some webcomics you enjoy? How you read these comics? Perhaps you visit each webcomic's website. Or maybe you rely on the voodoo of Facebook to show (or not show) you the comic. Maybe some webcomics have an email newsletter. One of the best ways to follow a list of webcomics is through an RSS reader. Just today I added eleven of my favorite webcomics to Feedly. Whenever you subscribe to a website through Feedly, it shows you the number of people who currently subscribe to that feed. As I was adding my favorite webcomics, I found it interesting to see the number of subscribers. So I put together a chart that compares the number of Feedly subscribers, Twitter followers, and Facebook likes for each webcomic.

 Name                   Feedly  Twitter   Facebook
Incidental Comics.......7,000....8,409....472,882
SMBC...................73,000...97,600....386,961
xkcd..................358,000.......NA....352,195
Channelate..............7,000....4,708....316,423
JL8 Comic...............2,000....1,892.....98,147
Toothpaste for Dinner...6,000...48,800.....47,368
Invisible Bread.........4,000....4,267.....15,111
Chainsawsuit............6,000...26,200......8,316
My Cardboard Life.......1,000....5,497......4,856
Jen Sorensen...............20....5,034......3,406
My Extra Life...........3,000...49,500..... 2,300

(If the above chart looks jacked-up in email or RSS, take a look at the original blog post.) For those who like charts, here's one: Yeah, some popular webcomics like Oatmeal aren't on this list. I don't subscribe to that webcomic, so yeah, sorry. There's quite a range between Twitter and Facebook followers for some webcomics. For Facebook, some range in the hundreds of thousands versus the few thousand. But for Feedly subscribers, almost all the comics are between 2,000 to 7,000. I would suspect that the social media numbers range so much for Facebook, because many people will simply click "like" for a comic, but never really read the comic on a regular basis. Facebook doesn't always show all your Pages in your feed, so people may have forgotten they liked a page. Whereas with Feedly, you see everything. So people are much more like to unsubscribe if they grow tired of a particular comic, thus normalizing the number of subscribers within a normal range. There are two webcomics that totally break the Feedly ceiling, XKCD and SMBC. The XKCD is no surprise. But SMBC? I never even heard of this comic until last week! Twitter also has a wide ranging number of followers. That's probably because some accounts are really dead, and thus don't get many followers, whereas some other accounts tweet a ton--giving them more air time and potential for people share their tweets. Twitter can truly be a quantity game when it comes to promoting your tweets. Take "My Extra Life." It ranks dead last for Facebook likes, but it's #2 for Twitter followers. Scott Johnson's 76,300 tweets is astronomical. Perhaps people are following his Twitter for him than for his webcomic. At some point, I'm going to start my webcomic. I hope to draw a fraction of the followers that any of these 11 webcomics have.

Moon Rocks Found in Chicago

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 18:28:53 GMT

Printouts of moon rocks are being found across downtown Chicago. On the back of each printout reads:

You Found a Moon Rock! This printout is the exact same size of an actual lunar sample brought back from the surface of the moon. Take a photo of your moon rock and tag it #moonrockfound I will comment on your photo with additional information about this specific rock!

The idea for this project sprouted out of my "Star Wraps" public art series where I take NASA images of nebulas, print them out into strips, and wrap them around objects in public spaces. The results are absolutely beautiful. The sense of scale from wide nebula to small object on Earth is absolutely immense. But I really wanted to leverage something in outer space we are all familiar with--the moon. Placing the moon as public art would be something everyone can relate to. We see the moon almost every night. The opportunity to make this project a reality came as I was taking an online course, Art of the MOOC, with over 4,000 people signed up. The first assignment was to displace an every day object in public. The Moon is an everyday object, so I'm displacing that. Here is the information I submitted for the project: Introduction The object I displaced is the full moon in the night sky by placing pieces of the moon in public spaces. I created printouts of actual moon rocks brought back from the surface of the moon from the Apollo missions. Using four images from NASA's wide selection of moon rock galleries, I made printouts of these rocks at the actual size of the rock.�Carefully taking the measurement of each rock provided by NASA, each printout matches the true size of each moon rock sample. Therefore, when a person holds one of these printouts in his/her hands, it's like holding an actual moon rock. I placed each of these moon rock prints against various surfaces in public spaces that mimic the original context of the moon rock. Here are two examples from the 40 placements I did:

Bridge tower: The limestone texture of a relief sculpture on a bridge tower mimics the stone texture of the moon rock.
Flower planters: Five consecutive sidewalk flower planters made of concrete filled. The planting mulch provides a contrast of the moon soil with Earth soil.

Most of the placements were done at night with a full moon in the sky. The assignment had three criteria to fulfill: 1. A description of the social response caused by this displacement as shown in the images.� When a pedestrian encounters these moon rocks, time and space are displaced as the viewer is standing in a public space, yet they are seeing a rock from the moon. The moon rock is displayed in context of an earth texture. The rock seems like it would belong--because it is a rock after all. Yet the rock is from the moon, thousands of miles away--on a night with a full moon in the sky. Bridge Tower reaction:� While I was photographing the moon rocks at the bridge tower, a pedestrian walked up to the rock and read the inscription on the Bridge Tower and said out loud, "discoverers!" This pedestrian drew the connection of how she discovered the moon rock, just as the original Apollo astronauts discovered this moon rock. Flower planter reaction:� At the flower planters, a worker from the Chicago Tribune came up and inquired me about what I was doing while photographing the rocks. The contrast of the moon rocks against the earth soil was very striking to this passer-by, and he was delighted to read the back of the moon rock printouts with the explanation. 2. A description of your efforts to conduct the event, including any relevant efforts that did not produce a result. On the back-side of each of the moon rock printouts is: A) An explanation that these printouts are the actual size of the moon rock. B) A call for the beholder of the moon rock to take a photo of the rock and tag it with #moonrockfound. C) A promise that I would comment on each tagged photo with more information about that particular rock. To date I have placed 40 different moon rock printouts, and I have yet to find any photos on social media using the #moonrockfound tag. I believe this is just a numbers game, as I estimate 1% of people who would be likely take the effort to photograph and tag their discovery. While 40 rocks is a great start, I simply need to place a larger quantity of moon rocks to yield the desired result. 3. Briefly highlight and explain how at least three topics, artists or projects mentioned in the lecture are directly related to your project. The "Moon Rock Found" mimics three artists' work: A)�Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty"�displaced and documented earth rocks. I displaced and documented moon rocks. B)�Ant Farm's "The Eternal Frame"�re-enacted JFK's assassination. My project re-enacts the Apollo astronauts discovery of each moon rock. Just as the astronauts picked each moon rock off the ground, so are pedestrians picking up a moon rock off the ground. The Astronauts passed the rocks along to scientists for further analysis. Pedestians will pass along photos of their rocks for me to give additional explanation about each rock. C)�Cai Guo-Qiang's fireworks�are ephemeral events in the public space. These rocks are also ephemeral in the public space, as pedestrians pick up each rock and take it away. NASA sources for moon rock images:�Sample 76015,�Sample 76055,�Sample 67015,�Sample 15499

Fireworks as constellations

Sun, 18 Oct 2015 17:23:11 GMT

While going through my photos, this particular photo of July 4th fireworks reminded me of constellations in the sky. Here's an animated gif of several photos together. Here the constellation twinkles.

#gentlemansquirrel on instagram

Fri, 09 Oct 2015 12:00:50 GMT

OMG. I thought there would be zero results on instagram #gentlemansquirrel but there is this wonderful photo!

Enjoying the view from my lady ships window. #snowday #gentlemansquirrel

A photo posted by Montery Ephram Darvill (@mrmontydarvill) on Apr 15, 2013 at 7:07am PDT

16 cool instagram photos tagged with #constellation

Thu, 08 Oct 2015 12:00:31 GMT

Since I've been working with constellations in my art, I did some research to see what other people are doing. Here are 16 photos tagged with constellation. If the images don't appear below (because you are viewing this in an email or RSS reader), click over to the blog post.

Celestial nebulas come to planet Earth

Wed, 07 Oct 2015 20:45:49 GMT

The textures of the nebulas play very nicely with the urban textures. The rust texture on a garbage can looks just like a nebula cloud. What is so large in outer space is mimic'ed on something so small as a humble garbage can planet Earth. I take NASA photos of nebulas, print them out onto strips, and wrap them around public objects. I'm also considering how to leverage the popularity of Mars, Pluto, and the Moon. Water being discovered on Mars, all 8,400 high-res Apollo's photos are now on Flickr, the Supermoon eclipse, and New Horizons flying by Pluto sending back incredible photos. We are truly in a time where space is in the news. These two planets and moon are very much being talked about. Yes, I'm counting Pluto as a planet, deal with it. I venture to say most everyone loves the underdog Pluto so much that they would consider it a planet too. And that very care is what I'd like to leverage in this Star Wraps series. People don't really care as much about nebulas. Sure, they are super pretty. But where in the world are they? They are this vague "out there" thing that we can't get our arms around. But that might be why they are so fascinating to work with. The Star Wraps series takes something so immensely huge and non-understandable, and truly brings it down to Earth. So much to Earth that these mystic nebulas are placed against the very textures we are familiar with on a daily level. In fact, these textures are so everyday, that we pass them by without a notice. By using celestial nebulas I hope to call out the beauty of the textures that surround us.

Six lessons learned from wrapping the Carina Nebula around a parking pole

Tue, 06 Oct 2015 11:45:15 GMT

I had a feeling something was going to happen while I was carrying around a eight-foot long print of the Carina Nebula. My plans were to wrap this colorful strip of paper around something in public and take photographs of it. This art placement is part of a series I call Star Wraps (flickr gallery). Normally I use only one strip of paper 10 inches long by one inch wide. A simple little printout of a galaxy wrapped around a pipe or fence post. But today I wanted to do something with more impact. Something larger. I took ten of these strips and taped them together into one long strip, eight feet long. Carrying the Carina Nebula in my hands, I walked outside the Tribune Tower during the Money evening rush hour commute at 5:15pm. The sidewalks were extremely busy, full of commuters busily walking home. The sidewalks in Chicago are usually a great place to leave artwork, but the sheer amount of people everywhere just didn't feel right. I would get in people's way with placing this artwork. Plus, people don't like their photo being taken in the background. Something just didn't feel right for me to place this artwork tonight. However, determined to place this artwork, a quieter place was needed. I departed the parade of people on Lake Street, and turned down an empty alley. The alley was somewhat clean being next to a new hotel, but had a demolished toilet. I figured that the people in this alley don't care too much about what happens here, because, really. A smashed up toilet is in the alley. Around the corner was six bright yellow poles to prevent trucks from backing up into the hotel building. The rhythm of the poles was very striking. The photo of the placement would have great contrast through the empty poles against the single pole with the wrap. Dropping my backpack, I looked around to make the alley was legit. The Carina Nebula came out of my backpack, and I wound it around the pole. The number of times the nebula can wrap around this pole was surprising. Eight times. As I was photographing the pole, a woman who looked to be the building manager walked out with a maintenance man. They both walked right by me to a point on the alley that was cracked up. The woman was pretending to talk about the crack. But that's not why there were there. They wanted to see how I would react to their presence. I simply continued taking my photos. She asked me in a friendly manner was I was doing. I explained to her that I was photographing this wrap around the pole. I didn't pretend it was like someone else's work. I laid claim to it directly. Knowing what she was getting after, I told her that I would remove it after I finished photographing it. I demonstrated how it was attached using painters tape to not affect the pole. Knowing that I was no longer a threat she asked me if I was doing this for work. I was dressed in a tie and blazer. I responded that I just enjoy doing this and taking photos. I happily pointed out to her that this is to demonstrate dynamic ranges of scale. The huge galaxy is contrasted against the small pole. She was like, "uhh, ok, just make sure you remove it when you are done, ok?" I affirmed. Granted, I like to leave my art behind for others to enjoy. In this case I made the exception for her request. Besides, these printouts are a little bit time consuming to make (moreso than a simple sticky note). At least I'll get a little bit more mileage out of this Carina Nebula. Six lessons learned: 1) A demolished toilet does not mean that people don't care about their alley. 2) When you have a weird feeling to not drop a piece of artwork, listen to your instincts. 3) Take ownership of your street art 4) Never damage public property. Just in case you get caught, you need an easy out. I've always practiced this rule out of respect for other people's property. But in this case, it saves your own skin too. 5) When placing artwork, wear a tie and blazer. People won't freak out as much. 6) Wear a Narrative Clip when placing artwork. It would be fun to capture encounters with other people like this one.

Googling hexvalue colors

Thu, 01 Oct 2015 19:45:19 GMT

When you Google a color's hexvalue, the entire browser should turn that color.

A couple other thoughts related to hexvalues:

What are the most popular hexvalues used on websites? Certainly search engines that crawl billions of websites would have stats on what hexvalues are used the most.

A google search for the Facebook hexvalue, #3b5998, does not result in pages saying it's facebook's color.

What would you write in wet cement?

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 10:00:10 GMT

photo by marissandrew

What would you write in wet cement? Guerrilla artist Uncustomary asks this question. (She answers with "you are beautiful" in her cement)

A fun phrase to write in wet cement would be, "Carve your dreams on the moon." Concrete sidewalks are like the surface of the moon. Walking along on the sidewalk is like walking along on the moon. Maybe sometimes we are actually on the moon! If you are going to carve something into the moon, it might as well be your dreams. That moon high up the sky, we often associate the moon with dreams. Last night during the Supermoon eclipse, the moon looked more real and physical than ever before. You really got the sensation of it being a real rock up in the sky. Since the sidewalk reminds of the moon, I would want to carve something up on the moon.

If you had complete legal rights to write in wet cement, without any penalty, what would you write?

When writing something in wet cement, you have to first consider your medium. What is cement? What does a sidewalk remind you of? Then base your answer on what you think of sidewalks.

The answer could be as simple as "sidewalks remind me of walking." Then perhaps you can give someone a wish for their walk. Write into the sidewalk, "best wishes for a thoughtful walk." Or maybe sidewalks remind you of hopscotch. Perhaps you would then carve a hopscotch grid into the wet cement. A permanent playground for anyone walking by!

Sidewalks remind me of when I was four years old and I fell flat on my face onto the sidewalk, losing my entire front tooth. So I would write on the sidewalk, "Lost tooth as 4-year-old in 1979"

Two questions for you:
1. What do sidewalks remind you of?
2. What would you write in wet cement?

Six reasons why red M&M's are the perfect treat for a Supermoon lunar eclipse

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 05:19:27 GMT

What is the perfect snack to enjoy while watching the moon turns red and slowly disappears? I found myself pondering this question while sitting on my back porch watching this rare celestial event. Digging through the pantry, M&M's became the answer for the perfect treat to enjoy during a Supermoon lunar eclipse.

1. The moon is round. M&M's are round.
2. The Supermoon is red. M&M's come in red.
3. The moon looks so tiny, it seems like it can fit in your hand. M&M's fit in your hand.
4. The moon starts with the letter M. M&M's start and end with M.
5. M&M�S� have been a part of every space shuttle mission since Columbia first launched on April 12, 1981. (source: Mars)
6. The eclipsing moon eventually disappearas. M&M's disappear when you eat them.
http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2015/0273-lunar_eclipse_2015-photo-20150927-215412-dyptic-twitter-2400w.jpg

Where is the awesome monkey power?

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 21:09:39 GMT

How is it possible that the hashtag #awesomemonkeypower does not exist on Instagram?

Only seven results on Google.

"Awesome monkey power" hasn't been used on Twitter since 2013--and just once during that year. And one time for 2012 and 2011. Technically the phrase isn't even used on twitter, because it's cut across two separate sentences.

Facebook is severely lacking in awesome monkey power.

The value of seven-letter domains ending in art.com

Thu, 17 Sep 2015 20:56:39 GMT

How much is the domain spudart.com worth? Just the domain name itself, not the website.

1,610 domains are listed on Godaddy auctions that are four letters + art.com. The median selling price is $2,195.

The list of 4letter+art.com domains selling for $2,195:

rennart.com     tomoart.com     mtheart.com     sethart.com 
apppart.com     vidrart.com     summart.com     kangart.com 
lickart.com     nonoart.com     sureart.com     mammart.com 
permart.com     acreart.com     undeart.com     bonpart.com 
reumart.com     agitart.com     bekoart.com     igetart.com 
nelmart.com     slipart.com     bforart.com     vgstart.com 
dolkart.com     gastart.com     kuckart.com     cimaart.com 
lomoart.com     soupart.com     egokart.com     oxilart.com 
objdart.com     wizcart.com     focoart.com     yarmart.com 
hsamart.com     giniart.com     medeart.com     taskart.com 
amorart.com     bardart.com     jaysart.com     linzart.com 
bakuart.com     mookart.com     kinkart.com     erikart.com 
deftart.com     alloart.com     outpart.com     
godhart.com     rompart.com     louzart.com     
lmsmart.com     renkart.com     maysart.com     
pencart.com     beshart.com     ruscart.com     
rembart.com     fuelart.com     ptchart.com     
sanpart.com     polaart.com     minuart.com     
skidart.com     galeart.com     kammart.com

One of them is erikart.com!!! (My twin brother's name is Erik)

Calvin's wits comes from his parents

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 13:58:02 GMT

(comic courtsey gocomics.com)

The mom has some of Calvin's style of humor in today's Calvin & Hobbes. It's nice that the parents aren't always prototypical boring stiff parents. Here we see where Calvin potentially gets his wits from.

Interpreting a John Cage score

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:01:50 GMT

This is a musical score. What would it sound like? #MCAresidency15

A photo posted by MCA Chicago (@mcachicago) on Sep 8, 2015 at 1:35pm PDT

What would this musical score sound like? The Museum of Contemporary Art posted a photo of a score by John Cage and asked people what it would sound like.

See that circular part of the score? Here's what it could mean:

I love how the staff gets all tangled after the circular part. If the staff allowed itself to go full circle, it would be like a song on endless loop. But since the staff gets tangled, that would be like the instrument braking apart. Thus that part of the score would be a potential infinite sing that ends only by the destruction all sound created by the instrument.

That's the comment I left on the instagram photo. What do you think this score would sound like?

The most highlighted term in the Oxford dictionary

Wed, 02 Sep 2015 23:33:10 GMT

The most popular highlight made by Kindle users in the Oxford Dictionary of English is "think deeply about something that makes one unhappy, angry, or worried: she had brooded over the subject a thousand times."

That's rather bizarre.

That is the definition for the word BROOD.

Thinking about Paris and ewoks

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 15:49:48 GMT

Here's a few fun tweets about Paris and ewoks.

It's fun saying the phrase "Paris Ewok"
— Spudart Matt Maldre (@spudart) August 27, 2015

I want to meet an ewok from Paris.
— Ewok Lumat (@EwokLumat) August 27, 2015

On the Death Star, what area would be the equivalent to Paris?
— Atour Riten (@AtourRiten) August 27, 2015

"Ewok and _____" an art series art series where I take photos of an ewok action figure in front of artworks. Most of the photos posted in the series are taken in front of the artworks at my parents home. However, I did some in Paris on our honeymoon. I'll post the Paris Ewok photos soon.

More to come.

The simple joys of public art

Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:40:48 GMT

Does your city have touristy things that you've never done? Chicago has a lot of that. One of the tourist attractions is the 50 foot tall public art sculpture by Picasso. The angled base made of Cor-Ten steel makes for a great slide. Children are always running up the base and sliding down.

I never thought of sliding down the base, because only kids do it. But today was a different day.

After picking up parking passes across the street at Chicago's City Hall, I crossed over and walked up to the Picasso. Never having sat down on the pedestal around the Picasso, I figure it would be a good experience for me as a public artist. I sat down for about ten seconds and realized that I want to slide down the Picasso with the few other kids doing it.

In my tie and work clothes, I climbed up the Picasso slope. The surface was much more smooth than I imagined. Perhaps it was my treaded-out dress shoes. Successfully reaching the top, I sat down and slid down on my butt. It was fun. I though maybe I wouldn't be able to slide down, but i went along just fine. It was so much fun that I did it three more times.

Every adult should slide down the Picasso at least once. Here's a fast-motion video of me sliding down:

Where is the sun?

Wed, 12 Aug 2015 19:11:53 GMT

If you ask "Where is the sun?" to Wolfram Alpha, you get a cool astronomy diagram!

In my case, I had to add on "in Chicago", because Wolfram Alpha thought I was in Florida, based on our internet provider at work.

New word: snapity

Fri, 07 Aug 2015 20:41:17 GMT

Snapity is now submitted to urbandictionary.com. Here's what I wrote:

definition:
The interjective response to shocking sad news. A combination of "snap" and "pity." Snap! is your first reaction of surprise, closely followed by pity for the bad news. Snapity!

example:
Your laptop just blew up?! Snapity!

tags:
snap, pity, sucks, shock, surprise, sad, empathy

Army of caterpillars and origami butterflies: nature and public art in Chicago

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 18:15:58 GMT

An army of caterpillars somehow got onto the median of a busy tourist street in Chicago. How was such an unusual sight discovered? Why through origami butterflies, of course!

Being freshly married two weeks ago, we have about four hundred extra origami butterflies that we didn't use in the wedding reception. This army of butterflies will be slowly released upon the city of Chicago over the next few months.

The 400 origami butterflies of deep purple, lavender, and gold paper match nicely with with the purple and gold sunflowers in the garden medians of a major traffic thoroughfare in downtown Chicago's shopping district, Michigan Avenue. The photos for this setting turned out alright. The sunflowers were slightly burnt from the hot 100-degree weather days earlier. Looking for some better sunflowers on the medians, I delicately danced along the median with cars zooming past.

Many striped caterpillars were all clustered together feeding on the greenery. These caterpillars will big, fat, and striped. An amazing site to see them clinging to the leaves as the wind from the zooming traffic blew the branches left and right.

So not only would fate have it that the flowers in the gardens matched the colors of the origami butterflies in my hand, but there were actual live caterpillars on the plants!

The very symbolism for why we used butterflies in our wedding was right there! The transformation of caterpillar to butterfly! I placed a gold origami butterfly next to one of the caterpillars and happily shot photos and videos. Cars were honking and I was hopping in delight.

Here's a 51-second simple video of the origami next to a caterpillar with the traffic wind blowing the plant around.

500 million visualized

Wed, 17 Jun 2015 08:45:58 GMT

With the Stanley Cup in the news again as Chicago won its third Stanley Cup in six years, Chicago's Adler Planetarium made an infographic revealing that 429,305,338 Stanley Cups stacked on top of one another would reach the Moon.

What else is approximately 500 million?

The population of North America is 476,028,165 people. America (320,970,000), Canada (35,344,962), and Mexico (119,713,203)

Twitter hit 500 million users on February 26, 2012. Facebook reached 500 million on July 21, 2010. Whatsapp achieved this milestone on Apr 21, 2014.

General Motors produced their 500 millionth car on May 4, 2015.

Four movies have grossed $500 million dollars.

IGN lists a few items you can buy for $500 million:
* 7 of Vincent Van Gogh's most expensive paintings ever sold. Total Cost: $408 million
* Launch the Space Shuttle into space, burning 900,000 gallons of fuel. Cost: $450 million
* Feed 1 million hungry families for a year. Cost: $480 million.
* 6 Private Islands, totaling 9957 acres of land. Cost: $496 million.

500 million straws are used by Americans every day.

Muppets the comic book

Tue, 19 May 2015 17:30:00 GMT

The Muppets comic book (2009-2012) is EXCELLENT! If you like the Muppets, go to your nearest comic book store and pick up the compilation, "The Muppets Omnibus." (or get it from Amazon) It's seriously one of the best comics to ever come out. The Muppets are a perfect fit for the comic book format. The Muppets show was about different little performances. Each of these performances fit very well into a spread on a comic book. Each spread, or each page in the comic book is one of those performances. And then every issue has a thread going througout it, just like in the tv show.

Muppets the Comic Book. Pick one up! It won't disappoint. Oh i should also say, do not accidentally pick up the Muppets Robin Hood comic book also out now. That comic book, well, I don't want you to accidentally pick up the Robin Hood version, stick to the regular Muppet Show comic book.

Here's what The Muppets Omnibus collects together:
* The Muppet Show (2009) 1-4
* The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson (2009) 1-4
* The Muppet Show Comic Book (2009) 0-11
* The Muppets (2012) 1-4

This collection has 600 pages of Muppets goodness.

Start to NFL Draft in Chicago flops

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 18:27:13 GMT

Crowd control gates lined the streets of Michigan Avenue outside Tribune Tower. The kickoff to the NFL Draft in Chicago was supposed to be huge. Such a large crowd was expected that people were going to be spilling over into the street. The sun was shining. The court was filled with NFL Hall of Famers and top prospects.

I want to be pro-Chicago and declare this event fantastic. Chicago should host more events like this, but Pioneer court was nearly empty. A handful of people showed up, just enough to line up in front of the stage. The first time in 51 years that the NFL Draft was happening in Chicago, and right outside my work window in the Tribune Tower. I had to go down and check it out in person.

The crowd was thin enough where I was able to walk right up to the front and watch. About a dozen NFL Hall of Famers were announced, the crowd didn't seem to know any of them. I didn't. Except when Dick Butkus was introduced. Then people started to take photos.

With the fantastic architectural backdrop, I took a pano sweeping from the jumbotron displaying Butkus' name along to the stage and the crowd. I got lucky with the photo, because with panoramics, you never quite know the exact moments when it will pick up certain actions. But I just so happened to get the frame where he was shaking hands with the MCs.

Maybe the event was not very well attended, because it was in the middle of a workday on Wednesday, a bit chilly outside. Even though the stage was being set up for a good week before the event, there were no signs saying the day and time of when the actual introduction was taking place.

Just as soon as they introduced the dozen prospects, the event was over. But not before the mysterious voice on the speakers asked all the Hall of Famers and prospects to stand up with the crowd and take photos with the crowd. The players were very confused and hesitantly stood up thinking they were supposed to mingle with the crowd. Instead they all just stood nervously for a minute until the voice came back on the speakers thanking them.

Then all the players walked off the stage, probably wondering if maybe this event would be been better hosted by a local high school where you would at least have a few hundred, or maybe even a few thousand yelling teenagers. Instead you had a few tens of business people walking back to their jobs, looking at the cell phones and the photos they just obligatorly took (including myself).

Here's hoping the other events that take place in Grant Park will be more well attended. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7676/17127401939_ea64bf8719_k.jpg

A secret closet in the Tribune Tower has one of my photos on display

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 17:44:47 GMT

The Tribune Tower has many locked doors leading to secret closets. Walk down any hallway, and you are sure to encounter a locked door that leads to a mysterious place. One of these such doors is on the 14th floor of the Tribune Tower where I have worked for 15 years. While going home late Friday night, this door that I have NEVER seen open, was actually swung wide open. Why would this door be open?

Since the mystery door was open, I was curious what was inside. Lo and behold there is a sink with standing water, which I'm assuming is a janitor's sink. Hence, this closet is a janitor's closet. Around the corner in the closet is a large water valve.

A water main break in the Tribune Tower on Friday caused Building Services to shut off all the water during the day. The door to this mystery was open, so Building Services could have access to this valve.

But perhaps one of the greatest mysteries revealed was seeing one of my photos hanging up inside the closet. The tape holding the photo has yellowed, and the print itself is pretty wrinkled from water damage--most probably from the janitor's sink.

How does one of my photos get put on display in a Tribune Tower janitor's closet?

This image is about seven years old as I originally photographed is in 2008. Apparently at some point, I printed this image at work. Perhaps I was printing it for my 1400 gallery in my workspace. I must have recycled the printout.

Then someone noticed this print in the recycling and appreciated it so much, this person took it out of the recycle bin. Wanting to display this fine photography, this person hung it up in the janitor's closet. Every time the mop water is cleaned out, my image of the Tribune Tower hangs watching onward to the delight of the Tribune Tower cleaning crew.

At least that's how I imagine the reason for why one of my photos is hanging up inside this mystery closet. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7638/16591880414_f0dbb402e9_c.jpg

What is Renzo Piano saying?

Tue, 14 Apr 2015 11:05:05 GMT

What would celebrated architect Renzo Piano be saying in this photo? He clearly looks excited to be sharing something.

What would you say about this cactus?

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:33:28 GMT

"You're the dreadlock cactus," says Jason DeVoll the photographer of this image, "I don't care about 'official names'"

I say, "It's alive!--oh wait, of course it's alive. It's a plant. ha. The sign looks so tiny next to this cactus monster. I'm surprised the cactus hasn't eating the sign yet."

What would you say about this cactus?

The Puppet Bike gets wrapped by the Carina Nebula

Fri, 10 Apr 2015 10:08:50 GMT

Parked and waiting was the infamous Puppet Bike. Strips of the Carina Nebula in my hand, I was looking for poles and other items to wrap the Nebula around. What great felicity to run into one of Chicago's most famous mobile works of street art.

The Puppet Bike has given me great enjoyment on many occasions, but I never walked and touched it, for this is a beloved part of Chicago. The opportunity was to great to pass up as the bunny puppet performers inside the bike would surely love to go on an intergalactic ride. My Star Wraps are completely non-destructive, so I felt ok to give the Puppet Bike the star treatment.

The chrome handlebars were the obvious choice, but which wrap should I use? Each NASA image gets cut into eight slices, resulting in a variety of images to select from. Given the Puppet Bike's intense colors, a wrap with vivid crazy color would be very fitting. Having learned from yesterday's tree wrap, I positioned the wrapping so a hero star would be most prominent in the composition.

The Puppet Bike brings so much out of this world joy to people, I'm glad to have contributed just a little bit to the entertaining piece of street art.

The day I wrapped a tree branch with the galaxy

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 09:20:19 GMT

Every artist has their go-to methods when creativity runs dry. Tools like sketchpads. Working in locations like coffee shops. For me one of my methods is to make artwork to place on the front of Tribune Tower.

149 rocks from around the world are embedded on the exterior of Tribune Tower in Chicago. One of those rocks is a tiny ledge from the Royal Castle in Stockholm Sweden. Sitting on a busy tourist-filled sidewalk, this is perfect podium to hold tiny works of art for people to discover. I like to frequently place artwork here. This is one of my creativity buster go-tos.

If you leave artwork in a certain area enough times, that place becomes your gallery.
— Spudart Matt Maldre (@spudart) May 20, 2010

Earlier this year I made a book of 100 million stars for my fianc�e using a super high-res image from NASA of the Andromeda Galaxy. With that image still fresh in my mind, I thought to use it on my public Tribune Tower gallery.

Originally I envisioned the paper hanging off the ledge like a tongue. But as I stood in front of the ledge with paper in hand, it was clear this strip of stars should be laid along the width of the ledge.

Honestly, the image wasn't THAT compelling. Sure, it's interesting seeing a random piece of paper with stars on it, but... uh, ok, what is really being said here? I guess it's cool how the texture of the stars mimics the texture of the sandstone. As many stars in the sky as there is sand on the beaches. But the paper just sits there. Limp. Not sure of itself.

I left walking away thinking that maybe these strips can be wrapped around the poles inside Chicago's CTA commuter trains. Or around fence poles. Against the foggy sky the Michigan Avenue trees were asking to have some art wrapped around their stark branches. A perfect place to wrap the Galaxy around!

With my bad back, I climbed a top the damp sidewalk planter containing the trees to install a starwrap print around an aesthetically pleasing branch. The backdrop is wonderful at his location with the limestone Michigan Avenue bridgetowers.

My first wrap wasn't so successful as it was a darker section of the Andromeda Galaxy. The foggy sky had a light exposure which made taking photos tricky. Thankfully I can cut about 8 strips from one 11 x 17 print. After doing some climbing around, I finally took this shot:

The placement of the star burst was completely unintentional when I was wrapping the branch. But the star totally stood out as I was photographing it, I decided to make it the hero of the photo. That star helps to identify the photo as being one of many stars.

It's amazing that something so massively huge like a galaxy would wrap something small like a single tree branch. The contrast of scales is wonder-spoking (yes, I made up that word). Plus, with the close-style of photography, the texture of the tree branch is captured. You get a true sense of what that branch feels like, and its size. The photo reveals the truth of the branch. Yet, it's wrapped by a galaxy--one with a texture all its own.

I'm excited to start wrapping more galaxies around other items in public. Perhaps the images I use can even feature different photos from NASA. Train pole wrapped by Orion Nubula. Fence pole wrapped by Pillars of Creation.

25 images that look like Jackson Pollock's Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 05:00:30 GMT

Scull Chapel, Czermna, Poland / Kaplica Czaszek w Czermnej by PolandMFA, on Flickr

Untitled Forms / Dumbo Arts Center: Art Under the Bridge Festival 2009 / 20090926.10D.54894.P1.L1.C23 / SML by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML, on Flickr

Angel Christmas cookies by bubolinkata, on Flickr

muslim graveyard by smokykater, on Flickr

Ice Storm by andrewfhart, on Flickr

Day 37: Hay (02/06/14) by davidwells75, on Flickr

IMG_5543 by Irina Souiki, on Flickr

Yes,there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on. by Massis__, on Flickr

Angkor Wall carving by nydavid1234, on Flickr

Romeo & Juliet wall (Verona) by Ghiozdan, on Flickr

mayan calendar by TimeTurnerGirl, on Flickr

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Party by Nazgullow on DeviantArt

Gaudi Sagrada Familia by lookinglass on DeviantArt

Menzoberranzan by MikeSchley on DeviantArt

Ohmu by foxibiri on DeviantArt

Babel 08. UGV 01 by duster132 on DeviantArt

The Rockford Peaches. 1945. Library of Congress.

Welcome, said the old man : will you come with us. 1910. Library of Congress.

Troops of the 20th Armored Division and units of the 9th Army whoop it up between raindrops

Apollo 11 Bootprint. 1969. NASA.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looked down at the soil on the western rim of Endeavour crater to capture this raw image from its panoramic camera during the rover's 2,686th Martian day, or sol, of work on Mars (Aug. 14, 2011). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU

Young Stars at Home in Ancient Cluster, NGC 675. ESA/Hubble & NASA

A meaningful use of QR codes

Sun, 15 Mar 2015 02:49:43 GMT

An impressive show was put on by this year's batch of BFA students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The expansive seventh floor of the Louis Sullivan Building on the State Street housed more than 300 artists' work by students completing undergraduate degrees this spring.

One artist's work in particular stood out. A series of seven QR codes printed on white paper hung on a black wall. Doesn't sound too exciting at first. Since I have a curious obsession with QR codes, this particular work actually drew me in. Scanning the first code, it translated to, "no one likes you"

When we encounter QR codes, normally you get some promo website. This simple, hurtful message was startling.

Scanning another code, it brought up, "you have pretty eyes but your fat"

These insults were shocking given the simple presentation on the wall. What is the artist intending here? That the viewer's feelings are hurt? That sort of feeling is exactly the point. The artist Josi Yingjiao Pei created this series to highlight the destruction that cyberbulling causes.

These seven QR codes were actual online messages sent to teens who eventually committed suicide. Pei's artist statement:

Josi Yingjiao Pei
The Invisible Scar; 2015
The Invisible Scar is a study that examines the manifestations of cyberbullying and teen depression. Cyberbullying happens when people use electronic technology to harass, threaten or embarrass each other. It is even worse than the traditional schoolyard bullying since it can occur seven days a week at any hour. By using search engines, I found many teens that committed suicide due to endless bullying messages they received via emails and social networking sites. Each QR code corresponds to one single victim, and the texts behind the QR codes are actual messages and comments I found on line that relate to the death of the teens. The installation is a memorial to seven of these young victims. By interacting with The Invisible Scar, the viewer turns into an experimenter, observing and feeling the actual impact that cyberbullying has on individuals.

The seven teens listed are:
J.L., aged 16
J.U., aged 15
R.S., aged 12
E.G., aged 13
M.M., aged 13
D.P., aged 17
H.S., aged 14

I encourage people online to scan all QR codes. The messages are very somber, and truly hit the emotions of how awful cyberbullying is. The words are so devastating, I don't want to repeat them on my this blog post. You truly need to experience scanning in the codes and seeing the results.

Doing this act of scanning in the codes with your phone connects the viewer with impact that these messages are digital. Phrases that are tossed around on social media sites that destroy people's lives.

This is one of the best uses of QR codes I have ever seen. The medium works so incredibly with the message. Josi Yingjiao Pei's website, josipei.com shows a few of her other works that carry her themes of memory, loss and displacement (Pei uses those three words to describe her work). From photographs of landslides in the Donghekou Village of China to melting glaciers in Alaska projected onto a human body, Pei's body of work is already looking very mature for an undergrad student. I can't wait to see what future works she will be creating.

The 11 napkins in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 03:43:51 GMT

The fine art of napkins. Art that you can wipe your mouth with. The Art Institute currently has 11 napkins in their permanent collection. The height of the napkin collecting craze occured from 1983 to 1996. Nine of the eleven napkins were folded into the Art Institute collection during this 13-year span. (the other two napkins coming in at 1947 and 1972).

Why would the Art Institute catch the napkin fever during the 1980s and early 1990s? Perhaps the Art Institute has actually only dipped their toes into the napkin world. 7,858 textiles are in the Art Institute's collection. Just one-tenth of a percent of their textiles are napkins. Out of every 700 pieces of textile art in their collection, there is one napkin. One.

Given the rarity of napkins in the Art Institute's collection, let's take a look at each one. Along with each napkin is my commentary on its significance in the lore of napkin history.

Table Napkin Commemorating the Marriage of Louis XIV (1638�1715) and Marie-Therese (1638�1683) in 1660, c. 1660

France

You'd have to think that someone stole this napkin while at the Louis XIV's wedding. Do you think it was customary in the 1600s to take the wedding napkins home with you?

Napkin from the Linnelinjen (Linen Line), 1955

Designed by Astrid Sampe (Swedish, 1909�2002)

Sweden, Dalsj�fors

The four bars signify the four course meal served with this napkin. For every course, you wipe your mouth on one of the bars. This particular napkin has been laundered, thus, you cannot see what was served at this particular meal. A shame, really.

Napkin, c. 1800

Produced by David Dewar Son & Sons

Scotland, Dunfermline

I'd like to have the napkin professor from the school of napkinology explain the signficance of the the pattern of this napkin

Napkin Depicting The Five Senses, 1891

Designed by Walter Crane

England, London

A napkin for the five senses. We often think of napkins being for taste. But what if we had a napkin for hearing? After going to a loud rock concert (or in this case, in the 1800s a raucous classical concert) you would wipe your ears from the intensity.

Napkin, c. 1904

Designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich (German, 1867�1908)

Germany, Mathildenh�he, Darmstadt

I have a feeling that Joseph Maria Olbrich knew about the Transformers before we did.

Napkin, c. 1900

Designed by Walter Crane

English, 1845�1915

Can we get out the blacklight? I feel like there is a hidden image in here.

Napkin, c. 1600

Flanders or Netherlands

This comes from the time when napkins were made from xeroxed blueprints.

Napkin, c. 1665

Northern Netherlands, Castle Nienoor (Provenance of Groningen) near Midwolde where they were buried near the church

This napkin was used for children as it gave them a maze to figure their way through.

Napkin, 1699

1989.555

Possibly Netherlands

The precursor to folding paper towels.

Napkin, 18th century

Germany

This section of Germany was known for their burly industrial workers. They were such big eaters that cloth napkins were not sufficient for their verocious appetites. Instead, they turned to using carpeting to brush the food from their face.

Napkin, 1901/50

Italy, probably Venice or Burano

The invisible napkin. No photo available.

If you enjoyed this blog post, please retweet. Thank you.

The 11 napkins of @artinstitutechi http://t.co/VHdArx22qr pic.twitter.com/m7FbL1nxTm
— Spudart Matt Maldre (@spudart) March 3, 2015

Get inside the artwork at the Art Institute of Chicago #GetInsideTheArtInstituteofChicago

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 03:10:47 GMT

Ever want to get inside the artwork at an art museum? Now you can! Several people on Instagram and Flickr have demonstrate how they interact with artworks in museums. These seven methods are collected under the hashtag, #GetInsideTheArtInstituteofChicago. A clever pun that says both "Get inside the artwork" and "Get inside the Museum" as it demonstrates both how to interact with the artwork, and encourages people to get inside the museum.

Re-envision what an art museum can be and do with these seven methods of #GetInsideTheArtInstituteofChicago (and The Art Instititue, you're welcome. This should be your next social media campaign).

1. Pose behind a sculpture

Charles Ray's "Hinoki" is a great sculpture to get into. Instagram user Wendyyalas snapped this photo of jonbuda standing at the end of the sculpture peeking inside. It would be fun to see a similar trick done with other sculptures at the Art Institute. Stand behind the sculpture and peek your head over the top, giving the illusion that your head is part of the sculpture.
(Hinoki in Modern Wing, Gallery 292B)

2. Grab a reflection in glass

Reflective glass is always a great way to get inside artwork. As Wendyyalas's photo shows, Larry Bell's "Untitled (Terminal Series)" gives the illusion that you are actually inside the box.
(found in Modern Wing, Gallery 293B)

3. Stand in front of the painting as though the painting will do something to you

Instagram user oriviaa stands in front of Philip Guston's "Red Box". Bonus points for having a cute title: "Getting hammered"
(Red Box in Gallery 295B)

4. Match something exactly in the painting

Grab your membership ID card and and take a photo of your card in front of Monet's Stacks of Hay like how Instagram user djessyparischicago did. Not a member? Grab one of the programs and do the same thing.
(Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer) found in Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture, Gallery 243)

5. Become a silhouette

The Art Institute's large windows in the Modern Wing makes both sculptures and people into silhouettes. Make photos that ask, "Which is the sculpture, which is the viewer?" Candi Jackman photographed a student in her daughter's second grade class along with the Picasso mockette.
(Picasso's "Maquette for Richard J. Daley Center Sculpture" can be found in Gallery 143)

6. Bring cardboard cut-outs of friends and hold them up in front of paintings
Modernist artworks make great backdrops for matching people. Instagram user austinisaac brought a photo of a friend and photographed it in front of an Ellsworth Kelly painting.
("Train Landscape" by Ellsworth Kelly, found in Modern Wing, Gallery 296B)

7. Stand in the middle of the artwork

What better way to get inside an artwork, than to literally get inside the artwork? Jes�s Rafael Soto's sculpture of hanging plastic cords invites users to walk inside.
("P�n�trable de Chicago" found in Modern Wing, Gallery 292A

Should you bring a baseball bat to the voting booth?

Tue, 24 Feb 2015 23:49:07 GMT

Every year my company, Tribune Media Services, used to have award ceremonies. One of the awards was Rookie of the Year with the trophy/plaque thing being an actual Louisville Slugger baseball bat customized with the recipient's name and his/her first year at the company.

I won the award in 2000. Today I was going to bring my Rookie of the Year bat into work. But then I realized I was going to my polling place to vote. I thought it would be strange to bring a baseball bat into the voting booth.

But my all-American friend Jed pointed out, "it seems appropriate. Baseball and voting are two of the most American things." Good point! And I could have driven a pickup truck to the polling place too--instead of walking over. Pickup trucks are so much more American than walking. ;-)

The year I won the baseball bat, the awards were at Harry Caray's. The walls in this restaurant are covered in baseball memorabilia. Upong leaving with a baseball bat in my hands, it felt like I was stealing something off the wall. However, the ride home on the subway felt very safe. Actually, not really, because carrying a baseball bat on the subway makes you feel like an instigator.

My cousin Peter Kreten points out, "If I saw someone walking down the street with a bat, I would get nervous." Especially when the person with the bat has a ski mask and scarf on--as I did today.

Now I wish I brought the baseball bat with me to the polling place. Just for the experience.

How to say "honeymoon" in 65 languages

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 03:00:31 GMT

Honeymoon is such an interesting word. The Japanese have a fun way of translating the word (as covered on my wedding blog). The French literally translates it as "moon of honey," as seen on Etymonline.com:

1540s, hony moone, but probably much older, "indefinite period of tenderness and pleasure experienced by a newly wed couple," from honey (n.) in reference to the new marriage's sweetness, and moon (n.) in reference to how long it would probably last, or from the changing aspect of the moon: no sooner full than it begins to wane.

French has cognate lune de miel, but German version is flitterwochen (plural), from flitter "tinsel" + wochen "week." In figurative use from 1570s.

Specific sense of "post-wedding holiday" attested from c.1800; as a verb in this sense from 1821.

Given German's interesting translation of the word, how do other languages translate honeymoon? Here are 65 translations of the word honeymoon:

In text:

* Afrikaans: honeymoon
* Albanian: muaj mjalti
* Azerbaijani: bal ayı
* Basque: eztei
* Belarusian: мядовы месяц
* Bosnian: medeni mjesec
* Bulgarian: меден месец
* Catalan: lluna de mel
* Cebuano: honeymoon
* Chichewa: kokasangalala
* Croatian: medeni mjesec
* Czech: l�b�nky
* Danish: bryllupsrejse
* Dutch: huwelijksreis
* English: honeymoon
* Esperanto: mielmonato
* Estonian: mesin�dalad
* Filipino: pulutgata
* Finnish: h��matka
* French: lune de miel
* Galician: l�a de mel
* German: Flitterwochen
* Greek: μήνας του μέλιτος
* Haitian Creole: my�l
* Hausa: gudun amarci
* Hmong: honeymoon
* Hungarian: m�zeshetek
* Icelandic: Br��kaupsfer�
* Igbo: honiimuunu
* Indonesian: bulan madu
* Irish: mh� na meala
* Italian: luna di miele
* Javanese: bulan madu

* Kazakh: бал айы
* Lao: honeymoon
* Latin: honeymoon
* Latvian: medus mēnesis
* Lithuanian: medaus mėnuo
* Macedonian: меден месец
* Malagasy: honeymoon
* Malay: bulan madu
* Maltese: honeymoon
* Maori: taime
* Mongolian: бал сар
* Norwegian: bryllupsreise
* Polish: miesiąc miodowy
* Portuguese: lua de mel
* Romanian: lună de miere
* Russian: медовый месяц
* Serbian: медени месец
* Slovak: medov� t��dne
* Slovenian: medenih tednih
* Somali: toddobobax
* Spanish: luna de miel
* Sundanese: peuting mimiti
* Swahili: honeymoon
* Swedish: smekm�nad
* Tajik: баланкиной
* Turkish: balayı
* Ukrainian: медовий місяць
* Uzbek: asal oyi
* Vietnamese: tun trăng mt
* Welsh: mis m�l
* Yoruba: ijfaaji tktaya ni ibr igbeyawo
* Zulu: kukankosikazi

My favorite translations have to be: Chichewa's kokasangalala, which means "to enjoy" and Haitian Creole's my�l, means "bee." Toddobobax in Somali just sounds fun to say.

Do you have a favorite translation of the word honeymoon?

Croquet taught me the lyrics to MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 11:30:09 GMT

The croquet twitter account @HammerTimeCroqu started following me today on Twitter. That is, they are following my croquet-dedicated Twitter account, @mightymauler.

Yes, I have a Twitter account dedicated to croquet. Not just croquet, but my superhero alter-ego persona on the croquet courts, the Mighty Mauler. My Twitter account bio calls me "the croquet superhero�." This croquet superhero checks out @HammerTimeCroqu and also follow their Facebook page.

Now what do you write on the Facebook page for Hammer Time Croquet? Why lyrics from MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" of course. A Google search for "Hammertime lyrics" results in the AZ Lyrics website with the lyrics for "U Can't Touch This.

The lyrics "Break it down! Stop, Hammer time! It's "Hammer, go Hammer, MC Hammer, yo Hammer" And the rest can go and play" get copied and pasted onto the HammerTime Facebook Page.

Amused by my 90s flashback, I decide to listen to U Can't Touch This on Spotify. Since the lyrics are up in my browser, I sing along.

Part of the lyrics absolutely mystified me. I've probably heard "U Can't Touch This" a thousand times. I always thought he was saying, "Faster than a white boy take to learn" but it's actually "pass them a wipe or tape to learn"

What the freak is a "wipe"? Also, doesn't it make more sense for it to say "faster than a white boy take to learn?" Seriously, I've been singing those lyrics since 1990.

My lyrics:

You talking about a hammer, you talking about a show
that's hot and tight,
something something. Faster than a white boy take
to learn
something something something to burn
The charts. Legit.
If you work hard or you might as well quit.

MC Hammer's lyrics:

You talking about the Hammer you talking about a show
That's hype, and tight
Singers are sweating so pass them a wipe or a tape,
to learn
What's it gonna take in the 90's to burn
The charts? Legit
Either work hard or you might as well quit.

It took the Australian "Hammer Time" Facebook page for me to finally learn the true lyrics with MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" -- 25 years later. Truly this white boy needs to learn.

How to find a resident of the planet Mercury

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 21:52:20 GMT

I am looking for a resident that lives on the planet Mercury. How do I search for this?

Do I do a search on Twitter for "Mercury alien"? or perhaps "Mercury resident"? However on Twitter, you cannot search the location field on a person's bio. Facebook didn't give me the results for anyone living on Mercury at all. I really need to find a resident that lives on the planet Mercury. I have some questions about living on this planet.

This question is posted on Facebook, Yahoo Answers, ask.com, Google Plus, and Twitter.

I was curious if the people of Mercury use a different number base than us. We have the base-10, I wonder what they use. What got me thinking about this is that I'm considered 145 Mercury years old, even though I am 45 Earth years. Certainly the older Mercury age is due to the planet spinning around the sun faster, but we are assuming the people of Mercury use a base-10 system for their numbers. We can't assume that until I get a chance to ask resident of Mercury.

Where can I find a Mercurian? Some funny responses thus far:

* Sorry mate, all communications are down while Mercury is in retrograde. (from Nicola Smith of Google Plus)
* No one lives on Mercury. It is a barren, airless, lifeless ball of iron and rock. There aren't even any robots on it, like there are on Mars and Venus (or the remains thereof, anyway, in the case of Venus). (from Logan R. Kearsley of Quora)

How to photograph a window drawing on the bus or train

Mon, 05 Jan 2015 22:40:13 GMT

Time is short. People are watching you. Will you have the guts to draw something fun on a foggy window on the bus or train? These questions faced me this morning as with below zero degree temperatures in Chicago.

Commuters pack the train on their first day back to work after the Christmas holiday. All bundled up, I hobble over to the door where the window is completely fogged over. Even though my stop is coming up next in a matter of seconds, I draw out a fun snowman on the door. The train must had been going slow, because I was even able to take about ten photos of the snow man. My favorite photo of the ten is shown above.

Here are seven tips for drawing cartoons on the window on a bus or train.

1) Just do it

People might be afraid to draw on a foggy window in public for the fear of what people will think. But you know what? Either people won't care. Or they might even say something nice. Only one time did I have a bus driver yell at me. Other than that, everyone loves to see a drawing on a bus window. In fact one time when I drew a Frankenstein on the window, this nice older woman drew a mummy!

2) Have something stock in mind

You can go freestyle on the window, that's completely cool. I prefer to have some stock characters that I know how to draw. I've got a dog, bird, and snowman.

3) Look up something to draw on your phone

If there's a particular holiday coming up, do a Google image search on your phone to bring up some fun ideas. I've done that with a Frankenstein for Halloween. The Blackhawks logo during the NHL playoffs.

4) Take lots of photos

Just one photo won't yield a great image on a bus or train. The background behind your image is constantly changing. Often times the background may obscure your work of art. Jam on the shutter button on your camera/phone and pick out the best pic later. The middle one in the collage above is the one I ended up using, because I rather like how the woman's face in the ad is right over the snowman's shoulder.

5) Nighttime photography

If the night is hanging out during your artwork creation, then try to get some lights in the background. Break lights on a car can make Christmas trees glow red. Bright lights can give a shimmering glow to Count Dracula's buckteeth.

6) Context

Getting close to your drawing, so only your drawing shows is fine. But also consider taking a photo of the entire environment. You are on a bus! Make sure people see that in your photo. Get some of the window frame. Or perhaps some of the people on the bus. You can make your cat drawing wave to people nearby.

7) Post your photo online

Not only is it great for people to see your creation in public, it's really rad for more people to see your work online. If you post to flickr, submit your photo to the "Drawings on Windows group. Or if posting to Instagram, use the #drawingonwindow hashtag.

Have some fun and draw on a foggy window! I look forward to seeing your photos!

My favorite albums of 2014

Tue, 30 Dec 2014 06:39:42 GMT

A great reason to use the free service last.fm is that it tracks your music listening habits across many platforms like Spotify, Pandora, and iTunes. With this database of records the site then gives you insightful analysis to your listening habings. For instance, you can sort your music by most-played in the past 12 months.

Using, this data from last.fm, here's a look at the top albums I discovered (or re-discovered) in 2014. They include a range of genres: Mashup, 90s, pop dance, hip-hop jazz, rap, techno soundtrack, Muppets, German pop, and British hip-hop. I'm actually quite surprised by this range, because these ten albums are strictly ordered by how often I listened to them in 2014. I didn't specifically pick them to give a diverse range of music types, it just so happened to fall that way.

1. Bruneaux � Pure Magic
A mashup album tops my 2014 new albums. With 115 plays in 2014 it demolishes the 67 plays from the second place album. Although "Pure Magic" was released January 9, 2012 I didn't discover it until November 2013.

It's an obscure album, according to last.fm, this album has been listened to by only 1,003 people.

Although technically, this is not my most listened-to album of 2014. There are four other albums that had more listens than "Pure Magic.":
* Torpeedoh � Party People
* E-603 � Torn Up
* Daft Punk � Tron: Legacy
* Torpeedoh � Buckwild
But I had been listening to those albums already before 2014. This is a 2014 new album list, so "Pure Magic" gets the top album for 2014.

Favorite track of "Pure Magic": Get It Right

2. INXS � Welcome To Wherever You Are
Technically I listened to this INXS album when it was released in 1992. But since 2007, this album sat dormant on my playlists--until this year when my cousin Peter Kreten asked about my most influential college albums. This being one of them on that list (I have yet to post that influential college album list).

Favorite track: Not enough time

3. Havana Brown � When the Lights Go Out
Honestly, I didn't even know what this album is when it appeared on my top five list. I had to look it up. Early in 2014, the track "Big Banana" made it onto my "2014 discovered" playlist, helping this album get more plays throughout 2014. The snappy song with goofy lyrics made for a fun 2014. There's a couple other fun pop dance songs on this album, like "We run the night" and "You'll be mine."

Favorite track: Big Banana

4. Us3 � The Third Way (Hand On The Torch Vol II)
Loved this album in college, with the hit single "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)." Twenty years later, Us3 releases the second volume of "Hand on the Torch." A nice review on Exclaim.ca.

Favorite track: I want one of those

5. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince � Code Red
Another college album, while I would exclude it from my 2014 list, because I regularly listen to "Boom! Shake the Room," there is a song on this album that I discovered in 2014, "I wanna rock." This track is great, because it has that original Fresh Prince vibe when he played in the clubs.

Favorite track: I wanna rock

6. Joseph Trapanese � TRON: Uprising
The Tron Legacy soundtrack is one of my top albums of all time. This particular "Uprising" album is for the follow-up animated series, which is also one of my top five favorite animated series of all time.

Favorite track: Lightbike battle (Really any of them are good, so I picked the first one)

7. Christina Grimmie � Must Be Love
A single-track album makes it onto my list, because I really like this song. She does have an 11-track album from 2013, but it does not include this song.

Favorite track: Must be love

8. The Muppets � The Muppet Show: Music, Mayhem & More!
Does not need any explanation.

Favorite track: Muppet Show Theme

9. Lena � Stardust
German pop artist, Lena.

Favorite track: Bliss Bliss

10. Rizzle Kicks � Roaring 20s
British hip-hop.

Favorite track: Skip to the good bit

This blog post is inspired by my cousin Peter's 2014 top ten album list. What is your favorite album of 2014? Please let us know in the comments on this (or Peter's) blog post.

Packaging for art is art

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 13:00:50 GMT

Unique styrofoam constructions hand-crafted by artists to support the safe transit of art.
A delicate sculptural bust is transformed from a bronze head to a rectangular box. All the space around the head is extended out to conform to cube.

From head to cube. Would that make packaging art a cubist artwork? Haha. Once the artwork is safely transported and taken out of the box, what is left behind? A box with the negative space of the bronze head.

Every parent experiences this with removing toys from their plastic shells. Maybe the people who make the structures of toys packaging should get into making packaging for fine art. http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/sidecarhammond-tweet-art-packaging.jpg

4,715 artworks currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago

Wed, 26 Nov 2014 15:35:17 GMT

Two years ago the Art Institute of Chicago had 3,976 artworks on display. Now they have 4,715 on display. The Art Institute has a great website that shows their entire collection. You can even search for which artworks are on display or not. By simply going to the "advanced search" section and clicking the "on display" field, it will give you all the artworks currently being shown. http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/artinstitutechi-2014-11-26-collection-closeup.jpg

Dr. Seuss and Matt Maldre

Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:00:06 GMT

Next to my quote about understanding is this awesome quote by Dr. Seuss

I'm very proud that this Dr. Seuss quote is considered "related" to mine.

Five fictional accounts respond to house with indoor basketball court

Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:00:22 GMT

How would you react to discovering that an indoor basketball court is inside a 9,500 square foot house in the heart of one of Chicago's most expensive neighborhoods?

RT @curbedchicago: This huge 9500 sq. ft. Lincoln Park home has an indoor basketball court. http://t.co/vnenQn0jHc pic.twitter.com/6lIdv20zYa
— Paul Biasco (@Paul_Biasco) October 7, 2014

Some of twitter's funniest fictional characters offer their perspective.

Mother Nature in Chicago is under orders to always give this house good weather.

I never make it rain upon this house. MT @paul_biasco: This huge 9500 sq. ft. Lincoln Park home has an indoor basketball court.
— MotherNature Chicago (@MotherNatureChi) October 10, 2014

Lawrence Avenue up north is a bit jealous.

I wish this house was on my street MT @paul_biasco huge 9500 sq. ft. Lincoln Park home has an indoor basketball court http://t.co/g0Qe7JUY5W
— Lawrence Avenue (@lawrenceavenue) October 10, 2014

The most famous croquet player in Chicago wants to alter the house.

I'm replacing this indoor basketball court with a croquet court. MT @paul_biasco: huge 9500 sq. ft. Lincoln Park home http://t.co/zn95FcMFAq
— MightyMauler Croquet (@mightymauler) October 10, 2014

Even the Star Wars characters got in on the fun. The Death Star Librarian has a good perspective.

The Death Star on Earth. MT @paul_biasco: This huge 9500 sq. ft. Lincoln Park home has an indoor basketball court. http://t.co/zXsU1NsJ90
— Atour Riten (@AtourRiten) October 10, 2014

Of course an Ewok would want it to be a tree house.

But is it up in tree-tree? MT @paul_biasco: This huge 9500 sq. ft. Lincoln Park home has an indoor basketball court. http://t.co/wYgM5nE5ny
— Ewok Lumat (@EwokLumat) October 10, 2014

Can you imagine if Walgreens sold houses like this? Your wagcares receipt would have a $3 million price tag on it. That would make the $3000 wagcares sweepstakes pale in comparison.

How do you respond to this indoor basketball court inside a house?

Which is more valuable: $3000 wagcares sweepstakes or colorful leaf?

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:00:54 GMT

What if you found a masterpiece painting laying on a busy sidewalk? Certainly you would look at it. Maybe you might even pick it up, or photograph it. During autumn we have millions of such masterpieces laying on our sidewalks. Filled with bright colors and amazing compositions. And you can actually touch them.

They are called autumn leaves. Trees are such fine artists producing these paintings every year. And then they give away their paintings for free. For us to enjoy.

One such amazingly colored leaf lies on one of the busiest sidewalks in Chicago. On Michigan Avenue where the same colors on a designer shirt could cost in the thousands, trees produce their own fashion show for you to take and hold.

Walking on my way to the Wrigley Building Walgreens, this particular leaf really jumped out for its wide palette of color. Greens, yellows, reds, browns. The spotted pattern also created an immense texture on such a tiny leaf.

Wanting to photograph this leaf in macro, I picked it up and carried it with me into the store. While I purchased my bag of chocolate, I placed the leaf on the counter to continue the transaction. The cashier noted the leaf, "look at that!" I proudly picked it up to show her. Yes! This leaf was sitting outside! Wouldn't it look really cool photographed and made into a really large print? The cashier agreed, "fall is just so beautiful. I love this time of year."

She handed me my receipt with the wagcares sweepstakes; and I walked out with the leaf and receipt next to each other in one hand. The $3000 cash I could win by filling out the wagcares survey? That pales in comparison to the value this leaf brings.

To capture such detail in the leaf could not be done by an iPhone alone. Instead, I popped on my macro lens from Photojojo. This lens is amazing. Well, maybe you know that already from my photo. ;-)

Initially the bright red in the leaf demanded my attention. I kept shooting the red section over and over. But the photos weren't quite capturing the beauty of this leaf. So instead my camera went to the middle of the leaf where the greens and yellows live. That sounds boring, right?

Nope! The center of the leaf brings out the masterful composition created by the tree. The strong brownish-purple line with a network of very thin white lines branching out from the main artery. Certainly this tree knows how to compose a painting! The fine touches of yellow, green, and brown dot the center of the leaf.

Where is this bright red to be found? Only at the perimeters of the photo. Let that be a lesson to all photographers. Often we are tempted by the bright reds on the perimeter of life. However, the standard greens and browns in the center can make for a strong photo.

I really enjoy the result of this photo. Chicagoist really likes it too, because they made it the primary feature on autumn leaves in Chicago.

Has anyone taken any photos of the autumn leaves? If so, leave a link in the comments.

Placing origami postcards inside Walgreens with a wagcares receipt

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 11:00:26 GMT

Transform the fun of tourist postcards into something beyond their normal function. Buy a tourist postcard and then fold it into a paper origami and leave it at the same postcard rack in the store. Make sure to leave the receipt with it too, so people know it's paid for.

This sounds like a fun project, so I gave it a go. First step is selecting the postcard. Make sure to pick one that is bright and colorful. You want your origami to look sharp!

When buying the postcard, remember to accept the receipt. Especially if the receipt is from Walgreens, because it will have that wagcares survey on it. When I bought the card for 64 cents, the cashier asked if I wanted the receipt. At first I declined, because really. 64 cents--who needs a receipt for that? But then I quickly realized, WHY YES! I do need that receipt! It's an essential part of this art exploration.

To fold this into an origami, you'll need the postcard to be square. Since almost all postcards are rectangular, not square, you'll need to rip off part of the postcard.

For the card I selected, I opted to rip off the top of the postcard where it says CHICAGO. I'm not sure why, it just seemed to make sense.

Now that you have a square card, go ahead and fold it. Folding a postcard into an origami butterfly is rather challenging. The paper is just too thick. The initial folds are fine, but the later folds are like trying to close your suitcase at the end of a shopping vacation. I was putting all my weight onto the folds to make this butterfly happen.

If you bought your postcard from Walgreens, and you have the time, make sure you go to www.wagcares.com to fill out the survey for the $3,000 sweepstakes; and say something nice about your Walgreens cashier.

Now, the fun part. Put the origami back onto the rack! The Walgreens where I purchased my postcard is the flagship store in downtown Chicago. Their postcard rack is right by the back cashiers and the greeter. I kinda ignored the greeter when I came back into the store, hoping he wouldn't notice me.

But butterfly origami works perfectly with a postcard rack, because you can fit the slot of it's wings into the wire frame. Make sure to include that tellwag.com survey receipt too, so people don't think you just stole a card and folded into an origami!

Now take some pics and share! If you do this project, make sure to let me know!

The cracked screen project

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 16:06:39 GMT

Someone on the train is using a phone with a cracked screen. I ask the person to pull up a photo on flickr or instagram. Then I take a photo of the person's cracked screen showing the photo.

People using cracked-glass phones are very interesting to me. How the lines interact with the content on the phone. The fact that the person using the phone learns to ignore the lines. The very visceral nature of the cracks calls to mind the physical nature of our devices upon which we view the world.

What would be a good photo to show on a cracked screen? Should it be the floor of the train? That would provide a nice simple backdrop for the cracks. The photo of the floor would have some good texture to it. Not just some generic photo. But one close enough to the floor where you can almost feel the material.

I'm too shy to approach strangers, so this will probably never happen. But it's fun to think about how different photos would appear under various cracked screens. This idea was inspired by the book review for "The Camera as Afterthought: Defining Post-Photography." This looks to be a very interesting book. One of the examples in the review is a series of photos of paintings from museums that show the glares from the museum lighting.

I've done a series similar to this with Light on Ellsworth Kelly at the @artinstitutechi.

Anyways, back to cracked screens. What would make for a cool photo to show behind a cracked screen? Looking through cracked screen photos on flickr, the ones with the most simple background tend to show off the cracks better. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1282/4689221313_a0acf43d76_z.jpg

Public spectacles don't always catch on fire

Sun, 05 Oct 2014 18:59:59 GMT

Three wooden mansions floating on the Chicago River to be torched. Fire! Fire! Fire! For entertainment, everyone loves a good fire. A week before the festival, the wooden mansions sat by three Chicago bridges with a sign saying, "watch me burn." Such is the hype for the Great Chicago Fire Festival.

Every couple years Chicago has an event with such electricity among the crowd, you feel like you are participating in something special.
* Chicago Cubs one game away from the World Series, 2003
* Millennium Park opening of 2004
* Chicago's 2007 bid for the Winter Olympics
* Obama's election in 2007
* Oprah Winfrey's 2009 show on Michigan Avenue
* Blackhawks championship parade of 2010
* Transformers 2010 filming in Chicago

In all these events the crowd was on fire. The October crowd for the 2014 Chicago Fire Festival had an electricity. The chilly temperatures brought out only the brave. The evening twilight provided the backdrop for a unique event, a theatre on the river.

A sense of the unexpected was in the air. Just how would these houses burn down? What sort of dramatics will we see with mixing fire and water?

The crowd packed in along the Chicago River, on a young riverwalk under 10 years old. Everyone claiming spots to see one of the three houses burn down. The large crowd of all races mixed in with the spectacle of public theatre had the feeling of an Olympics opening ceremony. I commented to my fiancee, "this must be what it feels like to be at an Olympics ceremony."

We all stood around waiting for the festivities to start. Just how will they pull this off? A loud voice came over the speakers introducing the event, explaining what the meaning behind different caludrons being ignited by representatives of different communities. Ah yes! Instead of country representatives in the Olympics, there are community representatives.

The flame was carried in by an artistic steamboat. However due to the curve in the river, we couldn't see the steamboat. Only the voice of Mark Stafford, the MC, could be heard explaining how Chicago was a timberbox 142 years ago.

Then a pause. A long pause. Half an hour passed by without our house being ignited. The crowd chanted, "WE WANT FIRE! WE WANT FIRE!" and "BURN IT DOWN! BURN IT DOWN!" In response, the dismebodied voice explained over the speakers, "Ladies and gentlemen...we're having some electrical problems. But sit tight, this is going to be a GRAND SPECTACLE"

More delay.

The voice came on again, "Thank you for waiting, due to electronic problems, the fire will be set manually." The crowd said things like in these tweets:

Wow RT @jlizak #greatchicagofirefestival is a bust. Only one of three houses is working. People leaving in droves and or mocking organizers.
— Frank Sennett (@SennettReport) October 5, 2014

If the #GreatChicagoFire had taken this long they would have been able to put it out.
— Mike Ewing (@miketewing) October 5, 2014

The crowd chanted "GET A COW! GET A COW!"

A small fire was finally spotted inside the house. The crowd cheered with relief. The fire died out. The crowd laughed. This malfunction made it seem all the more like being at an Olympics opening ceremony. The 5th spire that wouldn't lift at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The 5th ring that wouldn't expand at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Now the houses that wouldn't burn on the Chicago River.

A few more minutes pass by and eventually the fire started to catch on slowly. Very slowly. It looked like watching a campfire where the wood slowly--s l o w ly--burns.

Thanks Chicago! You officially hosted the worse bonfire ever! #chicagofirefestival #ChiFireFail
— ChicagoArtPhotograph (@chicagoartphoto) October 5, 2014

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the crowd left "feeling burned." But Chicago has a past with electrifying events dieing out. The 2003 Cubs were five outs away from going to the World Series only to lose the game. The 2007 Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics ended up with Chicago getting last place.

But Chicago always manages to rise up from defeats. Chicago will rise again after the Burned Chicago Fire Festival. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2948/15450173342_fdaf6601f9_c.jpg

How to worry less by taking more photos

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 18:45:17 GMT

Yeah! Take more photos! Taking photos makes you more observant of your surroundings. Pausing and considering things around you gives you perspective. Often I can get too wrapped up inside my head about life and worrying. To get outside of my head, I'll simply observe and be in the moment.

When I'm not observing and connecting to the spaces around me, I get stressed and worry about things. I'll get frustrated about work, or that certain things I do in life aren't working as well as I thought. But those are all things inside my head.

To get outside of my head, it's literally getting outside. my. head. By looking outside myself. Looking at the spaces around me. And not just looking, but connecting. One way of connecting is through photographing the space from many different angles.

This bricks photo is the result of 20 different photos. About half way through shooting these colorful bricks, I really wanted to shoot them in HDR, so the colors can REALLY pop. But that requires my camera to be steady, because it shoots a couple exposures. If I shake my camera, the exposures won't be aligned.

So being observant, a metal chair was sitting nearby in the plaza. I dragged the chair over for an impromptu tripod to steady my camera. So now, I was able to connect with the space but not just photographing it, but by interacting with the objects in the area.

All this is to get outside my head, and connecting with the space. This connections brings calm to my life.

That interaction gets carried even further when I share the photos online, and when people share appreciation for the photos.

When you engage with your surroundings, you simply worry less. It all starts with observing, and then taking an action in the space. In some cases the action is photographing. Sometimes the action is moving a chair. Sometimes the action might be simply hop-scotching along the bricks. But there is always an action that gets followed up by the observation.

Photographing pumpkins behind a fence

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:35:53 GMT

The bright orange pumpkins have arrived just in time for October. Rows and rows of fresh pumpkins sit happily behind a glossy black fence. Soft morning sunlight illuminates the contrast of orange against green.

While photographing this scene, I wanted to include the fence, but the pumpkins weren't the heros. The fence was getting in the way, so I placed my phone against the fence to get a close up a pumpkin. The curved handle on this pumpkin makes a great hero for the shot. Plus, the low morning light really brings out some great textures on the pumpkin's surface.

The fence still made it into the photo through the shadows that fall onto the pumpkin in the foreground.

When composing a photo, sometimes things you really want in the photo (like the fence) don't always make the composition, but there are other ways to get the subject into the photo (like through a shadow).

Spudart photos reach pinnacle on Flickr

Wed, 17 Sep 2014 10:33:49 GMT

Every day Flickr ranks the top 500 photos posted to popular photo sharing service. 1.4 million photos are posted to the service every day, so to be ranked in the top 500 is quite an achievement.

In 2014 alone, I am honored to say that seven (now ten) of my photos have been featured in Flickr's top 500, also known as Explore. My most recent entry into Explore is a photo that my fiancee took! While shopping for paper at the Paper Source in Oak Park last weekend, I asked Sarah to snap a photo of me selecting paper. Instead of a close-up shot, she framed the wide shot to include the wide spectrum of paper. The resulting photo is quite impressive with all the colors behind my monochromatic outfit. I'm so happy that a photo she took reached Explore! It is currently ranked #346.

#346, September 14, 2014
Shopping for paper at Paper Source

#436, June 19, 2014
Bridges up at Clark Street

#422, July 1, 2014
Skin-texture cloud floats above Wrigley Building in Chicago

#396 July 28, 2014
The inflatable 81 Lawrence bus

#137, July 30, 2014
Two origami butterflies on the Tribune Tower rock ledge
Sarah helped me make these origami butterflies! It's so cool to see the projects we do together resonating on Flickr.

#458 August 21, 2014
Origami swan street art in Chicago flower bed

#372, September 6, 2014
Storm clouds roll over Wrigley Field

UPDATE
#237, September 18, 2014
McDonalds bag origami atop garbage can

UPDATE
#338 October 1, 2014
End of summer 2014

UPDATE
#494 October 1, 2014 (two in one day!)
Pumpkins are here!

23 questions on a train ride

Thu, 04 Sep 2014 11:05:51 GMT

You encounter what appears to be a wall of notes written by a crazy person. 23 sticky notes arranged on a grid by a seat on the train. Many reflective questions that question our perspective of life. Questions of self-awareness and human nature. Why would someone be rapid-firing all these questions onto sticky notes on the train?

What is your most important place?
Where do you look for significance?
Where are you going?
What are the thoughts of your head?
Will you sacrifice yourself for love of others?
Why do you work?
Why do you stay in your current place?
Whom do you love?
When you wake up at 3am, what are you thinking about?
How do we want ot be noticed?
The length of a train ride versus the length to express your concern to someone
Quietly thoughts float over guided tracks
How do you find expression?
Are you ruled by time?
Curiosity will find expression.
We bow down to time. Deadlines. Do you worship time?
If you do something enought times; does that make you crazy, or make you an expert?
Observe the textures.
Pause or play?
How do you want to be noticed?
Why am I only at Wellington when I need to be at Western?
Txt a friend. Snapchat a friend. Email a friend. Snail mail a friend. Your choice.
What do you like doing?
[And an empty sticky note, just because it's all symbolic for a blank note to be posted]

Actually, I can tell you, because the person who did these. I love leaving sticky notes in public spaces. The 3-inch square piece of paper is a perfect vehicle for communicating a thought to the unknown public. (or 2-inch by 1.5-inch for the smaller quicker note). Whether it's:

Pointing out some detail that I like.

Or instructions on an alley giveaway.

Or prayers for the family of someone who gave their life up for our country.

Or leaving love notes around your girlfriend (now fiancee's) condo. (Sorry, no public pics of those.)

I love communicating via sticky notes. The sticky note is my canvas. I'd love for the sticky note to be the canvas of others, so I encourage people to do the same.

One of the goals in my life is to encourage people live a more reflective life. Thus, questions are a great vehicle to promote thinking about purpose and perspective. What are the questions that strangers on the train think about? These 23 questions are ones that pop into my head through time alone, or through conversations with others. I wanted to be able to capture this rapid-fire brainstorm of questions, so they can be shared with others.

Granted, the large collection of them together is a bit crazy to encounter. But I see the train's walls as a mechanism, a canvas to which ideas can stick. Perhaps these ideas will stick in other people's heads as well. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3910/14947675979_63d5d19f6a_c.jpg

Beach stone that looks like Da Vinci paintings

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 04:54:16 GMT

My Uncle Bill posted a few photos of a beach stone that looks like a heart. I ran his three images in Google Image search and came up with three other things his stone looks like:

This beach stone looks like Da Vinci paintings.

This beach stone looks like cave drawings.

And this shot of the beach rock makes it look like body tattoos.

Words with "art" in the middle

Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:06:45 GMT

"art" is at the core of "earth" so is:

carte
carts
darts
farts
garth
harts
karts
marts
parts
party
tarts
tarty
warts
warty

Fun that art would be the core of farts, party, and warty.

Then for 7-letter words, art being exactly at the center:
dearths, hearted, hearten, hearths, pearter, peartly, quartan, quarter, quartes, quartet, quartic, quartos, smarted, smarten, smarter, smartie, smartly, swarths, swarthy,

Do we even dare try 9-letter words?
bipartite, copartner, departees, departing, departure, imparters, impartial, imparting, inearthed, nonartist, unearthed, unearthly, updarting, upstarted.

I didn't think 9-letter words would be possible, so maybe there are some 11-letter words. Indeed there are three!
compartment, nonpartisan, unchartered.

We have truly gone into unchartered territories! However, it bottoms out at 13-letter words. Or at least the Scrabble Word Finder bottoms out. Now, what shall we do with all these words?

The truth of Seinfeld can be applied to comic strips

Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:00:28 GMT

If you say Seinfeld is a show about nothing, then you know nothing about the Seinfeld sitcom.

Seinfield is about everything

It's not a show about nothing. It's a show about everything, says Nico Lang of the Daily Dot's great article, "Debunking the biggest myth about 'Seinfield' that everyone believes"

One could be forgiven for the misapprehension--as Seinfeld's entire fourth season is a meta-commentary on the idea--but it's simply not true. In a Reddit AMA earlier this year, Jerry Seinfeld clarified that he and co-creator Larry David pitched the idea to NBC as a "a show about how a comedian gets his material," and according to Seinfeld, he and David were initially surprised that the "show about nothing" tag took over the discourse the way it did. In fact, it would be more apt to say that it's a show about everything.

Comic strips today are much like Seinfeld's material of the every day. But how comic strips actually use it in a story line could be improved. See next two points.

Interwoven narrative

Prior to Seinfeld, most sitcoms broke down into an A-story and a B-story, and the supporting story could take the form of a so-called 'runner,' jokes that continued throughout the episode and told a very loose story but didn't do much more than that. Particularly in its best episodes, Seinfeld blew all of that up. Even in an episode like the famous 'The Contest' (the one with the competition to see which of the central foursome can go the longest without masturbating), each of the four characters is handed their own storyline, all four of which tie together in the final moments to create a whole larger than its parts.

Comic strips tend to be one-shot gags--partly because of the medium. We only sit down and read three panels in one day. Whereas Seinfeld has the opportunity of capturing a viewer's attention for 30 minutes. Take those 30 minutes in comic strip time, and you end up with 30 days--or about six weeks of comics. It would be wonderful to see comic strips have longer story arcs that bend around and come back together after six weeks. To have the final week of gags tie together gags from earlier in the month. Add some complexity to comic strips.

Non-resolutions

The show was famous for its "no learning, no hugging" rule, and what was then so unique about the show is how often the aforementioned final moments resist true narrative resolution, the nice bow on the action that Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond might provide. In each of the two, the show's central conflicts will be resolved and amends made; Raymond might fight with his mother, but at the end of the show, they have to come to a mutual understanding in order to keep up the pretense of family.

In many episodes of Seinfeld, the situations don't resolve; they get increasingly worse until they just can't anymore--and the show has to end. During "The Junior Mint," Jerry can't remember his girlfriend's name, except that it rhymes a with a "female body part." In true Seinfeld fashion, he avoids the conflict until she confesses she's falling in love with him, sweetly repeating his name. He can't reciprocate, which causes him to be exposed. Rather than giving up the ruse, Jerry guesses that her name is: "Mulva?" After she storms out, he finally remembers her name, calling after her, "Dolores!"

Today's syndicated comic strips are driven into the ground by stupid resolutions at the end of the strip. Every day there's some sort of "OH WOW, YOU DID THAT? THAT'S STUPID" reaction by one of the characters. It's dumb and not needed. Let the comic strip not resolve itself. Let the creative idea hang in the reader's mind.

Seinfeld let its creativity move around in interwoven narrative that didn't resolve itself. Seinfeld let the viewer think about the show after it ended, comic strips can do the same by eliminating the stupid reactions at the end of a comic strip.

12 things I love about Chicago's CTA public transit

Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:35:15 GMT

We love public transit, we hate public transit. Occasionally there are days that challenge us, as the Chicagoist demonstrates with its post, "9 Unfortunate Thoughts We're All Are Having On The CTA." While releasing angst about commuting can be therapeutic; on a daily basis being negative can wear you down. Instead it's good to be thankful and focus on the positive.

There will always be hiccups and bad incidents that happen on public transit, but there are also many wonderful things that occur while on the bus and train. Here's 12 good thoughts about riding public transit in Chicago.

1) Getting weekly free concerts while waiting for the bus next to the side door of the Green Mill.

2) Getting home faster, when a train that goes express.

3) Buses filled with inflatable toys

4) Holiday train!

5) Doing somersaults in the aisles of an empty CTA train

6) Vinyl ads transforming the entire interior of the train

7) Inspiring messages via street art at CTA stations

8) People watching

9) Throwing paper airplanes from the elevated platform (view entire set)

10) Drawing on foggy bus and train windows (view entire set)

11) Art on Track (view entire set)

12) Beautiful views from elevated platforms

(All photos taken by Matt Maldre.)

What do you love about the CTA?
— Spudart in Chicago (@wheresspudart) August 4, 2014

What are things that you love about the CTA? Please leave your thoughts in the comments or on your favorite social media channel. This question appears on Yahoo Answers, Reddit, ask.com, Quora, Google Plus, Twitter, and Facebook.

Goal: Have one of my artworks officially on display in a major art museum

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 13:00:15 GMT

The opportunity: The Art Institute of Chicago was asking for "surrealist objects" last week as a promotion for the current Magritte exhibit. The objects will be selected by the curator of the Magritte show and will be displayed in the Art Institute's Modern Wing for one day.

I created a surrealist object and submitted it to the Art Institute. The people at the desk seemed to like my object, so I think they'll use it.

Come August 7th, I'll find out if my artwork is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago!

I've published a few blog posts about this:
* Free admission to Art Institute's Magritte show
* How to make a surrealist sculpture with office supplies and a finger monster
* Secrets behind origin of Wrigley Building design revealed by mythical artist
* Developing the voice for the White-out Monster

The name of the show is "Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926�1938." The promo is called "Surrealist Pricing" and they are using the #unthink hashtag. The Art Institute said on their site, "We will curate the objects and unveil them in a grand installation on Thursday, August 7, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. inside the Modern Wing."

Developing the voice for the White-out Monster

Thu, 31 Jul 2014 13:00:18 GMT

One part finger monster. One part white-out. Inspired by Magritte's surrealism exhibit at the Art Institute.

Take all these together and what do you have? The "White-out Monster" who likes to paint things white.

Yesterday I wrote up an interview with this fictional character. If you haven't had a chance to read the interview, please do check it out.

It was fun developing the character and voice. The character still needs loads of work, but I'm liking how he has a historical aspect, having lived for thousands of years. He has been able to influence great artists of the past to work with white materials. In some cases, he's also able to cover items in white.

His voice still needs to be further refined. Is he a high-minded Brit? Or a rough-n-gruff monster?

Director of the WXAV radio station, Peter Kreten (who also happens to be my cousin), wrote a comic book review for Hellboy Vol 2. He praises the author saying, "Hellboy does an excellent job of combining that Universal Monster's feel with Indiana Jones style adventure."

Which made me realize. White-out Monster is a MONSTER. I don't normally think about Hellboy as a MONSTER, but he is one. Perhaps I could inject more of the monster into the White-out Monster's character, but keep the artist balance at the same time. Just as Hellboy is a monster, yet also like Indiana Jones.

Secrets behind origin of Wrigley Building design revealed by mythical artist

Wed, 30 Jul 2014 11:00:28 GMT

Many of Chicago's iconic buildings are white today, because of an unknown artist working today. This artist has managed to keep his identity relatively unknown for the past hundreds of years. He's also managed to stay alive for the past hundreds of years because... he's monster.

This mythical creature regularly visits the city of Chicago and contributes to public projects and architecture. In the underground art world, he's known by the descriptive moniker "White-out Monster" for he himself is entirely white. Early 21st century records capture him wearing a "White-out" or "Liquid paper" t-shirt.

Recently, White-out Monster returned to Chicago to check up on some of his projects and also to create new projects. We were granted an exclusive interview with the White-out Monster through a proxy agent. Through this interview White-out Monster reveals how certain buildings and public artworks would have looked like if it were not for his influence years ago.

Matt Maldre: What is one of the buildings where we can see your influence today?

White-out Monster: Back in 1920, there were no office buildings north of the Chicago River. Why, there wasn't even a bridge at Michigan Avenue yet. A great new fad was recently invented, chewing gum. People loved it. This chap, William Wrigley Jr, built a chewing gum empire; and he wanted to have his headquarters anchored just north of the Chicago River.

Nobody knows this, but originally his plans for the building had it all in Indiana limestone. What a joke. The plans for the Wrigley Building were so beautiful that I knew it just had to be set in all white. The architects for this building was an eight-year-old firm named GAP&W, which stands for Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. You can guess which of the four architects I decided to have a talk with...

MM: The fellow named "White"?

WOM: You got it! Howard Judson White. Naturally, he loved the idea of the building being set in all white-glazed terra cotta. The original limestone that was purchased was instead used for the Michigan Avenue bridetowers.

MM: How do you feel about the limestone bridgehouses not being done in all white?

WOM: Yeah, I would have loved for those to be all white. But William Wrigley had all this limestone, so yeah. But hey, watch this, I'll paint these flowers on the Michigan Avenue medians white.

MM: Wow, that's amazing! You just turned those flowers white. How did you do that?

WOM: I'm a mythical artist-monster. I got my ways.

MM: Have you used your "ways" with any other public artworks?

WOM: Initially, the Chicago Bean comes to mind, but of course that would make no sense to have the bean be all white, because it would simply be a white bean. However, when I look at the bean, I do see myself, and thus I paint the bean white every time I encounter it. That very concept is one to be celebrated by everyone who looks into the Chicago Bean�walk up to the bean, and you paint it with the colors of yourself.

MM: How about Crown Fountain with the faces that spit out water?

WOM: Heh, funny story about those. The artist is Jaume Plensa erected those towers. I visited him in his hometown of Barcelona about those towers with giant heads. Actually, the visit was via a dream where I suggested to him that he create a giant white marble head. Guess what was just installed a month ago by Plensa in Millennium Park? A giant white marble head. And he named it "Looking into my Dreams, Awilda." I'll let you connect the dots there.

MM: Any other public artworks that you'd love to see painted white?

WOM: Naturally the Art Institute lions would be fantastic in white. However, their bronze patina is a great site to behold. Back in 1893, I suggested to sculptor Edward Kemeys that they be done in marble, but he insisted on bronze. Through many years of lobbying the Art Institute for a pure presence of white, they hired Pritzker Prize�winning architect Renzo Piano. Heh, well� take a look at the Modern Wing now. Beautiful pure white cathedral of art that I'm going to-- +poof+

MM: White-out Monster? White-out Monster? Where did you go? Well, it seems that White-out Monster has disappeared back into his mythos. Thank you, White-out Monster wherever you may be now. We appreciate how you have influenced Chicago's great landmarks. Maybe we'll be able to see more of your work in the future, and uncover more of your influence in the past.

The day I crawled into a giant claw machine that was a bus

Tue, 29 Jul 2014 04:00:46 GMT

Standing silently with other commuters at the bus stop. Only when the bus arrives, it's not a bus, but a giant claw machine! The two dollars you slide into the bus vendor box gains you admittance inside the claw machine.

Do you love the claw machines where you use a joystick to try to pick up a toy and drop it into a dropbox chute? I do. Ever get frustrated with the claw dropping the toy? The hanging claw may look menacing with its curved metal fingers, but often the toy slips from its loose grip. At that point you want to climb into the claw machine box and retrieve the toy yourself.

As this 81 Lawrence bus pulled up, it was like a dream on wheels. A giant claw machine you can walk into! Only this giant claw machine held a mystery. You slide your money into the machine, but you aren't allowed to touch the toys. The social norms of being inside a bus full of toys puts up a glass window making the toys inaccessible.

In fact, it's not even clear whose toys they were. Nobody was sitting by them. Perhaps they were free after all. A public art project on a bus. Free toys for those brave enough to take them.

[Update: Gapers Block selected this photo as the featured Chicago photo in Rearview for July 29, 2014. Thank you, Gapers Block!]
[Update 2: Fun! My inflatable bus photo is currently the 396th best photo on Flickr for July 28, 2014. ] https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3835/14585642659_19c4e25ece_c.jpg

How to make a surrealist sculpture with office supplies and a finger monster

Fri, 25 Jul 2014 05:35:29 GMT

If you had to make a surrealist sculpture only with office supplies and a finger monster, what would you make? Walking around the 14th floor of the Tribune Tower with a finger monster wedged onto my finger, I weighed my options.

Surrealism is all about irrational juxtaposition of images and words. So simply take one object and merge it with another object. Finger monster + office supply = surrealist object.

Picking the supplies

Perhaps the arms of the finger monster could be cut off and reattached to a stapler. But how to attach the arms? A cardboard box of staples could easily hold the arms. Simply cut a hole into a small cardboard box. But that didn't have enough surrealist impact.

Using office supplies is a challenge when making artwork. No matter what office supply you use, the resulting artwork still looks like an office supply.

Rummaging around through tape dispensers, sticky notes, whiteboard markers, the one obvious office supply stood out. White-out. The finger monster would fit perfectly atop the brush/cap. Then I could paint the monster all-white. The fact that this would have PAINT on it helps to make it look more like an artwork, because artwork has paint. Paint = art. Or in this case, Finger monster + office supply + paint = surrealist object.

Painting a finger monster with white-out sounds simple, right? No. Actually it's quite challenging.

Challenge #1

First, you want to paint the finger monster when it's on the white-out bottle. But if the finger monster is already on the white-out bottle's cap and brush, how do you paint the finger monster? You can't. UNLESS you have a second white-out bottle. Thankfully one of my co-workers had an extra white-out bottle squirreled away in his desk. (Curtis, I owe you one white-out bottle tomorrow!)

Challenge #2

Now that you have a second bottle of white-out, let's get to painting. This should be fast, because white-out dries fast, right? No. white-out does not dry on rubbery plastic. It doesn't dry at all. When applied on paper, white-out absorbs into the paper. When applied on rubbery plastic, it sits on the surface, unsure what to do. Even the space heater from my work desk could do no good to make the white-out dry.

You can make a white-out monster surrealist sculpture creation just for the fun of it, but I had an extra reason. The Art Institute of Chicago that night was giving free passes to the Magritte show from 5pm-8pm if you brought a "surrealist object" to the museum. Totally awesome promotion, right? That's right. But I couldn't hand in a sticky, wet artwork. The Art Institute has super strict rules. In fact, I blogged about them earlier this week. They are a crazy long list of restrictions. Things like, no feathers, no sequins.

Showing up with a sticky monster would simply be unacceptable. Wet paint surely is on their list of unacceptable materials. Time was running out. The Tute's deal was to show up between 5-8pm for free access. It was already 6:30.pm I had to get my artwork dry!

Rushing to meet the deadline brought back memories of being an art major trying to finish paintings before critique. The paint has to be dry! He professor doesn't accept wet paintings! Get out the hair dryer and point it at the canvas while you paint!

Now 20 years later I'm doing the corporate equivalent with my desk's space heater drying a white-out sculpture. Thankfully I just so happened to have a tube of white acrylic paint at my desk--a gift from my former manager, part of a yo-yo customization kit. PERFECT!

Of all things, I just so happened to have ACRYLIC paint at my corporate desk inside Tribune Tower. Not oil paint for that would not dry in time. Not watercolor for that wouldn't cover the monster. Not that other crap craft paint that chalks up. But good ole reliable acrylic. On top of that it was WHITE, perfectly imitating white-out.

If you happen to be making a white-out monster at work, make sure to bring some white acrylic paint to work first. It will make your job a whole lot easier. The space heater speeds drying up too. Now the White-out Monster is ready to attack!

Stay tuned for the next blog post where the White Out Monster attacks Chicago as it gallops down Michigan Avenue towards the Art Institute. Rawr!

LEGO bricks or limestone: which is more durable?

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 17:12:35 GMT

Old skyscrapers falling apart because of their limestone exterior. Over time the limestone becomes weak and crumbles. Restoration projects take quite some time to replace the damaged limestone.

The Crains Communication building in Chicago is going through an extensive limestone removal process. The past couple months I've been watching the process outside my work window at the Tribune Tower. The scaffolding moves up and down the facade of the building installing a brighter limestone.

This whiter limestone looks like LEGO bricks being inserted next to the darker older limestone. This begs a fun question...

What if they installed actual LEGO bricks into the gaps? Does the plastic of LEGO have a longer life than the porous nature of limestone? Public artists across the world have been using LEGO bricks to fill in gaps in architecture.

Imagine an ENTIRE BUILDING with colorful LEGO bricks along the edges.

Free admission to Art Institute's Magritte show

Tue, 22 Jul 2014 22:02:32 GMT

Bring a "Surrealist-inspired object" to gain free admission to the Art Institute's Magritte show on July 24, 2014.

In the fine print the Art Institute outlines the rules for what cannot be accepted. One of things they do not accept are "objects longer than 8 feet." Makes me want to show up with an object that is 7 feet 11 inches.

What if you show up with a person who is 7 feet tall?

The rest of the rules state:

We are also unable to accept any Objects that AIC deems in its sole discretion to be hazardous, perishable, unlawful, and/or which contains any of the following items: organic matter that may harbor pests (such as potted plants, soil, sand, grasses, feather, moss, branches, bark, rose petals, hay, etc.), animals, confetti, rice, bird seed, balloons, bubbles, glitter, sequins, fireworks, sparklers, smoke/fog machines, dry ice, aerosol products (i.e. spray glue, spray glitter, spray snow, spray string, spray paint), vessels containing water, open flames.

They don't outright ban humans. However, we can interpret the rules and say they might ban a human as surrealist object because humans are:
1) organic matter that may harbor pests
2) vessels containing water.

Make sure you don't have any pests and purge yourself of all water. Simple!

It would be fun if someone came with me and wear all sequins and feathers? (those materials are also banned). Or I should give them an object that combines every single item on their list.

But seriously, I need to think of a good surrealist object to bring. What is your "Surrealist-inspired object"?

Doorstop public art

Thu, 17 Jul 2014 21:33:24 GMT

Art museum bathrooms. Clean, sharply designed, austere. Much like the white walls of a museum, most bathrooms within art museums have a modern, contemporary yet neutral feel.

Among the granite tiles and light gray walls of the bathroom in Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art lays an object on the floor next to the door. A doorstop, wooden, worn, and intensely red.

Such a firehouse red, it screams out for attention more so than the artwork officially hanging on the walls. Unlike the artwork worth thousands of dollars which has been declared "art" by a curator, the doorstop sits on the floor, functional. Unlike the artwork which is outside the touch of its viewers, the doorstop can be manipulated by a bathroom visitor.

The doorstop keeps the door open, symbolizing access and openness.

I'd like to make a series of doorstop artworks and leave them in art museum bathrooms. This red doorstop made me stop and consider it for a longer period of time than any of the artworks currently on display in the museum. If this simple wooden triangle can hold my attention for so long, I am inspired to make more of such doorstops for others to enjoy.

What a public artist learned from cute motivational sticky notes on the train

Tue, 15 Jul 2014 20:20:53 GMT

Boredpanda.com reports:

October Jones (real name Joe Butcher), the prolific writer and illustrator... is at it again with a fun series of sticky notes featuring a grimly determined cat named Peppy posing next to motivational messages. He draws them and leaves them in the trays of the train he takes for unsuspecting fellow commuters.
If you�re having a case of the Mondays (or of any other day of your work week, for that matter), these images are perfect for getting inspired and pepped up!

The cute
I am also a public artist that uses sticky notes in public spaces, so I'm very excited to see another artist using sticky notes in public. Seeing this series reported in many places online makes me excited to see the success it's having.

Beyond the medium and success of the series, what do I think of this artwork as a fellow public artist?

Bored Panda posted 15 photos of the sticky notes, the majority of the notes are extremely positive, which is great. This series is really effective by using a cute drawing in each sticky note. That gives me ideas for my own public art. I have been leaving just a message in my work, but to have a cute animal spokesman, gives the work greater impact.

The feelings
This series is also very VERY pointed at the reader. The artwork is very successful at playing at the viewer's emotions.

The straight-up compliments about being "awesome" are nice, buuuuut... I feel like the compliments are rather empty. That might be my rational INTJ personality coming out. But I like compliments that are real.

I might be getting too philosophical, but part of what makes me a joyful person is accepting that I'm not always "awesome." Not everything can be awesome. I can be a person who does wrong things. When I start from that foundation, things become simpler and more honest. I then have the courage to break out.

But to not overthink it, these sticky notes would be fun to come across and brighten up someone's day. So for that simple notion, they are wonderful.

They also inspire me to think of how to make my public artwork more emotional. Most times the goal of my work is to make people THINK deeper or to THINK creatively. Rarely do I consider about how my artwork makes people FEEL.

These motivational sticky notes make people FEEL better, even though rational thought says that we don't always have to be awesome.

Inauthentic?
The artist is expressing love for others by encouraging others, which is a great idea. However the sort of encouragement is artificially bloating up individuals with inauthentic praise. How does this artist really know you are awesome? When I compliment someone, it's a personal direct compliment. It has authenticity.

Man. Am I a big jerk for critiquing these wonderful positive sticky notes? I should let them be nice positive notes.

But what about the "You are beautiful" stickers?
I love the "You are beautiful" project. Isn't that project in the same line as the commuter sticky notes? The artist behind "you are beautiful" doesn't know if you are a beautiful person, or does he?

Perhaps this is an individual belief, but I believe that every human is beautiful. We all may have ugly sides. We all may do ugly things. But we are beautiful creations.

Now, beautiful creations also be awesome? Hmm, perhaps. But I hold the word "awesome" in a more literal sense of awe. Like a, strike-you-down-to-your-knees awesome.

"I am a superfly success machine," declares another sticky note. Well, we aren't always successful. We are workers. We at times succeed and other times fail. I see great growth in failing.

Another sticky note jokes, "Lick the back of your hand. That's what a winner tastes like." Ok, so this one is funny, because of the cat pun. But the underlying philosophy is there, that we must always be winners. I disagree. We don't always have to be winners. I enjoy and thrive on daily live with its ups AND downs. Life isn't all about the ups. Life isn't all about happiness. Life is about growth.

Perhaps the phrase on one of the sticky notes "Kicking Monday in the face" is what turns me off. I don't believe in kicking Monday in the face. I believe in hugging Monday. Embracing it. Giving Monday love. The Monday sticky notes in this series strike me as a "F-- you world. I'm the best there ever is." When you view the rest of the sticky notes with that attitude, you start to see why I have a hard time with these notes. That or I just need to lighten up.

There are many things I learned from this series.
1) To use a cute cartoon animal in my public artwork. I'm not being sarcastic. This is really a good technique.
2) To think about how I would like the viewer of my work to FEEL when seeing my work, not just how they THINK.
3) Love and embrace your imperfect self. We don't have to always be awesome, or always be winners, or kick Monday in the face.
4) Srsly, I should just lighten up.

Would you rather get paid with coins or chocolate?

Thu, 10 Jul 2014 14:08:43 GMT

Laying on my desk this morning were a stack of coins and a collection of chocolate. Why would both of these be on my desk?

I run a the Maldre Post Office at my desk on the 14th floor of the Tribune Tower. Tribune employees flock to my desk to purchase from a wide variety of postage stamps. Often times when people don't come to my desk, they'll pull some stamps and leave the payments in coins on my desk.

This morning a stack of coins was sitting to the left of my laptop. To the right of my laptop was a collection of Hershey's chocolates. The juxtaposition of the shiny coins next to the shiny purple foil wrappers was too much for me to not capture. I slid over the Hershey's chocolates next to the coins for this photo.

It's fun to think that people could use chocolate as a supplemental currency.

How to count to ten in Estonian and Ewokese

Wed, 09 Jul 2014 15:44:39 GMT

Learn how to count to ten in Ewokese, or Estonian. Which is which?

One language is spoken by short furry creatures on the Forest Moon of Endor.
The other language is spoken by Finnic people in the Baltic region of Northern Europe.

One language is based on Chalmuk, a Mongolian, nomadic tribal dialect.
The other language belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family.

In attempt to learn both lists of one through ten, I have them hanging up in my cube at work.

Estonian: 
0	null (nool) 
1	�ks (ewks) 
2	kaks (kahks) 
3	kolm (kohlm) 
4	neli (NEH-lee) 
5	viis (veess) 
6	kuus (kooss) 
7	seitse (SAYT-seh) 
8	kaheksa (KAH-hek-sah) 
9	�heksa (EW-hek-sah) 
10	k�mme (KEWM-meh)

Ewokese
1	chu (choo)
2	fic (fic)
3	chim (chim)
4	hoji (ho jee)
5	n'la (nah la)
6	n'dla (nah dla)
7	voo (voo)
8	j'voo (ja voo)
9	coki (coke ee)
10	eedeeza (ee dee zah)

How many languages do you know how to say one through ten?

Stunningly beautiful Walgreens inside landmark Wrigley Building

Fri, 04 Jul 2014 22:20:38 GMT

Do you love amazing views? Do you love amazing architecture details? The next place you should visit is--surprise! Walgreens.

Walgreens recently moved 40 steps from its cramped quarters above the Billy Goat into the first and second floor of the landmark Wrigley Building next-door.

Despite challenges with the layout, the store is absolutely amazing to walk through.

Initially the entrance is overly subtle. You might even miss it walking by. No signed is attached to the outside of the building. Instead a Walgreens logo hangs in one front window, and a golden-painted "W" is displayed above the revolving doors on the side.

The lack of merchandise in the front store windows might lead one to believe there is nothing inside. But oh the beauties that are to behold inside on the second floor. You just have to get beyond the sparse entrance.

The layout of the store is really strange�-not just because I'm not used to it, but when you enter, your initial first thought is, "hmm, there's really not that much at this Walgreens." I guarantee you that tourists will walk into there and then walk right out, because they think that it's just a dinky-nothing-there Walgreens. Walgreens works, because when you walk in, you see all the vast array of aisles. This particular Walgreens has nothing when you walk in.

Walking deeper into the store beyond the front registers you first encounter three or four sushi chefs were busy cranking out sushi creations. All these new Walgreens employees. It's kinda crazy. It makes me concerned for this Walgreens location. I'm not sure that Walgreens will get more traffic to support all the additional employees. One kind Walgreens employee informed me that the old location got two shipments a day. This one is so busy it gets five shipments a day. They really want to make sure all their product is constantly restocked so people can rely on this location for their sun tan lotion and M&M fix.

Walking past the sushi aisle, you'll get to the heart of what everyone wants at any Walgreens, the candy aisle. Unfortunately, one of the most important candies was missing. Dark chocolate peanut M&M's. The regular chocolate peanut M&M's was also out of stock. But they do have frozen yogurt machines with EIGHT flavors:
* French vanilla
* Triple chocolate
* Birthday cake
* Cookies n creme
* White chocolate mousse
* Sea salt caramel pretzel
* Tropical sourbet
* Strawberry sensations

Grab a frozen yogurt, then sit outside in Pioneer Court or by the river walk by Trump Tower.

Perhaps you want some beer, wine, or hard liquor. Hit up the "Beer Cave" with magical sliding doors. At first walking down the aisles, I didn't realize the "Beer Cave" existed until suddenly doors opened up to a magical room full of beer, beer, and more beer. Did I remind you we are inside a Walgreens?

Perhaps you can appreciate the fine details of remodeling. Check out the embossed patterned wallpaper throughout the store. Much better than the white-wash job Target did in the history Carson Pirie Scott building.

Once you are done adoring wallpaper, you'll encounter something more amazing on the second floor. Ride the escalators up and watch the architecture of the beautiful courtyard unfold. Views like this on the second floor of the Wrigley Building have never been seen before by the general public.

This second floor is reason enough itself to become a tourist attraction in Chicago. Have fun comparing the views outside the windows with the products being sold in the store.

The beauty products section just so happens to be facing the plaza by Trump Tower and the Chicago River. Beauty products next to the beautiful river plaza.

The north side of the second floor holds one of the greatest aisles in American store history. This uninterrupted aisle runs parallel to the Plaza of the Americas with its 45 country flags. Since this aisle is on the second floor, the large windows put 18 of the country flags with direct view. The bright colors of the flags complement the bright colors of the construction paper being sold in the aisle.

Walk further down the aisle and you get to the bright fun colors of gift bags next to the waving flags.

With Independence day coming up, the season aisle has American flags being sold. So fitting to see American flags inside the store with the assortment of country flags outside.

Walking down the seasonal aisle in Walgreens was always fun as an indicator for the time of year. Now the fun factor is ramped up in this greatest store aisle ever in America.

The aisle ends with the tourist section, extremely fitting that the view is out onto Michigan Avenue with tourists standing around looking at the street performers and beautiful architecture.

The views out every window are amazing to see the artistry of detail in the Wrigley Building. Ornate flowers rim every window. Every few windows you'll catch phoenixes with fruit. Delight in the sight of infants holding pedestals. Or horses intertwined in flowers. This sort of terra cotta architectural detail just isn't done anymore. All outside the tourist section in Walgreens.

While the location for the tourist section is a fantastic complement to the views outside the windows, I miss all the touristy trinkets right by check-out. The trinkets are buried on the 2nd floor in the corner. I guarantee you that by the end of the year those tourist trinkets will be lining the walls by the checkouts at the front door. GOTTA CAPTURE THOSE TOURISTS!

I rather liked the compact Walgreens in the previous location. I was much more urban in style, very efficient. This store is so immensely spread out, that it almost feels suburban in style. Thankfully the surrounding windows always put you back into context of the city.

Walk over to the condom aisle, and admire the beautiful view of the Wrigley Building architecture. To your left is an aisle display with colorful packages of condoms, to your right is a window displaying with beautiful French Renaissance details inspired by Seville's Cathedral. Nowhere in the world can you get such a contrast of the world's beauty and pleasures.

The most important thing this new did not have on my first visit was my favorite cashier, Pilar. I asked if she was still there, and she is. She has off today. Phew. That's a relief. A Walgreens without Pilar would not be Walgreens.

How everyone's opinion is like an essential color in the spectrum

Fri, 06 Jun 2014 11:52:18 GMT

Without one color in the spectrum of light, everything looks much different. We need the range of all the colors in the spectrum to see the immense possibility of everything.

Are you an expert in something? If you aren't, do you like giving your opinion on things? How about at your job? When someone else who is not an expert in your area comes up and gives you an opinion on your work. Can it be hard to swallow?

Or perhaps you are afraid of giving your opinion on something because you aren't an expert in a particular area.

In either case looking at the spectrum of light as a metaphor should encourage you to both give and take feedback.

I'm not an expert at copywriting and editing. I know that I have an opinion, but there are people who are truly experts at in these fields. In fact, I work at Tribune Content Agency where we have editors who are at the top of the industry in editing. I highly respect their opinions and I'm often cautious of expressing my opinions about articles with them. But whenever I do, they are always incredibly receptive and enjoy hearing my thoughts.

As a graphic designer, I like when people respect that there is an expertise to graphic design. (and I do get that respect at work) However, just because I am an expert at graphic design doesn't mean I can shut off and not listen to other people's opinons about my designs. To close off someone's opinion is to like close off one of the colors of light in the spectrum.

You know how white light is actually comprised of a whole spectrum of colors? If you were to close off one of the channels... let's say you close off the red channel in white light. Anything that red-less light shines upon, will now all of the sudden look more cyan. All because I'm not listening to another person's opinion.

People's opinions are like spectrums within light. There's a wide range of perspectives. One person cannot possibly have an entire spectrum of interpretations when looking at something. We can strive to try to be as understanding as possible, and to have an immense capacity of creativity when it comes to having an internal toolbox that can create a spectrum of understandings. But we need other people to bring these wide-ranging set of interpretations to our work.

There are millions of colors in the rainbow. There are million possibilities of looking at everything. With all this potential, we can see things more illuminated.

Having more light shed on a subject always brings greater understanding.

17 years ago I decided to use the name 'spudart' instead of 'krankekunst'

Wed, 04 Jun 2014 15:03:00 GMT

The spudart name came from a problem most college graduates faced in the mid-1990s: losing your school email address after graduation.

Email had just gained widespread use during the 90s, so for most college students at the time, it was their only email address. Schools like mine (Illinois Wesleyan University) didn't allow graduates to keep their email address. Thankfully there was a startup email service named "hotmail" that everyone was signing up in droves.

This was before Microsoft bought hotmail and made it one of their corporate drones. Back in the day hotmail was cool. Note: back in the day IN THE 1990s. 17 years later, a hotmail email address is only cool if you use it ironically. +Looking at all my friends and colleagues who still use hotmail as their primary personal email address+

Back to 1997. I was graduating from IWU and therefore losing my one and only email address I ever had. Needing a new email address, I hopped on the hotmail bandwagon. But what to name my email address? I came up with the "spudart" name because of the great german artists who spoke of art and potatoes.

"Well if there is anything at all which manifests everything artists are supposed to be or have - the delight in innovativity, creativity, spontaneity, productivity, creating entirely out of oneself and so on - then it is the potato." Sigmar Polke

Spudart it became.

My other option besides spudart was krankekunst. My freshman year my school job was working in the sculpture lab. The seniors that year in the sculpture lab would say KRANKEKUNST as a fun phrase. They would be working on some artwork and then all of the sudden they would exclaim KRANKEKUNST!

It's fun to say. Krankekunst. However, the meaning isn't as fun. Krankekunst means sick art.

I'm glad I went with spudart. http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/spudart-turns-17-years-old_800x400.jpg

Almost as many marketing managers as graphic designers in America

Mon, 02 Jun 2014 20:58:47 GMT

Think of a creative department. How many designers are normally on staff? A couple. Maybe up to six or eight. You'd normally have one manager for these two to eight designers. Just how many graphic designers are there in America and how many marketing managers?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the number of jobs in 2012 for each position:
* 216,000: Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers
* 259,500: Graphic Designers

Wow. That's almost one manager for every graphic designer. Are creative departments going to just one designer now?

Certainly the trends would show that the ratio would improve, but it's actually the opposite. The job outlook for these managers from 2012-2022 is predicted to grow by 12%. Whereas graphic designers is set for a 7% increase. It seems strange to me that we'll have more managers than workers. Although, yes the managers manage more than designers. There's copywriters, analytics reporters, database specialists, programmers, PR specialists, etc.

But it always seems that when you have a team of people like this, you have more than one designer underneath the manager. What are your experiences with the manager/designer ratio?

Interpreting a yellow painting of a dog in Panera

Mon, 26 May 2014 21:03:12 GMT

A dog sits in a kitchen and smells unseen fresh bread. He patiently waits for this delicious treat.

For the past couple hours here at Panera I've been looking up at the painting, appreciating how the yellow in the painting matches the yellow Panera wall. It's almost as though the painting is a mini mural.

Being curious who the artist is behind the dog painting in Panera, I took a photo of the painting and did a reverse Google Image search.

The only result on Google is a blog post about a day trip by a mother and her young daughter. The mother and daughter give their interpretation of the painting, "the dog did, indeed, get the bread--without breaking a dish--and without getting caught." The internet is a great place where you can discover stories like this while sitting in the very same booth.

The identity of the artist still remains a mystery. But I do like the Hopper-esque qualities of the painting with it's simplicity of scene, single character, flash washes of monochromatic color, and delicate shadows. The dog himself almost appears as a shadow and a formal element in the painting. His nose pointing upwards aligns with the right edge of the painting. The desired bread is unseen to the dog, but seen to the viewer, giving the viewer an inside scoop over the story.

If anyone knows who the artist is, please let me know. This painting is a print on canvas, so it seems like something that many other Panera restaurants might also have hanging.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments or on your favorite social media channel. This blog post appears on Twitter, Google Plus, Flickr, Instagram, Jelly and Pinterest.

Will the dog get the bread in this painting? http://t.co/LDEbJrahvE
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) May 26, 2014

Two towers

Wed, 21 May 2014 10:48:17 GMT

Funny seeing these two photos next to each other in my flickr photostream. One a tower built of glass and steel. The other, made of plastic magazine racks. Both have a gleaming highlight stream across their surface.

One a desirable high-end place to live. The other, unwanted garbage from a goneby print era.

The watching eye at the door

Tue, 20 May 2014 12:02:25 GMT

These are the markings that would appear at the large durasteel front door of Jabba the Hutt's palace. The eyeball markings on the ground identifies that the front gate is protected by a TT-8L gatekeeper droid.

Making art from stacking

Thu, 15 May 2014 16:17:44 GMT

Stack many objects together, the final result transforms into a whole that is different than the parts.

Take a brick building. At the start, bricks are individual units. Rectangles of hardened clay. Stack them together in a planned fashion and walls emerge. Soon you have a house or a factory. Tear the house or factory down and you are left with clumps of bricks, broken bricks, piles and piles of bricks. An empty lot that looks like a war happened. Meaning and life is gone.

Enter brick salvagers. They come to literally pick up the pieces. Not only do they clear the area, they stack the bricks onto palettes. These immensely squared cubed solid forms are like some sort of modern artwork.

But which modern artwork? Not quite Donald Judd. His "brick" stacking was too clean. Artsy.net has an entire category dedicated to Piles and Stacks with 449 artworks. My favorite six pieces are on a pinterest board Stacks and piles.

These stacks and piles probably resonated with me, because on Mother's Day my 4-year-old nephew and I were playing with blocks. There is something very human to want to stack objects to create something new. The stacking theme is one that I will be thinking about in the months to come.

Why you shouldn't put water directly into the dirt of your cactus

Fri, 09 May 2014 13:00:19 GMT

Next time you water you cactus, instead of pouring the water into the dirt, pour the water over the top of the cactus. I like to dribble the water on the top and let it naturally climb down the needles of the cactus. That way the cactus gets a nice slow natural feeding.

Our world is so amazing with its details. Because of gravity, plants like cactus with spikes can get watered very slowly over time. Without gravity, the water would never slowly drip down the needles. We have just enough gravity to feed our cactus worldwide.

This was shot with my iPhone using the Photojojo macro lens attachment photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/cell-phone-lenses/new

Three personal examples of how I find optimism

Thu, 08 May 2014 13:00:50 GMT

(image via jesuisley.com)

I find it easiest to be optimistic when you have a firm foundation and meaning in life. Everything else is just circumstantial. Anything that goes wrong is an opportunity to grow and learn.

Three personal examples:
1) During college one of my friends shared a paper about the point of life is to grow. To grow is to live. There are different methods of growing--some people explore, others establish roots--both are good methods to mix and match.

2) After college I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. I decided on a life goal: To always be learning and to share what I learn with others. That gives my life a mission statement that I always cling to.

3) My faith in God. This is by far and away the most important part of my optimism. When all is going wrong, I know that God is there and He loves us more than we can ever imagine. I pray for greater understanding to get glimpses of his love for us.

Thirsty trees drink Coca-Cola

Wed, 07 May 2014 14:25:08 GMT

* Trees needs caffeine.
* Putting syrup back into the trees.
* Tree reading nutrition label on Coke can.
* Sweet nectar of the gods. (from @kevinthau on Jelly)
* Crooked coke ?? (from Johanne Kirkeby on Jelly)
* You must be barking mad (from Ian Clark on Jelly)
* Sometimes you just need a Coke (from Kevin Cattani on Jelly)
* I wouldn't caption this photo there's nothing interesting enough to warrant a caption (from Adam Abajian on Jelly. Wow, Adam needs some caffeine. Lighten up, dude.)
* What plants crave (from Jamie Thorman on Facebook)
* Cork a COALa (from Rohit Pathak on Quora)
* _________ (your caption here)
* _________ (your caption here)

How would you caption this photo? What do you think a tree is doing with a Coca-Cola can?

This particular tree sits at the bus stop in Chicago for three semi-popular express bus routes, 136/146/148. The can looked kinda funny sitting there--especially since in the past couple days I've been drinking lots of Coke. Even the trees are drinking Coke.

Originally I shot this from the top down--the perspective of how I saw the can. But the photo looked pretty stupid. I crouched down snapping multiple photos of this empty can while another commuter watched. I felt a little self-conscious having that other commuter watch me. But who cares. I think it's a funny story to imagine what a tree would be doing with a Coke can.

How would you caption this photo? Please leave your caption in the comments or on your favorite social media channel. This question has also been asked on Quora, Jelly, Google Plus, Facebook, and Twitter.

Chicago flowers, tourists, architecture, flag, architecture

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 13:00:14 GMT

When one photo is able to capture multiple stories, you have a photo that tells one million words. Read about each of the stories below this loooong vertical pano photo.

Flowers

Emerging from a long cold winter, Chicago's flowers grow on sidewalk planters.

Tourists

Tourists milling around. A tourist was standing in the exact spot where I needed to stand to take this photo. He just wouldn't budge, so I started to take photos around him, moving closer and closer. Eventually he got the hint and relinquished his standing spot. As he walked away, he kept turning around and looking back at me. LOL. I'm not sure why.

Perhaps he was upset that I took over his standing spot on the wide concrete sidewalk expanse. Maybe he thought I was trying to be a creep and take his photo. Or maybe he was wondering why I was shooting multiple shots of the same scene. (using the Pano app, it requires me to shoot several exposures, moving my camera after every shot, then trying to line up the shot. So I look kinda goofy trying to line up the previous shot with the current one.) One thing is for sure, tourists are a curious bunch.

Architecture

My main goal with this photo was to capture the flowers, architecture and fog. Originally I was standing on the median of Michigan Avenue taking photos, but they were falling rather flat. The flower planter on the sidewalk was calling me. The angle was much more interesting being located closer to the Wrigley Building. The Wrigley Building serves a middle layer between the flower foreground and the Riverwalk architecture background.

Chicago flag

As if the architecture wasn't enough to identify this being Chicago, there is a Chicago flag flying on the Wrigley Building.

Fog

The fog isn't truly the hero of this shot as it often is in fog photography. Instead here, the fog merely functions as a light equalizer to allow me to shoot several layers. Often the lighting can be drastically different on the foreground, middleground, and background. It gets even more complicated when shooting several photos to create a pano. Granted, this isn't the best pano ever. Some things are misaligned, the lighting is a bit off on the background buildings, but hey, imagine if there was no fog!

14 Chicago fog photos from Chicagoist

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 17:38:32 GMT

A fog crawls over Chicago, photographers slide their cameras out to capture the gray beast. Chicagoist selected 14 photos of today's fog in Chicago. The second featured image is my photo of the Water Tower pumping station.

While riding the bus to work, a bit of the sunlight was streaming through the fog above the Water Tower. I pulled my iPhone out to snap some photos of it. Thankfully the iPhone now automatically shoots in HDR, so the levels were pretty decent. The building was a bit dark in the silhouette, but the Filterstorm app quickly fixed that with some curves and a gradient layer mask.

When it came time to upload the image, I skipped Instagram, because I liked this image too much. Any photo I potentially I want to sell, I don't upload to Instagram, because of their awful rights claiming forever usage of your photos. Instead, I uploaded it to the better service, flickr.

I'm happy that Chicagoist decided to include my photo in their fog collection. Taking photographs in the fog is such a wonderful experience. Some of my best photos are shot in the fog of Chicago. Check out my "Chicago fog" album on flickr with 29 photos.

View all 29 of my Chicago fog photos https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7400/14061029771_3e0c77fc18_z.jpg

Painting restoration of Gustave Caillebotte's "Paris Street; Rainy Day"

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 12:00:49 GMT

The Art Institute of Chicago recently "restored" Gustave Caillebotte's painting, "Paris Street; Rainy Day" (1877)

Wow, the umbrellas are really blue now. They almost feel like alien hovercrafts. Perhaps Gustave Caillebotte was predicting an alien invasion on the streets of Paris.

Compare the before and after side-by-side:

What do you think of the restoration? Did it improve the artwork or make it worse? Or neither? Please leave your opinions in the comments.

iPhone app: A Closer Look in the Art Institute of Chicago

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 23:55:57 GMT

The Art Institute released an app that explores nine artworks on display in the modern wing. Each artwork has several mini factoids and videos uncovering specific details about the background behind the work.

View nine screenshots of each artwork's menu.

The free app, "A Closer Look in the Art Institute of Chicago," is a move in the right direction for the Art Institute. Giving viewers more ways to become familiar with their artworks makes visitors more engaged.

To truly engage visitors, I'd love for this app to have a feature called "visitor comments." I would love to read what others have to say about the artworks featured in this app. For instance, there might be some great user-generated thoughts about Kandinsky's "Improvisation No. 30"

The most engaged museum visitors are those inspired by the exhibits. Why not let people share how the artwork inspired them? Perhaps there might be stories about how an artwork inspired someone to travel to another country. Another artwork might have caused someone to start painting. Maybe a series of artworks were specifically created in reaction to the artworks on display at the Art Institute. I'd love to see other people's interpretations with these works we find so familiar.

In 2011, I paired up autographs on baseball cards next to paintings with matching aesthetics. Imagine discovering that while using the Art Institute's iPhone app in their galleries! Hentri Matisse, "Bathers by a River"

Marcel Duchamp, "Hat Rack"

Vasily Kandinsky, "Improvisation N. 30"

Kazimir Malevich, "Painterly Realism of a Football Player"

Pablo Picasso, "The Red Armchair"

Constantin Brancusi, "Golden Bird"
Constantin Brancusi, Golden Bird, iPhone" width="320" height="426" />

Roberto Matta, "The Earth Is a Man"

Marc Chagall, "White Crucifixion"

Joseph Cornell, "Untitled (Forgotten Game)"

Does Christie's think you are an art collector?

Sun, 27 Apr 2014 18:02:07 GMT

Ever look at items on a website and then have ads for that website follow you around other places online? Christie's the high-end auction house is stalking me on the internet.

"Click on Calder" a Christie's banner ad asking me to bid on Calder sculptures starting at $3,500. This banner ad appears in my delicious bookmarking account. It's rather amusing thatChristie's would think I'm interested in spending at least $3,500 on Calder artwork.

If you are curious what Calder would be selling for a mere $3,500, it's five buttons.

Thank you Christie's for making me feel important.

Start of Summer 2014 in Chicago

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 19:31:32 GMT

Summer is here! Every year in the summer Chicago raises the bridges to let sailboats swim over to Lake Michigan. This beloved ritual marks the start of summer for many Chicagoans.

The second bridge raising in Chicago happened on a chilly, yet sunny, 40 degree day. Lines of cars and buses were backed up in front of the Tribune Tower while I was walking back to work. Curious why cars weren't moving, I looked up Michigan Avenue and saw the HUGE Michigan Avenue bridge rising into the sky.

The sheer mass of metal rising into the air is something every Chicagoan must see in person. If you haven't experienced the rise of the beast, swing by Tribune Tower around 2pm on Wednesdays (arriving a bit earlier at 1:30pm will ensure you won't miss it). Also make sure to check out the official schedule to see if lifts were cancelled for the day.

Most times I witness the bridge being lifted from my desk window on the 14th floor of the Tribune Tower. But to be in the ground level is just awesome. The Michigan Avenue bridge is a double-decker, completed in 1928, it's a feat of engineering.

While you are down by the bridge, make sure to check out the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum. It's a cute little museum housed in the southwest bridgetower. Just the quirkiness of the location is worth the five dollar admission. Every time you walk on the Michigan Avenue Bridge, you'll remember being inside the bridge tower and getting some fun views out the porthole windows.

Summer is now here! 40 degrees is the new temperature for Chicago summer!

#iiinccccreeeeedddddddddiibbbbbbllllleee

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 00:37:25 GMT

I want to own the hashtag
#iiinccccreeeeedddddddddiibbbbbbllllleee

Take the word "incredible"
and merge it with the number for pi.

The frequency of each letter
corresponds to the number in pi

3.141592653 + incredible =
iiinccccreeeeedddddddddiibbbbbbllllleee

Now that is
#iiinccccreeeeedddddddddiibbbbbbllllleee

I want to own the hashtag #iiinccccreeeeedddddddddiibbbbbbllllleee The frequency of each letter corresponds to the number in pi.
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) April 22, 2014

3.141592653 + incredible = a new webcomic by me http://t.co/7PhsHYFWVy
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) April 23, 2014

http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/iiinccccreeeeedddddddddiibbbbbbllllleee-r4_800.jpg

Doing a tic-tac-toe with iPhone icons

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:48:32 GMT

Do you ever put iPhone icons next to each other on your iPhone, because they look cool together?

I need one more iPhone app icon with an animal to complete an iPhone screen tic-tac-toe. My iPhone home screen now features three animals in a row: dinosaur, owl, and elephant from Timehop, Hootsuite, and Evernote.

Anyone have a fun app with an animal icon to complete the row?

Illuminated Scripture on Good Friday

Sun, 20 Apr 2014 11:51:29 GMT

On the day of black, rainbows of color stream onto the Way of the Cross.

Between all the kneeling and standing, chanting and silence, my booklet would become illuminated with splashes of color. As my girlfriend observed, "it's like a sunset on your book."

This photo was taken at the 3pm service at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. See a great photo taken by my friend Alex Garcia (Chicago Tribune photographer) at the 5pm service.

The passage in this photo:

Matthew 26:36-39
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go over there and pray."
And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me."
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."

If you 'like' Cheerios or Haagen-Dazs, you might void your right to sue

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 21:37:52 GMT

General Mills' new policy: if you engage with us online, you can never sue the company. The Consumerist reports:

In new language recently added to General Mills' website, consumers who interact with the company online will be agreeing to give up the right to sue the company in the future.

The New York Times reports that the food company behind brands like Cheerios, Betty Crocker and Nature Valley recently updated the legal terms in its privacy policy online, effectively limiting customers who bring a dispute against General Mills to arbitration or other negotiation.

Basically, if you download coupons, enter a General Mills sweepstakes or interact with it at all, you can't sue � not if you get a chunk of glass in your bowl of Wheaties and not if you think a product has misleading labeling. �Read the full Consumerist report.

Do you like any of General Mills' Facebook Pages? Cheerios? Or maybe Haagen-Dazs? Or maybe one of over 50 brands under General Mills. How do you check to see if you are part of them all? Manually search for each Page? Crazy.

Here's a list of 15 General Mills Facebook Pages, see which Pages you currently like. If there is a checkmark inside any of these boxes, it means you follow the Page.

I'm not telling you what to do. Make a careful decision on where you stand. If you see any of your friends on the list below, feel free to share this blog post with them.

� View the list of 15 General Mills brands Facebook Pages

Cheerios

Chex

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Fiber One

Kix

Trix

Yoplait

If there are any more General Mills Facebook Pages, let me know in the comments. Please share this on Facebook.

http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/How-to-determine-if-you-like-any-General-Mills-Facebook-Pages.jpg

What happens when you make your photos available via Creative Commons license

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:00:17 GMT

Make a photo available via a Creative Commons license allows it to run wild free on the internet. You'll never know what will happen. In 2007 I shot this HDR image of a tugboat on the Chicago River. Accidentally using an extremely high ISO, a ton of noise crept into the hi-resolution version of this image. Since I wasn't comfortable selling prints of a photo with lots of noise, I made this photo available for anyone to use for free.

Seven years later, I come across my image being sold on $0.93 postcards, flash cards, an e-nanny website, and my favorite:

a cheesy tshirt about age, "Give me a tow... I'm old." If anyone wants to give me a good gag gift, this would be a great one.

Start of spring: tulips break ground on Michigan Avenue in Chicago

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 14:30:25 GMT

The tulips are starting to break the ground in Chicago! While walking to work, the dirt graveyards on Michigan Avenue started to get some life. Little red sprouts coming out of the soil!

Standing in the middle of Michigan Avenue, cars were honking their horns while I was capturing this moment of 2014.

My first round of shots were ok, as I reviewed them from my desk at the Tribune Tower, severl photos had a big honkin bus was in the background on the right. Other shots were ok, but their background had stop light green. The stop light looks so much better in red.

I went back outside and visited my selected favorite tulip of 2014. Some patience was required as this was primetime rush hour for buses going down Michigan Avenue. That blackish shape on the right is a bus shelter. One of the most popular bus shelters in the CTA system.

Evenutally there were no buses, no cars, and a red light. Originally I had the tulip blocking one of the two red lights, leaving just one red light shown. But then placing both of the red lights on either side of the tulip sprout made for a nice composition. My last shot of the series. :)
http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/13759750603_f588dcb03e_b.jpg

Dyeing the Chicago River Green in fast-motion

Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:46:47 GMT

Watch a little boat fly up and down the Chicago River releasing green dye (youtube video). The pattern the boat follows looks like the one would use mowing the lawn. Next year I wanna see zig-zags!

If the boat was leave a trail where it would spell out something, what should it spell?
Here's a few ideas:
* Happy St. Patrick's Day
* Green!
* Don't drink the river
* Leprechaun was here
* T-O-X-I-C (from Marco on facebook)
* P-U-K-E (from Leigh on facebook)
* M-A-L-D-R-E (from Lisa on facebook)
* S-P-U-D-A-R-T (from Marco on facebook)
* K-E-L-P M-E (from Todd on facebook)
* T-A-X Dollars... (from Tamima on facebook)
* Chicago dyes the river green?? That sounds like a horrible idea. (from Rose on facebook)
* S-T-O-P -F-R-E-T-T-I-N-G-, --G-R-U-M-P-S-. -T-H-I-S -I-S -F-U-N-! (from Erik on facebook)
* ______________ (your idea here)
* ______________ (your idea here)

Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments or on Twitter, Google Plus, or Facebook.

Rowlf the Dog has no official Facebook Page

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:25:33 GMT

The Muppets have Facebook Pages for Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, and Walter, but not Rowlf the Dog.

Unbelievable. A Facebook search for Rowlf the Dog yields only his wikipedia page. Rowlf totally needs a Facebook Page. He's hilarious. Move over Fozzie Bear, there's a new comedian in town.

----

World Series trophy and weber grill

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 04:09:22 GMT

Vertical lines. Horizontal lines. The difference between the two means the difference between the World Series trophy and a weber grill.

These are works of art for sale by my brother, Erik Maldre. Venturing into the never-ending snow with his Instax Polaroid camera, he photographs landscapes of snow, and then paints on top of the instant prints. The World Series trophy and Weber grill are just my own interpretations of these abstract works of art. What is your instant interpretation of these works?

Instant photos.
Instant snow.
Instant painting.
Instant interpretations.

These can all be instantly yours on ebay. See all of his current works for sale under the ebay name, unmoo.

Matt Maldre is Joseph Beuys

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 06:49:21 GMT

An image search for my name, Matt Maldre, brings up four photos of me--and a photo of the great artist Joseph Beuys. Google is implying that I am the late Joseph Beuys. While I would love to have this honor, I certainly cannot accept it, for Beuys was a trailblazer in social art and activism. I am a mere speck compared to what he did.

Nonetheless, it's great to see an image of him pop up for search on my name. Hello Joseph!

Reimjedesilbeinjederzeile: rhyming every syllable in each line

Thu, 13 Feb 2014 08:41:00 GMT

While putting away laundry, I tweaked my right knee, prompting me to lie down and think of this poem:

Popped right gone knee, stopped night laundry
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) February 13, 2014

At first I was thinking about how "knee" and "laundry" rhymed. Then I needed something to ryhme with the "laun" of "laundry." "Gone" seemed nice. Then the "right" and "night" made sense, as did "popped" and "stopped."

Is there a term for rhyming every syllable in each line? The Germans would call it
Reimjedesilbeinjederzeile (translated: rhyming every syllable in each line)

I'll make this into a blog post! The Germans would call that Ichwerdediesineinemblogpostmachen (translated: I'll make this into a blog post)

Olympic Bobsled pusher Johnny Quinn is the Kool-Aid Man. OH YEAH!

Sun, 09 Feb 2014 05:45:20 GMT

At the Olympics, stuck in a bathroom with no cell phone? Nobody around. What do you do? You know the Russian construction is really cheap, so why not just break through the door? That's what American Olympian bobsled pushers Johnny Quinn did.

...With no phone to call for help, I used my bobsled push training to break out. #SochiJailBreak pic.twitter.com/apZRefgvCO
— Johnny Quinn (@JohnnyQuinnUSA) February 8, 2014

The door never stood a chance. But now everyone knows Johnny Quinn's real identity--the Kool-Aid man! OH YEAH!

Flickr to include Matt Maldre in 10 year anniversary video

Thu, 06 Feb 2014 15:13:13 GMT

I'm extremely honored that the Yahoo Creative Team asked that one of my photos be included in the 10-year Flickr anniversary video! Here's their request:

I immediately thought they would want to use one of my most popular photos, like "Chicago's Moving Bridges over the Chicago River" My premiere photo on flickr with 437 favs, 94 comments and 60,000 views.

or a recent trending favorite with over 100 views per day for the past year, "Chicago CTA Quincy train station"

They didn't pick either one of those. Instead, I love that they picked a completely quirky photo, "Bent nails spell 777"

This sort of quirky pick is one of the reasons why I love flickr, there is such depth and history to their service. This particular photo was shot for the day 07/07/07. Was Instagram around then? Nope. Flickr was. Flickr rules. I can't wait to see the 10-year anniversary video for flickr.

Even and odd letters: ACEGIKMOQSUWY and BDFHJLNPRTVXZ

Wed, 05 Feb 2014 04:32:13 GMT

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... How about counting using odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9... I bet you can can count using even numbers. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc.

But what about reciting all the odd letters of the alphabet?
ACEGIKMOQSUWY

Or naming all the even letters in order?
BDFHJLNPRTVXZ

It's pretty hard to do.

Surprisingly, there is very little information online or in books about even and odd letters. Most instances of ACEGIKMOQSUWY are people using it as a username.

This sort of intersection of two systems.

Photorealistic drawing tricks

Mon, 03 Feb 2014 12:00:19 GMT

Four hours and 33 minutes of a realistic drawing is condensed down to 3 minutes 42 seconds in this youtube video:

The artist Marcello Barenghi does have some mad skills. But you can also make a drawing like this with a few interesting tricks on how this photorealisitc drawing is done:

Gray paper
The gray paper makes the object stand out more, because it makes the white pop out more. To create the white, he uses mostly a white pencil. Towards the end a white paint brush sneaks in, along with a white airbrush.

Watercolor
An initial wash of blue is done in watercolor. Since the majority of the drawing is done in marker, i'm not sure what the intention behind using watercolor. Does the water leave the paper wet, enabling better blending with the following markers?

Markers
This is drawn mostly with markers. Who knew markers could be so photorealistic?

Airbrush
A black airbrush is used at the end to create the drop shadow behind and on the can. Briefly a white airbrush is used for the highlights. That helps to create an overall unifying look of light. Normally when I do a drawing, I stick to one medium, I don't think about introducing other media to give an overall effect. It's funny, because in apps like Instagram, we apply entire effects over a photo to give a feeling. Why not use an airbrush at the end to help with the lighting?

Lighting the drawing
Notice the subtle lighting that the artists uses in the video. See how the gray paper is lighter on the left than the right? Now notice the lighting on the object in the drawing, it's coming from the same direction. That tiny little detail helps tremendously with how the drawing is seen as an object. Just like how the airbrush creates an overall effect, the lighting used in this video also creates an overall effect.

Did you see any other tricks used in this video?
If so, please share them in the comments. Thank you.

Books about questions?

Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:55:45 GMT

I love questions. Does anyone know of any book that are about questions? Specifically the history, science, or psychology of questions.

Not a book with lists of questions. Nor lifestyle or career books. But books that talk about the nature of questions. I'm more in interested in the cultural study or more scientific approach to questions.

Please leave your suggestions in the comments or on your favorite social media channel. This question appears on Goodreads, Google Plus, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, and Facebook.

Thank you so much. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7434/12234450655_47f99eff75_z.jpg

Try typing random letters into Google Translate and see which language it detects

Tue, 21 Jan 2014 17:13:27 GMT

The Croatian language has a lot of the letters k, v, and z. Type of bunch of those letters into Google Translate like this:
vzkvzvkzv zk vzkvzkzv kzvkz vzk vz kv zvzvkvz kvzkzv kzvkzvzvzv kvzkzv

Google thinks that it's Czech. Apparently the Czechs love their letters k, v, and z more than the Croatians!

In addition to the detected language, Google will suggest alternative phrases. If you type something random, you might actually be typing something real! Google said, "Did you mean: vzkaz vkzv zk vzkvzkzv kztkz vzk vz kv zvz vkvz kvzkzv kzvkzvzvzv kvzkzv"

Oh of course! THAT'S what I meant. http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/google-translate-vzkvzvkzv.png

Clothespin artist of 1994 influences the creation of spudart

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 13:26:26 GMT

The clothespin artist stands at the front steps of the Art Institute of Chicago in the summer of 1994. My fellow college freshman friends and I approach this man selling clothespin necklaces and tshirts with simple clothespin silhouettes.

While signing free xerox prints of clothespins, he teaches us the meaning of clothespin art. People can read their own personal meanings into the clothespin icon. As the artist, the meaning for his work is what the viewer brings. His explanations would become very much an influence on my outlook on art to this day. Spudart and my potato theories have their origin from this clothespin artist.

He opens up a small shoebox sized container with clothespin necklaces inside for $1.00 each. As I was deciding which one to purchase, he was explaining the criteria that people use when selecting a clothespin necklace. "Some people like their clothespin to be perfect with no flaws. Others like one that is unique and has its own personality. Like this one." He pointed to a clothespin that had a little knot in the wood. I happily selected that unique one.

I proudly wore that necklace to all art openings and events for the next few years. Pictured below, with clothespin around my neck, Tammy Zych, Dima Strakovsky and I visit the circa 1996 Art Chicago show at Navy Pier.

The clothespin necklace is buried in my closet today. His signed print still hangs in my dining room. I put it in a frame made of the same type of raw wood that traditional clothespins are made of. I wonder where this clothespin artist is today--and if he's still doing his clothespin art.

If you happen to know anything about the clothespin artist, please leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Thank you.

Traffic stats for spudart.org in 2013

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 14:00:15 GMT

In 2013, spudart.org had:
265,267 Visits
244,989 Unique Visitors
324,996 Pageviews

Of those pageviews:
157,057 from google search
35,149 unknown
9,684 stumbleupon.com
7,699 bing search
7,455 yahoo search
4,916 answers.yahoo.com
3,972 reddit.com
2,653 search.mywebsearch.com
2,601 aol search

some other sites further down the list:
1,677 pinterest
1,337 gutefrage.net
925 facebook
268 flickr
172 youtube
71 wikipedia
36 sparxmind.com
33 mattmaldre.wordpress.com
11 mattmaldre.com
6 unlikelymoose.com

13,894 visits came from social media
411 from bit.ly links I made

------------------------------------------------
WHAT ABOUT THE NEW BLOG POSTS MADE IN 2013?

138 blog posts were published on spudart.org

My RSS feed has 95 subscribers. (95 subscribers x 138 posts = 13,110 sends)
104 visits from the RSS feed.
0.7% click-through rate (just under 1%)

Email has 513 subscribers. (513 x 138 = 70,794 sends)
144 visits from email.
0.2% click-through rate

------------------------------------------------
HOMEPAGE

3,040 visits to the homepage
* Approximately 1,000 were direct visits typed in the URL bar
* 82 searched for spudart or spudart.org

The homepage gets about
* 4-10 direct visits a day
* about 1 referral a day (entire site gets about 30/day)
* about 2 social a day (entire site gets about 70/day)

Most popular link on the homepage is the "Thoughts blog" navbar link with 334 clicks. That means 10% of the people visiting the homepage click on that "Thoughts blog"

The second most popular link on the homepage is the "Next 30 posts" at the bottom of the page with 34 clicks.

60 websites for art and culture inspiration

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 06:34:42 GMT

Looking for some creative sources? Here are 60 (formerly 45) websites that bring interesting posts. You could subscribe to them using an RSS reader like feedly.com.

�3quarksdaily: 2,000 readers

�A Creative Universe: 664 readers

�Art in America: 232 readers

�Art Threat: 422 readers

�artforum.com

�ARTINFO Blogs � Feed: 2,000 readers

�ARTnews: 711 readers

�Arts & Letters Daily: 8,000 readers

�Artsy: 76 readers

�Beautiful Minds: 156 readers

�BLOUIN ARTINFO: 1,000 readeres

�Brain Pickings: 22,000 readers

�but does it float: 16,000 readers

�Cartophilia: Maps and Map Memorabilia: 65 readers

�CIVA: 28 readers

�Color Me Katie: 5,000 readers

�Colossal: 18,000 readers

�Dark Roasted Blend: 6,000 readers

�Dataisnature: 1,000 readers

�Flowing Data: 36,000 readers

�Forecast Public Art: 18 readers

�Happy Famous Artists � Blog: 560 readers

�Hyperallergic: 2,000 readers

�In the Air: Art News & Gossip: 69 readers

�IN VIEW: Jason Edward Kaufman on Art and Culture: 14 readers

�Information Is Beautiful: 26,000 readers

�It's Nice That: 11,000 readers

�Keri Smith: 872 readers

�Little Paper Planes: 822 readers

�Malcolm Gladwell: 178 readers

�Media Lab: 175 readers

�Modern Painters Daily: 15 readers

�Object Lessons: 20 readers

�Open Culture: 10,000 readers

�Open Field: 3 readers

�Scientific American Blog: Beautiful...: 133 readers

�The New York Review of Books: 14,000 readers

�The New Yorker: Malcolm Gladwell: ? readers

�The Rhizome Frontpage RSS: 3,000 readers

�The Secret History of Art: 37 readers

�Tyler Green: Modern Art Notes: 359 readers

�Walker Center Visual Arts: 84 readers

�Uploads from MEOMI

�Whodunnknit: 58 readers

�Wooster Collective: 11,000 readers

Recently added:
Daily serving: 10 readers
Flavorwire Art: 6,000 readers
Fubiz: 29,000 readers
Hi-Fructose Magazine: 1,000 readers
Artlog Tumblr: 100 readers
Neatorama: 11,000 readers
Street Art News: 691 readers
The Only Magic Left is Art: 237 readers
Twisted Sifter: 4,000 readers
Juxtapoz: 3,000 readers
Creative Review: 7,000 readers
Frieze Magazine: 1,000 readers
Print Magazine: 1,000 readers
Design:related, Curated Design: 70 readers
SpillSpace: Art: 2 readers

Two Kickapoo State Parks in America

Tue, 07 Jan 2014 12:00:04 GMT

As if having one state park named Kickapoo in Texas wasn't enough. There's also a Kickapoo State Recreation Area in Illinois.

The folks in Oakwood, IL must have had some fun naming their road Kickapoo Park Road and the loading dock, Kickapoo Landing.

Wait, there are 12 places named Kickapoo in America:
-- Kickapoo Township, Peoria County, Illinois
-- Kickapoo, Indiana
-- Kickapoo Township, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas
-- Kickapoo, Louisiana, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana
-- Kickapoo State Recreation Area, Illinois
-- Kickapoo Township, Kidder County, North Dakota
-- Kickapoo Township, Mountrail County, North Dakota in Mountrail County, North Dakota
-- Kickapoo Township, a township in Lincoln County, Oklahoma
-- Kickapoo, Wisconsin, a town
-- Kickapoo Center, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
-- Kickapoo, Illinois
-- Kickapoo Downtown Airport

And just in case you wanted a Kickapoo tshirt, bracelet, or hat; the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma sells them on kickapootribeofoklahoma.com.

Am I living in a parallel universe?
Wow.

Is there a difference between cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary?

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 12:00:22 GMT

Cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary both sound like totally cool concepts. Intersecting different areas of thought to generate creative results. But what is the difference between cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary?

I posted this question across the internet. The answers fell into two groups.

1) Interdisciplinary is study in two different disciplines. Cross is study in one discipline that reaches out to others.

theshizzler of reddit says:

Interdisciplinarity involves an integration of the approaches, insights, and methods between two or more disciplines. A commonly used example is environmental science, which itself is a combination of geology, chemistry, biology, and even some civil engineering amongst others.

The rule of thumb for cross-disciplinarity is being able to use the word 'of' in the description. For example, the Literature of Victorian England, or Politics of Gender. Cross-disciplinarity requires no integration of ideas and is typically the use of one discipline to look at some aspect of another.

thedrew of reddit says:

Cross-disciplinary should be limited to 2 disciplines. Inter-disciplinary means spanning 2 or more disciplines.

Prasad of Yahoo Answers gave an in-depth explanation:

Something that's interdisciplinary covers more than one field of study. If you take an interdisciplinary science and literature class, you might read a science fiction novel and then explore the scientific ideas behind it.

The word interdisciplinary can be broken into its parts: inter-, which means "between" in Latin, and disciplinary, which is from the Latin disciplina and means teaching or knowledge. Interdisciplinary means between fields, but they don't have to be unrelated disciplines. You can do interdisciplinary work between two sciences, for example. An interdisciplinary conference on biology and computer science might include workshops on both fields.

When we take an interdisciplinary approach to a study, we integrate, let's say, two disciplines - their methods, terminology, research, etc - in our study. (Cf. In medicine, an interdisciplinary team is "a group that consists of specialists from several fields combining skills and resources.")

The Cross-disciplinary Scholars in Science and Technology program seeks to strengthen international collaboration by inviting highly accomplished students to study and engage in research at a university. The students are supported by institutional agreements with universities abroad and by scholarships from their home institutions.

With a crossdisciplinary approach, we remain rooted in a particular discipline as we make a leap into, say, one other discipline to study some aspects of it from our original point of view. The aim is not integration, but to highlight aspects of the first discipline by means of studying the other.

2) Flip the order of the first point. Crossdisciplinary is study in two different areas. Inter is study in one discipline that reaches out to others

Kenneth Janiec of Google Plus says:

I'll give it a shot. Interdisciplinary to me means drawing from 2 fields of study within a discipline, while cross disciplinary is, possibly, drawing multiple fields over multiple disciplines.

Court replies on Yahoo Answers:

They are VERY closely related and often used as synonyms. If you use 'discipline' in a larger format, covering more topics, then 'cross-disciplinary' goes between topics, like art and science, and 'interdisciplinary ' is usually within a topic, like different kinds of sciences.

What do you think does inter-disciplinary mean mutiple areas or one?
Please post your answer in the comments below, or on any of the services mentioned above.

13 images that look like van Gogh's Starry Night

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 07:29:31 GMT

There are many variations done on Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night," but how many people captured a photo or created an illustration that looks like this famous painting, but never realized the likeness? This would be like creating a masterpiece in every day life.

The images below look similiar for a combination of color and composition. Notice that many of the images use a horizon line and have a blue sky. Some of the images have a large heavy shape on the left.

Untitled by marcp3rry, on Flickr

Circle of Abstract Rituals by amewzing, on Flickr

background art 35 by Fantasy Art, on Flickr

View all 13 images
10/25 by Kate Adams 1993, on Flickr

Diepe Hel Holterbergloop 2013 by Martin_Borgman, on Flickr

White Christmas by *La--Boheme on deviantART

Epic Journey by *volkanyenen on deviantART

Swamp Monster by ~DarioCoelho on deviantART

Loading animation_2 by ~ivany86 on deviantART

DRAGON HUNTERS SQUAD : BUNGALOW by ~Fideliada on deviantART

Blizzard by *AlexanderJansson on deviantART

Sherlock Holmes enters public domain!

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 19:00:56 GMT

Sherlock Holmes is free! Run wild Holmes! Sherlock Holmes is now in the public domain in America--but wait--only the pre-1923 Holmes. Any characteristics of Holmes developed after 1923 are off-grounds.

Fascinating how copyright law works. People can now do anything with the Sherlock Holmes as long as they are based on the fifty Holmes works that Arthur Conan Doyle published before Jan. 1, 1923.

Holmes fan-fic authors, brush up on your pre-1923 Holmes.

How does this law apply to other areas?
With paintings, it's pretty straightforward. Any painting pre-1923 is open game. Paintings are a bit more of a self-enclosed world. Books, with imagination required, are a bit more loose with interpretation.

What if a painter used a particular character in his paintings throughout his career. Would that character in the pre-1923 paintings be available to public domain? I'd imagine so. But anything new the character did after 1923 is off game. Like, if the character decided to pick up the game of croquet, forget about reusing that.

What sort of innovation will we see with Sherlock Holmes?
There's already plenty with the PBS series and upcoming movies. Will there be underground Holmes? Super-hero Holmes? Oh wait. That's Batman. Sherlock Holmes with a tommy gun? Oh wait. Dick Tracy.

Some ideas posted on reddit:

CRichS: This would be pretty interesting in the new 52: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Joker_Vol_1_6
vivvavDeadmod: Kinda hoping to see him in DC Comics now. It'd be great to have him meet Jonah Hex.
NiKva: Does that mean that Sherlock Holmes can now be featured in video games without extra costs over licensing? If so, I want him in the next Smash Bros games... and maybe Mario Kart, too.
Beatnick: I've always felt there should be more Sherlock sitcoms
ronocdh:�Sherlock Matters, Everybody Loves Sherlock, Holmes Improvement, Holmes

Dinosaur Comics has the best idea, involving a glowing dog.

What would you do with Sherlock Holmes?
Please leave your thoughts in the comments or on your favorite social media channel. This question appears on Quora, Yahoo Answers, Ask.com, Twitter, and Google Plus. This blog post was originally inspired by @criticalmargins' tweet.

What is this mysterious yellow disc?

Tue, 31 Dec 2013 18:07:07 GMT

Giant yellow tennis ball is attacking Wrigley Field! What would that yellow sphere be? Ideas are explored on my baseball blog, Supernova at Wrigley Field captured in 1958 Topps baseball card. It's a fun interdisciplinary blog post covering baseball, world history, pop culture, and science all from 1958.

M&Ms can help you design a color palette

Mon, 23 Dec 2013 12:00:43 GMT

If you are ever stuck on a color palette for a design, just pull out a bag of M&Ms. Grab a handful; and lay them out on the table. Viola! There is your color palette. That's what happened to me one day. I pulled out this nice selection of blues and browns, with a single highlight yellow. What a nice color palette! I'd like to use more yellow as highlights in my work now.

Thank you M&Ms for your random color recommendations.

12 reasons to start the Christmas Stick tradition

Fri, 20 Dec 2013 21:26:33 GMT

Have problems with your Christmas tree? Consider a Christmas stick. Sound crazy? Yeah, it is, but I've been doing it for three years and I love it.

Love your Christmas tree? Of course you do, Christmas trees are beloved. You don't have to rid yourself of the Christmas tree. You can consider the Christmas stick as a complement to your tree.

Here's 12 solid reasons to start using the Christmas stick tradition in your household.

1) Can display on shelf
Can't find that perfect spot in the house for the tree? The Christmas stick doesn't have that problem. There's no need to move stuff around.

2) The ornaments hang properly
It would be easier to hang Christmas ornaments on an upside-down tree, because none of the branches get in the way. The same holds true for a Christmas stick.

3) Easy disposal
What happens with a Christmas tree? You have to bag it up. Or carry it out to the curb. Or maybe even drive it down to some recycle center. Blah. With a Christmas stick you just toss it back in the yard.

4) No needle mess
Find needles around the house months after Christmas? Christmas sticks don't have needles. No mess.

5) Quirky, unique
Everyone does the Christmas tree (well, nearly everyone), but who does a Christmas stick? You can be unique.

6) Good for leftover ornaments
Have leftover ornaments that didn't fit on the Christmas tree? Stick 'em on the Christmas stick! Or maybe you are starting a new collection of ornaments. Let's say you have a handful of Star Wars ornaments. You can hang them all on the Christmas stick!

7) Good for starting ornament collections
Don't have enough ornaments? Your Christmas stick will look full with your starting collection of ornaments.

8) Easy pickup
While Christmas tree orchards are fun, they can be a long drive. Your Christmas stick can be as near as your backyard.

9) Fun to hunt for the stick
Home Depot is not exactly the most Christmas-esque place to get a tree. All the trees are wrapped up and you don't know exactly what you are getting. With a Christmas stick, you know exactly what you are getting. Plus, you can find your stick in any place around where you live. You can make it into a game.

10) Everyone can pick their own stick
Ever have a hard time deciding on which tree to get? With Christmas trees you don't usually pick more than one. But with a Christmas stick, everyone gets to pick a stick!

11) Pick a fun location to find your stick
Look for stick in your favorite park. you can't chop down a tree in your favorite park, but you can pick up a stick.

12) Recalls true meaning of Christmas
The Christmas tree tradition has become so familiar that we forget the true meaning behind the Christmas tree. But with a Christmas stick, it makes you wonder why a Christmas stick. I'll tell you why.
-- The stick is made out of wood.
-- The wood calls to mind Jesus' manger where he was born.
-- The wood also foreshadows Christ's death on a wooden cross. The branch is also representative of the family tree of Christ. Does the family tree sound like a stretch? It's not. For over 4,000 years people anticipated the coming of the Saviour. The lineage of the Saviour was a key element of who he is. Bust open the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, Matthew 1, and you'll see the lineage of Joseph with 41 names. Luke, the third book of the New Testament, lists the lineage of Jesus' mother, Mary, with 76 names at Luke 3:23-38.

The Christmas stick does not have to replace the Christmas tree. You can still have your Christmas tree and the Christmas stick! Start the tradition today! If you do a Christmas stick, please let me know in the comments or at your favorite social media channel: pinterest, facebook, google plus, tumblr, stumbleupon, flickr, twitter, or reddit. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6447075265_a2cd5945ee_z.jpg

Starting New Year's resolutions in December

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 04:59:57 GMT

A bit of wisdom at the end of the year:

When January rolls around, you'll know if your resolutions are serious enough to carry throughout the year. The inevitable question at cocktail parties around New Year's is, "do you have any resolutions for the new year?" You'll be able to confidently list yours instead of hunting around for ideas. Since you already started your resolutions, you can share stories about them as well.

Starting your resolutions in December will also help you to identify more personally with your resolutions, because it was your choice to start them. You aren't doing some goal because everyone else is in January. This is your baby that you took the initiative on to start early.

Moon Cheese for sale

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 04:40:00 GMT

We all know the Moon is made of cheese. Even the Chinese know, because they are going to the Moon to bring back its delicious cheese. The taste is so out of this world!

Why wait for the Chinese to mine more Moon Cheese? You can buy Moon Cheese straight from Amazon. This would make the perfect gift for someone who is both a space lover and who loves food, specifically cheese! Your friends, family members, and love ones will shriek in delight when they discover you went to the moon and back to get this this perfect delicious gift.

When you purchase Moon Cheese, feel free to print out this cheesy webcomic and include it with the gift.

* Midnight Moon (1 pound) by Gourmet-Food
* Fiscalini Purple Moon Cheese, 8 Ounce -- 12 per case.
* Bosc Pears and New Moon Cheese - Gift Baskets & Fruit Baskets - Harry and David

http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/moon-cheese-for-sale-r1_1x1.png

What do you think of your old artwork?

Thu, 05 Dec 2013 15:08:29 GMT

Do famous artists feel weird looking back at some of their older artwork? Looking back at some of my college artworks, I realize how crappy they are. Even though I archive all my old work, there are pieces that don't deserve to be archived.

When it comes to famous artists, it seems that everyone has a respect for the artist's entire genre of work, but does the artist have the same respect for his/her old work? I'd say most artists are more critical of their older work.

Rhythm was a key theme for me in art school (mentioned in the last paragraph of my BFA honors thesis). I still love the concept to this day, however some of my artworks in this theme fall flat. "Rhythm of Creative Preservation" (shown above) has a nice concept of how are things preserved, how does rhythm play a role in preservation? But the execution is quite awful.

One of these days I'll make a collection of my artworks on rhythm and do a larger analysis--of both the good and bad pieces.

"Forgot your hat" poem

Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:28:11 GMT

What happens when you forget your hat at a friend's place? I left my hat at at Bible Study last night. My friend Chris texted me, "U forgot ur hat"

Hat is such a fun rhyming word (as Dr. Seuss famously did with Cat in the Hat), so I made my own little "forgot your hat" poem response.

The army invests in 4D printing

Fri, 29 Nov 2013 22:09:33 GMT

Gizmoodo reports:

The U.S. Army Research Office has just thrown some money the way of 4D printing�but what, exactly, is all the fuss about? This beautiful video goes a long way to showing us why the technology is so exciting.

These folding shapes look like the building blocks for Transformers. Could the army be making a league of tranforming robots?

Social media plush toys

Wed, 27 Nov 2013 01:39:59 GMT

Twitter, facebook, instagram. You love social media; or you know someone who loves social media. Everyone loves plush toys. What if the two combined? Social media plushies!

Now you can hug the twitter bird! Or when twitter goes down, you can smash the twitter bird.

Twitter bird by crefun
This very detailed plush is based on a Twitter logo that I'm not sure where it came from. Crefun provides a service that makes custom single or bulk stuffed plush toys. I don't think they are selling the actual twitter plush, but this is more of a proof of concept of their skills.
flickr.com/photos/crefun/4179206316

Twitter bird by etsy seller FreshStitches
Actually, FreshStitches is not selling the crochet Twitter bird, instead she is selling the crochet pattern. You can make your own twitter bird! FreshStitches says on her etsy page:

Nervous about crocheting a stuffed animal? Don't be! This bird is an easy-level pattern! This pattern contains detailed instructions and lots of photos. Also, you can visit my website (www.freshstitches.com) for tips & crochet videos. AND you can always email me for help! You can do it!

etsy.com/listing/81776509/amigurumi-crochet-pattern-amigurumi-bird

Facebook like as seen on ebay
Who would've thought that the Facebook like hand could be so cute� or so dismembered? If you ever wanted to buy a Facebook Like in the form of a plush, ebay is your spot. Many different sellers are selling this thumbs-up plush. Most social media services are relatively new, so having a plush is quite unique. However with Facebook, it seems rather standard. Have a Facebook like on your couch and you might get the response, "Oh Facebook, when do you get that plushie? In 2009?"
But since the "like" is associated with an action, you could have fun telling people you like them. Or you can go around the house and push the plushie against things you like and declare, "I like this photo. I like this refrigerator." When a pizza arrives, you can declare, "I like this pizza."
ebay.com/itm/Thumb-Hand-Symbol-8-Inch-Plush-Doll-Toy-From-Facebook-Popular-Social-Networking-/271010247653

Hootsuite by hootsuite
The most adorable plushie I could find belongs to Hootsuite, the tweeting platform. Since March 2009, I've made over 4000 tweets using Hootsuite, so I love the service, and I love this plushie! However, Hoosuite is not selling these. Instead the plashes are used as giveaways for contests run by the the social media platform. They recently giveaway 100 "Owlys" to the best submissions to show how much you love Hootsuite. I wish I knew.
blog.hootsuite.com/plush-owly-contest-top-entries

Instagram by etsy seller iheartmacaroon
This tiny keychain will demonstrate how silly you are for using the Instagram service. (You know that they claim forever rights to use your photos, even if you delete your photos from their site.) Despite that, this plushie is fun how the colored threads are used for the upper left part.
etsy.com/listing/97514547/handmade-felt-instagram-key-ring

Reddit by deviantart user PerilousBard
For many people they don't know Reddit. It's the 29th most popular site in America. Many geeks use it as a bulletin board and a way to share links. (I like Reddit). PerilousBard made this for her reddit-obsesssed boyfriend. This crocheted Reddit alien could be the perfect gift for your dorky lover. PerilousBard takes custom orders, like a reddit robot.
perilousbard.deviantart.com/art/Amigurumi-Reddit-Plush-254750729

Find more social media plush toys?
To find these soft treasures, I searched on amazon, ebay, etsy, thinkgeek, and entertainment earth. I also looked for Flickr, MySpace, Linkedin, Stumbleupon, Pinterest, and Tumblr; but came up with nothing. If you happen to find other social media plashes, please leave a comment below. Thanks! http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/social-media-plush-r3-square.png

A new holiday tradition: take a photo of your first footprint in the snow

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 21:38:15 GMT

Magic covers the ground with the first snow of the year. Everyone is an artist with boots acting like printing plates on the fresh white sheet. Creating prints in the ground, we look back to admire our work.

Start a new holiday tradition by photographing your very first footprint in the season's snow. By capturing this moment, you preserve the day of the year when the snow first fell, and the location where you experienced it. The design of the footprint might even make you recall what shoes or boots you wore on that first day.

The first snow of November 2013 came while I'm working at the Tribune Tower (just a few days after 700 layoffs were announced, thankfully I wasn't one of them). Taking a quick break for lunch, I dash outside into the horizontally blowing snow.

All the snow on the sidewalks in downtown Chicago melted through the constant salting of building property managers. However, the medians retained their snow. While crossing Michigan Avenue, a fresh blanket of snow with no footprints begs to be walked upon. As my boots left their trail of footprints, I look back to admire my work, continuing to cross the street. Not stopping I think how taking some photos would be nice. When the pedestrian walk sign came back on, I returned to the scene to snap some pics. A tradition is born.

I plan on taking a photo of my first footprint in the snow every year. Please share links to any photos you take of your first footprint in this winter's snow.

Footprints are fascinating throughout history, culture, and everyday life. A few examples found on flickr:

First steps are often significant. Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon reveals man's first step onto the moon--heck, the first step a human has ever taken on another celestial body. Image credit: NASA

A child taking her first steps in the winter snow. The delight on her face as she discovers how she can make imprints on the snow with every step. Image credit: wildphototakermaker on flickr

The footprints of the Buddha abound throughout Asia, dating from various periods. Japanese author Motoji Niwa, who spent years tracking down the footprints in many Asian countries, estimates that he found more than 3,000 such footprints, among them about 300 in Japan and more than 1,000 in Sri Lanka.

The veneration of the feet of gurus or deities were commonplace in ancient India, placing one's head at or under their feet being a ritual gesture declaring a hierarchy. Image credit: mmm-yoso, text source: Wikipedia

Chandragupta Maurya (born c. 340 BCE, ruled c. 320 BCE � 298 BCE) was the founder of the Maurya Empire. He succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent and is considered the first unifier of India as well as its first genuine emperor. A small temple marks the cave (Bhadrabahu Cave) where he is said to have died by fasting.

The footprint as a sculptural object has a long history stemming from the first examples made in India.[6] These were made during the pre-Greco-Buddhist phase of Buddhist art at Sanchi, Bharhut, and other places in India,[7] along with the Bo-Tree and the Dharmachakra.[8] Later, the footprint-making tradition became prominent in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. Image credit: Prashanth Chandra on flickr, text credit: Wikipedia.

When a baby is born, often footprints are made with ink. How can you do this safely with a newborn?

Homewithtwinsmama reports: Easy as pie, I do it for all my homebirth clients. Washable stamp pad from craft store ( I carry blue and hot pink), nice art paper, baby wipes. Press baby feet to stamp pad one at a time to coat completely. Stamp two or three pieces of paper (will be a bit lighter each time). Baby wipe to remove ink from foot fast. I can do both feet in under three minutes. They don't like it much, because they don't like you holding feet that long usually. Photo credit: somwersnet on flickr

The tradition continues in 2014. My first step in the 2014-15 snow:
http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/spudart5863snowfootprint-square.jpg http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/spudart5863snowfootprint.jpg

Concealed Carry and Public Spaces - Call for Proposals

Tue, 12 Nov 2013 14:00:02 GMT

This is a very interesting call for artists. As a public spaces artist who does not want concealed firearms to be legal in Chicago, I'm going to be giving this proposal some serious thought. If you are pro-gun, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this as well.

The following text came from a flyer posted at: experimentalstation.org

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CONTEXT

With the Firearm Concealed Carry Act. passed in June 2013, Illinois became the fiftieth and final state to allow its residents to carry concealed guns on their persons. Effective January 1, 2014, the new Concealed Carry legislation will alter our experience of public spaces as, for the first time, we can assume fellow citizens, sharing those spaces with us, are armed.

Property owners may disallow firearms on their premises. The Concealed Carry legislation places the burden on building owners to take affirmative steps to prohibit people from entering their property bearing guns, conspicuously posting signs indicating that firearms are not allowed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CALL

Experimental Station and Moving Design invite artists, designers, and architects to submit proposals in response to the Firearm Concealed carry legislation. As of January 2014, concealed firearms will be allowed in our public spaces, unless explicitly and conspicuously disallowed by property owners. We invite you to present your interpretation of how this shift in public policy will impact the spaces in which we work, play, move, learn, and live.

How will we manage weapons in our midst? How will we experience Concealed Carry psychologically and viscerally? How do we redefine the frontier between public and private space? How are we to think about and address the sea change in civil society that the Conoealed Carry legislation reflects and reinforces?

Proposals may include practical, impractical, conceptual, architectural, object, design or performative responses, offering strategies, solutions, alternatives, reactions, or inquiries.

Selected proposals will be exhibited at the Experimental Station from January 9 - January 23, 2014, and will serve as the impetus for two public conversations, led by Steve Edwards (formerly of Chicago Public Radio) about the impact on civil society of the Firearm Concealed Carry Act

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DETAILS

Sponsors: Experimental Station and Moving Design
Submission Deadline: Friday, December 6, 2013
Venue: Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone Avenue, Chicago IL 60637. Installation will be the responsibility of the artist, if the project is selected. Submissions may also be displayed at The Joyoe Foundation.
Eligibility: Persons of any age and nationality may submit.
Criteria for Proposed Projects: A proposed project may take any form: conceptual works, drawings. photos, architecture, website, painting, sculpture, performance ...
Submission Process: Electronic submissions can be in the form of a PDF, PPT, OVD, webpage, or other accessible eJectronic format Non-electronic submissions will also be accepted, if delivered to the address below. Please include your email address for notification of acceptance.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CONTACT

Email to: info@xperimentalstation.org
Mail to:
Experimental Station c/o Concealed carry Project
6100 S. Blackstone Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637 http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/Concealed-Carry-And-Public-Spaces-Call.png

8-bit Ewoks in Tiny Death Star

Fri, 08 Nov 2013 14:00:18 GMT

What can be cuter than 8-bit artwork of ewoks? Thankfully the ewok card came to me early in the iPhone Star Wars game, Tiny Death Star.

The card proudly proclaims, "Furred natives of the forest moon of Endor, the Ewoks appear cute and somewhat dimwitted, but they are actually fierce warriors and skilled artisans. They are also light enough to hang-glide, even with primitive materials."

Dimwitted and fierce. lol

Teela Kryze is one of the ewoks on the Tiny Death Star.
-- Birthday: Jul 30
-- Dream job: Lightsaber craft
-- Talents: Food 1, Service 5, Recreation 5, Retail 6
How in the world is an ewok's dream job to be lightsaber craft? Wouldn't the blade burn up the ewok's fur?

Teela had something fun to say on the Holonet:

If you are curious who this Cliegg Brashin is, here's his card:

No wonder the ewok wants to party with him. Cliegg Brashin is a human with a mohawk whose dream job is to work at Toydarian Toys.

See these cute little creatures in a super-huge high-resolution wallpaper.
http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/ewoks-tiny-death-star-8-bit-800w.png

I hope the Death Star librarian is in the new "Tiny Death Star" game

Thu, 07 Nov 2013 20:00:22 GMT

With this mobile app you can "buy, build and oversee the development of its moon-sized space station." Engadget reports: "You'll also employ 30 unique galactic 'bitizens,' including Wookiees and Ewoks, as you build as many as 80 residential and commercial Death Star floors."

There might be just one thing missing from this Death Star video game...

I hope the tiny Death Star has a librarian. In the 2007 novel "Death Star" by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry, there is a librarian on the Death Star named Atour Riten. He is a key element that helps fix many plot holes in Episode IV. For instance, how did Luke and Han get such easy access to so many areas? It was the Death Star Librarian Atour Riten who was working behind the scenes granting them access.

I also have a personal hope in that Death Star Librarian will be in this game, because for the past four years I have been tweeting as @atourriten.

However, since there are ewoks in this game, that means this is Death Star II. My hopes of Atour Riten being in this game just blew up.

Is there a vocation you'd like to see in the Death Star game? How about graphic designer? Or garbage man? Leave your answers in the comments below or via Twitter, Yahoo Answers, Quora, Ask.com, Facebook, or reddit.

What job would you like to see appear on the Tiny Death Star?
— Atour Riten (@AtourRiten) November 8, 2013

http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/Tiny-Death-Star-is-alive-in-iOS-app-square-r3.png

Solution for Derrick Rose�s neck tape ban by the NBA

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 22:45:03 GMT

Clearly, the NBA doesn't know style or function. Not only does Derrick Rose's Kinesiotape looks mighty cool, but it serves a true function of helping with neck strain. Why not just ban knee braces too? Knee braches serve a function of helping players. Oh wait. The NBA allows knee braces, because they don't look cool. If your brace looks too cool, you can't wear it.

But we do have a solution!

The comic character's words were originally my comment on Matt's facebook post. I enjoyed them so much, I put them into a webcomic. :) If you'd like to click through to the link in Matt's post, it goes here: csnchicago.com/bulls/bulls-rose-says-nba-banning-him-wearing-neck-tape.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3800/10716379585_49d243f39d_o.png

Batman moves from Gotham to Burbank, California

Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:00:39 GMT

DC to lose grit as it moves from New York to Burbank, California.

A crappy halloween party convinced the leaders of DC to move their 80-year New York DC home to Warner Brothers in Burbank, California. DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal:

Literally everything is more difficult. We had a huge Halloween party and a costume contest with the Burbank office and New York on a remote screen. We use all the best technology to make sure we�re remotely connected. But it still always falls apart. People feel disengaged.

The corporate BS could be smelled from coast to coast.

Comicsbeat reports:

Nelson explains that reducing staff wasn�t the goal of the move. "No, this is not about any kind of efficiency in terms of overhead or anything else. We�re offering everyone a chance to move. We have a very competitive package with all sorts of components in terms of relocation and other services. We�re doing everything we can to help people find it exciting."

Yeah, because Burbank is so terribly EXCITING! WOOO! Suburbs! Comicsbeat goes on to point out that they'll lose touch with the New York freelance base. Nelson claims, "I am 100% sure we can maintain the commitment to our business in the exact same way we have by having the whole operation here in Burbank"

Funny. You want all the employees together in one place, yet you want to distance yourself from the strong freelance talent. Hmmm.

"This is not the corporatization of DC," she went on. "It isn�t about folding DC into Warner Bros. We�re going to help DC feel like more of an important priority in Warner Bros."

How can this possible NOT be about the corporatization of DC? Um, the very definition of "corporate" is: "United or combined into one body; collective." By moving your entire operation to be in the same place as the rest of the company, you are making it one collective. Thus a corporation.

Some of the comments on this page are great:

Brady Dale comments:

This is a legitimate question: isn�t it fair to guess that a lot of the toughness and grit from D.C. is going to fade? The West Coast has a very different character. I can�t help but think that will eventually seep into a set of properties that have always felt, to me, very east coast.
These are creative people and I know there creators are all over the place, but� it feels like just the location shift is going to be felt before long.
There�s a reason Jay Leno tapes his coast in L.A. and Letterman does his in New York, you know? It gets in there.

john shableski comments:

Will it kill off DC? Probably not but it�s going to take a long time to adjust. Kinda like the length of time it took the Dodgers after they left Brooklyn�

It saddens me to see DC move away from New York City. Does it disappoint you too? Leave your thoughts in the comments. http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/batman-in-burbank-california.jpg

Pepsi fails by making Coke into a Superhero in Halloween ad

Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:32:09 GMT

Pepsi originally thought they had Coke beat with this Halloween ad, but Coke's unofficial response is actually much, MUCH better than Pepsi's original concept.

(source: thenextweb)

First off, a red cape is not scary. What was Pepsi thinking that putting a red cape on a can makes it scary? Red capes immediately say Superman. If they wanted something scary, they would have used a black cape. But they wanted that Coca-Cola red. Perhaps there needed to be more of a vampire feel. Vampires sometimes wear red capes, right? Maybe the inside should have been red with the outside black.

Even if there was a Vampire reference, aren't vampires cool? I personally think vampires are so not in anymore. Vampires were so last decade. Same thing with zombies. Everything is zombies. Boooring!

What would have been funny is if Pepsi make Coca-Cola seem really boring because Coke tries to be a vampire. THAT would be hilarious.

One of these days, either Pepsi or Coke should make an ad about how their competitor's soda is actually poison. But that's what that crap is. Poison. Delicious poison, but it's poison. One week ago today I stayed up until 2am and drank three Cokes. I'm still recovering from the sickness. No joke. Now THAT is scary. http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/coke-pepsi-halloween-ad.jpg

Today I saw a tree on fire

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:03:38 GMT

The sunlight hit just the red part of the tree blowing on the fire to give the blaze more life. The colors were saturated even more by the HDR photography of the ProHDR app on my iPhone. Originally I was sending the photo to flickr without the words, but the feel was rather empty. Adding the red words to the sky helped fan that fire all the more.

Having the extra sky for the words was helpful for the layout. The extra sky at the top was originally unintentional as I was just trying to not photograph the ugly cars below.

The Over app provides such fantastic fonts. Thanks Over app! Thanks stupid cars! Thanks HDR app! Thanks beautiful tree! Thanks nice sky! And thanks Steve Tanner for IM'ing me a compliment about this photo on flickr which inspired me to write this blog post. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/10475656296_9dff866410_c.jpg

Photoshop 3.0, Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CC3

Thu, 24 Oct 2013 22:30:34 GMT

Ahh these whipper snappers thinking they are old, talking about Photoshop CS3. Please. I've worked on Photoshop 3.0. That's right. The ORIGINAL Photoshop. Before Adobe started naming them CS and CC.

When Photoshop CC 3.0 comes out, designers in their late 30s will be able to say we've known three generations of photoshop dating back to the original Grandpa: Photoshop 3.0 (the original), Photoshop CS 3.0, and Photoshop CC 3.0.

"Granny cart" renamed "Urban metal cart" by Target's positive euphemisms [webcomic]

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 04:20:45 GMT

Grab the granny cart, it's time for grocery shopping! Not wanting to admit I'm looking for a Granny Cart, I google "luggage cart with big wheels." Because, you know, big wheels are more manly. A granny cart that is like a off road vehicle, something big to haul my dirt and rocks around. And crates of rockets. And jugs of missile fuel.

Google must have not wanted to embarrass me, because some of the results didn't use the term "Granny cart" In fact, Google cleverly suggested a cart from Target with big wheels.

The big-wheeled cart on Target was named "Urban metal cart." WTF. I may be averse to the term Granny Cart, but "Urban metal cart?" You've got to be kidding me. Is this thing only for metrosexuals? I know they are trying to reach out to the young city crowd--not only with the word "urban" but also "metal." Why not just call it Urban Stainless Steel Cart? Or Urban Carbonite Cart. Clearly, Target is using positive euphemisms to reframe what we think of the Granny Cart. That's cool. Thank you Target for the laugh. Now enjoy this webcomic:

Script:
Man: The beloved granny cart
Man: Target calls this an "Urban Metal Cart?"
Grandma: Target is utilizing a euphemism.
Grandma: A generally innocuous expression in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant.*
Grandma: Urban Metal Cart is a positive context euphemism, like "garden apartment" for a basement rental. Or saying "mature" instead of "old."
Grandma: My favorite are the negative context euphemisms with phonetic modification.
Grandma: Geez, kiss my arse! What the eff, you S.O.B. You are full of stoopid,frickin be-yotch.

Grandma: Euphemisms are a lot better than euthanasisms.
Action bubble: High Five
Footer: *Euphemism definition from Wikipedia
Footer: Daily creativity at spudart.org

About ass versus arse
Among the 20+ comments on reddit about this webcomic, there were a few about which came first arse or ass:

Arse is a euphemism for ass? Pretty sure it's the other way round.
permalinkreportgive
-- WordUP60

Depends where you live! In the USA, arse is pretty much universally considered less offensive.
-- Fusxfaranto

That's interesting.
I meant historically, though. Didn't "arse" always signify backside and "ass" (i.e. "donkey") is the American euphemism?
-- WordUP60

Weirdly, I just read a bit about this! In Metaphor and Metonymy: A Diachronic Approach, by Kathryn Allan, on page 151, it talks about "the process of sound change that accounts for the confusion between the British forms [arse and ass]."

The reasons which account for the substitution of ass with donkey are both phonetic and semantic. By 1600 the /r/ in syllable final position, when followed by another consonant, stopped being pronounced with the subsequent lengthening of the previous vowel (see Dobson 1968: 724ff). Thus, arse came to be pronounced with a long a. By the end of the 17th century there was also a lengthening of short a followed by the voiceless alveolar fricative, which made ass homophone of arse. Fairman refers to the process (1994: 31-34) and dates the avoidance strategies between the years 1760-1730.

Anyway, it goes on. This is just one theory of course, but pretty interesting, I think. Either way, it is also true that in the U.S. we don't consider "arse" very offensive. Personally I find it to be a pretty funny sounding word. And it sounds like, at least according to this book I just referenced, that "ass" didn't originate in America.
-- lexish

About the ending
I was trying to strike a delicate balance with the ending of the webcomic. When I realized Target was using a euphemism, that totally sounded like euthanasia, which was a good fit for the granny in the comic. Technically euthanasism is not a word, but it makes the pun much better to put "ism" at the end to match euphemism.

The original ending of the strip said, "Euphemisms, not euthanasisms" which just struck me as too political. The grandma merely stated it with the other guy looking on.

I enjoy webcomics that are more positive and happy, like Invisible Bread. I didn't want to make this a political stance. So I made the two high-five each other which is always a fun (and cheesy) thing to do.

Do you use a Granny Cart?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) October 22, 2013

http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/granny-cart-urban-metal-cart-positive-euphemisms-1500x1500-r6.jpg

Is "Greetings Earthling" an appropriate salutation? [webcomic]

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 12:00:08 GMT

Surprise your co-workers or friends by welcoming them with a "Greetings Earthling!" Try to guess if they are wondering if you are an alien or human being. If you aren't sure, the internet's Triangle of Knowledge waits to help: Yahoo Answers, Ask.com, and Quora. Great answers came from Quora, including one from an astronaut! Here's the original question posted:

An informative 465-word answer was given by Michael Wilson. He explored terms like: "pragmatics of conversation" and "the Maxim of Quantity." The answer is so good, that I transformed his answer into a webcomic. Please enjoy and share on twitter. (The astronaut answer is below the webcomic.)

Quora not only dished up that great detailed answer, but former NASA Astronaut Garret Reisman also responded!

Looking at this guy's profile online, it seems legit. Astronauts are so cool. If a real-life astronaut says this phrase, then it's immediately in the cool book of salutations to regularly say.

Ask.com resulted in some quicky goofball answers:

Humorous that he keeps calling Earthlings as terrans. I had to google terrans to see what in the world they are. (For the unknowing: aliens call humans terrans). Crowtrobot confirms that aliens don't use the word "earthlings."

Yahoo Answers also yielded some quick bites. The best response coming from "Mike":

Mike gives a very logical answer. However, I never met a logical alien, so I don't think they are logical.

Would you ever greet someone with the phrase, "Greetings Earthling"?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) October 18, 2013

Please leave a comment below. http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/if-you-say-greetings-earthling-r4-1500x1500promo.jpg

Why Oscar Wilde is wrong about the true artist

Thu, 17 Oct 2013 16:55:01 GMT

The great Oscar Wilde says, "A true artist takes no notice whatever of the public. The public are to him non-existent."

Sorry, Oscar Wilde, but you are wrong. A true artist expresses and communicates to the public. An artist that does not care for his audience is an ignorant jerk.

How can someone completely ignore the audience? If you don't create for someone, you are only creating for yourself. Which is fine, but don't expect there to be a long line of people wanting to see your pity art.

Wilde explains,

"The work of art is to dominate the spectator: the spectator is not to dominate the work of art. The spectator is to be receptive. He is to be the violin on which the master is to play. And the more completely he can suppress his own silly views, his own foolish prejudices, his own absurd ideas of what Art should be, or should not be, the more likely he is to understand and appreciate the work of art in question."

Being receptive and open-minded to looking at art is a great notion. We should all have minds so playful to entertain new concepts. But the reality is that we all carry around our own baggage. We have perceived notions and ways of interpreting things. To ignore that is to ignore humanity.

Artists should be completely receptive to what the viewer brings. Just as the viewer is receptive to the art, the artist needs to reciprocate and allow the viewer to bring his/her own meaning to the artwork.

To say that the art is to dominate the spectator is to be a bully. It's to be arrogant. It's to be domineering. It's to be a jerk.

Being a jerk doesn't help you to communicate with people. It's simply being a jerk.

Oscar Wilde, I love your call for people to be more open-minded to art, but please be open-minded to your audience.

There are two extremes of artmaking that Wilde brings up:

The artist who placates to the public's whims. This artist bows down to all the current trends. The artist who doesn't give any personal thought.
The other end is the artist who wants viewers to bow down immediately to his art. The public to not have any other thoughts about what the artwork could be.

Oscar Wilde is writing about how artists should not be like the first extreme. If you make art that follows the trends, you lose your personality. But Wilde goes so far in his argument that he goes to the other extreme where he wants his personality to be the only arbitrator on what his art is.

The best place to be is in the middle. Be an artist who communicates to the public. Art is always about a communication. What are you communicating? Communication is always a two-way street. If it's a one-way street, then it's merely broadcasting. Oscar Wilde wants artists to be broadcasters.

If an artist wants to try to be a broadcaster instead of a communicater, that's fine. But then the artist shouldn't get up on his high horse and expect people to bow down to his artwork. If his artwork happens to be great, then that's great. If it's not, then it's not.

If his artwork happens to be interpreted in other ways, then that's great. An artist shouldn't get all pissy that someone doesn't pay attention to his work. If nobody pays attention to your artwork, then suck it up.

Wilde wants to say "I and I alone" determine what my artwork is. in his exact words: "He is not the arbiter of the work of art." (He being the viewer).

Oscar, please allow your audience to decide for themselves what they think of your artwork. Readers, what do you think about this? Let me know in the comments. Thank you.

What do you think about Oscar Wilde?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) October 17, 2013

http://www.spudart.org/blog/images/2013/oscar-wilde-a-true-artist.jpg

Imagine 45,000 people shopping in your neighborhood on one day

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 15:26:45 GMT

45,000 people ask this question: What's there to do the day after a marathon? You accomplished a huge feat. You want to reward yourself. Chicago stores should offer a 1/2 off discount for people with a Chicago marathon bib.

Better yet, all the stores in one Chicago neighborhood should gather together and offer a unified 1/2 off deal. Encourage all those people who registered for the marathon to come to your neighborhood.

Marathon runners are a dedicated bunch that looooove their sport. A neighborhood that shows appreciation for the runners would certainly touch them with this show of gratitude for their achievement. A unified effort by stores in one neighborhood would make it easy to answer the question of what to do the day after the marathon.

Now, which neighborhood should do this? A few ideas:

It should be a neighborhood along the marathon route. The runners are already emotionally tied to that area. Plus, it only makes logistical sense to have it in one of the route neighborhoods, because there can be signs along the route advertising the 1/2 off sale. Runners would certainly say, "hey, remember when we ran through Pilsen? There were all those signs for a marathon sale."
The neighborhood definitely needs a running store. To attract runners, you need to offer them what they want.
It would also be great if the neighborhood is known for running. Areas like Lakeview with the lake path is a great fit.
A neighborhood with lots of vegetarian and healthy eating options. These are runners. They like to eat healthy.
The neighborhood should be easily accessible by public transit. The day after a marathon, I don't imagine the runners taking a jog down to the neighborhood.

Lakeview seems to be the obvious choice here. But that neighborhood already gets so much attention. Another area could really use the push. Pilsen? But I don't think of Pilsen as a running area. Is it?

What if all 23 cities in America named Paris had their own Eiffel Tower?

Fri, 11 Oct 2013 04:16:38 GMT

There are at least 23 cities named Paris in America. I'd love to see the Eiffel Towers of each American Paris. If your town is named Paris, you HAVE to feature an Eiffel Tower. It's a rule.

All the Paris towns in America could band together and make a "Route Eiffel." You go from city to city to admire the variations of each Eiffel Tower (or as some towns call it, "E Tower" because they fear the French and their copyright laws). There could be passports printed with little areas for each town to certify your visit with a stamp.

Along with the passport, each town could sell a single puzzle piece. Visit all 24 towns, and you get to complete the puzzle! The entire route is 6,270 miles. It would take 102 hours to drive. This would be the new classic route to drive across America!

Here's the full list of all the cities in America named after Paris:

Perris, California
(The name is close enough)
Paris, Idaho
Paris, Texas
Paris, Arkansas
Paris, Missouri
Paris, Grant County, Wisconsin
Paris, Kenosha County, Wisconsin
(I love that Wisconsin is so hungry to be like France, that they have two Paris towns)
Paris, Illinois
Paris, Tennessee
Paris, Kentucky
New Paris, Ohio
(thanks to all the towns that use "New" in their name. Things might have gotten REALLY confusing if you named your town Paris!)
St. Paris, Ohio
(I know I have the internet to look this up, but was Paris a saint?)
New Paris, Indiana
Paris, Michigan
Paris Township, Michigan
Paris, Ohio
Paris, Pennsylvania
New Paris, Pennsylvania
Paris, Virginia
Paris, New York
South Paris, Maine
Paris, Maine
West Paris, Maine
(Maine gets the french fry. THREE Paris')

Have you ever been to one of the 23 American towns named Paris?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) October 18, 2013

2006 will be closer to the 90s than it is to 2014

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 09:36:38 GMT

Hey, remember 2006? Doesn't seem too long ago, right? Well, starting next year 2006 will be closer to the 90s than it is to today. That means 2006 is more about the 90s than it is about 2014.

What happens when you can't think

Wed, 09 Oct 2013 16:11:44 GMT

I cannot think today. In fact, I just tweeted this:

Wow. I cannot think today. I wonder if this is how must humans live.
— Matt's Health (@mattshealth) October 9, 2013

The very fact that I misspelled "most" reinforces the fact that I cannot think. Pretty funny.

With my brain turned off today, I was reminiscing about the six-foot tall bowl of chocolate candy 10 years ago outside the Tribune Tower. This made me realize, that while today my brain cannot think, I am going back to memories to fill my brain.

While memories are all good and essential. Do some people who can't think, just rely on memories to fill their brain? And that's why some people live in the past and never learn?

Yahoo copies Google; Google copies Apple

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:36:30 GMT

Yahoo trying to be like Google
Google has an embossed logo. Yahoo now has a beveled logo.
Google has a logo with super-thins. Yahoo now has a logo that is very thin.
Google does many variations on their logo. Yahoo did many variations on their logo.

Google trying to be like Apple
Google reacts to Yahoo's copycat action, "What in the world is Yahoo thinking? Trying to copycat us. Pppph. Let's change our logo to shun them. Hey, that new Apple iOS7 flat design is pretty nice. Let's copycat that."

Google flattens their logo to look like Apple.
How will Apple react?

Monarch butterfly pattern

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 13:00:57 GMT

For my mom's birthday card, I'm using an image of a Monarch butterfly (i'll post the image sometime soon). I always like to make custom envelopes, because we have a printer at work that can make 11x17 prints. This particular envelope was easy. I just cropped the wing of the butterfly to get most of the pattern. And then flipped and repeated the image a few times.�

That's from just half a wing, I didn't get the butterfly with his wings all the way open. Although that image makes it look like the wings are open.

How to stop direct message spam from your friends

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 14:53:27 GMT

Ever get a spam direct message from a friend's twitter account? I bet you are kind enough to alert them. But make sure you don't alert them in the wrong way.

Simply stating that his/her twitter account is sending spam messages will make them think their twitter account is hacked. There's no need to freak someone out like this. Chances are, the spam messages are coming from a website that granted access to his/her twitter account.

You know how you can log into some websites using your twitter account? That is giving the website access to your account. Those fun twitter tools that give you stats on your account? At some point you gave them permissions to your twitter account. You can see a list of all the websites you have granted permissions at twitter.com/settings/applications. You might be surprised to see how many websites have access to your twitter account.

Now, how do you nicely alert your friends about this? 1) You can send them to this blog post. ;-) Or 2) you can send them a nice, friendly, helpful email like the following.

Sample letter to use:

[insert name of friend here],
FYI. Your twitter account is sending out spam messages. I received one of these today. (see email below).

Don't worry, your twitter account is probably not hacked. Most likely what happened is one of the 3rd party sites you enabled to connect to your twitter is doing this. (explanation at: https://blog.twitter.com/2011/mission-permission)

Here's two steps you can do:
1) Check all the sites you have permissioned to have access to your twitter at: https://twitter.com/settings/applications
2) To be double-safe, you can change your password at: https://twitter.com/settings/password

[insert your name here]

Feel free to copy and paste this message and use it whenever one of your friends sends you a spam direct message on twitter.

Have you been reading about the electronic superhighway?

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 14:01:53 GMT

The double-edge funny meaning behind this strip:

1) The internet is so new and different!
What a difference 20 years makes. In 1993 Calvin was looking forward to what the internet could bring. He exclaims, "Pretty soon, computers, telephones, and tvs will all be hooked together to bring instantaneous, interactive communication right into our homes!" Don't forget about right into our hands in any location! How would Calvin react to today's Netflix and iPad? It's funny how this comic fits in today's day. The talk of the new electronic superhighway is so dated.

2) Transportation in the 21st century
Calvin's old-school dad is surprisingly right in the 21st century with his attitude towards transportation. This century's trends are showing that we should have less cars, more walking, and more bicycles. "Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time" by Jeff Speck presents a great case for how our society is trending to less cars and more walking.

(Comic strip courtesy Gocomics)

The Bazille staredown

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 22:59:33 GMT

The staring eyes of this portrait intently gazed at my girlfriend and I as we sat on the bench to the left of this painting. We tried to relax on the Art Institute bench, but the Bazille family kept looking over at us. We eventually had to depart our bench in the gallery. The Bazilles had won.

Image credit: Fr�d�ric Bazille. Family Reunion, 1867. Mus�e d�Orsay, Paris.

Reading a newspaper is like...

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:55:04 GMT

... wearing a kilt. It's long and drapes down.

Reading a newspaper. How quaint. Real paper. Real ink. Big paper, at that. Paper so long that it drapes down in front of you. The paper blows around in the wind. Such old traditions. Some people still wear kilts. Some people still read print newspapers.

Late nights, screams of young women, and...

Thu, 05 Sep 2013 17:46:41 GMT

... and guys with mohawks.

I missed my train home as it quietly circled over head on the elevated tracks in Chicago's loop. Another 15 minutes would pass by until the next train would arrive just short of midnight.

A sudden cheer of a crowd of women echoes throughout the loop. Whaaaa? I crossed the street where a tour bus was standing alongside about thirty women cheering. I peeked over to see what the fuss was all about.

A young stylish man excited the side of the Chicago Theatre. The cheers grew more intense. Meh, just some musician. As I turn and walk away, a guy with a Mohawk meanders up with the same curiosity. I give him an unknowing shrug of the shoulders.

While crossing in front of the bus with "IL VOLO" printed on the side, a few women board with tired looks, as though saying, "geez, dude, i'm tired of the glam attention, let's go home."

Indeed, I'm tired of the train retention, let's go home.

A phone conversation on double-mute

Mon, 19 Aug 2013 21:05:35 GMT

For fun, try having a phone conversation where both of the phones are on mute.

Earlier today, I called up our Tribune Tech Support to fix a problem on my Windows computer. While he remotely took over my computer and was fixing the problem, he put his phone on mute. I figured he shouldn't have to listen to my breathing either, so I put my phone on mute.

We both were on the phone with each other with our phones on mute. It's a surreal experience. I suggest everyone try this. It gives you a new outlook on the nature of the phone.

Bruce Banner chats about ripped shirts on twitter

Fri, 09 Aug 2013 15:44:50 GMT

If you include the words "Bruce Banner" in a tweet, you could end up having a twitter conversation with @RealBruceBanner.

I tweeted a picture of my shirt with a ripped elbow and said, "Do you think Bruce Banner ever learned how to sew patches?" @RealBruceBanner replied with delightful banter. A few things learned from talking with Bruce Banner on twitter:
1) He does sew.
2) Goodwill accepts his ripped shirts.
3) He buys his shirts at Banana Republic.

(view an archived screenshot of the conversation or see it live on twitter)

If you could ask Bruce Banner any question, what would you ask him? Please share your questions on facebook, twitter, google plus, or quora.

I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of _________________.

Tue, 06 Aug 2013 22:25:55 GMT

Andrew Huff of Gapers Block posted this mysterious photo on flickr that leaves us desiring the ending.

Finish this sentence:
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of _________________.

I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of longer notepads. (by jima on flickr)
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of the rest of this note. (by spudart on flickr)
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of mighty mighty gumballs. (by spudart on flickr)
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of a Help I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up System. (by Jenn H on facebook)
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of a kidney. (by Moi L on facebook)
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of a kilo of china white. (by Tom K on facebook)
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of _________________.
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of _________________.
I have been trying to reach you about the possible sale of _________________.

Let's fill in the blanks and come up with some ideas for how to end this sentence. Please reply in the blog comments, flickr, twitter, facebook, or google plus. (I will paste all responses into the blanks on this post)

Who designed the Google logo?

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 19:12:20 GMT

What do all these logos have in common? They are all designed by Ruth Kedar of Kedar Designs.

Notice how all the logos are very pointy. The sharp pointy aspects of Google's logo has always been awkward. The serif on the G, g, and l are inconsistent in their treatment. The letter e is needlessly pointy in the bowl and in the nest. On top of all that, let's throw on a tacky embossed filter.

The pointy aspects of her other logos just don't sit well with me. The sharp points on these logos feel like needles poking at me. Very sharp needles, or pins. Old dry Christmas needles jabbing into my feet. Giving blood with a nurse about to poke me a needle. These are feelings a logo should probably invoke.

I don't want to rip on another designer's work--especially publicly on my blog. But given Google's notoriety, this designer's work is very much in the public eye every day. For such an important logo, Google could really stand to have their logo redesigned. Hopefully not by a designer that likes to use the embossed filter.

If anyone would like to rail on my logo designs, feel free to do so in the comments. To be fair, in the late 90s & early 00s, I did my fair share of needle-sharp designs.

The effort to pay less attention to commercials makes us pay more attention

Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:46:31 GMT

iPhone App Notifies Viewers When TV Ads Finish
By Andrew Dodson
TVNewsCheck - 07/31/13

As broadcasters continue to fight the ad-skipping technology found in Dish Network�s Hopper, a new iPhone app was released today that notifies viewers in real time when commercial breaks are finished, allowing a TV watcher to surf other channels or grab a bite to eat in the kitchen without worrying about missing his or her favorite program.

Hmm, by having to pay attention to an app that tells us when the commercials are over, aren't we really paying MORE attention to the commercials?

Star Wars E-5, E-9, E-10, E-11

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:55:44 GMT

The E-11 BlasTech rifle. It's the standard rifle for Stormtroppers. But why is it called E-11? Is there an E-10? Or an E-9?

A look on the official Star Wars Wiki reveals that there is:
E-5 blaster rifle
E-9 is a spaceship
E-10 is a droid
E-11 is the standard Stormtrooper rifle

And that's it. There is no other E-number names in Star Wars.
E-1
E-2
E-3
E-4
E-6
E-7
E-8
E-12
In fact there are no E-whatevers going up to E-100.

How do I know? I tried all the URLs. For instance on E-13 I tried http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/E-13. But nothing there. To test 100 URLs would be crazy, so I used a function in a Google spreadsheet to quickly tell me which E-numbers exist. The spreadsheet has 50 functions counting in consecutive order. Each function looked like this: =ImportXML("http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/E-11", "//li[@class='toclevel-1 tocsection-2']")

Merging together:
1) an interest in Star Wars
2) an interest in number sequences
3) Google functions
is a beautiful thing.

If there are any letter/number combinations you'd like me to search for in the Star Wars universe, let me know via a comment on this blog, Twitter, Facebook, or Google Plus.

My favorite car is the CTA train

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 17:10:01 GMT

What's your favorite car ever? The Chicago Tribune asked this question on Google Plus.

My favorite car ever is the traditional 3200-series CTA train cars. I'm not even joking. 1) There's plenty of room. 2) Lots of headroom, you can even stand! 3) Always a chauffeur to drive. 4) No maintenance or upkeep. 5) No gas. 6) Community-based. 7) You get to float above rooftops.

You may think I'm being some wise-guy. But I'm quite serious. We should really consider public transit as another form of travel on equal standing with the automobile. For many thousands of people in Chicago, the train is their car.

A surface graft for planet Earth

Thu, 25 Jul 2013 14:58:55 GMT

What if we took another planet's surface and grafted it onto part of Earth's? Mars would make quite an impact. It would be like dunking the Earth in some powered chocolate. We'd have a ton more iron. I'd imagine with all the Mars covering up our oceans, that Earth would get warm very fast. Or wait. Would Earth get really cold, because the sun's heat wouldn't be absorbed by the Martian surface.

If we wanted a surface that was more natural, we could use Naboo (home to Princess Padm� Amidala, Emperor Palpatine, and Jar Jar Binks). Alderaan would be a good choice before the Death Star blew it up (home of Princess Leia).

What planet's surface would you like to see grafted onto a third of Earth's surface? You can respond in the comments below; or on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, or Pinterest.

What planet's surface would you like to see grafted onto earth's?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) July 25, 2013

How to be persuasive at work

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 13:00:17 GMT

A friend recently asked online:

How do i be persuasive at work without being seen as "difficult", "uppity", or "stubborn"? Is it the old "trick them into thinking it's their idea" thing?

Here's my response:

1) Listen first. Always listen. 2) Be friendly. Not just when you are making a point, but all-the-time friendly. 3) Always help, even when not in your job role. 4) put others before you. Tied to "always help" but this emphasizes that help others before your own work.

Do these four things and people will listen to you without ever thinking you are a jerk. The actions of how you are 100% of the time will help you in those 5% times when you need to be more blunt and opinionated. The goal is never to be persuasive. The goal is to be listening, friendly, helpful, and loving. Persuasive just comes as a natural by-product of trust.

What would be your advice on how to be persuasive at work?

Too many Fast & Furious Autobot cars in Transformers 4 movie

Tue, 23 Jul 2013 15:13:27 GMT

Paramount Pictures released official photos of the Autobots vehicle forms. Seven out of the eight are sleek vehicles. Hound is the only one that is a pure utility vehicle being a Medium Tactical Vehicle from Oshkosh Defense. Even Optimus Prime sports flashy flames. Prime needs to get more down-to-earth and ditch the flames.

Why are all the cars sleek? Why not have more utility vehicles? A few thoughts:

A) Is Transformers trying to be like those Fast & Furious movies?
Ugh. That's why G.I.Joe failed. It tried to be all about testosteron.

B) Do the sleek cars sell more toys?
Perhaps Hasbro, the owner of the Transformers informed director Michael Bay they must have more sleek cars to sell more toys. I don't know if Bay takes these sorts of orders from Hasbro, but it would be curious to see which vehicle forms sell the most for Transformer toys.

What do you think of all the Fast & Furious cars in Transformers? Leave a comment below; or respond on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, or Pinterest.

7 out of 8 Autobots in Transformers 4 are sleek cars. What happened to utility? http://t.co/kXWFGcgjb9
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) July 23, 2013

Microlawns, they're everywhere

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 17:18:56 GMT

(Photo courtesy microlawns tumblr)

Everywhere you look in an urban environment you are bound to see a microlawn. Small patches of grass create a microlawn delight. The blog urbanplants posted a microlawn in Berlin. She also posted a link to a tumblr account that covered a small sampling of microlawns.

Oh man! I LOVE these microlawns. I'm gonna photograph Chicago's microlawns. I get a couple urges while looking through the photos of the microlawns:

1) Naming
I almost want to name each of the microlawns, but people don't normally name their own lawn. People name parks. But people don't really name lawns. Gardens get names too, but these are definitely lawns, not parks.

2) Context
I'd like to see more context of the photos in these microlawns. Is it in front of a house? A shop? An empty lot? It's nice to keep the photo more abstract by not including the location, but I personally like photos that tell more of a story by showing a background. I'm thinking when I do my photos of microlawns, I'd like to keep the foreground object of the microlawns to be the hero, but there will be a background to show context.

If you have any microlawn photos, make sure to let me know by leaving a comment on this blog post.

Is Quark dead?

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 14:53:04 GMT

If your company is desperate for new customers, you would probably respond to customer inquiries, right? Quark was the king of the design layout world in the 1990s. Every single professional designer used QuarkXPress for layouts. However, in 1999 Adobe announced a rival layout program, InDesign. By the mid 2000s, InDesign ruled and Quark was barely used by anyone.

Yet Quark hangs on. It's admirable. What's questionable is their customer service and sales support. This year I've responded to every one of their marketing emails. No response. Certainly at first my emails were a bit poking. But then I started to ask some serious questions. No response. Zero. None.

The headline of this post is literal. I'm asking is not only the popularity of Quark dead, but are their marketing and sales people also dead?

My first email to Quark was a bit sassy, yet complimentary. I thought maybe they would respond with a "Hey, thanks. We really appreciate our dedicated customer-base." But no. Quark was never known for the customer service. In fact, I would dare say that's the primary reason why they are dying.

Back in the 90s, Quark was notorious for not responding to questions. Adobe, on the other hand, was very community focused. Adobe would respond to emails. Adobe was connected to the design community by putting on seminars. Everyone loved Adobe. Everyone hated Quark. It's too bad that Quark doesn't turn around their community stance and actually respond to emails. I'd love for the underdog to survive.

Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 11:52 AM
To: promotions@Quark.com
Subject: Re: Discover Layout Automation in QuarkXPress 9.5

I love that Quark keeps chugging along.

Three days later, instead of a response, Quark sends me the EXACT same email. Working in a marketing department at an old company, I used to get those sorts requests all the time. "The open rate on our last email wasn't very high, can we just resend the exact same email to the exact same list." +dies a little every time that is asked+ Apparently, someone at Quark also thinks resending the same email is a good idea.

Date: Friday, April 19, 2013 12:46 PM
To: promotions@Quark.com, cservice@Quark.com
Subject: Re: Discover Layout Automation in QuarkXPress 9.5

Layout automation. That's cool. Hey, you might want to check your email automation. I got this exact same email from you last week.

For the third email of 2013, Quark used a nice subject line of "Streamline your workflow." Yet in the email they never explained how Quark streamlines your workflow. Seriously. IT was all marketing mumbo-jumble. Quark, show me how you streamline my design workflow. I want to SEE. Not hear. Responded to them requesting a white paper on QuarkXPress 9.5 helps to streamline my workflow:

Date: Monday, April 22, 2013 12:37 PM
To: promotions@Quark.com, cservice@Quark.com
Subject: Re: Streamline your workflow. Upgrade to QuarkXPress 9.5 for $349.

Do you have any white papers on how QuarkXPress 9.5 helps to streamline my workflow?

Quark's 4th marketing email touched on some specific features in Quark. Nice job! Now that Quark is getting better at explaining things in detail, I asked them a simple question if I could place a .psd file inside a QuarkXPress layout. It's a simple question. Adobe InDesign could do it. But back when I used Quark in 2001, it could not. Hopefully Quark improved so they allow for this basic functionality. I got no response.

Date: Thursday, May 2, 2013 11:50 AM
To: promotions@Quark.com, cservice@Quark.com
Subject: Re: Discover Precision Typography in QuarkXPress 9.5

Can I place .psd files inside a QuarkXPress layout?

Quark sent out an email talking about how Quark 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 users can upgrade to the newest version. For me it was a nice shoutout to the olden days of Quark. I rather wish that Quark took more on that angle of the reality of how people perceive Quark. It's a vintage program. Call on our vintage sentimentalties as the hook. And then drive into the point how Quark is up to speed with our times.

But no, this email was a boring form letter. I responded back with some vintage fun and then asked a legitimate question if Quark has an official response for Adobe announcing of going to a subscription-based pricing scheme. This was very much current news at the time. If Quark wants to show they are with the times, they would have addressed this question.

Quark could even seize the opportunity to show how they are customer-centric and that they don't want to screw people into a subscription plan. But no. They sat. And did nothing.

Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 5:25 PM
To: cservice@Quark.com
Subject: Re: QuarkXPress | Customer Announcements

It cracks me up to see QuarkXPress 4 on this list. Oh I remember the days.

How does Quark feel about the Adobe announcement of going to a subscription-based pricing scheme. Do you have any blog posts or information to share Quark's perspective on this?

As if their previous form-letter email didn't perform well. They decided to re-word it a bit and use the same subject line, but this time they put "Important" in the subject line. Oooo! That will get my attention now! Well, it did get my attention and I shot them back another response that they couldn't possibly ignore, because I was practically giving them the opportunity to make a sale.

One of the things that marketers and sales people love is when customers use their sales tools to convince managers to buy their product. It's an essential part of the selling process. Empower your customers to help sell your product within their department. In this 6th email I ask for some specific materials to help me convince my manager to use Quark.

This should be a golden egg for a sales person. You have a very interested potential customer who is asking for tools to help sell your product. I got zero response. Especially disappointing is that this time I looked up a real person's email address at work requesting for materials. Gavin Drake signed the mass marketing email. He is is the Vice President of Marketing at Quark. Perhaps I'm too small of peanuts to Gavin. Maybe Gavin forwarded my email to sales, but nothing happened. I don't know.

Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2013 5:39 PM
To: events@Quark.com, cservice@Quark.com, gdrake@Quark.com
Subject: Re: QuarkXPress | Important Customer Update

To help convince my managers I should be using Quark, do you have any materials that explain how Quark is better than InDesign?

For Quark's 7th email of the year, they sent out a very intriguing one. Quark released a free design layout app for the iPad. Nice! The add-on Pro Feature Pack is just $4.99. I immediately downloaded the app and paid the five bucks for the Feature Pack. Fantastic!

One of the features of this app is that you can start your layout on the iPad and then export it out to the desktop version of Quark. It's quite brilliant for Quark to do this, as this app is like a good way of getting regular people using Quark on the iPad. And then it gets people to want to upgrade to the full heavy-duty version of Quark on the desktop. Brilliant.

I asked Quark a simple question if their app could export to InDesign. Could this be a sassy question? Perhaps. But you know what? Anyone who downloads this app should be considered a very hot lead that their sales team should follow up with. Their response could have been something like, "We're sorry to say that DesignPad does not export out to Indesign, but it does export to QuarkXPress seamlessly. In fact, here's a video demonstrating how easy it is. We really appreciate you purchasing the Pro Feature pack and we look forward to any more questions you might have. We are here for you."

But instead I got no response.

Date: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 1:25 PM
To: promotions@Quark.com, QuarkXPress , cservice@Quark.com, gdrake@Quark.com
Subject: Re: DesignPad Wins iOS App of the Year and You Win a Great Deal

This app looks great! I just downloaded the free DesignPad app and did the in-app upgrade to the Pro Feature Pack for $4.99. Thanks for sending me this email telling me about it. One question: How do I export my DesignPad layouts into InDesign?

Quark really does seem like they are dead. C'mon, Quark show us some response so we can see that you are indeed alive.

How much does the average Twinkie factory worker make?

Thu, 18 Jul 2013 09:00:47 GMT

(clipping from the Chicago Tribune)

Twinkies are being produced again. I love how the new Twinkie factory workers look like Twinkies! Look at their white shirts matching the creme and their yellow hard hats matching the yellow cake. Twinkies making Twinkies! ADORABLE!

Some people are very upset about how Twinkies didn't rehire back all their union workers. They are reportedly paying the workers much less now. But how much less? How much does the average Twinkie factory worker make? Both before they laid off all their union workers and currently.

Even though they are getting paid less, they do reap the rewards of being able to wear such adorable Twinkie outfits every day.

Transformers 4 filming returning to Chicago

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:00:30 GMT

A movie-filming helicopter floated above my head while walking home tonight. Memories of Transformers filming in Chicago rushed through my head. Having downtown Chicago taken over by Transformers made the summer of 2010 much fun.

Hearing gunshots outside my window. Giant fireballs exploding across the street. The famous scene where Optimus Prime swoops in and destroys everything in his path on Wacker Drive. I captured it in live-action in film:

It was exactly three years ago when all this excitement happened in Chicago. Now Transformers 4 is reported to be filming in Chicago again on August 18 to September 27! The casting call is in Skokie, IL. The Transformers are coming back to Chicago!

The film helicopter floating overhead last night covered the same scene as the end of the movie. Perhaps Transformers 4 will pick up where the previous film ended. Although this film will happen four years later and without Shia LeBouf. This time around Mark Wahlberg is being the lead actor.

Will he be resurrecting all the Transformers who died in the third movie? Megatron, Starscream, Wheeljack, Sentinel Prime, Soundwave.

The record highest low temperature in Chicago

Tue, 16 Jul 2013 14:37:12 GMT

Waking up to a hot humid summer morning. Walking to work in the dense humidity. The weatherman often reports the record high for the day. But what about the record highest low? I'd like to know what was Chicago's hottest morning.

Does anyone have the answer to: What's the all-time record highest temperature for the low in Chicago? I posted it to Yahoo answers, Quora, Google Plus, Ask.com. I also asked ask.sparxmind.com, Tom Skilling, and twitter.

Several people have responded with 105 and -27. But that's the highest "high temperature" and the lowest "low temperature. I'm asking for what is the highest "low temperature" of one day.

Detailed explanation of the question:

Take a look at the low temperature for one day. Let's take yesterday as an example. Yesterday's high was 89, the low was 68 for Chicago. Every calendar day has one high temperature and one low temperature for a city. The day before yesterday the high was 87 and the low was 62 for Chicago.

So let's say you take an entire year, you would have a list of 365 high temperatures, and 365 low temperatures. There's one high and one low for every day.

If you take 10 years you would have 3,650 high temperatures and 3,650 low temperatures.

What I'm looking for is... take the last 100 years of Chicago weather history. You would have 36,500 low temperatures reported. One for each of the 36,500 days in those 100 years. Of those 36,500 low temperatures, which one of those numbers is the highest number?

What's the all-time record highest temperature for the low in Chicago?
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) July 16, 2013

UPDATE:
My question was printed in the Chicago Tribune's back page of the Arts & Entertainment section onJuly 17, 2013!
Tom Skilling of WGN gave a great answer.

The question and answer also appeared on Tom Skilling's Ask Tom Why blog:

Dear Tom,
What is Chicago's all-time highest minimum temperature?

Thanks,
Matt Maldre,
Chicago

Dear Matt,
Overnight lows in the 80s are extremely rare in Chicago having occurred at the official station on only 31 days since records began back in 1871. Last summer the city logged two occurrences, lows of 82 on July 6 and 81 on July 23. Chicago's all-time highest minimum temperature dates back nearly a century to July 29, 1916 when the mercury bottomed out at a very muggy 85 degrees during a five-day heat wave that featured minimum temperatures of at least 80 degrees from July 26-30. That summer also delivered another three-day run of 80-degree plus nights from August 19-21, giving the Summer of 1916 a remarkable claim to more than a quarter of the city's warmest nights.

They reworded my question so it made more sense:
Original question: What's the all-time record highest temperature for the low in Chicago?
Updated question: What is Chicago's all-time highest minimum temperature?

I visit museums because ______________.

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 22:20:37 GMT

How would you fill in the blank to this sentence? I visit museums because ______________.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago asked this on their Facebook Page. Here's some of the 40+ responses:

They make me dream and fly
(by Juliana Paucar)
Because they are a MUSE for me. MUSE SEE UM! : )
(by Erik K. Johnson)
I need a place to sit down.
(by JP Ramirezy)
to 1) encounter new and different things 2) for conversations between paintings (meaning both having conversations with people about the paintings, but the actual paintings having conversations with each other)
(by Matt Maldre)

How would you fill in the blank? I visit museums because ______________. Feel free to respond via Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus.

I visit museums because ______________.
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) July 9, 2013

Counting by tens instead of ones

Mon, 08 Jul 2013 11:00:49 GMT

Happy 30th birthday for the 8th time! Perhaps you've heard this joke. But what if this was really true? Perhaps there could be a number system that counts that way. Instead of counting on 1s, you count on 10s.

What if we turned one year older every 10 years? When you turn "38" you are really 3.8.

Prime numbers as we get older

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 11:00:43 GMT

Don't you love it when your age is a prime number? I do. Currently I'm 37, a prime number! That only happens twice in your thirties (the other age being 31).

Which decade of your life has the most prime number birthday ages?

List of prime number ages, sorted by decade:
2, 3, 5, 7,
11, 13, 17, 19,
23, 29,
31, 37,
41, 43, 47,
53, 59,
61, 67,
71, 73, 79,
83, 89,
97
101, 103, 107, 109

Your first decade (0-9) has four. Then the following (11-19) has another four. You'd think the prime ages would diminish over time, but in your 40s, the primes jump up the three times. And again in your 70s. If you are lucky enough to live over 100, you'll hit a prime age four times!

What Tonto taught me as a child

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 12:00:22 GMT

Photo courtsey Disney

Some people are criticizing Johnny Depp's portrayal of Tonto in this year's movie "The Long Ranger." Things like:
-- "Another white man playing the role of a Native American"
-- "Native Americans don't wear face paint all the time"
-- "Most Native Americans talk in monosyllablics."
All very good points to consider.

Here's one positive thought: growing up, I thought it was strange that Tonto didn't dress the same as the Lone Ranger. But you know what I learned from that? I learned to be what you want to be. Dress how you want to dress.

I know there is underlying things with how Native Americans are protrayed. Should Tonto be wearing something that is stereotypical? Perhaps he shouldn't be. But from a child's perspective what I saw was: be who you want to be.

Do we over-praise sports championships?

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 13:00:21 GMT

Photo courtesy theatregirl25 via flickr

Sports celebrations are fun. I love a good celebration and gathering of people. But when protestors gather, why do we see them in a different light? Monica Reid of Chicago's Gapers Block wrote an excellent article, "The Problem With How We View Sports 'Celebrations'"

She compares our perceptions of the NATO protestors with the Blackhawk fans on the north side of Chicago. Where the NATO protestors are seen as embarrassment to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whereas the Blackhawks celebration helps Rahm's glory.

It's rather odd how bad behavior by sports fans is seen as ok when a team wins, but political protests are seen as bad. Monica explains that our society sees protestors as bad because it gives the perception that our government doesn't have control over them.

If anything we should be celebrating that people have the freedom of speech and that our government doesn't have complete control over what we say.

More people went to the Blackhawks parade than the end of World War II, notes St. Xavier University's Editor in Chief of The Xavierite, Tony Bara. In his article "Misplaced Priorities" he explains how Brazil can teach us a lesson about putting sports celebrations in perspective. Protestors from the soccer-fanatic country of Brazil "are decrying the amount of money their government is willing to spend on soccer stadiums, while millions live in neglected shanty towns, called favelas, located on the outskirts of major cities."

Tony explains:

There is a lesson to be learned from the events in Brazil. Traditionally a soccer-obsessed nation, the Brazilians, like the Americans, often placed sports on the highest pedestal. But now, as they realize just how much the World Cup will cost to run and how lacking their country is in the areas of healthcare and education, the people have chosen to rise up and address the issues that actually impact their lives.

Back in the states, we still have not woken up. To be sure, all those millions who attended the Blackhawks rally had a great time, and no one should begrudge them. After all, it was a nice, relaxing way to end the week. But at the end of the day, most of those people have to go back to reality and face the high gas prices, the high healthcare costs, etc. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks players and owners, enriched at the fans� expense, have no such worries because we have essentially made them demigods.

The rest of his article is also definitely worth a consideration and read.

"Misplaced Priorities" by Tony Bara of St. Xavier Universty
"The Problem With How We View Sports 'Celebrations'" by Monica Reid of Gapers Block
And if you have the chance, check out my article, "The Stanley Cup of photography" asking what are you more proud of: Your local team winning a sports championship or your city's photographers?
And perhaps even more controversial, I compare the Stanley Cup as our society's Golden Calf.

The Stanley Cup of photography

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:00:21 GMT

(Front page of the Chicago Tribune on June 29, 2013; courtesy Assignment Chicago)

What are you more proud of: Your local team winning a sports championship or your city's photographers?

Our city's photographers work is more outstanding than the achievement of winning the Stanley Cup. While winning the Stanely Cup is a nice achievement, it's still just a sport.

Watching sports are nice for an alternate language to speak with one another. But ultimately sports-news are just a language. It's a language we learn over time and share its subtle nuances.

I'm able to speak Cubsese very well. I'm alright with Bullspeak and Bearslish. If someone starts speaking a college sports language, it's complete gibberish to me. I have no idea what's happening in hockey, so that's a foreign language to me as well. I can't tell if there's some incredible play. Therefore, I'm not going to be super proud when our hockey team simply wins.

Good quality is to be valued, not simple wins. Championships may be indicative of a quality, but to be a true fan you need to understand the game itself, not just the outcome. If you don't understand the game, you don't speak that language.

A language most people speak naturally is photographese. Appreciating a quality photograph is something we can all understand.

Chicago is full of so many amazing photographers that capture the life and culture of this city. That is something to celebrate.

The incredible photo that ran on the front page of the Chicago Tribune is by staff photographer Brian Cassella. He had the foresight to set up his camera on a pole days before the celebration to capture this image. Discover the story behind the challenges he faced in creating this wonderful photo on his blog post, sweet home chicago.

Repectfully sticker bombing a street pole

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 10:00:27 GMT

(photo courtesy uncustomary, see more photos of this sticker-bombed street pole on her blog post, "Street Pole")

Street artist uncustomary in Baltimore did a little sticker bombing on a pole. Most artists will put their stickers on multiple poles, but here uncustomary uses one pole.

The stickers are very evenly distributed on the pole. When someone sees this pole for the first time they might think, "wow, the people in baltimore are sure respectful of each other's sticker placements." Most poles with multiple stickers have stickers overlapping each other. Or at the very least not giving consistent spacing between each sticker. I call this "respectful sticker pole."

(sidenote: I'm temporarily putting aside my opinions on placing permanent stickers on public property. Here uncustomary is using stickers for a general public good of spreading happiness)

Google Translate Circle

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 17:17:08 GMT

Translate some lyrics in English and translate them into Japanese and back into English. You end up with some pretty funny results. The Pledge of Allegiance ends up becoming:

"United States of America of flag to and that I swears the loyalty to the republic of condition without being able to divide God below 1 country with the justice for all with freedom."

I covered the "Google Translate Circle" back in 2007 and 2003. In those days I called it the "Free Translation Circle" because Google Translate didn't exist yet.

Today Orbit Media gave an example of how the "Google Translate Circle" could be used for evil. Content Spinning: How to Spin Content Without Getting Sick. Who knew the "Google Translate Circle" could be a bad thing?! People should just do it for fun. Not for trying to get blackhat SEO results.

For fun, let's the first paragraph from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and run it through an English-Estonian-Maltese-Russian-Japanese-English version of the Google Translate Circle

Starting with English:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

to Estonian:

Neli skoor ja seitse aastat tagasi meie esiisade t�i ilmale sellel mandril, uus rahvas, eostatud Liberty ja p�hendatud ettepanek, et k�ik inimesed on loodud v�rdseks.

to Maltese:

Erba score u seba 'snin ilu missirijietna pproduċiex fuq dan il-kontinent, nazzjon ġdid, konċeput Liberty, u ddedikati għall-proposta li l-irġiel huma maħluqa ugwali.

to Russian:

Восемьдесят семь лет назад наши отцы ступили на этом континенте новую нацию, задуманной в Либерти, и посвященный предложению, что все люди созданы равными.

to Japanese:

四つスコアと私たちの先祖前に7年はリバティーになされ、すべての人が同じように作られているという提案に捧げ、この大陸に新しい国家を生み出した。

back to English:

Dedicated to suggestions made in Liberty 7 years to ancestors before us and four score, people that all are created equal, and created a new nation in this continent.

I had to do the multiple steps, because when i took any one langauge, it translated exactly the same back into English!

The smartest transit device: connected car or...

Wed, 26 Jun 2013 16:17:48 GMT

Connected cars talking to each other through tail lights? Engadget reports:

Smarter headlights could guide you out of a rainstorm, but intelligent tail lights could enable communication between vehicles. At least, that's the idea behind a collaborative Connected Vehicle Safety project between Intel and National Taiwan University. Its purpose is so that you'll be able to know just what the vehicles around you are up to -- whether they're speeding or braking or making a left -- by receiving data from their tail lights. Your vehicle could then stop or accelerate automatically without you needing to intervene, or you could choose to react manually if desired.

Automatic braking. Cars talking to each other. Getting all cars in sync. Sounds like a good idea.

But the best smart transit device? The train. Hundreds of people are all in complete sync, because they are sitting on one train.

You don't have to pay for maintenance of the train. You don't have to bring the train into the shop. You don't even have to put gas into the train. You just get on the train and ride. No worries about collisions. No worries about other crazy drivers. Just ride.

During the Stanley Cup celebration, do searches for Golden Calf go up?

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 18:34:12 GMT

With all the praising and glorifying of a metal object going on with the Stanley Cup, I wonder how much people realize our activities are rather like glorifying the golden calf in Exodus 32. Are there more searches for "Golden Calf" or "Exodus 32" during the Stanley Cup month? Here's what Google Trends tells us:

Read more comparisons between the Stanley Cup and the golden calf of Exodus 32 on my blog post, "The Stanley Cup is our culture's Golden Calf."

The creatures that carry around liquids

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:00:07 GMT

Imagine arriving to another world in the morning. The planet is inhabited with creatures carrying open containers filled with liquid. That would be kinda strange, right? There are no other creatures on planet earth that carry around containers of liquid in the morning. Oh wait. Humans. With coffee.

Do humans really need coffee THAT badly where they will carry a cup on the train and bus? On other planets, creatures are smart enough to know that open containers filled with hot liquids sometimes spill. However, humans don't seem to be that smart.

Do you carry coffee on the train or bus?
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) June 21, 2013

The art of letter-writing is fast dying out

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:00:49 GMT

From "Principles of composition" 1915
by Percy Holmes Boynton:

A hundred years ago it took so long and cost so much to send a letter that it seemed worth while to put some time and thought into writing it. Now the quickness and the cheapness of the post seem to justify the feeling that a brief letter to-day may be followed by another next week � a " line " now by another to-morrow.

From the "Sunday Magazine" 1871:

The art of letter-writing is fast dying out. When a letter cost ninepence, it seemed but fair to try to make it worth ninepence... Now, however, we think we are too busy for such old-fashioned correspondence. We fire off a multitude of rapid and short notes, instead of sitting down to have a good talk upon a real sheet of paper.

The webcomic xkcd has 17 more of these types of quotes.

It would be fun to take all these quotes and make them into various forms of correspondence to individuals.
-- Hand-write a quote in a letter and mail it
-- Hand-write a quote on a postcard
-- Type one on a someone's facebook wall.
-- Print out onto a sign and hang it in public and take a photo and post it to flickr.
-- Read one aloud to someone on the phone.
-- Make a podcast with one of the quotes.
-- Write a quote in chalk on the sidewalk.
-- Make a youtube video reading one of the quotes, and have someone doing it sign language.
-- Send one of these quotes via a telegraph.

I challenge everyone to hand-write at least one of these 19 quotes on a piece of paper and snail mail it to a friend.

When was the last time you wrote a letter?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) June 19, 2013

The diagonal crosswalk at Jackson and State is fun!

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:00:52 GMT

Diagonal crosswalks are being tested in Chicago at Jackson and State. While waiting for Barnes & Noble to open at the corner, I cross this intersection diagonally seven times, taking photos from the center each time.

When the diagonal light engages, you have JUST enough time to run to the middle of the intersection and take a 360 pano and run safely back to the corner.

Being a Sunday, all the tourists did not explore this strange new method of crossing the street.

While waiting for each diagonal signal, the rhythm and frequency of the diagonal light became apparent. North/south only, west/east only, north/south only, west/east only, diagonal. The diagonal only goes on after two sets if each direction. When the diagonal is engaged. ALL sides turn on north/south, west/east, AND diagonal. It's like a pedestrian free-for-all party for 26 seconds. So run into the middle and take photographs from the center of a downtown Chicago intersection while all the traffic waits for you.

The Pigeon Dance

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:00:36 GMT

Doesn't it look like the pigeons on this book cover are doing a line dance? There should be a line dance called The Pigeon. Here's how the lyrics to the Pigeon Dance song would go:

Every. Body. Do. The. Pigeon.

Strut your head while you move forward.
Flap your wings when someone gets too close.
Fly around in circles in the air. The air.
Eat that leftover food on the ground.

Now poop. Right on the ground.
Poop.
Go head. Poop.
Don't matter where you are at.

Poop. On the sidewalk.
Poop. Your chair.
Poop. On the statue.
Poop. In your hair.

Every. Body. Do. The. Pigeon.

Did you ever have an answering machine?

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:05:31 GMT

(Calvin and Hobbes comic strip courtesy of Gocomics.)

I love how Calvin and Hobbes reruns bring back the past. Take a look at the first line, "I think we should get an answering machine." Oh, the days of deciding to have an answering machine. I remember going home to my first apartment and always checking my answering machine.

Did you ever have one?

My answering machine was hooked up to my landline phone which spelled 773-QUIZ-DAY. I would put questions on my answering machine and ask people for answers. Which is rather fitting for an ANSWERING machine to ask for ANSWERS.

I'm assuming for those who had an answering machine on a landline, that you no longer have the landline; because who has a landline anymore these days? It would be fun to call your old phone number and ask for yourself. It would be like Future-You calling Past-You.

No glasses at Illinois College of Optometry

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:38:04 GMT

Interesting that nobody from the graduating class of the Illinois College of Optometry wears glasses. Very interesting indeed.

Star Wars Scout Walker or Elderly Scout Walker?

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 04:36:52 GMT

K-mart sells the Scout Walker from Return of the Jedi!? No way.

How much does the Scout Walker sell for on K-mart? A search on kmart.com for scout walker doesn't show the Star Wars Scout Walker. Instead it shows walkers for elderly people.

Is K-mart making some sort of commentary on the age of the actors in the original Star Wars triology? Instead of using a AT-ST Scout Walker to get around, perhaps Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher would use an old people walker.

(I know I know. Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo and Princess Leia would not get around in an AT-ST anyways. That's an Empire vehicle. Perhaps Darth Vader would use the walker. Wait. He's dead. How about Grand Moff Tarkin? Also dead. Well, nobody is gonna be able to use the old people walker. It'll just sit there unused. Much like the AT-ST Scout Walkers after Return of the Jedi. Do you suppose the ewoks used these vehicles once they regained their independence? The ewoks would have probably just accidentally blown up the Scout Walkers.

Now an elderly walker. That's what the old ewoks would use around the village. When I get old, I want to fashion my old-man walker to look like a Scout Walker. Concussion-grenade launcher on one side, light blaster cannon on the other. Twin blaster cannons in the middle. Then a furry wookie attached to the top.

Three things not to do when asking for money

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:00:48 GMT

The 15-year-old blogging platform Xanga is about to shut down. To revive the site, they are asking users for $48/year.

However, Xanga demonstrated three things not to do when asking for money.

1) Don't use two spaces after periods.
My goodness. We live in an age where nobody uses typewriters anymore. Why would you ever use two spaces after a period? Remember this: On typewriters, you use two spaces after a period. On computers, you use one space after a period.

If you are asking people for money, please demonstrate that you know how to use a computer--especially if you are asking for money to keep a website alive. Otherwise, you might as well just keep your website on your typewriter.

2) Don't squish your logo.
This should be clear if you are asking for money, make sure your request at least looks professional. Don't squish your logo or any images on your site. When you squish your images, it makes it look like you don't care.

If you are a website that is currently ranked as the #5000th most popular site on the internet, at least show some respect for your brand.

3) If you mention Kickstarter in your request, then you should use Kickstarter.
Kickstarter is a fantastic way to reach people to help you achieve your dreams via fundraising. It is THE number one place to do this online for the past year.

Xanga said:

So we are launching a Kickstarter-style fundraising effort, with the following rewards:
-- A year-long Xanga blogging membership ($48)
-- Two year-long Xanga blogging memberships (i.e. One membership for you, one for a friend... $96)
-- Three year-long Xanga blogging memberships ($144)
-- Four year-long Xanga blogging memberships ($192)
-- Five year-long Xanga blogging memberships ($240)

However, that link doesn't go to Kickstarter, it goes to crowdhoster. What? Crowdhoster? Please. When are asking people for money, you need to remove all barriers to donating. Crowdhoster is yet another platform that people have to sign up for. If you are going to put your fundraising campaign on crowdhoster, then don't even bother mentioning Kickstarter. It only confuses people. When I clicked that link, I was expecting to go to Kickstarter, not crowdhoster.

When asking for money, don't be like Xanga and do those three mistakes. I really do hope that Xanga survives. They are currently hosting my very first blog post made on March 12, 2001. It's very short and probably doesn't count as a blog post, but it's there. However for me, it's not worth $48/year to save it. Unless if maybe people gave me $48 a year to save it. ;-)

A jack-in-the-box accordian 3D effect

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:09:47 GMT

To enhance the 3D effect of the James Earle Fraser'sculpture relief, the base of the tower extends out. The tower could have simply been a flat wall, but the multiple levels of the protruding wall makes the sculpture seem like it's making a concerned effort to pop out the wall. The end result is much like an exploded jack-in-the-box with a figure hanging off an accordion-like structure.

The Jedi second language is Russian

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:55 GMT

Image courtesy CanMuseum.com via BevReview.com

The climatic duel between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi is performed on this Pepsi can featured by BevReview's post, "Can Holiday: Star Wars Day � May 4." The clashing of lightsabers. The intense stare. The competitive dance. The obscure language.

Is this some sort of Star Wars language on Pepsi cans? Oh wait. It's Russian. It's that the Jedi second language? Russian? You know it is. Where else do the Jedis learn their mad-crazy moves but from the Soviet military academy. (youtube video)

Can you imagine? As part of the Jedi training, they visit the third planet from the Sun and have dance-offs. Jedis and Russian dancers. An obvious connection has just been unveiled.

Hey, if you like this can, check out other Star Wars soda cans on Bevreview.

Why in the world would Yahoo's stock be rising now?

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:00:53 GMT

Yahoo' stock has gone from $15 to $25 in the past year. Why would that happen? All Yahoo does is delete my questions on Yahoo Answers.

The reason for the rise in the Yahoo stock price is because they are focusing on their core products. Which basically means they delete Matt Maldre's questions on Yahoo Answers. They've deleted 27% of my questions. Up goes the stock price!

To think back in Yahoo's acquisition days, I was considering buying Yahoo stock. They bought three of my favorite services: flickr my favorite photo service upcoming.org my favorite events site, and delicious my favorite bookmarking site. Those are three core parts of my life. Photos, events, and website links. Yahoo bought all three in the same year!

I thought Yahoo was gonna be the best company ever!

The price of the Yahoo stock during each acquisition:
$31.62 March 20, 2005 flickr
$33.57 October 4, 2005 upcoming.org
$40.08 December 12, 2005 delicious

By December 2005 their stock rose up to $40. But it has slowly dropped and has never seen $40 since. Thankfully I did not buy. But who knows, maybe if Yahoo keeps deleting more of my questions, their stock price will continue to rise.

"America is not forever" stamp

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:00:36 GMT

Is the United States Post Office trying to say something by crossing out "forever" on the American flag stamp? I know it's standard to cross out the price (or in this case the "forever") from the stamp, so people don't reproduce it. But here it seems a bit ironic to have images of the American flag with "forever" crossed out next it. It feels rather wrong to me.

Maybe the Post Office is really upset about how the government is cutting their budget, so they are making a political statement about the state of America. You can imagine a postal employee saying, "You are cutting our budget!? If our services are cut, then America won't stand to last."

Please note, I do firmly stand behind America. I am American and I would like to see America prosper. Anything said here is a joke. We should not cross out "forever" in our stamps, ever! Long live America and its stamps!

Ask.com is the 30th most popular website. What?!

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:00:44 GMT

Have you ever gone to ask.com? Ever? I never have.

Amazingly, ask.com is the 30th most visited website on the internet! That's right. Alexa ranks ask.com at #30. ask.com is ranked higher than tumblr at #32. Really? More people go to ask.com than tumblr?

Other sites that ask.com beats in traffic:
#39 pinterest.com
#44 craigslist.org
#57 instagram.com
#66 go.com (which is really ESPN)

Ask.com must have great rankings in google. Where else would they be getting all this traffic?

Does the tooth fairy exist? Why not make up your own mythical creature?

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:00:48 GMT

What happens with the tooth fairy misses an appointment? Mark Bazer covers the ridiculousness of the tooth fairy's existence in "The day the Tooth Fairy didn't come."

Ridiculous things are great. I want to make up new characters for particular situations. Like if you get a cut on your finger, then... oh wait. That's Dracula. When it snows, those are actually� oh wait, we know that one already. Snowflakes are actually aliens.

How about this one. Every year when the tulips open, it's because the Magical Artist Ewok has visited to bring more color to our world.

IKEA is a mystery with their 404 painted in a corner

Thu, 02 May 2013 16:25:46 GMT

Many questions arise from the image featured on IKEA's Page not found 404 error." If that person is painting with red paint, why is there white paint on the jeans? Very perplexing.

That person didn't paint that floor. Someone else did. And cornered that person with the white-painted jeans. The white-painted jeans person just stood and watched while being cornered.

But then, where is the person who painted the red paint?

And why is there no broom handle for the paint roller? If you are painting your floor, wouldn't you want to use a longer handle?

The truth behind the Wrigley Field ads on the Jumbotron

Wed, 01 May 2013 23:21:48 GMT

(See the mockups at http://www.unlikelymoose.com/blog/comments/P2073_0_1_0/)

The Chicago Cubs and the Rickets released a photo mockup of how Wrigley Field will look like with the Jumbotron and additional ads. However, they didn't put real ads in their mockup. They put cute "Wrigley Field" logos in there. That's now how it's gonna look! In reality there's gonna be ads plastered all over the outfield.

My twin brother did a mockup where he took real sponsors of the Cubs and put their logos in the places where the ads will go. This gives you a real look for how Wrigley Field will be with ads. Take a look: How the advertising will really appear in Wrigley Field's outfield and Jumbotron.

What ruins a great majority of comic strips?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:00:46 GMT

Many comic strips start off with a good joke, but then a disgruntled reaction is tacked on in the last last panel. This disgruntled reaction is most times completely unnecessary.

Let the comic genius of the goofy character do their thing. If a character wants to say something funny, let that joke stand on its own. We don't need to see the judgmental reaction of another character.

The judgement only serves to belittle the creative minds of the world. Let the creative minds be free. Let them live. Let them prosper. We don't need the typical, boring person giving their judgement on something that's funny. Narrow-minded opinions don't provide a foil to improve the joke, instead they kill the joke.

(original Calvin & Hobbes comic strip from Gocomics on 4/26/2013)

In this case we have Calvin developing a great idea. Reversing the order of how milk comes out of your nose when you laugh. What a genius! Instead this comic is ruined by Susie's rejection of Calvin's idea. This comic is no longer about a fun idea. This comic now becomes about how the world rejects the fun and creative ideas.

Let's improve this comic by eliminating Susie's judgmental response in the last frame.

Ahh much better. What do you think? Is the revised comic better than the original?

Which transformer is most likely to be a flirt?

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:00:17 GMT

(Image from Gocomics. The Argyle Sweater by Scott Hilburn, April 22, 2013)

I love me some Transformer gags, however, Optimus Prime would never be caught dead saying those lines. One could argue that having the morally pure Optimus Prime say these lines makes it more funny, but as a hard-core Transformers fan, I would have to say that I get the feeling that the artist doesn't have a clue about Transformers and is just playing the gag line.

Which Transformer is most likely to be a flirt?

Since the comic has car puns, our options are limited to Transformers whose alt modes are cars. The most obvious choice is Sunstreaker. Alt mode: yellow 1974 Lamborghini.

(Image from Mr-DNA of deviantart)

Obsessed with personal appearance. Often retorts with lines like "Hey, that's a new paint job!" His motto is "They can't beat the best." He was described as the ultimate egotist, being notoriously difficult to work with and pair up with anyone else besides Sideswipe, and described himself as the most beautiful thing ever and Cybertron's greatest warrior.

Which Transformer would be most likely to hit on someone in a bar?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) April 25, 2013

What do you think? Is Sunstreaker the biggest flirt? You can answer on Quora, Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments on this blog post. I�ll copy your answer and post it on this list:

The Transformer most likely to be a flirt is Sunstreaker. (from Matt of spudart.org)

The Transformer most likely to be a flirt is Optimus Prime. (from Scott Hilburn of Gocomics)

The Transformer most likely to be a flirt is Ratchet. (from Robert of Yahoo Answers)

The Transformer most likely to be a flirt is Tracks or Rodimus Prime. I really want to say Tracks, becuase he's about as flamboyant as a robot can get. But to be honest, he'd probably rather expect everyone else to fawn over him.

If you go by the comics (which are far richer in terms of characterization), it would have to be Hot Rod/Rodimus from the current IDW comics. He simply has no problem with self-aggrandizement and expecting people to agree with him due to his overwhelming charisma. His leadership style (if you can even call it that) is mostly confidence and insistence that you will really like his idea... eventually.

Isn't that exactly what you want in a robot pick-up artist? (from Kavinay Kishor of Quora)

The Transformer most likely to be a flirt is ____________.

The Transformer most likely to be a flirt is ____________.

The Transformer most likely to be a flirt is ____________.

Yahoo deletes helpful and fun questions

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:34 GMT

Yahoo Answers is like the Wild West for questions. You can ask anything; and the general public answers your questions. With the general public giving answers, you get a range of helpful answers to completely stupid youtube-like responses. It's a mixed bag, and that's what partly makes it fun. Anything can happen.

Yet, Yahoo will delete questions. This is the Wild West, man. Don't delete questions! Is this Yahoo trying to be all intellectual? I got news for you, Yahoo. You ain't intellectual.

Yahoo, you are the Youtube of search engines. Yahoo is like Sears. All utility. No style. Yahoo is the White Sox fan of search engines.

Here are six questions I submitted that Yahoo has deleted:

Are there any web development agencies in Chicago that do Drupal work?
-- Why did Yahoo delete this question? It seems like it would be really helpful.

Are there any artists who made artwork with other famous artist's signatures?
-- Yes, this is an obtuse question, but obtuse questions expand the spectrum of types of questions that can be imagined and asked.

If you found a magic stick, what would you do with it?
-- Only a person with cold, hardened heart would delete this question.

Is there one screen to see if any of my friends made any new playlists in Spotify?
-- Another specific question that would be a help. Maybe too specific?

What American cities have the most parks?
-- Now this seems to be the type of question that Yahoo would totally want. My mind cannot comprehend why this question was deleted.

Why do ewoks like croquet?
-- Yes, yahoo hates ewoks.

Why does Yahoo hate Ewoks?

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:43:29 GMT

Yahoo deleted my question, "Why do ewoks like croquet?"

Everyone knows that ewoks love to play the game of croquet. They are woodland creatures, croquet only makes sense for them to play in their habitat. Ewoks are also extremely playful. They would play croquet all day long.

Perhaps Yahoo think that Ewoks don't like croquet. And since when is Yahoo an expert on Ewoks? Answer: They aren't. Yahoo is an Ewok hater. Deleting fun questions about ewoks. Actually, I should post a few more questions about Ewoks to see if Yahoo deletes them before coming to the conclusion that Yahoo hates Ewoks. Maybe they hate croquet. But who can possibly hate croquet? Or Ewoks?

Here's who hates Ewoks:

People born before May 25, 1973 hate Ewoks. This chart is surprisingly accurate, because I know people just two years older than me that hate Ewoks. (I'm born in 1975). All my life I've had a much easier time relating to people younger than me. The Ewok Line now explains why. Thank you Ewok Line.

It would seem that the Yahoo Answers editor who deleted this delightful Ewok question would be born before May 25, 1973.

Now if I could only get a reason why my five other Yahoo questions were deleted.

Start of summer in 2013 Chicago

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:00:23 GMT

A peculiar thing was happening just before the Chicago bridges were raised. Being the first time in 2013 that the Michigan Avenue bridge was raised during the week, there was a little bit of a delay.

My back was facing the window while talking with one our editors, Leigh Hanlon. He stared at window confused by the traffic patterns happening around the bridge.

"What's happening out there?"

The road was blocked off and an ambulance was trying to come through. Just before the bridge was being raised an ambulanced needed to quickly dart across the bridge. It made a safe journey across, as did all the pedestrians, and then the bridge was raised for the waiting boats.

Then I hopped up on my desk to take this HDR photo with my iPhone. An annual tradition.

Summer has officially started in Chicago!

Why Flickr is better than Instagram: Reason 2 (notes on photos)

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:30:59 GMT

Can you do this in Instagram? Put notes on top of other people's photos? No. You cannot do that in Instagram. But you can do it in Flickr. There's many different ways you can ask your fans to leave notes.

Take a skyline photo and make the buildings talk. It's fun to personify architecture.

With a plate of cookies, ask people which is their favorite.

Photograph a crowd of people and make each person say funny things.

Need more convincing why flickr is better than instagram? Try:
Why Flickr is better than Instagram: Reason 1 (search within your favorites)

Vintage postcard of cutaway view of Chicago CTA subway

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:00:02 GMT

Wow! Chicago. City of the future! Only if Chicago's subway still looked like that. Well, actually, it does. Maybe they should replace a chunk of State Street with large sheets of glass, so we can get this perpective. You can get this Vintage postcard of the Red Line in Chicago's CTA subway on eBay.

Front of card:

Card #210
Cut-away view of Chicago Subway

Back of card:

Cut-away view of Chicago's subway in the central business district.

Shown are the main tubes; the downtown center platform, which is 3500 feet long; the two-way escalators to the mezzanines with store connections; and the State St. surface level. Features of the subway are ventilation, illumination, escalators, safety, comfort.

A.C. Co. Products of U.S.A.

Carry gold stars in your wallet

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:05:24 GMT

Have some fun and carry a sheet of gold stars in your wallet. They come in so handy to spontaneously award people for something good.

At work: Someone suggest a good idea? Give him/her a gold star!
At home: Someone loaded the dishwasher? Give him/her a gold star!
On the train: Have a good commute? Give the train condutor a gold star!

Too shy to give gold stars in person? You can quietly place a gold star on the train conductor's window and walk away. Put a gold star on someone's toothbrush. Put a gold star on someone's phone at work.

Gold stars are so handy. Go head and get a sheet from the craft store and then cut it so it fits nice and tidy in your wallet. Then let me know how you used your gold stars!

Stand right. Walk left. [Insert third sentence here].

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:17:41 GMT

Let's cut down the commuter rage on escalators. If you are going to stand, then move over to the right and stand. Kindly allow those who wish to walk up the escalators to have the space on the left side.

Everyone should know the common phrase, "Stand right. Walk left." If people don't know this phrase, or maybe they temporarily got escalator dumbness, I'd like to kindly remind them. Usually I just plow them over and say OUTTA MY WAY. But now I'm thinking of going the public art route--an awareness campaign.

Let's take that phrase and make little static cling stickers to place on escalators to remind people to follow this behavior. To throw in an extra fun mix, I would like to throw in a third sentence. Something like:

Stand right. Walk left. Enjoy life.
Stand right. Walk left. Outta my way!
Stand right. Walk left. Be kind.
Stand right. Walk left. Clap your hands. [from Sparxmind on Twitter]
Stand right. Walk left. Or fly like Superman. [from Erik Maldre on this blog post]
Stand right. Walk left. Don't you know the process? There's a process here. All these people know the process. Why don't you know the process? [from Marco Buscaglia on Facebook]
Stand right. Walk left. Don't block the middle with your heft. [from Jen Evans on Quora]
Stand right. Walk left. Excuse me. [from Garrick Saito on Quora]
Stand right. Walk left. Sit center. [from Eliana Briones on Facebook]
Stand right. Walk left. Fly above. [from Rachezee on Twitter]
Stand right. Walk left. Shimmy Shimmy Ya. [from TheeErin on Twitter]
Stand right. Walk left. The penalty is death if you don't. [from Cyndi Perlman Fink on Quora]
Stand right. Walk left. Watch your step when you get off. [from Joan Hoffman on Quorra]
Stand right. Walk left. No flip flops! [from Designslinger on Google Plus]
Stand right. Walk left. ___________
Stand right. Walk left. ___________
Stand right. Walk left. ___________
Stand right. Walk left. ___________
Stand right. Walk left. ___________

What should be the third sentence after the escalator phrase "Stand right. Walk left. _____________"
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) April 10, 2013

Let's fill in the blanks and come up with some ideas for the third sentence. Please reply to the tweet, blog post, Quora, Google Plus, or Facebook. (I will paste all responses into the blanks on this post)

Six-year twitterversary, More :) than :(

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:49:41 GMT

In my six years on twitter I have used smiley :) 136 times; frowny 3 times. ow.ly/jUxbi #twitterarchive thanks @jorisl
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) April 9, 2013

I like that ratio. 97.8% of the time I'm smiley.

Most twitter analysis tools only allow you to look at your 2,000 most recent tweets. If you'd like to see the results of your entire twitter history, first download your archive at twitter.com/settings/account. Then upload it to twitter.leermakers.net.

If you do, please let me know your smiley to frowny ratio.

What could hold up such tremendous weight?

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:44:44 GMT

(Photo by ifmuth on flickr)

Balance an entire bridge on a river barge? As if that wasn't enough weight, why not prop some railroad cars inbetween? Those railroad cars must have some sort of interior structure to hold all that weight. How do you think the bridge is not totally crushing them like an aluminum can?

My guess: gravitor repulsor generators

What's your guess?
-- Twenty George 'Scrap Iron' Gadaskis?
-- An infinitely complex arrangement of lego bricks?
-- Grade school toothpick structures?
-- Solid gold-filled railroad cars?

(thanks to Leigh and Dave for giving me names for people who would be able to carry such weight. Other contenders included: Atlas, the Iron Shiek, Andre the Giant, Gorgeous George, and some guy with an unremovable claw grip)

What can possibly be inside these railroad cars to carry such weight as an entire bridge? flic.kr/p/dZqSP9
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) April 4, 2013

(feel free to respond to the tweet or in the comments)

Re-activating your EarthLink email address

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:19:55 GMT

Good ol' Earthlink. Back in the late 1990's Earthlink was one of the top internet service providers. Chances are you or someone you know used Earthlink to connect to the internet.

Today most people use Comcast or AT&T. Blah. Such huge corporate giants. Earthlink was for the people. Just look at that name. Earthlink. It's all about the Earth. Grounded. Familiar.

Moving into my first apartment after college, Earthlink's cheap pricing made me a happy customer in 1999. Plus, you got a free earthlink email address! Nevermind that I already had a free hotmail address and the AOL email address from my parent's AOL account. The AOL email address was too commonplace. The hotmail was cute. But earthlink. That was solid. Mine was spudart@earthlink.net. Sure, the Earthlink email address was funky with the dot net, but hey, the dot net has even more dork appeal.

Do you still have your earthlink email address? I wanted to log in and see all the junk mail collected over 14 years. Heck, is Earthlink still even around? Answer: yes. They still have a website. They still provide dial-up internet service (first item in their navbar). They still have their late 90's swooshy logo.

Ah, the delight of how some things never change. In their menu is a link for "Web Mail." They can't even call it "email" or e-mail with a dash. But Web Mail, two words, both capped. Thank you, Earthlink for being a time capsule that remains consistent.

Web Mail. Seriously people. Web Mail.

I try logging into my Web Mail using my old passwords from the 90s. None worked. The "lose your password?" link scared me, because it would probably send me a recovery email to my hotmail or aol email address. Reluctantly I tried the "lost your password" link, and it brought me back to reality. "Error: The email address you entered is not an EarthLink email address or ID. Please enter your EarthLink email address or ID."

I'm no longer with Earthlink? +tears+ I can't look at all the account emails that Earthlink sent over the years? Sad. But one bright thing from this error message. They use the 90s style of capping the second word in their name. EarthLink.

How do I re-activate my EarthLink email address?

There is no customer support email address on their site. But they do have a live chat feature! Whoaaa! Hold back EarthLink, you are jumping WAY too far into the jetpack future. Live customer support chat?!

The wait time was "approximately 0 minutes" and a chat agent immediately started talking with me. They must not get many people asking them for help. I'm picturing an empty room with one extremely bored customer rep agent surfing the Space Jam website.

Richard W: Hi, My name is Richard W. How may I assist you today?
spudart@earthlink.net: Hi Richard W. I'm Matt M. I'm wondering. Back in the 90s I had an email address with earthlink. I would like to use it again.
Richard W: Let me see what best I can do for you.

The start of the conversation felt like I was talking with an automated robot. Eventually Richard W started to turn more human as we talked. We were able to uncover that EarthLink no longer offers free email. You have to subscribe to their internet service to have an earthlink.net email address. Who is earthlink's biggest competitor in internet service? AOL.

The big question is: What makes EarthLink better than AOL? Certainly this is a question they get all the time. The rep paused and mulled over his answer. It took him a couple minutes to respond. Here's what he said:

spudart@earthlink.net: If i went with EarthLink as my internet service provider, how would EarthLink be better than AOL?
+two minute pause+
Richard W: We do provide free 24/7 technical and customer service.
Richard W: EarthLink Internet service is a Brand
Richard W: You will get continues speed without any disturbance.
spudart@earthlink.net: what do you mean by EarthLink Internet service is a Brand?
Richard W: EarthLink provides consistence speed without any problem
spudart@earthlink.net: Do you have buddy lists?
spudart@earthlink.net: I like using the buddy list.
Richard W: All right.
Richard W: Is there any thing else I can help you out?

Clearly I tired Richard W with all my questions and he wanted to get back to surfing the Space Jam website.

While EarthLink is still around around and rocking the 90s jargon and services, you won't be able to access your old EarthLink email address without forking over money to sign up.

Did you ever use EarthLink? (or still use it to this day?)
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) April 4, 2013

Please feel free to respond either via twitter or in the comments.

Why standing in the middle of an expressway to take photos is a good idea

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:07:26 GMT

Out of the millions of photos that get posted to flickr every day, my sprouting tulip photo is currently the #112th most popular image on flickr for April 1, 2013. A big thanks to Chicagoist for featuring my photo in "Around Town: Sprouting" and thereby kick-starting the views to this photo on flickr.

Lesson: if you see something that catches your eye, stop and take a photo. Even if it's with your cell phone. The tulips were starting to sprout on a Monday morning after a warm weekend in Chicago. Tiny buds are so cute how they start to poke out of the soil. These particular buds are in a median right in the middle of the busy Michigan Avenue shopping district. Taxis zoom by this six-lane artery (which I call an expressway). When the walk signal turns on, everyone hustles across the street to safely reach the other side.

The super-cool flower beds in the middle of this expressway are a beckoning call to pause. One of the most enjoyable things to do in life is to ignore the hustle quick-pace of life and simply enjoy things. Literally to smell the flowers--and to photograph them. And sometimes your of-the-moment photograph can end up being one of the most popular photos in the world for that day.

Flickr does a nice thing called "Explore" with this top 500 photos per day. They use a combination of factors like, favs, comments, and views on each photo. And so the top 500 photos don't display the same photographers every day, they also factor in how many likes/comments/views each photographer typically gets for every photo posted. If there is a spike in activity above the normal range for a photographer, then the photo gets ranked in Explore.

The rankings constantly adjust themselves, even years afterwards. If everyone suddenly started to like one of my photos from 2007, then that photo would see an increase in ranking for that particular day.

Currently I have 15 photos in the top 500 (as seen in the image at the top of the post). There's an additional 38 of my photos that have been in the top 500 at some point, but have dropped out of Explore.

This is one of the reasons why Flickr is better than Instagram. Can Instagram claim to be able to display images of the past like this? They certainly have images posted years ago, but it's very challenging to access them. Instagram is seeing photos of the moment. It's not a service to see photos of the past.

Photographing an architectural cloud

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:48:27 GMT

The low sun casts light onto the stark white station house hovering over the downtown streets named Madison and Wabash. The darker setting of Chicago's gritty urban loop provides a sharp contrast to the white-washed facade of this ancient train station. Literally ancient, this structure has been around since1896.

To photograph this hanging architectural cloud, I stood on the curb and framed the depth of the shot with my iPhone. Once traffic to passed, I hopped out into the street and snapped this shot with Target bags hanging from each of my arms. Notice the car turning onto the street aiming for me. I leaped out of the way from the car driving into the sharp sunset.

After climbing up the stairs into the cloud I boarded a railplane where this photo was post-processed and uploaded to another sky.

Keyboard doodling

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:00:32 GMT

When i'm on the phone, instead of doodling, sometimes i like to type random repetitive letters. The f and j fit together rather nicely:

Yes, these are all hand-typed. There are ten ff's, 23 jj's, and 389 fj's. Photoshop says there more than just simple black color in the above screenshot. If we take just one fj and blow it up 600%, we see that there is actually very little black and surprisingly little gray. It's mostly color.

That's just rad.

Write messages on dollar bills

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:00:55 GMT

Ever have a brilliant idea to capture, but don't have any paper nearby? Why not write your idea on a dollar bill? That way everyone in the world can be a part of reading your idea. You can also write suggestions on dollar bills for people to discover. It makes spending money even more fun. (Yes, spending money is fun, but this makes it twice as fun).

Yesterday I bought some $3.49 sushi at Cafe Typhoon in the Nordstrom mall food court. Without thinking, I pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to the extremely pleasant Asian woman behind the register. The bill just so happened to be the back-side facing up, so she was greeted with the giant blue text that read, "Wow! Ten bucks! What are you gonna do with ten bucks? How about you buy some art?"

In a curious voice she asked, "what is this?"

Looking at the dollar bill I realized that it was one of my art bills. This will be fun. I responded to in a pretend surprisement, "Wha? By what do you mean?" I reach my hand out to hold the dollar bill to investigate this unusual bill. The cashier and I both held the dollar bill together while we read the mysterious text. It was precious.

She chuckled a little. I replied, "well, look at that. Huh. That's interesting."

I should have continued on and asked her if she would actually buy some art with that money. But I didn't. Now I just have to be careful to not spend any more art bills at Cafe Typhoon or else they will be onto my game.

Please everyone, start writing fun notes on your dollar bills and share your precious stories.

Supreme Court passes common sense in copyright law for museums

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:00:50 GMT

Resident legal eagle @tklyber weighs in on a Supreme Court decision made last week, a big win for museums in the US. Museums can continue to show copies of artists work.

Let's say 30 years ago if a museum aquired a print of a WWI poster from a store or a collector. It's common sense that the museum should be able to display the print. They bought it legally. The store was selling it legally.

But there were some people who wanted the museum to have to go back to the copyright owner and ask for permission to display the print. Which makes no sense. The print was already given legal clearance when the copyright owner said that prints could be made and sold.

The Supreme Court made the right choice. Common sense in copyright law! The ability to share! This makes me so happy!

(The above image is "Salon des Cent" from the LACMA collection. I didn't use an image from the Art Institute collection, because ironically as this is a post about the freedom museums have to display copies of work, the Art Institute doesn't allow the public to display images of their collection. The LACMA has a collection of 20,000 free art images for the public to freely use.)

14 questions and compliments to give to an artist

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:00:30 GMT

You are talking to an artist about his/her work. Let's say you don't know much about art. Here's a couple suggestions on what to say.

First off, never say, "you must have a lot of time on your hands." In yesterday's post I explain why that seemingly innocent statement is actually offensive.

Here's a list of things to say to an artist. Everyone comes from different angles, you might want want to be funny or inquisitive or complimentary, so let's cover all those different approaches.

Funny: If you have the urge to say something funny, here are some suggestions that would be fun to hear:

Do say: "Whoa, it would be cool to see this really big!" It can be fun to imagine something really big. Plus, it shows that you are interested in the work to see it expanded to a larger format.
Don't say: "Wow I could see this in the Art Institute." I mean, that could be nice to say, but it's not real. In fact, it's saying that you don't know much about art and that your opinion doesn't matter on anything. Art doesn't just appear in museums. The stuff you see in museums is there no such much for the quality of the art, but for it's place in art history. I know, this is a nagging point. But aren't you reading this blog post to get the viewpoint of an artist? This is what we think.

Inquisitive: Ok, so maybe you aren't the funny guy. You'd rather ask some questions. Here's some tips:

"Where did you come up with this idea?"
"How long have you been working with this topic?"
"Where will you be taking this series next?"
"Why did you choose this color?"
"Have you considered using other medium to display this?"
"What artists inspire your work?"

Complimentary: You want to say something nice, because you are a nice person.

Find a color you like, explain why the color works very well in the artwork. (not just, "I like that blue" but "I like how that blue complements the figure in the bla bla)
Explain why you like the texture.
Say that you like the subject matter. Or the composition.
Ask if the artwork is on the artist's website. State that you would like to share the webpage with the artwork with your friends.
Ask if the artist sells any of their work. I don't know if I would ask if that particular piece is for sale, because that can be awkward. Just simply ask if he/she sells artwork online.
Often the best compliments are questions. Use some of the inquisitive questions above.

Hopefully some of these suggestions will give you ideas on how to talk to an artist about his/her work. If you have any experiences--good or bad, please share in the comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Don't ever say to an artist: "You must have a lot of time on your hands"

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:00:31 GMT

I beg people to never ever utter this phrase to an artist, "you must have a lot of time on your hands." You may not realize it, but it's extremely insulting to the artist. If you have said these words to me or someone else, you are forgiven. You didn't know how offending these words are. I still love you. Because I love you, I'm giving your this advice.

"You must have a lot of time on your hands" is not a compliment saying, "wow, you spent a lot of time on this artwork. This is time well spent. How do you find time to make such great artwork?" Instead it says, "wow, you spent a lot of time on this artwork. What a waste of time."

Yes. You are telling the artist, he is wasting his time. You are saying that your time is more valuable than the artist's time spent making this artwork. You are saying the time spent on the artwork is worth less than your own time.

I'm trying to understand why someone would say "you must have a lot of time on your hands." Four reasons come to mind:

1) You meant it as a compliment.
If you said this phrase in the past, you may have been expressing how you don't have time in your life to create such wonderful things. If you feel that way, then say, "I wish I could make such wonderful things." Don't say, "You must have so much time to have created something pointless like this."

2) You were trying to be funny.
People have told me this phrase while laughing. So I'm assuming people find it funny. I really would like to understand what is funny about it. If someone has insight into why it's funny, please share why in the comments. Seriously. If you think it's funny, I truly want to understand.

3) You didn't know what to say about the artwork.
Maybe you may have been confused by the artwork and don't know how to respond. But please don't ever say, "you must have a lot of time on your hands."

4) You meant it as an honest critique.
If you want to give a critique on someone's work, then base it on the artwork itself, not on the artist's time spent. We all want to see our time as something valuable. Please consider not making broad statements about how someone's time is not valuable. If you would like to critique the artwork, perhaps you can point out some of the areas that are strong and some of the areas that could use improvement. Point the artist in the direction of other work simliar that he/she could reference. Artists do value feedback. You should feel free to give your opinions. In order to grow, we need to know how to improve.

I like to think I have a thick skin. One of the reasons why I'm creative is that I have the confidence to live my life creatively. I have a passion to show others how to live their life creatively. Negative statements usually don't bother me. But this particular one does.

People have said this to me many times. They think it's an innocent statement. But honestly, it's a careless phrase that hurts.

Ok, so what should you say? Tomorrow I cover a list of 14 things to say to an artist when you are drawing a blank.

20,000 free art images from LACMA

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:00:33 GMT

The Los Angeles Community Museum of Art is allowing 20,000 of their images to be used for free for any purpose. They even offer an easy download link on each image to grab the highest-resolution file. All the images are of artwork from before 1925, so it's work that is already in the public domain.

This is the vision that art museums should take. Not hoarding their artwork, but sharing their artwork. If the artwork is in the public domain, shouldn't all museums allow people to use the images? Sadly, no. The museums own the copyright to the photo of the artwork. You can't use their nice clean sharp photo of the artwork. But you can go to the museum yourself and take a photo and use that. But often our personal museum photos are blurry, dark, or yellow; because of the low lighting. Musuems are able to offer nice photos, because they can bring in tripods and studio lighting to make the artwork look as it should.

But under the real technical copyright law, museum photos are already available to the public. The only photos of artwork that are copyrighted are of sculptures or when the artwork is shown in context of the room. If the photo is just a straight-up photo of the painting--no extra walls or floors in the shot--then technically, you are allowed to use that photo. It's just that most museums hold a tighter grasp on their images than the law allows.

Allowing free art images is a value to everyone.

For the public: art is more readily available.
For the museum: the more art is shared, the more valuable it becomes.
For the artist: the ideals and message in the art reaches a wider audience.
For the collector: (see museum reasoning above). Often collectors want to hoard in fear of their art becoming less valuable if others use the image. But the more an image is used, the more recognizable the artwork is, and the more valuable it becomes. Take a look at "American Gothic" by Grant Wood. It's a beloved piece, because it's shared so much.

I never understand why art museums don't want people to take photos of their work. Don't you want your work promoted? Don't you want free advertising? What, so some people might not buy a postcard? Please. If you hoard your artworks where nobody can access them, then you might as well have your museum be in a hole.

Art museums need to ask themselves an important question: As a museum are you open or closed? If you are closed, then just close your doors and don't let anyone in the museum. Only let important collectors and curators in. But if you are open, then yes, let people take photos of the artwork. Let people mix the photos into new artworks. Let people put the photos online. Let innovation rule. We have the public domain for a reason. To let innovation happen.

Last time I checked art and innovation went hand in hand.

(Pictured above is Chinese Lion Dance (Shishimai) Japan, 19th century from the LACMA free collection.)

Is it real if I can only see it from one viewpoint?

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:00:28 GMT

Ferruccio Laviani�s "Good Vibrations" is amazing. This is a real cabinet created to look like a warped scan. However, I�d like to see another photo with a different angle.

Showing another photo will ruin the illusion, but it will also bring this cabinet into the realm of reality for the dimensional object that it is. For now, this cabinet is merely a photo, not an object of reality.

Confused between the options of sleeping and staying awake.

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:00:08 GMT

At 3am I thought staying awake was sleeping. I stayed awake thinking I was actually sleeping.

Then at 8am I thought sleeping was staying awake. I layed in bed thinking I was awake, but I was actually sleeping.

Crazy artworks you've never seen by Wassily Kandinsky

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:52:23 GMT

We know Wassily Kandinsky for his fun shape and line paintings like this particular painting done in 1922.

Wassily Kandinsky, Ohne Titel,
watercolour, pen and brush with India ink on paper
Executed in December 1922, sold for $2,943,594 June 24, 2008

But have we seen these works by Kandinsky?

Colorful paintings of CARTOON CHARACTERS!

Wassily Kandinsky, "Studie f�r Improvisation 8" oil on card mounted on canvas, 1909
sold for $23,042,500 November 2012.

Posters about CHOCOLATE!

Wassily Kandinsky, ABRIKOSOV CHOCOLATE, lithograph in colours, 1901, sold for $39,775 April 18, 2012

Drawings about ALIENS!

Wassily Kandinsky "Ohne Titel" gouache on black paper, 1940, sold for $191,575 February 7, 2012

Paintings about DANCING DATA MACHINES!

Wassily Kandinsky, T�n�bres, oil on board, 1943, sold for $806,500 November 6, 2008

And who knew Kandinsky invented DONKEY KONG!?

Wassily Kandinsky, Untitled,
watercolour and pen and India ink on paper laid down on the artist's mount, 1940
Sold for $136,826 February 3, 2010

Do you have any favorite Wassily Kandinksy artworks?
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) March 19, 2013

List of websites with insecure password requirements

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:56:58 GMT

It's surprising how many websites put silly limits on what your password can be. For instance, character length. Why limit people to 12 or 14 characters? If I want my password to be 18 characters long, let it be 18 characters long! 18 characters is more secure.

Network expert, sparxmind says "There's no legitimate reason to restrict password length. The only excuse that could be used is that the database field is limited to a certain number of characters. But all passwords should be stored salted and hashed, so a password of 'abc' and 'this is a pretty long password' would both have the same length after being encrypted."

Another password limitation that doesn't make any sense is not allowing special characters. Like !@#$%^&*. If I want to put a # in my password, then let me. Sparxmind on punctuation, "There's absolutely no reason to disallow punctuation. The only reason I could think of is that whoever set up the storage or the password check implemented a really stupid and insecure system that couldn't handle the symbols. This also wouldn't be an issue if they were properly encrypting passwords."

As I come across websites that have stupid password limits, I will add them to this public list. If your website administrator is stupid enough to put a restriction on passwords, then they should be called out, so they will change their limits.

-- forrester.com: 15 max characters, no special
-- Outlook webmail: 16 max characters
-- redbox.com: 6-12 characters
-- Worldcat.org: no special characters
-- more websites to be listed here
-- more websites to be listed here
-- more websites to be listed here
-- more websites to be listed here
-- more websites to be listed here

If you have any websites to add to the list, please add your comment below or respond to this tweet:

I'm building a list of websites that have limited password requirements. If you know of any websites, please reply to this tweet.
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) March 15, 2013

Insight into Google Reader

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:09:44 GMT

My favorite website and iphone app are being killed by Google. That would be Google Reader. Don't know what Google Reader is? Or maybe you heard of it, but aren't sure what it was good for. Then check out my blog post: 7 reasons why Google Reader was the best service. This post on my publishing blog, outlines creative and helpful ways Google Reader can help you be more efficient reading and discovering articles, rare ebay auctions, and tweets.

Maybe you totally know what Google Reader is and you love it. Then you'd love my post Four reasons why Google is killing Google Reader." I debunk two of the popular reasons why Google is killing Reader and I give the real four reasons why. It's full of smackdowns, so it's a fun read.

What do you think about Google killing Google Reader? All comments welcome. spud.so/5771s
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) March 14, 2013

25 reasons why Pope Francis is cool

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:23:46 GMT

Everyone is talking about how this is the first Latin American pope. That's cool. But on my Christian Notebook blog, I give 25 other reasons why Pope Francis is cool.

Has Jackson Pollock lost his power?

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:02:27 GMT

A selection of poem, "The New York School" by Joseph Bradshaw

I can�t remember anything about the movie Pollock. I wish a bald Sigourney Weaver played the part of Jackson Pollock. That would make the film more memorable. I wish every Jackson Pollock was secretly a portrait of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens and you could smell in Pollock�s paintings what you imagine Weaver�s skin smells like and Jackson Pollock got the best lot of the Cedar Tavern coterie, his paintings sell for millions and his alcoholism and creativity have been mythologized, but then that�s it, his actual paintings no longer exist, you can�t see them in a space that doesn�t humiliate and demoralize the viewer through cynical displays of institutional power. A Pollock hung in the Met may as well be an oversized cock made of real gold which pisses counterfeit money on anyone who stands within eight feet of it while earning less than $500,000 a year. I always liked Robert Rauschenberg more. (via Elective Affinities, via Raul Rafael Alvarez)

Am I correctly interpreting the poem? Pollock's paintings were powerful back in the day because they were subversive. His paintings were about paint, drips, abstractness. Rebelling against the notion that paintings must have a subject matter.

But now we are used to a Jackson Pollock painting. They don't have the impact anymore. What is now the value is Pollock's mythology. Not his paintings. The paintings are mere relics of the myth. If this is true, does this connect to my blog post last week about what true value does art have if you strip away its place in history and culture.

At least Pollock's paintings are still THE supreme example of how to make a drip painting.

Starting now, everyone should learn how to program or code

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:48:55 GMT

Imagine our country if everyone knew how to program or code. I cover this topic on my publishing and syndication blog, "Programming should be taught in all schools to all students."

Now before you reply with, "then our country would be a bunch of geeks," take yourself back to when people in Europe couldn't read. In the 14th century, 80 percent of English adults couldn�t even spell their names (source McSweeney's). Reading was seen as something only for special people.

Today literacy is something we all strive for. Why? Words matter. Communication matters. Learning matters. Words are everywhere.

Now programming is everywhere. As computers enter our lives more and more, everyone should be able to leverage the most they can out of their computers. And it's not just computers, programming touches our lives in smartphones, services like Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, netflix, blogging, tweeting. Programming is all around us. Programming matters. It's a language we all need to learn to speak.

Not convinced? Give a read to Wall Street Journal's "Why software is eating the world." Programming is everywhere, and we need to know how to use it.

Review of the Picasso show: "meh, ok"

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:00:09 GMT

The Art Institute sent me an email promoting their Picasso show. Hmmm, they must have missed my review of the Picasso show. They could have included my quote on their ad.

"Meh, ok"
�Matt Maldre, spudart.org

But seriously, I think as I go to the show more, I will enjoy it more. For instance, Lynn Becker wrote a great blog post explaining the background behind Picasso's use of lines in his famous Picasso public sculpture in Chicago.

Here's the email the Art Institute sent:

Discover more about Picasso:
-- Picasso's most impressive artwork in the Art Institute exhibit is Bull
-- Art Institute of Chicago marketing to children for Picasso show
-- Review of the Picasso show: "meh, ok"
-- The aesthetics of baseball autographs

Museum of inspiring art

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:47:29 GMT

[LA Times, image via Smithsonian American Art Museum; a detail of Norman Rockwell's painting "Shadow Artist" in George Lucas's personal collection]

George Lucas wants to build a museum of inspiring art. This is so awesome! YES YES YES. I'm excited not because I'm a George Lucas fan, but rather I want to see an art museum of inspiring art. TOTALLY. Often I walk through art museums thinking that there is so much art online today that is so much more incredible than the stuff you see in art museums. Seriously.

We love the art in art museums for a couple reasons
1) Its place in art history.
2) We are familiar with the artwork from its use in popular media. Examples: Grant Wood's American Gothic, anything Warhol, anything Picasso.
3) Some collector paid a bunch of money for the artwork. (ok, this might not be a reason, because I don't care how much people pay for artwork, but some people do care. Some people think artwork is more important because it's worth a lot of money).

But do you love the art for the art itself?
Strip away the familiarity. Strip away the historical significance. What do you have left? Look at the artwork by its own. Does that painting on its own really inspire you? In some cases yes. But take a look at artwork online. Take a gander through thisiscolossal.com. You will be inspired for the artwork on its own.

I've long wanted to see a museum show work just for the quality of the art itself. I'm excited to see someone making a Museum of Inspiring Art. Couple that with the vision that George Lucas has, and it looks like we have a winner on our hands.

Just as George Lucas was able to innovate the movie and licensing industry, it looks like he might innovate the art world.

Fun with ball bearings on a moving table

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:57:11 GMT

What happens when you put thousands of small ball bearings on a moving table? You get fascinating patterns of movement.

(If you cannot see the video above, you may view it on vimeo at, "Gr�nlund-Nisunen - Unstable Matter - 2013.")

The ball bearings move look like an army of pigeons in the skying, swirling around without any clear defined leader. Eventually a group of the pigeon army lands in one place, with the rest immediately following.

The ball bearings sound like rain, constant and inconstant pattering. The rain comes in sheets of sound, then silence, then more sheets of sound.

The ball bearings behave like rush hour traffic. Movement, stand still, movement, stand still.

The Finnish artists Tommi Gr�nlund and Petteri Nisunen created a wonderful kinetic sculpture named "Unstable Matter." Can you think of anything else that these ball bearings remind you of? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Art Institute of Chicago marketing to children for Picasso show

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:00:59 GMT

What do you think of the CTA ad for the Picasso show at the Art Institute?

My brother, Erik, has some excellent points:

Overall, I like it. It captures some of the cubist charm of Picasso's work. Part of me feels like they could have take this 1, 2, 3, 10 levels deeper and really explored a mix of typography and cubism. There's plenty of talented designers/tyopographer/illustrators that could have done so. A current movement/trend in the graphic design world is adding a ton of noise to gradients which just so happens to mirror the textures found in many of Picasso's work. The opportunity is just begging to be explored.

But at the end of the day the Art Institute decided to keep the execution simple on this concept and it still works. It presents the playful concept in a way that's approachable and curious and does so in an immediate way which is vital for any sort of advertising.

I agree completely. They could have pushed it further. Erik expanded on that by giving a very good suggestion with the noise-gradients. This design needs something more. The simplicity, colors, and playfulness of this ad makes me think this is a show in the children's section of the Art Institute. However, this show talks about how Picasso had multiple affairs throughout his life and how he often made artwork of his dalliances. He has more children from his affairs than with his real wives.

But perhaps the Art Institute is trying to capture a wider audience by making this ad playful. "Look at how fun Picasso is!" Maybe the Art Instiute is right on with this. For the general public, they will go see the Picasso show because it'll be fun. Not because there is some sort of incredible depth to his work--which there is depth to his work, but the general public isn't going to the show for that, or least I don't think Joe Schmo wants that.

This ad design reminds of when I was desiging the ebook cover for Art in a Minute's "Art & Scandal" earlier this year. My first designs were very flat. They didn't capture your awe or attention. But when I added texture to the title, then the book cover was more dynamic and had more allure.

I want this Picasso ad to have more allure and curiosity. Instead it's just a bunch of kids letters floating around.

The aforementioned "Art & Scandal" ebook cover:

Yeah, this cover can be kinda intense, but that's the point. This book is about scandal. The woman on the cover is staring at you, alluring you to the inside of the book. The actual exhibit of Picasso's work at the Art Institute is the same way. There are many examples of Picasso's mistresses in the show. So to have the advertising be more child-like is very misleading.

Picasso's most impressive artwork in the Art Institute exhibit is Bull

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:03:48 GMT

Over 100 artworks by Picasso grace the new show at the Art Institute of Chicago. Everyone knows Picasso is a genius artist, so I approached the show with high expectations. My first impression after 45 minutes and three walk-arounds is "meh, ok." I'm sorry to say that, I really am. This is Picasso after all. How dare I call his work, "ok"?

When I go to art exhibits, I go to be inspired. The Picasso show hasn't quite inspired me yet. I'm keeping an open mind and will be visiting this show multiple times, in hopes of inspiration. One of the artworks in the exhibit points to how there is potential. And this piece is Bull. Literally.

The lithography series of 11 prints is titled "The Bull" printed in 1945-46. In the 11 prints you see Picasso's mastery of form AND line. Some of the prints of the bull show just simple lines that display the strength of a bull. In other prints, you see the bull's heft and weight through Picasso's mastery of volume. The prints I really enjoy are inbetween, where you see Picasso's delicate lines dance with the heft of volume and weight. It's an amazing series.

But so why would I go "ok" for the rest of the show if I really love "The Bull"? (more review below this vine animation)

Picasso's "The Bull" lithography series is impressively progressive @artinstitutechi vine.co/v/bX1lr1Jw7OI
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) March 1, 2013

I think the problem with Picasso's work is when you see it, you think, "meh, another jumbled cubist piece." I mean, you can appreciate it, but after a while, it's just... you could think it's just a bunch of twisted lines. But Picasso does show skill in his choices and ability to paint. There are some prints and drawings that show talent. His cubist work isn't just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. But you get that mumbo-jumbo feeling walking around the show.

Except for "The Bull" series. 11 different litho prints of a bull standing in the same position. Some are very detailed. Some are abstract. In some the bull has tremendous volume, in others the bull is as skinny as a line. It's fascinating to see Picasso go through different variations of the Bull making it real, to real/abstract to completely line-based. This series shows that Picasso just doesn't randomly make cubist works. There is thought in how he balances the real with the abstract.

Go check out the Picasso show at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's up from February 20 to May 12, 2013. Let me know what you think is the most impressive artwork in the show.

--
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The night I placed over fifty snowballs on the Jack Brickhouse statue in Chicago

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:00:25 GMT

Chicago had a nice wet snowfall that made for perfectly packing snow. How could one pass up on he opportunity to make a bunch of snowballs and stack them on a Hall of Fame broadcaster statue of Jack Brickhouse? It had to be done.

At first I was going to leave only a few snowballs to make the joke, "oh look! Jack Brickhouse made some snowballs and is ready to use them!" but a few became a dozen; a dozen became a few dozen.

While stacking the snowballs creating my work of art, I kept thinking how the art in thisiscolossal.com is always about how someone did a ridiculous amount of repetitive work until it reaches an amazing volume. That thought pushed me to make more and more snowballs.

The guys driving the snowplow trucks throughout Pioneer Court were nice to leave me alone to my work. All the snow around the statue was plowed away, so I had to create he snowballs from the nearby planters. Every time I made about ten snowballs, I would position my left arm as a cradle and place each snowball carefully in a triangle format to carry over to the statue while my back was arched backwards with the precarious pile against my chest. Every now and then a few snowballs would drop during the transport from planter to statue, but such is the price of public street art.

Each time arriving at the statue with an armful of snowballs, I would strategically place each snowball in a pyramid shape. I felt like the Egyptians, only instead of making my monumental structure in the desert sand, mine was in the urban snow.

I knew I reached the finish when people walking back would point in delight at the statue exclaiming, "that's awesome!"
More snow posts on spudart:
� Fun in the snow: Leave snowballs at famous places
� Fun in the snow: Throw snowballs at famous public art
� Fun in the snow: How to make a slushie rainbow
� Snowflakes are actually aliens
� Chicago's Official Snowball Fight
� virtual snowball fight
� Saving snowballs for the summer
� In the winter put snowballs in your freezer for the summer
� Why I Like Snow
� snow protestors
� The Snow Marathon: listening to Snow's "Informer" song non-stop

Swimming pool crawl in Chicago

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:11:15 GMT

As the Chicago Riverwalk expands, so does my excitement for this project. I already greatly enjoy walking the Riverwalk from Michigan Avenue to State Street many nights.

Now Chicago is planning on expanding the Riverwalk past State Street. A zero-surface swimming pool is one of the attractions between LaSalle to Wells. Right now they are calling it the "Swimming Hole." It's exciting to see downtown Chicago gaining more public swimming pools.

I can picture families hitting up the Millennium Park Crown Fountain:

(photo by suttonhoo, creative commons)

Then heading over to the Swimming Hole by the Chicago River.

(The Swimming Hole: mockup by Chicago Department of Transportation)

Then over to Navy Pier and their planned swimming pool.

(mockup by James Corner Field Operations for Navy Pier Vision)

And then finally to the Ohio Street beach.

(photo by Chicago Man, creative commons)

What is an artwork you love?

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:37:06 GMT

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago asks for an artwork that you love.

Happy Valentine's Day! What are some artworks you love? We'll be tweeting some of our V day favs, like "The Kiss" mcachicago.org/exhibitions/co�
— MCA Chicago (@mcachicago) February 14, 2013

One of my picks is Arturo Herrera's "Behind the House III"

Reasons
1) red: love, very valentiney
2) felt: warm, soft
3) cuts: brings out the material nature of the felt
4) big: who doesn't like a big sheet of felt?
5) MCA: The MCA has this artwork in their collection, and the MCA rules.

What artwork do you love? Feel free to browse the MCA collection.

What content marketing superhero are you?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:00:14 GMT

This online quiz is eerily accurate. I have been affirmed in my superpower desire of light manipulation. The online quiz by fusionspark, "Which Content Marketing Action Hero Are You" says I am Visualizator. Rather fitting that one of his super powers is light manipulation. In 2007 I blogged about my most desired superpower, and it was light manipulation.

View all the cards: fusionspark.com/heroes/cards. HT to James for sharing this link with me via email.

You don't really want pristine mint condition baseball cards, do you?

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:00:28 GMT

Seeing an image like this of pristine cards all nicely preserved inside protectors makes me want to make more well-worn cards. A baseball card with sharp corners is so institutional. "CAREFUL! Don't set that card on the table, you might nudge the corner." Baseball cards are meant to be worn.

I'm making a fine art of wearing down baseball cards. Here's a 1991 Donruss Jeff Treadwell.

More coming about how I wore down this card.

The best way to experience a museum exhibit

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:00:22 GMT

A new museum exhibition is up. You trot on down to the museum to check out the show. When walking through the exhibition, do you walk slowly observing the photos and artwork? Maybe read a couple captions. And then by the time you are done, you are so exhausted, the thought of going through the show a second time sounds like torture. Gimme dinner instead!

Almost 99% of people I observe do the slow march through a new show. Why? Your mind turns to mush at the end.

First loop
Next time try a different method. Walk through the show really fast. Do not stop. Walk fast, look around. Definitely walk a faster pace than others. Get the overall feel for the show and the length. Keep in mind you will be walking through the exhibit a second time more slowly. But this first walk is meant to be fast. Really fast.

Knowing the length of an exhibit will make you feel much more comfortable. Just like before you read a book, you know how long the book is. You know what to expect. If you walk a really fast circuit around a new show, you'll feel in control. You can handle this. You can digest this.

You can start to think.

Second loop
Then your second walk around, take your time. Savor the artwork. Read some captions. Understand how the art you are observing fits within the context of the entire show. Feel free to walk the same pace as other people looking at the show. Only now you have an advantage. You already know the show.

Third loop
Once you are done with your second walk around, now is the time to go back and really dig deep into the artworks you enjoyed. Stand. Take in an artwork for two minutes. Two minutes. I dare you. Those are the pieces you'll remember. Take photos of the art. One from far back. One of the caption. And many close-ups. The close-ups make the artwork tangible. When you look back at your photos, you'll appreciate these close-up shots. The standard shots, yeah, those are ok. But when looking through your old photos, you'll only glance at them. But those close-ups. You'll digest those more thoroughly. And don't forget to photograph the caption. Chances are you'll want to remember the title and artist, maybe the year.

Analysis
This year I would like to do a better job of writing about my experiences at museum exhibitions. And to include photographs of what I liked. Perhaps I'll use my blog as a vehicle for that. I would have loved to have a journal about my experiences with the Calder show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Or the Jasper Johns Gray show at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Re-visit
And then if you want to take this up a notch, you can start creating artworks to leave in the show on your next trip (check out my flickr set, "Left in museums"). No longer just the observer, you are now a participant.

My favorite Joseph Beuys quotes

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00:28 GMT

"Every human being is an artist."
* Beuys� quote on his art statement: �everybody is an artist�: �I am searching for field character�, 1973; as quoted in "Energy Plan for the Western man / Joseph Beuys in America �", by Carin Kuoni, Four Walls Eight Windows in New York, 1993, p. 22

"I think the tree is an element of regeneration which in itself is a concept of time."
* source unknown

To be a teacher is my greatest work of art. The rest is the waste product, a demonstration. If you want to express yourself you must present something tangible. But after a while this has only the function of a historic document. Objects aren�t very important any more. I want to get to the origin of matter, to the thought behind it.
* statement from an: interview, Willoughby Sharp, 1969; as quoted in "Energy Plan for the Western man � Joseph Beuys in America �", Four Walls Eight Windows, New York, 1993, p. 85

Man is only truly alive when he realizes he is a creative, artistic being� �Even the act of peeling a potato can be a work of art if it is a conscious act.
* his quote on the metaphysical power of art, source: an interview with Willoughby Sharp in 1969; in "Energy Plan for the Western man � Joseph Beuys in America �", Four Walls Eight Windows in New York, 1993, p. 87 ( German Fluxus artist, famous for his art performances like �I like America and America likes me� � with a Coyote, ed.)

Man is really not freeing many aspects. He is dependent on his social circumstances, but he is free in his thinking, and here is the point of origin of sculpture. For me the formation of the thought is already sculpture. The thought is sculpture.
* statement on �Man� by Joseph Beuys: an interview W. Sharp, 1969; quoted in "Energy Plan for the Western man � Joseph Beuys in America �", and compiled by Carin Kuoni, Four Walls Eight Windows, New York, 1993, p. 90

This kind of art school (The School of the Art Institute where Beuys gave this lecture, mm) is for me the least important. A spiritual structure is needed. If a person is an artist he can use the most primitive of instruments a broken knife is enough. Otherwise it remains a craft school.
* source of his artist statement on the Art school structure:his lecture in 1974 at the School of the Art Institute of Chigago; quoted in "Energy Plan for the Western man � Joseph Beuys in America �", ed. by Carin Kuoni, Four Walls Eight Windows, New York, 1993, p. 123 ( German Fluxus artist, more biography facts at the bottom)

Quotes pulled from: quotes-famous-artists.org.

I know there are more Joseph Beuys quotes that I would like. I need to read more of his writings. As I find more quotes, I will post them here. If you find any Beuys quotes, you like, please post them in the comments. Thank you.

Everyblock shut down because it doesn't fit in the NBC portfolio

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:36:49 GMT

The wonderful community news website, Everyblock was shut down by NBC News today. Everyblock was the epitomy fo community reporting and discussion. You want to talk about your neighborhood, Everyblock was the place.

Why was Everyblock shut down? Poytner published a note to the NBC staff from the Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and chief digital officer of NBC News. Here's a segment:

As we continue to grow and evolve the NBC News Digital portfolio, we are focused on investing in content, products and platforms that play to our core strengths. The decision to shut down the site was difficult, but in the end, we didn�t see a strategic fit for EveryBlock within the portfolio.

Shutting down a useful site because "it doesn't fit in our portfolio." Please. At least sell Everyblock. By not selling Everyblock, NBC News has left many people alienated from the connections they made with others in their community.

If Everyblock doesn't fit in their portfolio, then I don't like the NBC News portfolio. I am currently boycotting all the products in the NBC News Digital portfolio

Please join me in the NBC News boycott:
-- MSNBC.com
-- Today.com
-- Nightly News with Brian Williams
-- Meet the Press
-- Newsvine.com (If you are going to dump Everyblock, why keep Newsvine?)
-- Breakingnews.com

Some people are asking me, "what's Everyblock?" It was the best community site ever. It's the site that gave us super cool crime maps of chicago. It gave us localized reporting by the block. I could get news if anything ever happened on my block, like if there was crime ON MY BLOCK.

Everyblock scanned all the government databases and made the data available to everyone based on your location. It took all the restaurant inspections and made them available where I could look up a local map and see if any restaurants failed. Everyblock had local community forums that were extremely active. Not those forums you visit and nobodys there.

Everyblock jumpstarted movements toward open data and custom maps. That's Everyblock. That's the Everyblock that NBC News decided to kill.

By the way, Everyblock still appears in their "portfolio" Maybe they need to update their website.

Clearly NBC News has no interest in helping our local communities by keeping Everyblock around. Instead of deleting it from their website, maybe they should just put a big red X over it and say, "screw you, people in the community!"

Famous artist costumes and fashion

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:00:12 GMT

If people dressed up as famous artists when visiting museums, who would you go as? I posted this question on the Spudart Facebook Page and got some fun replies.

Dali, Warhol: "Someone distinctive looking like Dali or Warhol," Tom Saaristo.
Salvador Dali: "dali," designslinger.com
Frida Kahlo: "Frida I dressed up as her for Halloween once and. despite the fact I had to add in the unibrow and light stache the resemblance was uncanny. it was pretty creepy, but I would definitely do it again especially at a museum," Yvonne Lozano.
DaVinci: "DaVinci," Mark Thomas
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: "If someone were to buy me a L�szl� Moholy-Nagy jumpsuit, I'd gladly wear it to the Tute. He had those sweet circle rims, too. I'd sooner buy circle rims than those thick, black Buddy Holly glasses that every single designer seems to be wearing now," Erik Maldre.

Imagine how fun it would be to see Frida Kahlo casually walking around an art museum. "OMG I just saw Frida Kahlo walk by! Did you see that? Wow. She's spending a lot of time looking at Diego Rivera's paintings." Or if you saw L�szl� Moholy-Nagy taking a look at a photo exhibit. He would be heard saying, "The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as the pen."

What famous artist would you dress up as? Please leave your comments below.

I would go as Joseph Beuys. With his dinstinctive hat and multi-pocketed vest, his costume would be subtle, but cool. Plus I'm a big Joseph Beuys fan. The performative nature of his artworks peaked my curiousity in college. Especially his positive outlook of healing Germany's culture after World War II. He was often contrasted with Andy Warhol who was extremely separated from his work, to the point of where Warhol wouldn't even make his own prints. Beuys not only made his own work, he was often the artwork itself.

Beuys is known for the preaching is great ideals that "Every human being is an artist." Another part of walking around the museum dressed up as a famous artist is to say aloud some of the artist's famous quotes. With Beuys I would say some of the following:

"To be a teacher is my greatest work of art."
"Man is only truly alive when he realizes he is a creative, artistic being� �Even the act of peeling a potato can be a work of art if it is a conscious act."
"For me the formation of the thought is already sculpture. The thought is sculpture."
And if I'm at the Art Institute of Chicago, I could say:
"This kind of art school is for me the least important. A spiritual structure is needed. If a person is an artist he can use the most primitive of instruments a broken knife is enough. Otherwise it remains a craft school."
(He said this in a lecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1974)

For research on what Joseph Beuys wore, I made a "Joseph Beuys fashion" board on pinterest. It gives me special delight to categorize this board on pinterest under "Mens fashion."

I've added over 30 more pins to this board.

My brother's request to dress up as L�szl� Moholy-Nagy resulted in a "L�szl� Moholy-Nagy fashion" board on pinterest. Again, under "Mens fashion"

What famous artist would you dress up as?

If Shakespeare wrote comments on flickr photos

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:00:16 GMT

Who speaks words like a poet? All comment given by bernawi of flickr is like a prance through the drewdrops of morning on the windows of perception.

to find the true nature of things, it will break the ice of lost illusions and stop to see the reflection of reality. Great depth in this image of cold sensual ...
-- Comment given by bernawi of flickr on "Ice that looks like a microscopic view"

the smell of flowers running as vapors happiness and colors in the reflection of urban life
-- Comment given by bernawi of flickr on "The tulips make everything into a cartoon world (5)"

(if the video below does not appear, you can see it on flickr)

not go further or you can sink into deep waters and destruction. this is what you wrote on the arrow wood colombus river, then yes the typhoons are in the image of our company or the winds are connected by canvas, natural phenomena are like our society sometimes bubbles growth exploded in the Windy City
-- Comment given by bernawi of flickr on "Video: Crossing the Chicago River on the Brown line CTA during a tornado warning"

Two major mistakes AJ Pierzynski made in his Chicago Tribune ad for White Sox fans

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:00:25 GMT

8-year former White Sox player A.J. Pierzynski is a class act to run a full-page ad for local fans in the Chicago Tribune at the end of 2012. I tip my hat to him. But I also give AJ two tips:

1) No true Chicagoan calls it "Chi-town."

Only people who aren't from Chicago call it "Chi-town." Urbandictionary defines "Chi-town" as:

Slang / nickname for the city of Chicago, IL. No one uses this term except for tourists, and rappers who are trying to rhyme with other words. Using this term is one of the quickest ways to identify yourself as a non-resident of Chicago. "Hey guys, I'm visiting Chi-town next week, how's the pizza?"

2) Periods go inside the quotes.

Dude runs a full-page ad in the Tribune and has nobody proof his ad. In GIANT BOLD text, the period is outside the quotation marks. 670 people commented on this ad on and only three people noticed the incorrect use of the period.

I'm just glad he didn't include two spaces after all the periods.

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball:

Oddities lurk in the list of all the White House zip codes

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:55:53 GMT

Various people and departments at the White House have their own zip+4 codes. For instance the President has his own +4 suffix in his zip code:

PRESIDENT
600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW
WASHINGTON DC 20500-0001

The Post Office gives this list:

20500-0001: PRESIDENT
20500-0002: FIRST LADY
20500-0003: WHITE HOUSE
20500-0004: THE WHITE HOUSE
20500-0039: GREETINGS OFFICE
20500-0049: WHITE HOUSE STATION
20500-1600: AMER FUND FOR AFGHAN CHILD

There are some numbers missing, so I searched around the internet to try to find them. Here's the additional +4 suffixes of White House zip codes not provided by the Postal Service:

20500-0002: VICE PRES STAFF
20500-0005: THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
20500-0010: SOCKS THE CAT
20500-0030: HILLARY CLINTON

A few things to note about all the White House zip codes:

"White House" and "The White House" each have their own zip code.
Why does the U.S. Department of Justice have a zip code at the White House? Shouldn't they have their own place to do work?
Socks the Cat was given its own zip code in 1998. The Clinton cat died shortly thereafter on February 20, 2009.
The Clintons loved assigning their own zip codes, because Hilary grabbed 20500-0030. So if you wrote to "Hillary Clinton" it was 20500-0030. If you wrote to the first lady, that would be 20500-0002.
What's the "AMER FUND FOR AFGHAN CHILD"? On October 12, 2001 The President George W. Bush announced the creation of "America's Fund for Afghan Children" which will encourage children and their families to contribute to relief efforts for Afghan children. At the top of the press release it also states, "As of April 1, 2005 the Afghan Children's Fund is no longer accepting contributions. President Bush thanks those among America's youth who participated for their support."

I searched for the zip codes up to 0051. Who knows if there are any other ones floating out there.

Why I offered Sammy Sosa to pay the $24.95 to make his flickr account go pro

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:00:47 GMT

We like to elevate ourselves by looking down on Sammy Sosa, but he's just a big screw-up. The problem with Sammy is that he has no filter. He just blurts out things in desire for attention. And he does stupid things, like corking his bat and playing loud music. But he just wants attention and love. Poor Sammy Sosa.

He loves being loved. We all do. He's like some greek mythology god. A tragic character. Flawed, but thinks he's immortal.

Through the last few years I've come to appreciate Sammy Sosa. He's an entertaining character. He's provided us with lots of stories, and now a flickr account with many photos of him wearing a mustard-colored sweater.

However, his account is maxed out at 200 photos. Sammy hasn't paid the $24.95 to make his flickr account go pro! With a pro account he can have unlimited uploads! I offered Sammy to pay the $24.95 on one of his flickr photos:

I'm happy to see new photos on your flickr, Sammy. That's fantastic! Will you be upgrading your account to pro, so you can have more than 200 photos? I'm saddened to see your older photos become inaccessible. With Flickr Pro, you can upload as many photos as you wish. Just imagine what you could do with an unlimited number of photos.

If you would like, I'll be happy to buy you one year of being flickr pro. I can email you the activation code. I would be so honored to help your account become pro.

I really do hope Sammy will take me up on my offer. While he can certainly afford to pay the $24.95, it would be so rad to have one his fans help. Imagine being able to say "I paid to make sammy sosa's flickr account go pro, so he can post an unlimited amount of photos online!" The internet cannot have enough of his mustard-colored sweater.

How many artworks does it take for a series to become epic?

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:00:29 GMT

An art series gets epic when there are 100 items in the series. Do you have any art series that has more than 100 photos? I have one. My HDR photos of Chicago is currently up to 190 photos. Let's take a look at what I learned from reaching the 100 artwork milestone.

190 photos
Chicago HDR: 190 photos in one series is very pleasing. That makes for a nice volume of work.

Flexibility is gained through having that many pieces in a series. You can start making a book. You can also start picking out various strands with the series that would make a nice mini-collection. People love buying artwork in threes, and fives, so it looks nice on their wall. Having a large quantity of related work starts to give you flexibility with what you can mix and match.

Legitimacy with galleries gets established through demonstration of commitment. The amount of work shows you have the dedication to see the work through. When a gallery sells your work, they want to be assured that you will continue producing the work and not flake out.

Perfection of your craft will come with producing so many artworks within a theme. You'll explore the depths of that theme and make it grow. Your work will improve over time. It's worth dedicating yourself to a theme for over 100 items.

How do you get to the 100 mark milestone? Here are eight projects I'm currently working on, each has a different lesson to learn about art production.

60 photos
Plastic treasure chests: Every artist needs an art series they can come back to when the creative process is dry. This is my series. It's simple, quick, and touching. Since 2003 I've been dropping these treasure chests around Chicago and other cities. Lately I've started combining HDR photography with the documentation of these placements.

40 photos
Yellow gingko leaves on ___: Whenever an artist can quickly produce work in bulk, it's a good practice to knock artwork out. The gingko leaf series is super fast, because I load up on yellow gingko leaves and walk around a neighborhood. Anything that is yellow gets a leaf taped onto it and photographed. When I do a walk like this, It's easy to produce about 20 photos. This series is very likely to hit 100 sometime this year. All it takes is few more neighborhood walks.

37 photos
I like notes: If you can get other people to participate in your art series, that certainly helps the project to grow bigger. That was my hope with this project. I wanted other people to leave "I like ____" notes around town. But that never happened. Maybe it takes too much thought and effort to analyze your environment and then comment on what you specifically like.

A group effort is probably better suited to something like wheresgeorge.com where people just track dollar bill numbers. I could be wrong. If this project takes off, and other people start photographing their own "I like" notes, wow, that would be so fantastic. In the meantime to get the word out, I really need to pump this series up to 100 images.

19 photos
Drawings by me on windows: Waiting for windows to be foggy certainly limits the production on this one. Even if the windows are foggy, I need to have a seat next to the window. When I do get a seat and start drawing on the window, the riders usually find it entertaining. The bus drivers--not so much. I had one yell at me once. But that won't stop me!

13 photos
Alley giveaway: Giving away stuff to goodwill is fun and satisfying. You are helping someone else, plus you get to breath a little better with less stuff sitting around your living space. In the summer of 2011 I did a big reduction that resulted in this series. If you are putting stuff out in the alley or to goodwill, why not put a note on it? That makes it extra fun!

12 photos
Call to God: Whenever I travel, I look up the local soldiers who gave their lives for our country. Then I leave notes in various places in that town. It's a great series, and I encourage others to participate. I'm also looking to expand this series to general prayers left on sticky notes. During your commute, do you read? Maybe listen to headphones? Why not write down some prayers on a sticky note? And then leave the sticky note on the train or bus for someone to find.

7 photos
Get into the swing of: This particular series is fun as it combines both the art of photography and sculpture. At a nice park I'll sit down with some wire and craft a little figure. And then whatever nearby items get recycled into a swing. It brings me much joy to see the little figure on the swing enjoying his surroundings. The creation of this piece makes me enjoy area even more. I hope that people who find it will also have more appreciation for their parks. This one will be tough to hit 100, because the wire figures take some time to create and I always do them on location. So I can't just churn them out at home and plunk them around the park. Perhaps that's why I enjoy the surroundings that much more, because that is the very site of where the artwork was created.

2 photos
Origami made from Felix Gonzalez-Torres paper: Wouldn't it be cool to learn 100 different things to make with origami? I hope that happens with this project as I take a famous artist's artwork of a stack of paper and transform each sheet into an origami creation that gets left behind at the museum. This would entail 100 visits to the museum as well, a hefty goal. But wow, can you imagine the volume it would speak?

Do you have any art projects where the series has reached 100 items? Or maybe you have some projects that could reach that goal. If so, please let us know about your art series in the comments below.

16 reasons why free artwork should be given with every art museum ticket

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:00:02 GMT

(artwork by Chicago artists: Erik Maldre, Ginny Gaura, Carissa Rose, Kristina Gosh, Lynda A. Betz)

With admission prices rising at the Art Institute, this would be a great time for them to employ an extra incentive for people to come to the museum. A special bonus could be given with every ticket bought. Each person going into the Art Institute would receive a piece of art that is on a 2.5-inch by 3.5-inch piece of board.

Reasons why the Art Institute should give away a free Artist Trading Card with every admission:

People would love it. You are getting free art.
Artist Trading Cards (ATC, also known as ACEO: Art Cards, Editions and Originals) are already a thriving format with over 22,322 ACEOs and 21.496 sketch cards available right now on eBay.
Artwork of local chicago artists could be featured.
By featuring local artists, it reinforces that the Art Institute cares about Chicago.
The natural instinct is for people to collect these.
The Artist Trading Card program at the Art Institute would encourage people to come back more and more.
These items would start to become collectibles.
Since the Art Institute of Chicago is a world-renowned museum, these handouts have a legitimacy.
With the legitimacy, attractiveness, collectibility; these items would start to increase in value.
The cards would start to develop a market where some artist's cards are worth more than others. Over 40 sketch cards have sold over $500 in the past two months on eBay.
The Art Institute could employ random "hit" cards by famous artists. Imagine going to the Art Institute and having the possibility of getting a Damien Hirst card or a Jeff Koons card! As the program gets bigger and more popular, more famous artists will want to participate. How can an artist not want to participate? You get your art in a big museum. AND you are helping to get more people to attend art museums.
All the cards given away could be accessed in a website. That way, people can see the range of art being given away. The website will serve both as a promo to get people excited to go to the museum to get free art, but it will also serve as the central catalog of all the cards.
Every card can have a QR code that brings you to the webpage of that particular card. Information about the artist can be given on the webpage.
People can sign into the website, and add the cards they own. Each peron's page will proudly display all the cards they got.
A ranking system could be employed to feature top collectors of the Art Institute Artist Trading Cards.
As art is given away, people start to realize the fun of collecting art. Some Artist Trading Card collectors will also start to collect the larger pieces of artwork by their favorite artists.

With this program everyone wins. Visitors win. The art museum wins. The artists win. The galleries win. More value is created. The Art Institute of Chicago should start this program.

Art Institute of Chicago raises ticket prices in 2013

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:00:38 GMT

Starting February 1 the Art Institute is raising their admission prices as much as five dollars. With every ticket, a piece of artwork should be given away with every ticket.

Snaaaap. $23. I want some artwork! An artist trading card should be given away with every ticket. Brevki's work would be fun. It sells for under a dollar on ebay.

I am serious about this idea, here's 16 reasons why free artwork should be given with every art museum ticket.

Dark optimism or bright optimism?

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:00:32 GMT

It's weird how someone can call the phrase "Together, we're fucked" to be optimistic. It's a rather perverted look on optimism. Give Sarah Nardi's article a read, "Artist Joel Fisher chooses to see the bright side."

The artist claims he's focusing on the word "together" in "together we're fucked." Frankly, whichever word you emphasize in that phrase, it's still a negative phrase. Coupled with the artwork of a bunch of dead fish... Yeah, sure, the fish are together, but they are first and foremost dead fish.

Ok, maybe I'm taking a bad angle on this--which would be ironic, because I'm arguing for a true optimistic look--but when I saw the headline for this article in my Google Reader, I was excited for the potential of an artist who has an optimistic look on life. The author of this review makes a good point that you make due with what you have. And yes, we face reality of the circumstances, but the work is still a negative piece first, with a tinge of optimism within it. I would this work, dark optimism.

The artwork itself is a nice piece of art. Visually interesting. Message is interesting. I do like this piece. But I wouldn't call it a bright optimism.

A face came out of the wood

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:00:17 GMT

While waiting at the Randolph/Wabash CTA station, a face by my feet was staring at me! His tiny piercing eyes met mine as his gruff face with a heavy chin and wide thin lips spoke to me, "eerh, woodn't you know how board I am?"

To help my new friend have a platform for his thoughts, I bent over and asked if he wood like his picture taken. He grunted back, "if you are trained to do so."

I cleaned the junk off his face while he managed to cut a smile for his portrait. I turned my phone around to him, and he exclaimed, "you nailed it!"

Five fun ways to wrap a giant political statue with plastic and masking tape

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:00:09 GMT

The Art Institute is wrapping up Thomas Sch�tte's large statue, "Vater Staat." They should do something creative with the masking tape. Let's make some suggestions to the Art Institute of Chicago on how to better apply the masking tape.

To come up with ideas on how to apply the masking tape, let's first learn about this artwork. The caption for the statue reads,

The sculpture of Thomas Schutte mines both his own earlier work and the art of previous eras - particularly monumnetal and memorial genres - to address the burden of traumatic history. He is primarily concerned with human condition and the effect that contemporary political structure have on the lives of individulas. In Vater Staat [which translates as "Father State"] an imposing bronze statue towers over the viewer, immediately establishing a power dynamics within the space. The Patriarchal figure, representative of a totalitarian regime or state, is shrouded in a cloak that binds his arms, rendeing him helpless and immobile. Schutte selection of material, in this case, patinated bronze, allowed him to address the historical use of the figure as a staple of public art. Here, is in other works, the artist engaged in the tendency toward monumentality in order to subvert it - this figure is actually an antihero. (emphasis mine)

A couple ideas for the masking tape treatment:

1) Stitches
The masking tape could be a bunch of X's to make it look like stitches. This would further enhance the bound nature of the sculpture.

2) Bound like string
Encircle the statue with one continuous piece of masking tape. The continued delicate line could speak to the fragility of power dynamics. The fact the statue would be wrapped in the tape would push the bound nature even further.

3) A web of tape
Have the tape come off the statue and connect to neighboring walls. This would speak to how totalitarian regimes extend beyond their borders in limiting neighboring countries.

4) Smiley face
Apply the masking tape over the face to make a smile. A homage to Batman's Joker, but also reinforcing the subversive nature of the statue.

5) Fashion
Give the masking tape roll to a fashion design student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I bet he/she could come up with something really rad for this statue to wear. Maybe some military style lines along his shoulders. A couple masking tape pockets. Make that Vater Staat really rock!

How would you suggest to the Art Institute of Chicago of a better way to apply the masking tape around Thomas Sch�tte's large statue, "Vater Staat"?

4 must-see art shows at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013	Someone's plan to steal art from Art Institute of Chicago	Art made in art museums (13 projects)	Art Institute Lions for Christmas
Art Institute of Chicago's Annual Sock Sliding Competition	Requests for holograms of Art Institute sculptures	Art Institute reviews my art as "wild card"	A funny Art Institute flickr photo

Why flickr is better than instagram: Reason 1

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:20:19 GMT

You can search within your favorites on flickr. You can't do that on Instagram. For instance, I searched for "balloons" in my flickr favs, and I got these fun results. Try that, stupid Instagram!

Get a free flickr account now or Get a 2 year Flickr Pro account for $2 a month!

photo credits:

Balloon in a Summer Sky by incurable_hippie, on Flickr

Memorial Day Balloons by Jonathan Lurie, on Flickr

DSCF4027 by srhbth, on Flickr

201104midapril 264 by srhbth, on Flickr

Le Voyage des Ballons Multicolores by ClickFlashPhotos / Nicki Varkevisser, on Flickr

life is a balloon by Mattias Adolfsson, on Flickr

photo now called: "Spudart's Water Balloon Headquarters" By vivagirlco

balloonpants by iwuphoto

A website to help you achieve your goals in 2013

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:00:18 GMT

You know what is a great motivator to get your goals done for 2013? A community website called 43things.com. Add your goals to a list. Then you can write entries about your progress in each goal. There's thousands of people on this site, and many of them with the same goals as you will be writing as well.

Is writing about your goals too much? Then you can simply "cheer" other people's goals and entries. It's really fun hearing people accomplish things, and it gets you going to share where you are at too. It's most fun to have other friends on the site, so you can have people you know reading about your progress.

I have ten goals for 2013:
1. Take a class (124 people)
2. Start a webcomic (136 people)
3. Move my blog to drupal (1 person)
4. Learn origami (399 people)
5. Make the shelf-rock outside the entrance to the Tribune Tower into my own gallery every Tuesday (1 person)
6. Transform my cubicle into a gallery every month (1 person)
7. Make more magic sticks (1 person)
8. Make more figures on swings (1 person)
9. Make more HDR photos (1 person)
10. Make a photography book (68 people)

Some of my goals have many other people trying to achieve the same thing, which is fun. And I have some goals where it's just me, because they are rather specific. But I would be so happy if anyone would pick up any of my goals and do them with me. Who wants to make some magic sticks! You do!

If you join 43things or are already on the service, make sure to let me know! I'm user spudart on 43things.

The 50 most interesting photos of 2012

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:00:42 GMT

2012 saw most of my photos cropped to squares thanks to instagram. I also found that while browsing other people's photos on the Instagram app, I often didn't read the caption. I would only look at the photos. I started to write the caption directly on the photos. Sometimes I imagine what would happen if I had a gallery show of my photos and how the text on the images might make for an entertaining show. It's sorta like a combination of fine art (photography) with webcomics (punchline).

Most photos I take have some sort of thought behind them. I usually don't just take photos when things are pretty. To put words directly on the photos helps to push the thought further to my viewers. Go ahead and view the entire clickable list of the 50 most interesting photos of 2012 on flickr. I also give insight behind the top ten images of 2012, like just how did a photo of Makit & Backit become the #1 image of 2012?

And then check out the 75+ images inside the set, "Words written on images."

Making a living off a website that curates art

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:00:43 GMT

A big congratulations to local Chicago website, thisiscolossal.com. Christopher Jobson announced that his website of "art & visual ingenuity" is able to support his family full-time. The artwork featured on thisiscolossal is truly amazing and inspires me everytime I visit.

I truly recommend this site to all artists.

Photo technique secrets behind my ten most interesting photos of 2012

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:00:18 GMT

Flickr determines the most interesting images by a combination of views, comments, and favs. Here are my ten most interesting photos from 2012. Along with each photo I give one photo technique that helps make the image interesting.

Nostalgia with bright colors
#1. Christmas stained glass

My most interesting photo of 2012 is one of my last images of 2012. During Christmas I shot some Makit & Bakit ornaments at my parents house. This shot has several elements going for it:
-- The bright contrast
-- The nostaglia
-- Fun cartoon drawings
But mostly I think it's just the dramatic lighting... well, with the bright colors. When I initially was creating this image, I wanted to tone down the yellow temperature, but the colors lost their vibrance, so I kept it yellow.

This photo currently sits at #193 on Explore for December 27, 2012, meaning out of every single photo posted to flickr on that day, it's the the 193rd most popular on the site. Pretty cool considering I have only three other photos with a higher ranking. The highest ranking this photo got was #164.

Sunsets
#2. Sun setting on the Lincoln Square arches

Sunset shots are always popular. This is a classic setting of my neighborhood with the Lincoln Square archway and Germantown architecture in the background. This is a scene I see everyday when I walk home. Although, the sun is not always setting. I especially like how a glare is seen on the "U" in "Square."

Compositional frames
#3. Wrigley Building between blooming trees

Fantastic fog, interacting with classic architecture, wonderful framing device with the beautiful blooming trees, excellent gray tonality. This photo has a lot of nice things happening. Makes sense that it would pull in at #3 for 2012. I personally would rather this be my number one photo. It's better than the previous two.

Snow as backdrop
#4. Having a swing with the snow

I'm very pleased that one of my artworks made it into the top four images of 2012. This wire guy on a string is part of an ongoing public art series called Get into the swing of." At a particular location outside, I'll sit down and bend a roll of wire into a figure and then find some available material nearby to create the bench of the swing. Along with some string, I'll tie the guy up and give him a little swing to enjoy the surrounding area. This particular swinging figure was installed at my favorite local park, Winnemac Park in July 2011. Everytime I visit the park I check to see if he's still there. Even in January 2012, he was still swinging with snow covering the landscape. What a trooper!

I especially like how the snow is covering the string so it tells the story that he was there even before the snow laid down. The little branch leaning over serves as a nice compositional element to highlight the figure. The snow also acts as a wonderful backdrop. Normally when I photograph this figure, there's lots of conflicting vegetation in the background that makes it a bit hard to see the figure. Here the snow makes him really sing. The horizon line in the background is also really elegant. Truly a fav of mine!

A truly extra bonus is that I took this photo the day I met my girlfriend. I went out for a run before we had our first date later that night.

Written messages
#5. You are meant for amazing things

While walking down the stairs from my train station, this delightful message greeted me and my fellow commuters. The evening hour made for nice dramatic lighting. The end of the stairs represents the end of the day. The message, "You are meant for amazing things" is a nice recap on the day. It makes you look forward to the next day.

The message is also very nicely framed on that concrete slab. Whomever wrote this message did a nice composition job fitting the words into the space and giving a variety of type treatments to the different words. It's like that concrete slab is a canvas onto which the author created their composition. The stairs and handrails also do a great job in the layout to point to the central message. The bricks in the background provide a nice texture to complement the other textures in this photo with the rusty metal stairs, the shiny metal handrails, the smooth concrete, and toothy chalk.

Color on white
#6. Butterfly on my walk

As flickr user MewDeep pointed out, "That fence has a lot of personality." Indeed it does. The caked-on white paint speaks to the age of the fence. This butterfly must have liked this fence a lot too, because it decided to spend some time posing on it. His wonderful colors pop out all the more because of the white background.

The Filterstorm iPhone app came in handy for this shot, because as with anything that is dark on top of a white background, the tones will be off in the exposure. I locally dodged the butterfly to bring out the details in his plumage. The stark sunshine also helped to bring out his details. Just look at how harsh his shadow is from the sun.

Tech twist
#7. I use my iPad mostly for taking notes on articles

This photo had some initial buzz on flickr when I first posted it. The top rating it got was as high as #159 for August 29, 2012. Pretty impressive that an image created for a blog post would be the 159th most popular image on flickr. I think it was popular because I took a popular tech device, the iPad, and showed a use that many people didn't realize you could do: writing notes on top of articles.

On my publishing blog I wrote about how I geek out with my iPad using it more to take notes on pdfs than other exciting things like playing video games or learning recipes in the kitchen. I truly like writing marginalia on my ipad. It saves so much paper and makes filing my articles so easy! Read more about geeking out with iPads at my blog post, Are you an egghead iPad user like me?

Detailed coverage, inside and out
#8. Inside Marilyn Monroe

Oh Marilyn, Marilyn. So proudly did she stand for a year in the popular Pioneer Court on Michigan Avenue. Thousands of tourists stood next to her snapping photos. Then one day she got dismantled. Before people were able to look up her skirt, but now they were able to look up inside her!

These are all screenshots from a video I took giving you an private look inside Marilyn Monroe! Check her out at Secret look inside the Marilyn Monroe statue in Chicago. I literally crawl inside her in the video!

This particular photo collage works, because it shows so many unknown aspects of the Marilyn Monroe statue that hundreds of thousands of people were familiar with. All these different views are packed into one photo.

Simplicity in layout
#9. Jewelers Building

A good ol' dramatic shot of a classic building. It's amazing what an iPhone can capture. The duotone also helps heighten the drama, along with the focused square cropping. All the noise on the street level is eliminated. View the original, unaltered photo.

While this photo is nice, it's much better with the street level cut out. When the building is cropped, you get more of a sense of the building itself. With the sidewalk, the building becomes way too skewed and distorted. Crop your architecture photos closer, so people can get a sense of the building itself.

Drawing monsters on photos
#10. The plants on Michigan Avenue are monstrous

So fun that one of my drawing-on-photos made the top ten list. The setting sun helps to add to the life of the original photo. I walk by this planter quite frequently (almost every day) either going to lunch or on my way home. This particular day the plants struck me with how the light was sitting on the plants making them seem like a big huge monster. The overflowing and rising sweetpotato vines made this whole installation quite monstrous.

Photographing this beast from a lower angle helped to give it a more ominous feel. I took several shots with various people walking by trying to strike the right cord of having people in the shot for scale, but to not have the people distract from the featured creature. The two people in the background give good context, but they don't overwhelm. In fact, it's funny how they are so oblivious to the supernatural personality sitting right in front of them!

I went through a couple revisions of the monster finally settling on this one. His robustness matches the heft of the round planter. The position of his horns are nice, because it makes reinforce the lower perspective of the photo. His mouth is so wide open, you want to jump inside. The dimensionality of his arms help to reinforce his rotund body.

The pink flowers add a nice touch to this big guy.

Wait! Are these ten not enough? There's 40 more! #11 - #50. To view all top 50 images, please check out: The 50 most interesting photos of 2012.

Most interesting image of 2013

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:00:40 GMT

My most interesting photo so far in 2013 is an image of Campbell's chicken soup. Everyone this year is starting their 2013 with the flu. Not a very nice way to kick off the year! So it's rather fitting that my most interesting photo is an image that reflects this pandemic.

Hey, and you know what? This photo is not on instagram. Therefore, instagram does not have any right to own this image and use it whenever and whereever they wish. Starting tomorrow any photos on instagram will forever be under Instagram's ownership forever. Even if you delete your photos, Instagram still owns the right to use them any time they wish.

You don't want your photos to be forever owned by instagram? Then use flickr. It's way better.

The library of the future

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:26:39 GMT

The library of the future is indeed a curious place. Check out my blog post "A library with no books" where I talk about the mac domination, wall screens, DJ librarians, empty shelves, and guillotine doors.

Your question to the President of the United States

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:54:53 GMT

If you could ask the president anything, what would you ask? I have a few questions:
-- Is there a working telegraph machine in the White House?
-- Does the White House still have Rutherford B. Hayes� croquet set?
-- Why does the signature on the 2013 $1 bill look like a Hostess cupcake swirl?

The great thing about these questions is that you can actually mail them to the President at the White House. There's someone on staff that reads these. I decided to make my question more memorable by writing it on my own stationary emblazoned with a giant logo. Complete with an image of dirt on the backside of the letter, so when the letter is folded up in the envelope, it at first looks like a letter of dirt. But when you open the letter, you see a giant potato emerge from the soil. That's pretty memorable, right?

My plan is to continue to snail mail a letter to the White House every now and then. Every letter will have one simple question.

Do you have any questions you'd like me to add to the list?

Backs of famous baseball cards

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 10:00:27 GMT

Can you guess what famous baseball card this is? [Answer].

It would be fun to take the 45 most iconic baseball cards of all time and show just the backs of the cards.

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball cards:

Pairing: Graffiti and Staircase of Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:00:13 GMT

These two photos sitting next to each other on flickr make an interesting pair. I did a search on flickr for: chicago art. Normally i'm not a fan of boring standard graffiti. But the angles in standard graffiti rather mimic the angles in the MCA's staircase.

"Shred" by dogslobber

"Stairway, MCA, Chicago" by Robert Yanal

Critique of Dick Perez's Grover Alexander painting

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:00:53 GMT

Dick Perez. The official Baseball Hall of Fame artist of the 80s and 90s. I grew up collecting the Donruss cards featuring his "Diamond King" paintings with crazy backgrounds. I did my fair share of baseball portraits in grade school and high school, so in some ways Dick Perez has had a positive influence on me as an artist. (although I never copied his crazy background style).

Heralded in the baseball world as being one of the prime baseball artists, people bow down to the Dick Perez artistry. He currently self-published a book with his portrait work of baseball Hall of Famers that is selling for $200. Granted, it's a thick comprehensive thome. But wow. $200. For a book.

For a moment let's take a look at Dick Perez as an artist. Not as a sports artist. But simply as an artist.

Looking at Perez's work now makes me realize how it's often way extreme in the colors and skin tones. His work can often be overly dramatic in some areas, but then lacking in other areas. A recent example is how he makes this water cooler a larger hero than Grover Alexander. Just like any artist, you are gonna make some duds. My brother and I critiqued this painting by leaving comments on the flickr page. We are awaiting Dick Perez's response.

	spudart All hail Grover Alexander, the protector of the water cooler.
	unlikelymoose The brush strokes on Grover Alexander are among the best of Perez's work. There's a sculptural feel to their application. (Though Alexander's left hand lacks the same attention to the right hand.) I'd like to see more of the wall at the far right of the painting of which Alexander is leaning against. It would help add further depth to the painting without being just a slight sliver. I love the choice of subtle green behind Alexander that contrasts well with the red in his uniform. The choice and application of the water cooler saddens me. Firstly, why even include it? Perhaps its intent is to balance the painting. The painting has a strong dynamic appeal without the cooler. Having a simple muted green wall would serve as a nice contrast to Alexander. It would have allowed the painting to breath more. That open space would reflect Alexander's contemplative expression. Instead we are forced to deal with an obnoxiously bright (why yellow? It clashes with everything), clumsily painted water cooler with varying degrees of detail. It awkwardly competes for attention with Alexander which is incredibly unfortunate because of how well Alexander is painted.
	spudart I believe I have a reason why the water cooler is included. Allow me to explain: After reading a couple interviews with Dick Perez about his new incredible volume of work, "The Immortals," he strives to capture not just the history of the players, but their uniforms, the fans, the ballparks. The water cooler in this painting is representative of the water cooler technology at the time of Grover Alexander. A glass container with a strong metal basin. Much like Grover Alexander himself with a NL-leading 90 career shutouts. And perhaps the water bottle more than symbolic of the times. Wikipedia states about Alexander, "Always a drinker, Alexander hit the bottle particularly hard as a result of the physical and emotional injuries he sustained in the war - injuries that plagued him for the rest of his life. People often misinterpreted his seizure-related problems as drunkenness." Interesting that in this portrait he is seated next to a water bottle.
	spudart Unlikelymoose, you make a good point about the red and green complementary colors. It would seem that pairing should make Alexander be the primary subject of this painting. But that yellow water cooler is so intense, I would dare say this is a painting that primarily features the water cooler first, the ballplayer second. In terms of formal qualities, Alexander is serving as an accent to the water cooler. I bet every person that looks at this painting wonders, "when will that guy get a drink of water? Why doesn't he have any water in his hand right now? That water cooler is right there shouting for attention." Compositionally, even though Alexander takes up most of the frame, the water cooler still feels like it's more dominant. Here's part of the reason why: both Alexander and the water cooler are rooted on the ground. They both have equal status. Water cooler sits on ground. Alexander sits on ground. But notice who rises higher. Not the baseball player, he's slouching over. But the water cooler stands taller. In fact, it stands upright. Proud. The water demands your attention.
	spudart It would be way cool if Dick Perez responded to our comments.

If you have any additional comments about Dick Perez's portrait of Grover Alexander, please leave your thoughts in the comments on my blog. Or maybe even post a comment on the flickr page.

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball cards:

The crazy backgrounds of Donruss Diamond Kings

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 03:23:09 GMT

Warning! Crazy backgrounds! All these paintings were done in the 80s and early 90s by the official Baseball Hall of Fame artist, Dick Perez. One has to wonder what was going through Dick's mind when he created these backgrounds. He finishes up a portrait and now has to add a background. Perplexed what to add, he drops in a crazy geometric pattern. Or some squiggly lines. How about making it look like an Atari game?

These backgrounds should be made into sweaters.

I would like to see photos of Dick Perez's house in the 70s and 80s. I bet he had totally psychedelic wallpaper in every room.

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball cards:

www.GrocerySurvey.net $100 gift card

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 03:12:02 GMT

Get Dominick's receipt with it saying, "How was your shopping experience? Please share your thoughts online: www.grocerysurvey.net Enter to win a $100 gift card"

You can fill out a survey at let Dominick's know how your grocery trip was. Dude, and you will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a $100 gift card. We all have our opinions about grocery shopping. You can pour your heart and mind into a grocery survey on www.grocerysurvey.net. Here's some of the questions on the survey and how I answered them:

Do you have any comments or suggestions for improving our Produce department?
� To improve the produce department of Dominick's I'd like to see more innovations in produce. Take apples. That's a nice fruit. But often your apples are too big. I want smaller apples. Mini apples. Just look at Apple the company, they made the iPad mini. They made the iPod mini. Dominick's should make mini apples. Little bite-sized apples you can eat by the handful. Nom nom nom. I'd come back to the grocery store for that all the time!

Do you have any comments or suggestions for improving our Store Aisles?
� If you really want to improve the store aisles, you would have store employees roaming the aisles gently informing people when they incorrectly use their shopping cart. There have been too many times where people park their shopping cart right in the middle of the aisle. Hello. Shopping carts should be tucked out of the way of others. Better yet, you should always be close to your shopping cart in case you need to move it. Too many grocery customers violate simple courtesies such as this. I bet if you took a survey of grocery shoppers, you'll find that people find that shopping card misuse is quite prevalent.

Do you have any comments or suggestions for improving our checkout?
� Your self checkout machines are very sensitive to additional bags. Thankfully the Dominick's assistant was great. Many times you have to wait a few minutes for the assistant to allow you to continue if you add your own bag. But everytime the machine paused with my new bag, the assistant was right on it. Literally within five seconds. That assistant was like a self-checkout ninja! I didn't look over, but he/she must have been observing whenever I added a new bag and was anticipating my every move--just like what ninjas do! Observant, predicting the future, lightning fast.

I had a little fun with the mini apple answer. I aired some grievances with shopping cart behaviors. And I praised the employees with the self-checkout lanes. A nice mix.

Do you have any interesting experiences you'd like to share about Dominick's? Please share in the comments below.

4 must-see art shows at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:00:40 GMT

I'm really excited for the Art Institute's upcoming shows in 2013.

The Artist and the Poet
February 1, 2013�June 2, 2013
My girlfriend is a writer and I'm an artist. We shall happily go to this exhibit together.

Picasso and Chicago
February 20, 2013�May 12, 2013
The title sounds very interesting how it's not just a Picasso show but a show about Picasso and Chicago. I hope all of the 250 pieces relate to Picasso in Chicago. But I'm betting that it will be more like, "here's 250 Picasso artworks... oh yeah, and three of 'em are related to Chicago." Even if that's the case, I certainly welcome the opportunity to enjoy 250 Picasso works in one exhibit. UPDATE: after reading the full-length description, it seems this show's angle will be on chicago collectors of Picasso. Sometimes that can be interesting. We'll see how the tute plays this one.

They Seek a City: Chicago and the Art of Migration, 1910�1950
March 3, 2013�June 2, 2013
Another interesting title. My sister works at the National Archives, so it would be fun to see this show with her.

Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity
June 26, 2013�September 22, 2013
Not only is this a great show, but I hope some gallery or other art museum will do a complementary exhibit demonstrating how fashion of our day ties into art.

Check out the Art Institute's full list of upcoming exhibits and let me know which ones you would like to see.

2013-shaped glasses

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:55:12 GMT

2013 glasses photo by paul.hadsall via create commons license, dog photo by me

If I was around a dog, and if I was around a pair of 2013-shaped glasses, it would be a safe bet that the 2013-shaped glasses would end up on the dog.

Archiving interesting articles via PDF

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:00:15 GMT

I like archiving interesting articles by "printing" them as PDF files. Here's a cool four-part series "Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies."

All the interesting articles get put into a folder on my computer. When I share the article, I always use the original web link, but often an article is taken down, or the URL changes when a website gets updated, or the entire website gets taken down.

When article is unavailable, I will always have this backup of PDFs in my archive.

Where to find the stained glass Makit & Bakit Christmas DIY kits

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:53:22 GMT

You know those really cool stained glass things you can make? You drop little plastic pellets into a wire frame and then throw it into the oven and the plastic pellets melt. When the entire thing cools down, you take it out and you have a beautiful stained glass ornament. They are fun to make and the last for a long time.

My mom has a ton of these things. I want to get some for my niece and nephew, but what is the name? It's Makit & Bakit by Colorb�k. The trick is finding them online.

Joann only sells three: decorative bowls, kittens, and Saturn. Amazon has those, and a few more: unicorns and frogs. Some website (craftsuppliesforless.com) sold Christmas kits, but are now sold out.

The official manufacturer of Makit & Bakit is Colorb�k, and they have only two sets, flower and heart.

Etsy has a couple Christmas Makit & Bakit.

I suppose Colorb�k no longer makes Makit & Bakit kits for Christmas. Weird. I just contacted them asking that they produce these wonderful holiday stained glass ornamnts again. Here's my email:

I have been hearing from my friends and family that they want to purchase Christmas Makit & Bakit kits. I don't see any on your site. I would personally buy about 50 sets for everyone I know if you sold these kits. Please consider making these kits again. People love DIY projects. This is a simple kit that even small children can do. And they last forever. Just this past Christmas I was hanging up my mother's collection of about 30 different Christmas Makit & Bakit ornaments.

People want them. You should consider making them again.

Please consider contacting ColorB�k using their contact form. If they see the demand, they should make them again.

4x4 Scrabble tile

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:00:10 GMT

What's BBHA, EROG, EEPE, RWSD, TICA, IMEL, REDT, JSDO, AHII, VOEL, and ATTY? I don't think those words appear in the Scrabble dictionary. It would be rad if the words not only worked horizontally, but vertically too.

Here's a couple 4x4 crosswords that works:

M  A  K  E
A  R  E  A
T  I  P  S
E  D  I  T

C  O  D  E
O  V  E  R
N  E  A  R
E  N  D  S

(FYI, I didn't write those two crosswords. I got them from an iTunes app screenshot and Goobix.) These don't have a snappy theme like the Scrabble one. Is anyone able to make a 4x4 scrabble tile with a theme?

Death Star Librarian

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:00:38 GMT

I tweet as the librarian on the Death Star, @atourriten. Come follow me, I tweet very little with that account, so you won't get overload. Here's one of my favorite tweets:

I miss @the_management tweeting. He must be bogged down with administrative details of the Death Star. That or he got blown up.
— Atour Riten (@AtourRiten) December 5, 2012

(@the_management being that old guy in charge of the Death Star)

96 different ways of saying crazy

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:00:56 GMT

Ever call someone crazy in an IM or text? Perhaps you even get a little creative and call that person ker-azee. Now you can never run out of ways to call someone crazee with this list of 96 different spellings of crazy:

Alternate spellings
cray cray
ker-azee
crazee
crazies

Formatting
ȼяąƶ�
�ȑ��
ȼřąƶ�
ςŕά�ч
ČŘ�ŻЎ
�яαzу
ςгคzא
ČŔĂŹŶ
(r42y
ɔɹɐzʎ
ʎzɐɹɔ
ⓒⓡⓐⓩⓨ
ეΓმɀყ
ĊŖ�Ź�
cяαzү
cRaZy (alternate letters)
CrAzY (alternate letters staring with the first one)
c-r-a-z-y
c r a z y
CRAZY-CRAZY-CRAZY-CRAZY
ccrraazzyy
crzy

Converter
-.-. .-. .- --.. -.-- (morse code)
0110001101110010011000010111101001111001 (binary)
6372617a79 (Hex)
63 72 61 7a 79 (Hex Spaced)
63-72-61-7a-79 (Hex Dashed)
%63%72%61%7a%79 (Hex Encoded for URL)
azycray (pig latin)

Etymology
krasa (Old Norse for "shatter" c.1369)

Other languages
i �mendur (Albanian)
مجنون (Arabic)
խելագար (Armenian)
sərsəm (Azerbaijani)
вар'ят (Belarusian)
পাগল (Bengali)
луд (Bulgarian)
boig (Catalan)
疯狂的 (Chinese simplified)
瘋狂的 (Chinese traditional)
��len� (Czech)
gek (Dutch)
freneza (Esperanto)
hull (Estonian)
bangaw (Filipino)
hullu (Finnish)
fou (French)
tolo (Galician)
გიჟები (Georgian)
verr�ckt (German)
τρελός (Greek)
ઉશ્કેરાયેલું (Gujarati)
fou (Haitian Creole)
משוגע (Hebrew)
सनकी (Hindi)
őr�lt (Hungarian)
brj�la�ur (Icelandic)
gila (Indonesian)
d�sachtach (Irish)
pazzo (Italian)
クレイジー (Japanese)
ಕ್ರೇಜಿ (Kannada)
미친 (Korean)
rabidus (Latin)
traks (Latvian)
pami�ęs (Lithuanian)
луди (Macedonian)
gila (Malay)
gal (Norwegian)
دیوانه (Persian)
zwariowany (Polish)
louco (Portugese)
nebun (Romanian)
сумасшедший (Russian)
луд (Serbian)
�ialen� (Slovak)
loco (Spanish)
mambo (Swahili)
galen (Swedish)
வெறிபிடித்த (Tamil)
వెర్రియైన (Telugu)
บ้า (Thai)
�ılgın (Turkish)
божевільний (Ukrainian)
پاگل (Urdu)
đi�n (Vietnamese)
מעשוגע (Yiddish)

And if you'd like to use all these in one paragraph, here ya go. Go crazy:
cray cray, ker-azee, crazee, crazies, ȼяąƶ�, �ȑ��, ȼřąƶ�, ςŕά�ч, ČŘ�ŻЎ, �яαzу, ςгคzא, ČŔĂŹŶ, (r42y, ɔɹɐzʎ, ʎzɐɹɔ, ⓒⓡⓐⓩⓨ, ეΓმɀყ, ĊŖ�Ź�, cяαzү, cRaZy, CrAzY, c-r-a-z-y, c r a z y, CRAZY-CRAZY-CRAZY-CRAZY, ccrraazzyy, crzy, -.-. .-. .- --.. -.--, 0110001101110010011000010111101001111001, 6372617a79, 63 72 61 7a 79, 63-72-61-7a-79, %63%72%61%7a%79, azycray, krasa, i �mendur, مجنون, sərsəm, вар'ят, луд, boig, 疯狂的, 瘋狂的, ��len�, gek, freneza, hull, bangaw, hullu, fou, tolo, გიჟები, verr�ckt, τρελός, fou, משוגע, őr�lt, brj�la�ur, gila, d�sachtach, pazzo, クレイジー, 미친, rabidus, traks, pami�ęs, луди, gila, gal, دیوانه, zwariowany, louco, nebun, сумасшедший, луд, �ialen�, loco, mambo, galen, บ้า, �ılgın, божевільний, پاگل, đi�n, מעשוגע.

Do you have a way of saying "crazy?" If so, please leave a comment.

People watch the Muppets for the Muppets, not the humans

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:00:31 GMT

Comingsoon.net reports, Ricky Gervais in Talks to Lead The Muppets Sequel. I'm just happy that there is a Muppets sequel. Some of the people commenting on that page are saying how Ricky Gervais is box office poison.

But it doesn't matter what human is in the Muppets movie, because the Muppets movies are about the Muppets. Who goes to a Muppets movie because of the human actor? Nobody. And besides, there are so many other celebrities appearances in each of the movies, that who really cares about which human appears more than the other humans?

Kandinsky + Munch + Boss Ross + Yves Klein + a touch of Samurai =

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:00:51 GMT

Paint screams into your brush strokes. Kim Beom teaches us how to capture screaming in yellow paint. It sounds silly, but this is a captivating video to watch.

Five reasons why this video of a Korean artist painting screams is great. Yellow Scream by Kim Beom has:
-- Kandinsky's methodology.
-- Munch's expressionism.
-- Bob Ross's pedagogy.
-- Yves Klein's conceptuality.
-- Samurai's focused intensity.

Kandinsky's methodology
Russian Expressionist Wassily Kandinsky painted sounds, like "Contrasting Sounds" in 1924. He used color in a highly theoretical way associating tone with timbre (the sound's character), hue with pitch, and saturation with the volume of sound. He even claimed that when he saw color he heard music. (ibiblio)

Munch's expressionism
Everyone knows Edvard Munch's "The Scream" of 1893. Where Munch paints someone screaming, our Kim Beom paints the results of screams.

Bob Ross's pedagogy
All this screaming can easily frighten someone away from a 30-minute video. But not if you do it in a friendly Bob Ross manner. Kim makes painting screams so friendly, you get hooked. I have to admit, I watched about half of this video. I especially liked the 25:53 part of the video where he says the following lines:

Yellow symbolizes confusion and distress, but more generally, it symbolizes hope and joy.
You don't only scream when you're unhappy.
This time, we'll add some screams of joy.
Should we add a bit of orange to chrome yellow?
Just a little bit, and you get a vibrant, happy color.
Add a bit of linsseed oil, and draw in some pale lines here and there all over the canvas.
Paintings need happiness, too.

Yes. Paintings do need happiness.

Yves Klein's conceptuality
The whole performance aspect of this is very Yves Klein. In the 1959�62 performance piece, "Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility," he sold sold certificates of public empty spaces for gold. If the buyer tore up the certificate, he would toss the gold into the river.

Samurai's focused intensity
Imagine an American trying to do this painting. It would just be ridiculous. But Kim is able to focuse like a Samurai. But he doesn't lose the intensity. It's a perfect balance.

Kim Beom takes this emotional expression and combines it with a Kandinsky-like methodology and creates a Bob Ross inspired video. Kudos.

Do a Google image search for your first name

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:50:31 GMT

i like how when i google image "Matt" the three results for me are a Brewster Rockit comic, my bulletin board of baseball cards at work, and some iPad painting that I never knew I posted anywhere online.

Name changes: Willis, Macy's, U.S. Cellular

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:00:01 GMT

Don't call it Willis
Don't call it Macy's
Don't call it U.S. Cellular
But why?

Gapers Block sells a five-pack of "Don't call it that" buttons. The tagline is "Buttons for true Chicagoans."

To complement this pack, I would like for Gapers Block to release a button pack of "Do call it that." The buttons would say:
Do call it Willis
Do call it Macy's
Do call it The Cell

The tagline for these buttons would be, "Buttons for Chicagoans living in 2012."

I love Gapers Block. It's a fantastic website I visit every day. Gapers Block's love for Chicago is also evident in these buttons. However, I would like to present a case why we should call our Chicago institutions by their present names while paying respect to those who wish to use the original names.

I love me some history and I think I have a respect for history. But we also live in the present, so when a building's name changes I go along with that change. Macy's bought Marshall Fields. Yes, we love Marshall Fields. But Macy's owns it now, so if they want to be stupid and throw away this beloved brand, that's their business. It's a Macy's store now. All the products in there are sold by Macy's. It's Macy's. While it the memories and the building may remain Marshall Field's in our hearts, to continue to call that store Marshall Fields is to deny reality.

Skyscrapers changing names is another contested topic. It's kinda funny that we name skyscrapers in the first place. Does your house have a name? Your apartment? Nope. But our skyscrapers have a name. There's a certain unique affection we have for skyscrapers. "Yes, 100-story building, you are so cute and massive, that we will give you a name."

One of Chicago's pride and joy the formerly tallest building in the world, the Sears Tower. We have grown to love the name "Sears Tower." Ironically, we still called it Sears Tower even though Sears Company was no longer in the building. Then when the name changed, we refused to call it by its original name. When someone gets married, don't we honor the choice someone makes to change their last name? We should also honor the building's choice when it decides to change it's name.

Wait. The building itself didn't choose? Some company that owns the building made that choice? The public likes to think we own our skyscrapers. To a certain degree I agree that we own our skyline. But c'mon, are we so silly and stubborn that if an owner decides to change the name to make some bucks, that we can't just go along with it? Sears. Willis. Whatever. Just call it Willis. Or you can call it Sears. But just don't look down on people who call it Willis. That's the name on the outside of the building now.

And our ballparks. Even more loved than our skyscrapers is our sports teams. We watch our beloved sports teams on tv for hundreds of hours. We spend time in our ballparks with family and friends. Even though we have strong emotional attachments to a location, someone else still determines the name.

Comiskey Park is now US Cellular Field. It's weird. It's different. But in this case it's actually fitting to rename the ballpark, because it should have never been named Comiskey in the first place. The new Comiskey is an imposter of the original stadium. It's not a revamped stadium. It's not even a stadium standing in the same spot. It's a different stadium. It shouldn't have the same name.

Although one could use the argument that babies are named after someone else in the family. So why not also name the younger ballpark next door as Comiskey? But in 2003 U.S. Cellular bought the naming rights at $68 million over 20 years.

Maybe part of the problem is that we confuse official names with nicknames. Someone can never declare their own nickname. A nickname is always made up by friends and through use, it sticks. I believe we use the same logic for our institutions in Chicago. We love them so dearly, we think of them as nicknames, not official names. But these institutions have official names. We should honor their official name. You can continue to use your own nickname, but don't get all upset when someone uses the official name.

At some point Wrigley Field's name might be sold and when it does, that will be like a new marriage contract. So I will honor the new name. Because that's what it is.

In high school one of my best friends was named Robert Frey, also known as Rob. I knew him as Rob. We ended up going to different colleges and whenever I saw him, I called him Rob. But in college he hated that name Rob. He wanted to be called Bob. While it was very strange to me, I forced myself to change and call him Bob. That is his official name to be called now. Bob. And that's how I view name changes for stores, skyscrapers, and ballparks. When they want to be named something else, that's what I call them.

Special number days with receipts timestamped 07/08/09, 01/11/10, 08/09/10, 11/11/11, 12/12/12

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:12:12 GMT

When the numbers in the current day make an interesting combination, it's always neat to acknowledge that day. For instance, July 8, 2009 is 07/08/09. It's fun to get a memoir recording that unique date, because it happens only once! And how do you capture a once-in-a-lifetime date? With a printed register receipt!

If you were getting a register receipt to capture that day's numbers, where would you try to go? I like to go to the the Dunkin Donuts by the Trump Tower because it fulfills the four-part strategy of getting a receipt with an exact timestamp:

1)The location should be not busy
Since you are trying to get a receipt with an exact timestamp, you can't be waiting in line while some dunderhead is trying to decide what to get. You need to be able to walk right up to the register at the exact right time.

2) Friendly cashiers
You need to have the cashiers on your side, because you will need their help. Introduce yourself to the cashier a few minutes before the time strikes. If the time on his/her register is off a little bit, you can adjust when you order. Having the cashier on your side will not only help you with this time adjustment, but it will bring some fun to his/her day as well.

I like to imagine that when the cashier goes home, he/she tells their family or friends about this goofball who came in that day to get a receipt with 01/01/01 01:01:01. Then I like to imagine the family and friends respond with, "oh of course! Today makes a fun number!"

3) Receipts with a good timestamp
Every receipt displays the timestamp differently. Examples of variation: Jul 8 09, 2009/07/08, July 8th, 2009. If the day you are going after is 07/08/09, it makes no sense in having the receipt say Jul 8 2009. You want it to say 07/08/09.

Having the seconds marked on the receipt makes an extra challenge to get the exact second. Pretty much anyone can get a receipt with the right minute stamped. But to get the very second? Now that's a JACKPOT.

4) Shape of the product
Dunkin's donuts come in two great shapes. The long john donut is like the shape of a 1. The regular donut is in the shape of a 0. Both are very fitting for numbers. For 11/11/11 I got a chocolate Long John that looks like a 1.

Can you think of any other place where their products come in the shapes of numbers? I guess french fries could be considered a bunch of 1s.

5) Cost of the product
A $1 price tag is a great number to go along with a special number day receipt.

Here's my collection of receipts with timestamps:

07/08/09 (at 12:34:42)

01/11/10 (at 11:11:18)

08/09/10 (at 11:11:11)

11/11/11 (at 11:11:20)

12/12/12 (at 12:12:18)

Gumspots of the sky

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:00:12 GMT

It was quite a challenge trying to re-photograph this pole at the exact same angle. The gumdrops on the sidewalk proved to be a great comparison device. Standing at the pole staring at my iPhone memorizing the exact location of the gumspots, I realized that the sidewalk gumspots are like the nighttime stars providing us with navigation through their consistency of location.

When I initially installed this sticky note in the morning, my photograph was from too low of an angle (probably because I was more concerned with the sticky note on the vertical plane, whereas the night before I was focused on the horizontal shadows on the horizontal plane).

In the future when I try to rephotograph a location, I will bring a print out of the earlier photo. Having the printed photo will make it much easier to navigate the exact location of where I need to be. In that way, printed photographs are like printed maps replacing the gumspots of the sky.

1960 Topps folded in half

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:00:18 GMT

Why would I be so excited to see a baseball card folded in half? Find out on my baseball blog: "Fold a baseball card to create excitement."

Can I speak Estonian?

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:00:54 GMT

Ma ei r��gi eesti m�lu. Ma ei oska eesti keelt l�bi Google Translate. Minu murre on Google Translate eesti keele murdeks. V�in r��kida iga t�� eesti Google Translate olemasolu. Minu v�ga s�nad siin on t�end selle vibu-alla-enne-mind asjaolu.

For those who want to read this in English.

Art Institute of Chicago's Annual Sock Sliding Competition

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 12:00:23 GMT

This photo makes me want to take off my shoes, run across the floor, and sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide. The Art Institute's new modern wing is nice. They should hold annual sock-sliding competitions. Maybe I'll start an unofficial one with a couple people. When the guards ask us what we are doing, I'll reply, "It's the Annual Sock Sliding Competition!" And then hand him a flyer and welcome him to join us.

photo by sandycaribou

Retiring ten numbers for one player

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:00:34 GMT

In the news highlights, I saw a Bulls player wearing what appeared to be number 23. Upon a closer look, his uniform number was revealed to be Marquis Teague wearing 25. Maybe the Bulls should retire all the numbers in the 20s.

The NHL lockout stops me from...

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:00:38 GMT

It's so much fun throwing things out a 14th floor window. The thing I find frustrating about the NHL lockout: it is prohibiting the possibility of me throwing paper out my 14th floor window again.

When the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, Chicago threw a celebration parade downtown. From my window at work I could see the celebration stage on the other side of the river. Ticker tape was falling from the sky on the other side of the river. People threw paper from their windows on the other side of the river.

I wanted to throw paper from my window, but I was on the wrong side of the river. But it was the Blackhawks celebrating their championship. Everyone was in a good mood. So yes, I did throw paper out my window too. Afterwards I even went outside to help clean it up.

Your intergalactic postal address

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:00:52 GMT

Would you like to know your intergalactic address of my desk at the Tribune Tower? I will tell you.

Matt Maldre
435 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 1400
Chicago, IL 60611-7551
USA, Earth, Solar System
Local Interstellar Cloud, Local Bubble
Orion�Cygnus Arm, MILKY WAY GALAXY

It's right by the Messier 36 of the Perseus Arm.

And you don't need to include North America in the address. That would be ridiculous to include the contintent. When mail is sent around planet earth, do we include "North America"? No. We do not. You know why? Because there is no North America Post Office. When your mail first arrives to planet Earth, it's the Earth Postal Workers that first sort it. They never hand it to a North America Post Office, because it doesn't exist. We only have Earth Postal Office, then USA Postal Office.

How many pieces of mail does our solar system post office get a day?
Answer: gazillions. That includes meteors. That's actually mail. Earthlings are yet to figure that out. Every meteor has a little itty bitty stamp on it.

What does mail look like on other planets?
Answer: I'm telling you. Meteors. Sheesh. How do you think stuff gets shipped around?

BUT IS THAT ALL???
Answer: Comets. Solar flares. Intergalatic email and postal mail are the same thing. You just need a intraconverttranslabot to convert the solar flares into physical form.

Where I want to take vacation

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:00:40 GMT

Some day I want to take a vacation at Messier 36 of the Perseus Arm. It contains no red Giants, but the luminosity of the brightest member is about 360 times that of the Sun.

28 degrees is not cold

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:00:51 GMT

I know people on other sub-zero-temperature planets who would love to have 28 degrees. When i tell them it's 28 degrees, they say, "snaaaaap. it's warm there!"

Which planets? Ones in our galaxy. I talk with the peeps over in the Butterfly Cluster of the Orian-Cygnus Arm. Aka the constellation of Scorpius.

Play music from a piece of paper

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 12:00:17 GMT

What if you could slide a scanner device across a sheet of paper and have it automatically play the sound? It would be much like a needle making sound from a record. But this would instead be on a piece of paper. Does something like this already exist?

This idea was inspired when I saw Hexanine's work for the Chicago AIGA.

Cute orangutan

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:00:46 GMT

When you google orangutan, look at the cute photo that shows up in the sidebar!

Who is the most urban superhero?

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:00:53 GMT

Which superhero is the most urban superhero? And I'm not just talking about the action just happens to take place in a city. I'm talking about a superhero who lives and breaths what it means to be in the city. Fighting crime in the alleys on the streets on the sidewalks.

First superhero I think of is Batman. He's dark. He's able to be one with the shadows of the city. But! Batman's residence is not in the city, right? He's in some mansion in the burbs. Or some rich part of the city. Batman might not make this list for the reason he doesn't live in the city. Please. If you are an urban superhero, you HAVE to live in the city. No commuters allowed.

Jedis. Yes. Jedis. Can you count Jedis as superheros? Of course you can. They have super powers. The Jedis have their central temple in the heart of of Coruscant, the most urban city in the universe (the entire planet is a city). And I believe I read the Jedi temple is the tallest building in Coruscant. But since Jedis spend most of their time battling on other planets, I wouldn't say they are urban.

Spider-man could be the most urban superhero. His very super-power takes advantage of the tall buildings in a city. Slinging webs from skyscraper to skyscraper to travel. Peter Parker lives in some apartment with his grandma.

Superman works in the city for the Daily Planet (or he used to), but he's sooo... Superman. When I think of Superman, I don't think of city. He always flies high above the city, removed from the buildings below.

Who else could be a top urban superhero?

Which good guy is darker than Batman?

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:14:24 GMT

Name one good-guy character who is more dark than Batman. There aren't any. My cousin Peter asks on his blog post, "Batman is a Creeper" why Batman has to be dark all the time. I agree. Let Batman have some fun.

Without anyone to take the dark crown away from Batman, he will continue to wallow in his darkness. There needs to be a dark good-guy character. I'm not saying it should be Batman. But it should be someone. And if there isn't anyone else to take that responsibility over, then Batman will continue to carry it on his shoulders.

Who in the comic book world can take that role over?

How do you pronounce GIF?

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:00:23 GMT

How do you pronounce the 2012 word of the year, GIF? I say it with a G. Not with a J. The creators of the word disagree, they say it's to be pronounced JIF. But that's stupid.

GIF stands for "graphics interface format" and "graphics is pronounced with a hard "g". Graphics is not pronounced "jraphics" If someone asks me what I do for a living, do I say, "I'm a jraphic designer"? No. I don't. Therefore we shouldn't pronounced GIF as JIF.

Let's take another tech term that starts with "gi," "gigabyte." We don't say "jigabyte." OMG. If anyone every said "jigabyte," that would sound so incredibly stupid. Yet people say JIF and sound stupid.

Here's other words that start with "Gi":
Gibson, Gig, Giggle, Glider, Gill, Gimmick, Gingko, Girdle, Girl, Give, Gizmo. The biggest convincer is Gift. It's got the exact same three letters at the start of the word. And how do we pronounce it? Gift. Not Jift.

For today, every time I type a word that starts with the letter "g" I will use the letter "j." Won't that just be joofy?

Trump Tower & Pacific Rim mashup

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:35:47 GMT

I would like to share a cool mashup that Cure4 made with my Trump Tower photo. It's cool seeing someone make something rad with your work.

Scoreboard watching or on-field watching

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:36:39 GMT

When at a sporting event, do you spend more time watching the video on the scoreboard or the field? It's tempting to watch the big screen, because it's able to zoom in on the action better. But then, what's the point of being at the stadium? I like watching live sports, because you can look at the things that happen off camera.

Last week I sat in the second to last row in Orlando watching the Magic play the Brooklyn Nets. The scoreboard was closer to me than the actual players. But I focused on watching the players battle under the hoop. You don't get to see all the pushing and shoving and battling for position on tv.

The only time I really focused on the scoreboard in Orlando was before the game. They had this thing called the oblivious cam. They would put the camera on someone who wasn't paying attention (eating, typing on cellphone, talking) and they had a timer counter at the bottom. It would count down the time that the person didn't realize they were on the oblivious cam. While it sounds silly. And it also sounds like they are suggesting that you have to always watch the scoreboard before the game. But it's fun to watch people totally oblivious to the fact that thousands of people are watching them do nothing.

I was so high up, that the light didn't shine on our seats, so it was so dark that the camera never showed us. So I guess I didn't really have to watch the oblivious cam. It certainly had this fear tactic that people had to watch it, otherwise they could be totally embarrassed.

$500 for one pack of baseball cards

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 04:15:55 GMT

Topps is selling packs of eight cards for $500. That's right. $500 for one pack of baseball cards. Here is my email to Topps:

Dear Topps, your Five Star cards will scare many people away from collecting any cards. This $500-per-pack is an image destroyer for your brand. You may reply with, "well, this is just one product among many products we offer. It simply caters to people who have high-end tastes."

However, things like $500-per-pack is what sticks in people's memories about your brand. It signals to regular collectors that this industry is no longer for them. It signals that baseball card collecting is only for those who can afford $500 for one pack of cards.

Topps, please seriously reconsider never offering a product like this again. It's disgusting and it turns off your regular collectors.

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball cards:

Sitting on the red carpet or sitting on the blue carpet?

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:11:02 GMT

Would you sit on the red carpet or the blue carpet? Richard Prouty wrote a blog post about an interesting performance artwork by Jonathan Horowitz.

Here's my thoughts:

Cool performance piece. Yeah, we do end up staring at a television, sitting in separate areas, but at least here people on one side are able to see people watching on the other side. It's sort of like the people on the other side are framing their visual field of what they are seeing. Seeing this context around the television set might be a good reminder to take what we think in context of what others are seeing.

Now what if some of the participants were sitting right on the edge of the carpet where red meets blue? They wouldn't see any of the television. Instead they would be engaging with each other. Perhaps there could be a whiteboard running perpendicular with the tv sets, so people "meeting in the middle" can discuss and generate real solutions.

How much Topps paid Shawon Dunston every year

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:04:23 GMT

1985	$250 	
1986	$250 	
1987	$575 	
1988	$500 	
1989	$500 	
1990	$500 	(+ $75 bonus)
1991	$500 	(+ $75 bonus)
1992	$500 	(+ $75 bonus)
1993	$500 	(+ $75 bonus)
1994	$500 	(+ $75 bonus)

Why did he get paid more in 1987? Maybe he got the $75 signing bonus as part of his main payment.

Source: ebay auction by Topps. I don't think Topps could ever become a paper-less company. Every single internal document they have can be sold for money.

Touch-screen voting on computers for president is a trip

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:32:40 GMT

If you are voting for president using the new touch-screen computers, give yourself some extra time. The computers use a six-step process that take about three times as long to vote.
1) Registration via pen and paper
2) Confirmation via computer tank
3) Voting on a touch screen
4) Touch screen confirmations
5) Paper printout confirmations
6) Am I done?

1) Registration via pen and paper

First you have to fill out a paper form with your name, address, and signature. Yes. Even though you are voting on a computer, the process starts with filling out a paper form. Ironic.

2) Confirmation via computer tank

You bring your paper form to the desk encased by blue-coated steel, about the size of a compact car. It's basically a mini tank. The person behind the tank's computer with huge vinyl buttons will attempt to type your name in and then will type it wrong and he/she will have to hit the "no" button about 20 times before it finally starts over. Gone are the days where you just show up and say your name and they look you up in the book of End Times. We now have the blue army tanks that tell us if you are allowed to vote.

3) Voting on a touch screen

Then the blue tank operator will finally hand you a card that looks like a transit card that you bring to the voting booth. You'll insert this transit card into the computer at a voting booth. Someone will come over and stress to you that you don't pull the card out when you are done voting. The card will eject itself. If you pull the card out prematurely, all your votes will be deleted, and you will have to start over.

Then you will vote and you'll go through 12 screens of choices. This part is fun. You can use either your finger to vote or the plastic stylus. I started using my finger, but then saw the stylus and tried that. I tell you what. It's fun wielding the stylus. I waved it around like a sword. Seriously. When I voted for Barack Obama, I pretended I was a in a fencing match and struck the winning blow.

OBAMA WINS!

4) Touch screen confirmations

Then when you are done voting with your mighty stylus-sword, the computer will present you with four screens summarizing your votes asking you to confirm each screen individually.

5) Paper printout confirmations

Then it will start printing a paper receipt, just like at the grocery store. Only you don't get to keep the paper receipt. It's encased behind glass. When it fills up one glassful of paper, it will ask you to confirm that the paper is correct. When you confirm, it will print another glassful of paper and then ask you to confirm. This happens four times with the paper confirmations.

You will wonder where the paper goes when it prints, because it never comes out. You'll look under the voting box thing, but you won't see paper coming out. It simply goes back into the machine.

6) Am I done?

Once you are all done, then the transit card will pop out on its own. You'll hand the card to the person who told you to not take out the card too early. He will ask you, "did you take the card out too early or did you wait?" You will say you waited. He will then take your transit card and hand you a piece of paper saying you voted.

And then you'll hear other people at other voting booths say, "I think i took my card out too early." And then the guy will say, "yes, you took your card out too early, and now we have to deduct you from the list, and make sure we subtract your vote from the tally, and start you all over again."

You will walk out laughing at these silly people that don't know how to operate a transit card. However, you will leave with a feeling that you never truly voted in the first place, because you never got to submit your paper ballot into a community box. Instead, your vote somehow remains in that little booth. You trust that somehow magically your vote got put into the bigger community pot.

They really need to rethink this computer voting. It's way inefficient. Fraught with all sorts of user error. And you never have the physical satisfaction of contributing your vote to a larger community box. Submitting your ballot into a box is a really important thing, and it's entirely missing from computer voting.

The fu-fu game, aka two-letter-double-word ga-ga

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:53:42 GMT

Today's fun game is to take the first two letters of a word and repeat it twice in a sentence.

Today is th-th. [Today is thursday.]
I am feeling ti-ti. [I am feeling tired.]
This cake is de-de. [This cake is delicious.]

If someone tells you that it's annoying, you can respond with:
"Dear person, the two-letter-double-word ga-ga is fu-fu. And when you said this is annoying, you have said, 'this is an-an.'" One of my favorites is if someone calls it dumb, it would be "that's du-du." Haha. du-du.

I like how this double two letter thing can be read to what it means, but it's also open to interpretation. Perhaps the presidential candidates should start implementing it in their answers.

The Free Art Machine by Chicago the Beautiful

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 03:29:45 GMT

A group called "Chicago the Beautiful" is producing thousands of of free art to distribute for the public. The name of the project is called "The Free Art Machine." There are plenty of ways to participate.

1) Be a part of their kickstarter
They reached their $8,000 goal with $22,074 pledged via kickstarter. But you can feel free to donate to their campaign and get some art mailed to you.

2) Submit photos to be in the project
Or you can upload your own photos to be part of the project. When there is a public art experiment in Chicago, I very much want to participate, so I submitted nine of my recent photos to be in The Free Art Machine.

3) Attend one of their events
Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 6:00pm is the Kickstarter Completion Party. More info at: facebook.com/events/218496801615285/

4) Follow online
facebook.com/ChicagoTheBeautiful
twitter.com/chithebeautiful
thefreeartmachine.tumblr.com

Here are the nine photos I submitted:

Calvin wants to know why girls are so weird

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:28:20 GMT

Ask any question to the "Ask a Librarian" and the Chicago Public Library will answer your question. I've done this about five times now, and even if they don't have a resource in their system, they will point you to another way to get your answer. Today I asked them the following question:

Do you have any books on why girls are so weird? My friend Calvin was asking this question today. Here's his full question: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/10/19

This is my goofiest question I've asked them yet. I hope they respond. Oh, btw for the record, I don't think girls are weird. They are wonderful.

Questions for Topps and Beckett Media

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:03:10 GMT

Do you think the #1 trading card manufacturer (topps) and the official trading card pricing experts (Beckett Media) would respond to you if you had questions for them?

I tweeted a different question every day for nine days to these experts and got zero responses. Granted, Beckett Media responds to no tweets. But @toppscards does reply to tweet questions. Of their 19,188 tweets; 61.3% of them are @replies. You'd think Topps would reply to some of my questions.

@beckettmedia I have your 2010 Baseball Card Price Guide. What do the 1st and 2nd columns of prices mean? Nowhere in the 800-page book does it explain.

Did overall values of baseball cards drop during and immediately after the 94 strike? @beckettmedia @toppscards

@toppscards Do you know of anyone that is offering a service to give cards and aged patina? (aka beat up cards to poor condition)

@beckettmedia Will you consider having your magazine covers go back to the elegant style of the late 80s early 90s? http://bit.ly/spud5679

@beckettmedia If get the autograph of Kosuke Fukudome's babysitter, would that be worth anything? #ihaveaconnection

@toppscards Has anyone ever done analysis of the percentage of types of poses in each year's Topps set? 2012 has lots of leaping photos

@toppscards When players sign "autograph issue" cards, do you allow the player to write inscriptions?

@toppscards Are there any books or blogs written by baseball autograph hounds?

@beckettmedia hey, you might want to grab @becketmedia, it's available. I almost tweeted to that handle.

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball cards:

Melting ewoks

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:05:24 GMT

The image of this ewok sketch card makes the ewok look like he's melting. I contacted the eBay seller with the following message:

Oh no! The ewok is melting! I don't have a question about this auction, I just wanted to make that funny comment. I see that the wiggly lines are from pulling the card off the scanner while it was still scanning. As the ewoks would say, "Ee chee wa maa!" That's ewokese for "oh my goodness!"

I like being able to bust out some ewokese.

Take a book, bring a book

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:20:21 GMT

Oh wow. This is so cool. A family in Oak Park set up their own little library in their front yard. I totally want to visit and contribute a book. If you were contributing a book to a "Take a book, bring a book" library such as this, what book(s) would you contribute?

I enjoy Incredible Change-Bots (by Jeffrey Brown) so much that I might go to my local book store, buy a copy and drop it off at the Weiss Library.

20 years of paper company acquisitions

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:00:43 GMT

Ahh, the days of paper companies. With the 20th anniversary of the UniSource paper show in Chicago, the AIGA is releasing several posters. One of the posters outlines all the paper company acquisitions in the past 20 years. It's a good way to get back into knowing what happened to all the brands we were familiar with. To read the text in this poster, view the full-size version.

UPDATE: This diagram is from 2009. Has anything new happened since 2009?

The new word for "sweet" is "savory"

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:23:10 GMT

Oh man, that's so sweet!

One year ago today, I declared on twitter that "the new word for 'sweet' is 'savory.'" Next time something really nice happens, don't say, "sweeeeet." Instead say "savory!" Try it right now! I'm sure you think this blog post is really savory. "Savory!" It's fun to say.

The new word for "sweet" is "savory."
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) October 2, 2011

Baseball teams that finished in second place in the most consecutive seasons

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:46:14 GMT

Imagine your favorite MLB team finishing in second place. Not too bad. You might even get a wild card chance. Now imagine if your team finishes in second place the next year. Kinda frustrating that you get so close, but no first place. Now imagine your team finishing in second place year after year. That's what the Red Sox did from 1998 to 2005. They finished in second place for eight consecutive seasons.

Here's a list of all the teams have finished in second place for four or more seasons in a row:
8 consecutive seasons 1998-2005 Red Sox
5 consecutive seasons 2002-2006 Astros
5 consecutive seasons 1965-1969 Giants
4 consecutive seasons 1996-1999 White Sox
4 consecutive seasons 1985-1988 Reds
4 consecutive seasons 1970-1973 Dodgers

White Sox fans are quiet in the upper deck

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 20:52:53 GMT

Going to a White Sox night game with one week left in the season, and the Sox 1.5 games from first place is an interesting experience. The fans were attentive to the game, but quiet. When they introduced a US Army solider in the 4th inning, he got more applause and people standing than when the White Sox tied up the score 1-1 in the 4th and 2-2 in the 5th.

Contrast that with the fan at Wrigley field who never looked at home plate the entire game. The last time I was inside Wrigley Field, we sat behind a guy a whose back was turned away from home plate towards his friends. He never looked at home plate the entire game. To try to get him to at least glance at home plate, my brother and I yelled things like, "I can't believe what Starlin Castro is doing at home plate!" "Did you see that strikeout at home plate! Wow!" Clearly he wasn't interested in baseball. But this fan was eating a giant pretzel. We thought maybe he would be interested in pretzel-related topics, so we yelled, "OMG there is a giant pretzel on home plate!" He didn't even flinch at us.

Despite many Cubs fans not paying attention, the ones who do watch the game cheer loudly when their team does well. Maybe because the Cubs fans don't have much to cheer about?

The Sox fans should have plenty to cheer about their team is in the playoffs, yet their fans sit quietly. I would dare say the Sox fans are extremely polite. Why would they be so quiet? With one week left in the season their team was 1.5 games out of first place. The temps were in the 60s, so it wasn't too cold. You would think that the fans who love their team and watch the play would cheer for them.

Aside from the lack of cheering, it was really nice to see the audience at the game be so racially diverse. Perhaps it helps having the ballpark be close to the part of the red line that would attact a wider range of fans. At Cubs games, it's mostly white surburban people and white young kids from Lakeview.

Even though I'm a white north-sider Cubs fan, I felt more at home with the racially diverse crowd. It makes me uneasy when a big event has everyone with the same ethnicity. It also made me more comfortable to be in the cheap-o upper deck seats. My friend got the tickets for free from Comcast. The original price of the seats were twenty to twenty-five dollars. Vendors outside the ballpark were selling upper deck seats for five bucks.

Five bucks. That's how much a game should cost. I liked being around people who didn't spend $100 a ticket. Even if they didn't cheer much for their team. But maybe that's even nice too, because they weren't being obnoxious.

I used to not like the Cell's upper deck, because they don't let you go down to the rest of the ballpark. But you know what? That's fine with me. I don't want to hang out with stupid people who pay too much for tickets. When you pay too much for tickets a few things happen. You want to over-live the experience. You over-cheer. You buy more food. Fans who pay a lot for tickets can be big spenders and they want to have the "full experience." I say that's the stupid wasteful experience. It's a ballgame. You don't have to hang on every single pitch like it's the end of your life. The team doesn't absolutely have to win. You don't have to always have three beers, a hot dog, pretzel, and nacho chips.

Sure there are things I don't like about the Cell. Tshirt cannons, fan cams while the game is happening (uh, shouldn't we be watching the game and not to see if we are featured on the big screen?), the White Sox, the ugly serif font on the roof of the visitors dugout. But I like the simplicity of the upper deck in the Cell.

Art on Track 2012 review

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:13:00 GMT

Take a CTA train, have six artist groups each decorate the interior of a car, let passengers ride the train for one night; you have the premise for "Art on Track" which has run one night a year for the past four or five years.

This year's set of cars had solid, focused themes.
-- A palm reader on a car with taxidermy animals
-- Theatre performances re-enacting true CTA stories
-- A giant Lite-Bright set
-- A live fashion shoot
-- Magnetic poetry with giant theatre marquee letters
-- Some other car I didn't go on.

Katie Waddell (an arts criticism student at the Art Institute) wrote an aspiring review of the show--aspiring in the sense that she wishes the show could have done more to not just transform the trains, but to transform the riders as well. Here's my response to Katie:

Wishing that the passengers would be transformed is a noble desire. I'm curious how you would go about doing this with a CTA car. I would argue that most of the cars in this year's Art on Track accomplish that.

Your observation of the "uncanny feeling of traveling to no particular destination" is reflected in the fortune teller's actions. The fortune teller tries to predict the future (aka destination) but it's really just a shot in the dark.

(photo by photoschmoto1)

The storytelling car (which you unfortunately missed) transformed my perceptions of riding the CTA. It made me realize how many CTA stories I have collected through personal experience. THat was definitely not a "plop" artwork that was just merely placed into a CTA car. The whole experience defined what it's like to ride in a CTA car and the very extremes of experiences that have happened to riders.

The Lite-Brite car had a section off to the side that was like sitting under a night sky. It transformed my view of riding on the CTA. When riding the train at night. we are riding under a night sky. We so rarely notice we are riding under the stars, because there are so few visible stars in the city. But having those stars inside the train transformed my reality that we do indeed have a connection to the universe, even when riding on the CTA train.

The fashion shoot car didn't so much transform myself, but only reaffirmed that often the CTA trains are like fashion runways. People walk up and down the aisle wearing the latest fashions showing off to other people.

The typography car was cute and novel. I'd have to agree with you, that this particular car didn't transform me as a rider. I felt like I was standing in front of a refrigerator doing Magnetic Poetry with a limited number of words/letters.

(photo by photoschmoto1)

I didn't ride in the front car, so I don't have anything to say about that one. The cars this year were much more crowded in years past and people didn't move around inside the cars as much. Probably because it was on the blue line this year making the doors open much less frequently. Often I felt rather caught on some cars for too long. While that's an interesting experience being forced to encounter and interact with the art longer than I normally would at a gallery, it was a bit much when there's tons of people crammed in with you.

Of course, this is part of the experience of Art on Track to be up close with other art participants. Even at a gallery opening that is jam-packed with people, you at least have the opportunity to move around freely and not be stuck inside a space. It sounds like I'm complaining. Maybe I am. But when it came time to get on the first (and my last) car, we opted to skip it, because we were already at Clark and Lake and didn't want to wait for the train to circle back around to our stop again.

I'll definitely go again next year, because the experiences on most of the cars were very interesting and in some cases rather transforming. This year's cars did a great job with focusing on a particular theme per car and really running with it. Other years there were some cars that just merely hung artwork inside the train. Here the cars were transformed and the participants--could be argued--were transformed as well.

Will the new Myspace succeed?

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:00:12 GMT

Can Myspace get people to come back and rejoin their network? Check out their video:

Josh Burns blogged, "The New Myspace", and this is my comment I left on his post:

I will personally always join any social media network to try it out. Now, the mass public... Myspace will not work unless if it's incredibly focused and different. Based on the video and their intro paragraph on new.Myspace.com, it looks like they aren't going to be all that focused.

Part of their intro says, "empowering people to express themselves however they want. So whether you�re a musician, photographer, filmmaker, designer or just a dedicated fan"

It has the inklings of maybe being different and focused. But if you are a network for for creatives, then say "we are a network for creatives." This sorta half-way, yeah, we are like a better facebook is not going to work.

I remember in 2005 when Facebook was just for colleges. I was jealous of how colleges got to have this nice clean interface, while the rest of the world had to deal with ugly Myspace customizations. It was still a challenge to getting all my late 20s/early 30s friends to join Myspace, because of the perception that it was for teens, because of all the bling.

Then when Facebook opened up to the non-college world in 2006, I knew that it was going to defeat Myspace. People thought I was crazy, because Myspace had such a foothold in social media. But it was still a challenge getting people in their 30s and above to join. Facebook with its clean serious interface would solve that. Facebook became the place where it was alright for anyone to join.

People hated Myspace cuz it was ugly. Cuz it was for teens. I really doubt that people will move back to Myspace, because we already spend too much time on Facebook. If Google couldn't get a ton of people to use Google Plus (and it's freakin Google), then there's no way Myspace will overcome the challenge to get people to rejoin their network of what was crap.

To overcome perceptions, Myspace needs to be incredibly focused. No halfway crap. Halfway doesn't explain things. They need to change people's minds. But they are such a huge corporate entity, there is no way they can do something so daring as to be so incredibly focused. It just can't happen.

If Myspace can give a more focused mission, then I hope they succeed. I always like an underdog story. I'm still rooting for Yahoo.

Pens and pencils now feel weird

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:29:00 GMT

Using a pen or a pencil feels weird to me now. I use a stylus on my iPad now more than I use pens and pencils. Will our children start to feel the same way? How do people use their iPads? Read more at "Are you an egghead iPad user like me?"

Apple, the forbidden fruit: Why Apple makes you wait in line

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:31:53 GMT

Apple purposely creates long lines for the iPhone. No duh. They've been doing this for years. Just now people are starting to realize this?

Just look at any day in the Apple store on Chicago's Michigan Avenue. They always underman their registers so there's always a moderate line to buy your stuff. Even though there are PLENTY of people working the floor.

What else do you expect from a company that knows how to manipulate image? As my brother told me over IM, "Apple feeds desire. Interesting how that relates to Eve in the Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit. The APPLE. There's even a bite in the Apple logo."

I would even argue that the people at the front of the line enjoy waiting in line. You are with a community of like-minded people. It's like going to a concert. You get to hang out with all these other people are fans like you. Waiting in line also makes you an �berfan. You get to brag about how you "toughed it out" to get your iPhone. It makes you hardcore. Rawr.

Everyone loves a good story to tell. Once someone gets their iPhone, they tell everyone about how they endured the line. You share the stories of the people you met in line. The word about the new Apple product spreads through this word of mouth.

It's the aura of Apple products. The shine of the apple. The desired status it holds within when you feast upon it. You know you want it.

Just be glad we don't have to wait in line for bread.

How baseball card magazines of my youth inspired my design career

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:00:36 GMT

Simplicity. Something covers of magazines today often lack. Multiple headlines cry for your attention alongside a primary photo. Editors hope one of the headlines will grab your attention while standing in line. You don't have to pick up the magazine to see its contents.

We've all gotten used to the shouting matches on magazine covers. But take a look at the simple magazine covers produced by Beckett in the late 1980s and early 1990s. All they feature is the name of the magazine and a photo of one baseball player. Perhaps a card of that player might be featured as well. Simple.

Growing up with these baseball card magazines, I would get excited when one of MY players graced the cover. If your player made the cover, it influenced card collectors everywhere that player is worth collecting. Now 20 years later, I realize these covers influenced more than my selection of whom to collect. The simplicity of these covers influenced me as designer today. I'm glad I was able to grow up adoring clean simple designs.

Thank you Beckett for being an influence in my design career. However, I'm greatly disappointed with the covers of the Beckett magazines of today. They suffer from cramming in tons of information. Odd, because Beckett isn't sold at the newsstand where readers need to see the contents of the magazine before picking it up.

It seems Beckett acknowledges that it's harder for kids to collect today's expensive cards with packs costing at least four dollars each. To reach out to the younger demographic, they try making the magazines less sophisticated and more "kid-friendly." What we end up with is a garbage-designed cover that looks like all the other magazines in the world. Nobody likes to see multiple headlines farted all over a photo. Just because that's a "magazine look" doesn't mean that it's a good design.

Beckett should go back to their tradition of stoic magazine covers that inspire the awe of both children and adults.

Facebook, Amazon, and Linkedin don't own their domains in Chinese

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:32:57 GMT

Chinese for "face book" is: 臉書 (according to google translate). If you go to 臉書.com, Chrome brings you to xn--rovv01d.com, which is an available domain.

"Amazon" in Chinese is: 亞馬遜. The 亞馬遜.com brings you to: xn--nlqs61nl3f.com (also available). "Linked in" is: 掛在. The 掛在.com gets you to xn--3dsp30a.com Available.

Weird. A webpage by hackerfactor explains some of it, but I don't really feel like reading it right now.

A printer organization + auto-replies = comedy of misuse

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:33:46 GMT

Oh the print publishing world, often they just don't understand the digital world. Lovers of paper and ink. I come from that world. From 1997-2007 half my job was designing for print and working with printing companies. The other half of my job was creating websites, emails, blogging, and working with social media. As a print designer I regularly received promotions from print companies. Ever since companies took to the internet in the late 90s, printers have tried to prove the value of print.

Lately they've been admitting they need to incorporate digital media into the print strategy and the results sometimes are quite funny. There's a printers show in Chicago called Graph EXPO 2012. I tweeted them asking if they will have anything about e-ink at their show.

Instead of a human response, I got an AUTOMATED @reply:

Lovely. Instead of answering my question, they just have a bot spewing off AUTOMATED responses. So I replied with:

And again, I didn't get a real response, instead now I got an an AUTOMATED DM:

I always get a kick out of print organizations that try to reinforce the value of print and how it's not dying. I agree with that. But it's just funny to see how they go about it. They try to give advice on social media and digital formats, but they always end up repeating the same basic advice. I was really hoping that this organization would be on the ball with e-ink technology, as that's a medium that is truly merging the print world with the digital world.

But instead I got all this garbage auto-replies, reinforcing how most printing companies just don't fully understand digital. I appreciate their efforts to use twitter. That's cool. If printmediacentr reads this blog post, I hope that at some point they give me a human response. Or perhaps they see twitter as like a printing press. You turn the machine on and treat it like a machine. But any good pressman would know that a printing press takes time and attention. There's nuances and subtleties to a press that require time and attention. If a printing company treats twitter like their press, then they should give twitter more personal attention.

I responded back to their impersonal DM with,

Maybe they don't know what e-ink is.

Baseball cards that are well-worn should sell for more than mint cards

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:00:11 GMT

Well-worn baseball cards are a beauty to behold. Just like old furniture, you want the worn-look to be kept. The agedness is a value. There's a certain art to getting a baseball card to be aged nicely. Why aren't worn baseball cards valued more?

Old baseball cards in mint condition are more rare making the supply low, therefore the demand becomes high. People go crazy for clean edges. A near-mint Honus Wagner card sold for $2.35 million. Later on it was discovered that someone trimmed the edges of the card to bring it a "better" condition.

But wrinkles and scuff marks on cards make each card unique. Therefore each aged card is extremely rare as there is only one like it in existence.

The logic behind the rarity of mint cards works only for old cards. What about recent cards? The great majority of baseball cards in the past 20 years are in mint condition. Nobody would ever dare to beat up an Alex Rodriguez rookie card. Mint cards for new cards are everywhere! Where are the poor condition cards for recent cards? There are none.

This makes me want to start a side-business that adds an aged look to recent baseball cards. Will the market come to value an aged card? Probably not.

For now I will accept that the baseball card industry makes extremely beat-up cards be valued less, because it makes collecting those cards easier on my pocket book. A 1960 Willie Mays card in decent condition can go for $50 to $120. But the one featured in this post sold for about $10 with shipping.

The trading card industry calls the condition of such aged cards "poor." Even the name for cards in aged condition implies its considered value. Poor. I call them unique, well-worn, experienced, and full of stories. Any card like this has a back story. "Oh I loved that card as a kid." "I had that card pinned up on my wall." "I used to carry that card around in my pocket." Those memories makes a well-worn card priceless.

Are book covers dead?

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 21:06:15 GMT

You rarely see a book cover on the Kindle. Every time you open a new book on the Kindle, it brings you to the first page, bypassing the cover. Does the cover serve a new fuction with eBooks?

Find out as I explore this topic on my publishing and syndication blog.

Six reasons why the Oak Park Public Library is awesome

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 11:00:54 GMT

The Oak Park Public Library has one of the best photo streams on flickr. This hand-picked selection of six photos proves to the world that the Oak Park Public Library truly has it going on!

Cakes for loan!
I want to check out a cake. I'd like to loan a piece of the rainbow. Thank you. How long do I get to have the slice on loan? Two weeks? I don't think I would need that much time. (Please note, they don't actually loan cakes. Although you can certainly ask!)

Milkjug igloos!
I wanna know if this milkjug igloo still in existence. Or did it melt away? I wonder what it's like to sit inside of it. Is there an echo? An echo of all former milk drinks?

Crazy book criminals
This guy is in some serious book trouble.

Fun interactive photo projects
I think the idea is that people stand in front of the green screen holding the sign. Take a photo of themselves. And then they email the photo to the library. The library then prints out the photo and puts it into one of the frames, replacing a previously blank green photo.

Sticky note projects!
Share the name of your favorite books. Choose a sticky note. Write (or draw or scribble) about a book. Stick it up!

Gerbils!
In the library!

Professional sports salaries influence our hurt economy

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 11:00:50 GMT

Maybe part of America's economic problems is related to the rising salaries of professional sports players. Their salaries are completely wacked. Thus high-level execs of companies feel like they should be making lots of money too. Thus the average worker gets screwed because executives take on higher salaries. It's not the complete cause, it's just an effect; but I'm betting it's an underestimated effect.

Thus I will now become a fan of whichever baseball team has the lowest salary. Let's see. Who is it? The San Diego Padres. I am now a Padres fan.

New York Yankees . . . . $197,962,289 
Philadelphia Phillies . .$174,538,938 
Boston Red Sox . . . . . $173,186,617 
Los Angeles Angels . . . $154,485,166 
Detroit Tigers . . . . . $132,300,000 
Texas Rangers . . . . .  $120,510,974 
Miami Marlins . . . . .  $118,078,000 
San Francisco Giants . . $117,620,683 
St. Louis Cardinals . . .$110,300,862 
Milwaukee Brewers . . . . $97,653,944 
Chicago White Sox . . . . $96,919,500 
Los Angeles Dodgers . . . $95,143,575 
Minnesota Twins . . . . . $94,085,000 
New York Mets . . . . . . $93,353,983 
Chicago Cubs . . . . . .  $88,197,033 
Atlanta Braves . . . . .  $83,309,942 
Cincinnati Reds . . . . . $82,203,616 
Seattle Mariners . . . . .$81,978,100 
Baltimore Orioles . . . . $81,428,999 
Washington Nationals . . .$81,336,143 
Cleveland Indians . . . . $78,430,300 
Colorado Rockies . . . . .$78,069,571 
Toronto Blue Jays . . . . $75,489,200 
Arizona Diamondbacks . . .$74,284,833 
Tampa Bay Rays . . . . .  $64,173,500 
Pittsburgh Pirates . . . .$63,431,999 
Kansas City Royals . . . .$60,916,225 
Houston Astros . . . . .  $60,651,000 
Oakland Athletics . . . . $55,372,500 
San Diego Padres . . . . .$55,244,700

* source: USATODAY Salaries Database

That also means in other sports I'm now a fan of the Washington Wizards, New York Islanders, and Chivas USA (soccer). Doesn't the NFL have a flat salary cap now? $120.6 million in 2012.

I will use this same salary system to decide who to root for when I watch the MLB playoffs in October.

Tortoise means animal of a sunless abyss

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:00:35 GMT

The word tortoise is quite a mystery.

Tortoise is a weird word. Tortoise. Tortoise. Just look at it. Tortoise. Tor-toise. It almost sounds dainty. But it's for a clunky turtle.

Etymonline.com doesn't reveal much:

1550s, altered (perhaps by influence of porpoise>) from Middle English tortuse> (late 15c.), tortuce> (mid-15c.), tortuge> (late 14c.), from M.L. tortuca> (mid-13c.), perhaps from L.L. tartaruchus> "of the underworld" (see turtle). Others propose a connection with L. tortus> "twisted," based on the shape of the feet. The classical Latin word was testudo>, from testa> "shell." First record of tortoise shell> as a coloring pattern is from 1782.

How about dictionary.com?

Origin:
1350�1400; variant of earlier (15th-century) tortuse, tortose, tortuce, Middle English tortuca < Medieval Latin tortūca, for Late Latin tartarūcha (feminine adj.) of Tartarus (< Greek tartaro�cha), the tortoise being regarded as an infernal animal; Medieval Latin form influenced by Latin tortus crooked, twisted

What is this Tartarus?
1. a sunless abyss, below Hades, in which Zeus imprisoned the Titans.
2. a place in Hades for the punishment of the wicked.

So basically the tortoise is the animal of a sunless abyss. Poor tortoise.

My desire to get a handful of Kobo pennies

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:00:10 GMT

One thousand Nigerian kobo pennies is worth six cents. Why is it so hard to be able to buy a handful of Nigerian kobos? They are worthless. A few years ago I expressed a desire to have a penny from every world currency. Wouldn't that rock?

For now I will focus on the Nigerian Kobo. At work we publish eBooks. There's an eBook reader called the Kobo. I think it would be hilarious to give each of my team members a kobo. (I made a funny blog post on my digital publishing blog about how 1,000 Kobos equals six cents.) There's an eBay auction is selling 18 Kobos for $0.99 with $4.99 shipping. That's way too much. For six bucks, I should be getting 100,000 of the coins!

Do you think i can email someone in Nigeria asking him to mail me one thousand kobos? It would be like a reverse spam email. Instead of someone in Nigeria asking me for money, I would be asking someone in Nigeria to mail me money. Someone over there has gotta do it. They are all about mailing money, right?

If you could live in Calendria, where would you live?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:00:26 GMT

There are 12 nations in the land of Calendria, one for each month of the year. Of which nation would you like to reside?

Janurria
Febrarian
Kingdom of March
Aprilaan
Maysia
Republic of Junistan
The Julh
Augustica
Septembrila
Octsburg
North Novembria
South Novembria
Decembreland

I would prefer to live in Januarria just north of the Intercalary Sea. Where would you live?

Secret behind Chicago's weather

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:00:08 GMT

All the weather we get comes from whatever Chicago's Mother Nature is making for dinner. On hot days, she forgot to turn the oven off. In winter, she eats only ice cream for dinner. Sometimes she spills when rinsing the vegetables, that's rain.

(and the secret behind winning $3,000 cash is through the wagcares.com survey receipt.)

Let's hear it for ALL CAPS!

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:00:58 GMT

I LOVE all caps, they are fun and expressional. ALL CAPS! YEAH! Check out these all cap all-stars:

Blog posts

Website addresses to adapt all caps and exclamation point features
It's so much fun to type the website address as ALL CAPS into a browser. I'm going to TWITTER.COM. By typing it in ALL CAPS it tells my browser that I'm totally serious about... Read more

Cuz sometimes somethings just gotta be in all caps
I got so excited that I started typing super geekd out talk in the "message to the seller" section--IN ALL CAPS... Read more

TYPINGINALLCAPSWITHNOSPACESISFUN
WHENYOUEMAILORINSTANTMESSAGESOMEONEMAKESUREYOUDONTUSEANYSPACESOR... Read more

Tweets

@rebelliousbird OH SNAP! I'VE BEEN OUSTED (oops all caps) as mayor of Pioneer Court!
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) August 5, 2010

THERE ARE THREE TANKS LINED UP ON WACKER DRIVE WITH SOLDIERS RUNNING PATTERNS. YES, THIS IS ALL CAPS!!! #transformers chicago
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) July 21, 2010

I'd like to see a last name officially spelled with all caps. It's already part-way done with McDonald and LaSalle. Just go all caps!
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) May 26, 2010

I TELL YA WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS FOR MORE THAN THREE MINUTES, PEOPLE GET PRETTY PEEVED
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) May 5, 2010

I think I just broke my own rule of using an all caps tweet just once a month.
https://twitter.com/spudart/status/5008236353

Quotes

"Chocolate chips are like all caps" -- Matt Maldre

Don't get jealous, instead get vicarious

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:00:43 GMT

Here I try to give a nice optimistic quote on quotesdaddy.com; and then in the related quotes, Albert Einstein butts in with his juvenile quote.

My quote: "Don't get jealous, instead get vicarious."
Einstein's quote: "If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants."

That Einstein. He's such a goofball.

Social Media Week, Chicago, September 24-28, 2012

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:00:29 GMT

Social Media Week is in Chicago (and 13 other cities worldwide) on September 24-28, 2012. It's full of great talks. Here's the ones I'm signed up for:

Tue, Sep 25 8am-10am
The Importance Of Targeted Audience For B2B Social Media
Hosted By Chicagoland Chamber Of Commerce At 200 E. Randolph Street, Suite 2200

Wed, Sep 26 9am-10am
Make Your Name Known: Personal Branding In The World Of Social Media
Hosted By CDW At CDW Plaza, 120 S. Riverside, Chicago, IL

Thu, Sep 27 8am-9:30am
Translating Your Personal Brand Digitally
Hosted By Chicagoland Chamber Of Commerce At 200 E. Randolph Street, Suite 2200

Let me know which events you are attending! More events are being added as the event submission deadline is September 5. Look back at the site for new events! I will be!

Control the path of the Mars Rover

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:00:45 GMT

Mars Pathfinder has a $3 stamp. How cool would that be to peel that rover off Mars and then mail it to someone? It would be like you are controlling the destination of the Mars rover.

Images of the newest artwork from Chicago art galleries and museums

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:00:18 GMT

I'd like there to be a website that collects images of all the artwork being shown in Chicago art museums and galleries. Here's the next best thing. A google image search for each of the gallery districts in Chicago. I broke them up into areas, because Google limits how long your search string can be.

South Loop Area / Michigan Avenue / River East Galleries
site:collettigallery.com OR site:donaldyoung.com OR site:elephantroomgallery.com OR site:hildtgalleries.com OR site:hilligossgalleries.com OR site:opgallery.com OR site:posterplus.com OR site:richardgraygallery.com OR site:rosenthalfineart.com OR site:spencerweisz.com OR site:valeriecarberry.com

River West Galleries (Part 1)
site:alankoppel.com OR site:andrewbaegallery.com OR site:annnathangallery.com OR site:belloclowndes.com OR site:edelmangallery.com OR site:dlg-gallery.com OR site:expressiongalleries.com OR site:gallerykh.com OR site:gruengalleries.com OR site:jackgallery.com OR OR site:jennifernorbackfineart.com OR site:josefglimergallery.com OR site:jsaslowgallery.com OR site:kassmeridian.com OR site:marxsaunders.com OR site:lydonfineart.com OR site:mayapolskygallery.com OR site:mongersongalleries.com OR site:perimetergallery.com OR site:portalsgallery.com OR site:printworkschicago.com OR site:richardnortongallery.com OR site:schneidergallerychicago.com OR site:stephendaitergallery.com OR site:valecraftgallery.com OR site:zggallery.com OR site:zollaliebermangallery.com OR site:zygmanvossgallery.com

River West Galleries (Part 2)
site:hammergallery.com OR site:addingtongallery.com OR site:architechgallery.com OR site:jeanalbano-artgallery.com OR site:royboydgallery.com OR site:bowmanart.com

West Loop / Pilsen Area / The Chicago Arts District Galleries
site:4artinc.com OR site:antenapilsen.com OR site:thearchitrouve.com OR site:secristgallery.com OR site:douglasdawson.com OR site:frederickbakerinc.com OR site:grnnamdigallery.com OR site:kasiakaygallery.com OR site:kavigupta.com OR site:lindawarrengallery.com OR site:marsgallery.com OR site:thomasmccormick.com OR site:moniquemeloche.com OR site:packergallery.com OR site:petermillergallery.com OR site:rhoffmangallery.com OR site:thomasrobertello.com OR site:westernexhibitions.com

North / Bucktown / Wicker Park Area Galleries
site:chicagoartsource.com OR site:dlg-gallery.com OR site:HavanaGallery.com OR site:madrongallery.com OR site:parkschreckgallery.com OR site:plattfineart.com OR site:thomasmastersgallery.com

Other Chicago Area Galleries
site:33collective.com OR site:aarongalleries.com OR site:armstrongfineart.com OR site:horschgallery.com OR site:prints-posters.com OR site:lalloronagallery.com OR site:morganartgallery.com OR site:rhlovegalleries.com OR site:thomasgathmangallery.com

Art Institute of Chicago
site:artic.edu

Chicago Art Museums minus artic.edu
site:chi-athenaeum.org OR site:museums.depaul.edu OR site:dusablemuseum.org OR site:luc.edu/luma OR site:mcachicago.org OR site:mocp.org OR site:nvvam.org OR site:oi.uchicago.edu/museum OR site:smartmuseum.uchicago.edu OR site:swedishamericanmuseum.org OR site:uima-chicago.org

Add one letter to the end of your last name

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 10:00:12 GMT

If you could add one letter to the end of your last name, what would it be? Here's how my last name would look:

Maldrea: Sounds like a continent!
Maldreb: An ameboa?
Maldrec: The rec center!
Maldred: Painting the town red.
Maldree: Double vowels rule.
Maldref: Safe! Wait no. Out! Wait no. Safe!
Maldreg: Let's be regular.
Maldreh
Maldrei
Maldrej
Maldrek: Sounds czechoslovakian
Maldrel
Maldrem
Maldren
Maldreo: Spanish!
Maldrep: I'm your rep
Maldreq
Maldrer
Maldres: Plurals are weird.
Maldret
Maldreu
Maldrev: Rev your engines!
Maldrew
Maldrex: OMG I'm a dinosaur. RAWR
Maldrey: Adding a y to the end of any word immediately makes it fun.
Maldrez: Hippin Hoppin.

How about it? What would YOUR last name look with an additional letter at the end?

Telling a story in one comic strip panel

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:00:37 GMT

That one panel where calvin throws the water balloon is brilliant. All the action summed up in one panel. Other comic strip artists would have put the "HEY SUSIE!!" in another panel. But here Watterson takes both actions--the before and after and puts it into one panel. In fact, it's three actions. The before (warning), the action (the throw), and the after (the impact)

And notice how susie doesn't appear before that panel. It's only in that one grand summed panel where she first appears. Brilliant.

Every library should have a duct tape roll for public use

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:00:04 GMT

Have you needed to use duct tape, but there's none on hand? Yeah. Local libraries should provide duct tape for people to use. Libraries are resourceful places with such great things. It only makes sense that libraries should have duct tape for people to use.

The duct tape could be on a dispenser roll much like how toilet paper is dispensed. Only the duct tape should NOT be provided in the bathroom. That's gross. I don't even want to think about why duct tape would be needed in the bathroom. Moving onward.

The information desk could provide the duct tape on a roll. Or maybe by whereever there are paper and pencils. Or perhaps by the printers. I tell ya, I would go the library to use their duct tape.

Least Valuable Player for every year

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:00:13 GMT

I want to make a baseball card collection of every season's Least Valuable Player. This list comes from High Heat Stats

Lowest Non-Pitcher WAR (Baseball-Reference Version) By Season:
2011 Adam Dunn -3.0
2010 Nate McLouth -2.8
2009 Yuniesky Betancourt -2.4
2008 Jeff Franceour, Mike Jacobs, Jacques Jones and Jeff Keppinger -1.9
2007 Jermaine Dye -1.9
2006 Angel Berroa -1.9
2005 Tony Womack -2.5
2004 Marlon Byrd -2.4
2003 Jose Macias -2.1
2002 Neifi Perez -2.4
2001 Peter Bergeron -2.1
2000 Michael Barrett and Alex Gonzalez -2.1
1999 Willie McGee -2.9
1998 John Mabry -2.2
1997 Jose Guillen -3.4 (Jose was 7th in Rookie of the Year voting this season)
1996 Mike Kingery -2.1
1995 Andujar Cedeno -2.4
1994 Kim Batiste -2.1
1993 Dave McCarty -2.9
1992 Billy Hatcher -2.9
1991 Hensley Meulens -2.5
1990 Alfredo Griffin -2.5
1989 Pat Tabler -2.5
1988 Andres Thomas -2.0
1987 Jeff Reed and Juan Beniquez -1.7

The most rad contact form ever

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:00:10 GMT

Take a look at this contact form by chocolate maker Askinosie. It's so cool.

And when you submit your letter, it stamps "DELIVERED" on it.

Nine countries had their Indedendence Day during the 2012 Olympics

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:00:54 GMT

Imagine your country celebrating their Independence day while the Olympics are happening. And then what if a country won a gold medal on their Independence day and had their flag raised with their national anthem playing? Here's how the countries performed with Independence days during the Olympics:

July 28 Peru
Zero medals

August 1 Dahomey
Did not participate

August 1 Switzerland
Two gold, two silver on August 4, 5, 8

August 5 Upper Volta
Did not participate

August 6 Bolivia
Zero medals

August 6 Jamaica
Four gold, four silver, four bronze on August 8, 9, 10, 11

August 7 Ivory Coast
Did not participate

August 9 Singapore
Two bronze on August 1 & 7

August 10 Ecuador
Zero medals

No country won a medal on their Independence day during the 2012 Olympics. You'd have to think if an athelete was performing on the during their country's independence, that they would really push harder to get gold. Or some sort of medal. Too bad it didn't happen.

Why is Google's spellcheck better than Chrome's spellcheck?

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:00:45 GMT

How do should "parathases" be corrected?

Chrome's spellcheck gave one suggestion: protheses. That is not the correct spelling.

Google.com correctly suggested: parentheses. Chrome is is made by Google. Shouldn't Chrome and google.com have the same spellcheck?

Wear your backpack with two shoulders, please

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:27:46 GMT

Columnist Kristyn Schiavone has a fun article about grown-up school bags. You should give it a read. She touches on some good issues:
-- Admitting when you overstuff your bag with too many things
-- If you buy a backpack go with leather as the material
-- A satchel's many benefits
-- The wonders of nylon and how to make nylon look good
-- Wearing your backpack with one strap on, not two--wait. What?

Why wearing your backpack with two shoulders is smart
I would debate on if a backpack on one shoulder looks more "sophisticated" than wearing it on both shoulders. Does it look more cool? Yes. But sophisticated is when someone is confident and smart in what they do. Wearing a backpack on both shoulders is the smarter option. People who do that earn my respect for looking less cool, thus they are sophisticated.

Wearing a backpack with both shoulders is like saying, "yeah, I have a backpack and I know how to use it." Wearing it on one shoulder says, "I have this backpack, but I don't like to admit I have a backpack, so I'm gonna kinda wear it on one shoulder." A parallel would be a dress shirt. When you wear a dress shirt, you tuck in the shirt tails. That's the function of a dress shirt. The tails are designed to be tucked in. If you don't want to be all dressy you leave the tails untucked. But that defeats the point of the tails on a dress shirt. A backpack has two straps for a reason. They go over each of your two shoulders.

Do you wear your backpack on one shoulder or two?

The best nine cards for this player

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:00:30 GMT

I'd like to see a blog where every post features the ten best baseball cards of a single player. Or maybe nine, so the blog can show them as a grid of 3x3. Baseball card pages also show nine cards at a time.

Names for the blog could be:
-- This Players Best Nine
-- This Players Best
-- Best Nine Cards

Each post would be written by someone who collects that player. That way you get people who know all a player's cards intimately. I don't think I could go and try to find all the best cards of Willie McGee. But take a Willie McGee fan, and he'll certainly be abe to pick out the nine best cards--and give his rationale for each card from a pure Willie McGee fan.

Having a guest author for each post would help to bring different opinions for why cards are nice. Most times it would be photo selection. But sometimes there are special versions of cards that highlight a player's achievement that makes it special, like Marlon Bryd's one time he was an All-Star.

Which players did you collect and what are their best nine cards?

Dear spellcheck

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:00:59 GMT

Last week I made a tweet that started with "dear spellcheck."

Dear spellcheck, can we just make up our minds if it's cancelled or canceled?
— Matt Maldre (@mattmaldre) August 1, 2012

This made me wonder how many tweets started with "dear spellcheck." There's only about 11 a week. So I subscribed to the search feed in google reader. I've enjoyed reading people's tweets to a non-existent robot about their spelling problems. At times I wanted to respond, so now I am the spellcheck. Read me tweet as @iamspellcheck on twitter.

Admit it. You are a misspellaholic. RT @whoaderrejason: Dear spell check, Sometimes I know what I wanna say & don't need your help
— I am spellcheck (@iamspellcheck) August 12, 2012

Every single Pantone color to get a name

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:00:33 GMT

It would be really cool to name every single Pantone color. All 1,677 of them. Better yet, why not have a website where people can submit their own names? Colorhexa has 746 color names. Colourlovers.com blows them out of the water with 5,719,829 user-named colors!

I would personally start the naming process by taking all the Crayon names and matching them with the Pantone color. Color-swatches.com lists all the Crayon color names.

I'd like to take a Pantone book and write a name for every color in the book. Each page of the book would get ripped out and hung up in a gallery. The Pantone Formula Guide has 7 colors a page, making it about 240 pages. The cost for a Pantone book is $135.00. That's about $0.56 per page.

Designers would LOVE it. There's a certain love-attachment designers have for the Pantone books, because it's THE THE THE ultimate color guide.

Other fun color factoids:
-- Color of the year for the past decade
-- In October 2007, X-Rite Inc, a supplier of color measurement instruments and software, purchased Pantone Inc for $180 million
-- I'd love to have one of those things where you and point the device at a color and it will give you all the specs--a colorimeter. I'd put it on all sorts of things.
-- My Colourlover profile

I got a receipt with almost all consecutive even numbers!

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:07:46 GMT

Earlier in the day I tweeted about thinking of trying to get a receipt with 8/10/12 14:16. But who has receipts with 24-hour time?

I should try to get a receipt timestamped 8/10/12 14:16
— Matt Maldre (@spudart) August 10, 2012

Without even thinking I went to the bank to get some laundry quarters. As she was plunking the rolls onto the counter, I exclaimed, "oh wow!" She must have thought I never saw that many quarters before. But then I showed her my receipt. "Look! It's consecutive even numbers--almost. Isn't that cool?"

She said, "oh my, that is pretty nice." And then she looked at her monitor and said, "oh my monitor is telling me you are one of our preferred customers and that I should introduce you to our manager."

Uhhh. Ok. The manager was standing next to her helping another customer. He reached out his hand and shook mine. I really felt like he was shaking my hand in congratulations for the awesome receipt I just scored.

And then on the same day, I got a fortune cooke with two fortunes!

Every citizen should wear a gold medal during the Olympics

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:57:06 GMT

(photo from bikesoup)

Let's say a country had a tradition during the Olympics where all their citizens wore gold medals to support their Olympic athletes. People wear baseball caps and tshirts of their favorite teams. Everyone should wear a gold medal during the Olympics. Everyone would be so uplifted wearing a gold medal around town. People would say to each other, "wow, you won the gold medal for standing properly on the train." "Wow you spit that gum really far! Gold medal!"

However once the Olympics are over and people stop wearing their gold medals. If there are a few people who continue to wear their gold medal, people might think they are the actual Olympic athlete who won the gold medal.

Or let's say a country's citizens doesn't wear gold medals during the Olympics. (Like any normal country). BUT after the olympics are done, you wear a replica medal around town. It would be so unusual that people would stop and ask you which sport you won your medal in. Srsly. If I saw someone wearing a gold medal on the train, I would think that person is an Olympic athlete.

Somoene's plan to steal art from Art Institute of Chicago

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:00:53 GMT

Artontrack and Sandy Caribou blogged about this hilarious letter mailed to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Arthur needs to check out my Art Institute Collection, "Stolen Artworks"

Make your own Lichtenstein with the DotBot generator from the Art institute of Chicago

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:00:08 GMT

Make your own Lichtenstein using the DotBot generator at roy.artic.edu. If you post your photo on the Art Institute of Chicago's Facebook timeline, they will put your photo into their DotBot Self-Portraits album. Most people just shoot themselves making a funny face.

One person made a Monet into a DotBot Lichtenstein. Very clever. Since the Art Institute is actually taking the time to look at these photos, I wanted to do something clever as well.

Since the the Art Institute of Chicago is making a point of how Roy Lichtenstein's drawings got translated into his paintings, I thought it would be interesting to take one of his photos and see how the DotBot translates it. I took a screenshot of the Ohh...Alright... drawing, and printed it out. And then I held it up to my webcam to make the DotBot. Here's what turned out:

I'd have to say that Roy Lichtenstein did a better job of translating his sketches into halftone patterns than DotBot. But the DotBot generator is a fun way to get people involved with art.

It's also rather rad seeing my submission appearing on the homepage of Art Institute's Facebook.

I love spongebob. I love potatoes. But please, don't ever get me this

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:00:15 GMT

Playskool Mr. Potato Head Spudbob Squarepants. The name is clever. Spudbob. But who in the world designed this mashup? They should have just simply kept the same Mr. Potato Head mold and just painted it yellow with some dots. The thing about Spongebob is that he can morph himself into any shape. He's a sponge.

Instead this thing looks like a half-sponge is trying to eat a potato. This is just wrong. Completely wrong.

Alternative Olympics ideas: art, poetry, classic toys, circus, pigeon, car racing, janitorial

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:50:55 GMT

I'm gonna miss the Olympics when they are over. There should be a two-week competition in something happening all the time. And there should be a channel dedicated to it all the time.

Ideas:
-- Two weeks of art competition
-- Two weeks of poetry competition
-- Two weeks of yo-yoing

It helps when there's lots of different types of things under one umbrella. For instance, it's not just two weeks of swimming (even though it seems like it), but there's 36 different categories of sports. With yo-yo'ing, there would have to be about 10 other things like it grouped together.

-- Classic toys competition: Yo-yo, ultimate frisbee, slip-n-slide, wiffle ball

-- Playground sports: The slide, the monkey bars, the spring horse, the sandbox

-- Circus competition: clowning, trapeze, canon, elephant riding

-- Pigeon sports: Pigeon races, pigeon fancier pageants, pigeon acrobatics

-- Car racing: Demolition derby, RC cars, slot car racing, jeep competitions)

-- Janitorial olympics: Toilet cleaning, hallway vaccuuming, garbage emptying. America takes home the gold in skyscraper window washing!!!

When the Olympics are over, what type of competition would you like to see?

Every baseball card should have its own QR code

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 09:00:56 GMT

Imagine displaying your entire physical baseball card collection online. But how? Manually searching and typing each baseball card? Too much work. Scanning in each baseball card? That's even more work! Googling each card to find an image?

There needs to be a solution to showing your baseball cards online. Enter QR codes. It would be cool if all baseball cards had a QR code on them so you can easily add them to your digital collection. Every single card in existence could have its own QR code. For instance, every Shawon Dunston 1991 Rifleman card would have its own QR code/serial number. Much like how every dollar bill has its own serial number.

These unique serial numbers could then be like a Where's George. You would then be able to track the ownership history of every single baseball card. The art world functions much like this with expensive workds of art. You can trace the history of ownership of each artwork.

Ok, so all the existing baseball cards do not have QR codes, so this wouldn't work. But Topps could start putting unique QR codes on all their cards starting in 2013. If the baseball card industry is looking for ways to innovate the industry and to grab collector attention, this is surely a fascinating idea.

Have you ever seen an entire year's worth of cards from one set online? I haven't. I imagine Topps frowns upon this, because they would think it deters people from collecting the real physical object. If I could have a webpage full of all the Shawon Dunston cards, why bother getting the actual object? I would argue the opposite. If I had a whole webpage full of the virtual objects, that would get me more engaged with baseball cards and would intice me to start collecting the actual real objects.

Plus, if each individual card had it's own serial number, then that would further the desire to have the actual object. Since the ownership is tracked, I would want to further trade my cards so that way I can get more deep into the historial ownership records.

Let's get QR codes on baseball cards!

Alien invasion forecasted by alienese characters in captcha form

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:00:56 GMT

An accidental release of alien characters in a captcha field show that aliens have already invaded our planet. They are among us and are getting ready to make themselves known and force their alien language upon us. This captcha form is just the start. Alien workers are certainly working on implementing alien language across the entire internet.

As evident by this screenshot showing both English and Alienese, it's comforting to know that they don't plan on completely wiping out English as a language. Instead, English and this alien language exist side-by-side. Perhaps this is a sign that the aliens are friendly and wish to integrate themselves into our culture instead of wiping our culture out.

But just so you know, get ready to learn the new alien language. Otherwise, you'll never be able to fill out a form again. The captcha will block you. It's smart for the aliens to start with captcha forms. If you don't learn alienese, you'll be crippled from submitting forms online. And if you can't submit an online form, what ELSE can you do?

Players picked for just one All-Star Game in his career

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:00:23 GMT

1,637 players have appeared in the MLB All-Star Game. 680 players were picked for just one game. Here's some highlights:

Kiki Cuyler: 1934
Randy Hundley: 1969
Lou Piniella: 1972
Manny Mota: 1973
Gary Matthews: 1979
Don Baylor: 1979
Steve Stone: 1980
Bill Buckner: 1981
Ron Kittle: 1983
Dave Dravecky: 1983
Vance Law: 1988
Mitch Williams: 1989
Bo Jackson: 1989
Bobby Thigpen: 1990
Ivan Calderon: 1991
Steve Avery: 1993
Heathcliff Slocumb: 1995
Hideo Nomo: 1995
Joey Cora: 1997
Jeromy Burnitz: 1999
Joe Girardi: 2000
Edgardo Alfonzo: 2000
Chan Ho Park: 2001
Ryan Klesko: 2001
Mark Prior: 2003
Geoff Jenkins: 2003
Geovany Soto: 2008
Kosuke Fukudome: 2008
Milton Bradley: 2008
Marlon Byrd: 2010

Who are you surprised to see in this list?

August 2012 new stamps in Maldre post office

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:00:33 GMT

Cherry Blossoms, choreographs, and bicycling joins the great selection of stamps that the Maldre post office offers. Need a unique stamp for a unique situation? I have over 30 different stamps at my desk.

What makes a great veggie burger

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:00:10 GMT

A vegetarian unknowingly eats an Angus burger because an order gets flipped at the table. Read Leigh Hanlon tell his humorous story, Amtrak made me love veggie burgers or you can even listen to him tell the story. It's under five minutes.

I outline five criteria for veggie burgers in my reply to his post:

What a great flip in circumstances. I'm glad you realized you were eating the veggie burger. Too bad the woman didn't realize that she was eating a meat burger. Assuming she's vegetarian, maybe if knew she was eating meat, it might make her realize how truly delicious meat is. Instead she's entranced in the fantasy world that it's possible to make a veggie burger taste just like the real thing.

But of course, we can't assume she's a vegetarian; because as we learned, it's not just vegetarians that order veggie burgers. Just as you are a fan of the veggie burger, I too, love veggie burgers. In fact, whenever I go out to eat, if there's a veggie burger on the menu, I order it. There's a great many variables in the veggie burger world that yield a wide range of veggie burgers.

1. Consistency:
Is it a just one mushy blend or does it have a chunky

2. Variety of ingredients:
If the previous criteria of homogenity was just one blend, you can't really tell the variety of ingredients. But if it's chunky, then having many different types of ingredients makes a great burger.

3. Loose or tight:
Does the burger fall apart as you eat it? Or is it well-packed together?

4. Taste:
This is mostly determined by the first three sets of criteria. Spices also come into play.

5. Toppings:
Are there different types of toppings apart from what you normally get on a hamburger?

I don't really have any criteria for how much a veggie burger tastes like a hamburger. In fact, a veggie burger should be able to retain it's own originality and personality. Let it's veggieness shine. Let it's range of possiblity come through.

The veggie burger has much potential. The best burgers are ones that have an entire garden in one burger. Not only in the patty, but also in the condiments included on the burger. Toss the old standard lettuce leaf and onions. One of my favorite toppings for a veggie burger is bacon. I get a great kick of irony ordering this combo at a restaurant. We put put vegetables on our meat patties. So why not put meat on our vegetable patties?

Twitter is currently down for . We expect to be back in .

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:38:01 GMT

Twitter is currently down. Here's what is on their homepage:

Twitter is currently down for <%= reason %>.
We expect to be back in <%= deadline %>.

I want to write my work emails like that. I plan to have this report done by <%= deadline %>.

A look at twitter's blog doesn't reveal anything. Their last post was July 19th. Today is July 26. They haven't posted in a week. Twitter can't stand to make at least one post a day? It's twitter. 400 million tweets are sent per day. And they can't make just one blog post a day?

Maybe their Facebook Page will have more updates. Nope. Posts from July 24, July 19, July 2, June 29, and June 26. That's four facebook updates in one month.

Maybe Twitter is somehow a small company? Nope. 900 employees. Weird.

Granted, there used to be days that twitter would go down about every other day. But in the past year twitter rarely goes down, so we have an expectation that the service will just work. When it does go down, we are left wondering why. Their blog or Facebook Page would be a good place to give some sort of explanation.

Autographed Rifleman 1991 Score cards

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:00:43 GMT

For a few months i've had an RSS feed for ebay auctions of rifleman autograph and rifleman signature, and i've had no results come from it. (the 1990 score rifleman cards)

Good designers create more than one version

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 09:00:48 GMT

It's amazing to me how people think graphic design is done with just one layout, and it's done. That's not true. Good graphic design will try different options. Graphic designers will always try different options to come to the best design. We just don't simply pull one design out of our butt to create something good.

Goodreader, the best PDF annotator app for the iPad and iPhone

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:00:25 GMT

I love the Goodreader app. I use it read PDFs and to take notes on PDFs. I've tried other PDF reader apps, and this is by far the best one. You can hand-write notes directly onto the PDF. You can add typed notes onto the PDF. It syncs with many services, including the popular Dropbox.

Below are the instructions on how to sync your Goodreader iPad app with your Dropbox account.

1. Create a Dropbox account

If you already have a Dropbox account, you can skip to "2. Set up PDF folders in Dropbox"

If you don't have a Dropbox account, please use this link to create a free dropbox account: http://db.tt/6BqJKDaa.
If you use this link, I will get extra space on my Dropbox. I will really appreciate it!

Dropbox will create a folder on your computer. Anything you put inside this folder will automatically sync with the cloud on Dropbox. So let's say you have a Dropbox folder on your computer at work. Inside this folder you can put all sorts of documents and other folders. Let's say you have a folder named "photos" inside the "Dropbox" folder. That entire "photos" folder will sync up with the cloud. Really handy!

And then if you install Dropbox at home, you'll also have a "Dropbox" folder on your computer at home. Everytime you start up your computer, it will automatically sync what's in the cloud with your computer at home. So that means your "photos" folder will always be in sync with your home, work, and the cloud. NICE!

2. Set up PDF folders in Dropbox

We are going to make folders in Dropbox for PDFs. These folders will sync to your Goodreader app.

There are two ways of structuring this.
1) You could make just one folder for all your PDFs. This is the easiest way to set up, because it's just one folder. But since it's just one folder, that means it's an extra tap to get to your files.
2) I like to have multiple folders set up for the different types of PDFs. But keep in mind, you can't just rename the main folders in Dropbox once they sync with Goodreader. If you rename the main folders, you'll have to reset them up in Goodreader to sync.

Here's how I have mine structured:

The folders highlighted in green are the ones I sync to Goodreader. The non-green folders don't sync to Goodreader.

Now keep in mind that all the sub-folders inside the green folders can be renamed. Goodreader will automatically sync the sub-folders. It's just these main green folders that have to keep their name.

3. Buy the Goodreader app

Goodreader is available for both the iPad and iPhone. They are separate apps, each $4.99. But so well worth it to have both.
Buy Goodreader for the iPad
Buy Goodreader for the iPhone

My tutorial below is for the iPad app.

4. Add your Dropbox server to Goodreader

In the "Connect to Servers" section on the right, tap "Add"

Select "Dropbox"

Give it a title. Something like "Jed's Dropbox"

You will now have your Dropbox set up under the "Connect to Servers" section. Tap on "Jed's Dropbox" and a window from Dropbox.com will pop up asking you to authenticate with your Dropbox username and password.

5. Pick which folders in your dropbox to sync

Tap on "Jed's Dropbox" in your "Connect to Servers" section. You'll see your list of folders in your Dropbox. We'll add one folder at a time.

Instead of tapping on the arrow by the Dropbox folder you want to tap on the name. Let's say you are going to sync the folder on your Dropbox called "Articles to read." Once you tap on the folder name, it will be highlighted in green. Then tap on the "Download" button at the bottom.

The next window that appears will show your folder structure in Goodreader. You want to put your folder at the base level, so just tap "Download folder here"

The window for the Goodreader folder structure will disappear and now you can click "close" on your Dropbox window.

You'll see that your "Articles to read" folder is now in your Goodreader.

Repeat this process for every folder you would like to sync with your Dropbox to Goodreader.

Here's what my Goodreader looks like:

6. Syncing your PDFs

Everytime I use Goodreader, I sync my Goodreader app with Dropbox. To perform this sync, go to the "Web Downloads" section on the right. Click "Sync" This will sync all your folders and documents.

Starting creativity: sticky notes

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:00:18 GMT

Caitlin of wanderlustings.com posted a wonderful list of creative stimulation exercises.

One of the things i find that helps me is to simply create. I spend so much time consuming, not enough time creating. I often make excuses for my consuming, saying I'm doing research for my project. But it's really just procrastination for me.

A favorite method of mine to get the creative ball rolling is to start small. I like carrying a sticky note pad around with me. It's small enough to not be intimidating. It's welcoming enough because of its familiarity. It's functional enough where the notes can be stuck around in different places.

Three language translators using your camera: Worldictionary, PicTranslator, Word Lens

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:00:40 GMT

Worldictionary
$3.99
4.5 stars (122 ratings)
The best app on this list, because it includes 22 languages for one price. No additional in-app purchases needed.
Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, Germany, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Indonesian and Romanian.

PicTranslator
$4.99
2.5 stars (291 ratings)
The additional in-app purchases for each language is $1.99. Nine languages available.
-- $3.99 All
-- $1.99 English
-- $1.99 Spanish
-- $1.99 French
-- $1.99 German
-- $1.99 Japanese
-- $1.99 Italian
-- $1.99 Russian
-- $1.99 Korean
-- $1.99 Chinese (Traditional)

word lens
Free
2.5 stars (2,772 ratings)
Even though the app is free, each language costs $4.99 as an in-app purchase. Only four languages available.
-- $4.99 English <--> Spanish
-- $4.99 English <--> French
-- $4.99 English <--> Italian

What to write for a congratulations note in a wedding card

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:00:39 GMT

Looking to write something unique in a wedding card? Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. You see it so often. But what does it really mean? At work a card was being passed around for a former coworker who is getting married. "Congratulations" appeared many times in people's wishes, so I looked it up on etymonline.com:

Congratulations
mid-15c., from L. congratulationem (nom. congratulatio), noun of action from pp. stem of congratulari "wish joy," from com- "together, with" (see com-) +gratulari "give thanks, show joy," from gratus "agreeable"

It's wonderful what "congratulations" means. Here's what I wrote in the wedding card:

Congratulations in the truest meaning of the word.
* Con/com- means "with, together"
* gratulair means "give thanks, show joy"
I know with both of you together much joy and thanks will be shown in your marriage.

Feel free to use it in your wedding cards.

Four cool kickstarter projects you can help fund

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:00:17 GMT

Yesterday my girlfriend put in the winning donation that got Tal & Acacia's kickstarter to their $12,000 goal for producing a new album.

Funding projects on Kickstarter is a lot of fun. You get to help people with their projects, and you receive great stuff in return. Musicians will send you albums, book publishers will send you a book, events will send you tickets, tech startups will send you their product.

I've funded 18 projects on Kickstarter (check out my profile). Here are four projects that end in July 2012.

Art on Track: The World's Largest Mobile Art Gallery
Art on Track transforms a 6-car CTA train into the worlds largest mobile art gallery.
This project will be funded on Sunday July 22, 9:59pm CDT.

Save the Historic Patio Theater!
Help save a classic 85 year old Chicago movie palace from closing by contributing to fund for a digital projector so it can stay open!
This project will be funded on Friday July 20, 8:00pm CDT.

Twig: the amazing ultra-portable cable for your iPhone
Twig is an ultra-portable cable for your iPhone. It has a bendable wire "skeleton" and three "legs". Bend it into tripod mode and more.
This project will be funded on Friday July 27, 4:23pm CDT.

Print on Fabric Using Sunlight: The Lumi Process
Analog meets digital with this textile printing process. Our new kits make it easy to do it yourself.
This project will be funded on Friday July 30, 1:59AM CDT.

Top 11 podcast recommendations

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:00:26 GMT

Looking for interesting podcasts?

My girlfriend was asking for podcast recommendations. Here's my list of podcasts that I listen to regularly. They are sorted by which ones I listen to first.

	ChicagoScope Podcast My friend Leigh's podcast. iTunes description: Audio and video podcast serving up news about Chicago and the Midwest. (5-60 minutes, random frequency)
	My Brother, My Brother And Me Most hilarious podcast of all time. Three brothers answer questions posted to Yahoo Answers. Warning: it can get kinda dirty sometimes. iTunes description: Free advice from three of the world's most qualified, most related experts: Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy. For one-half to three-quarters of an hour every Monday, we tell people how to live their lives, because we're obviously doing such a great job of it so far. (60 minutes, weekly)
	Wiretap from CBC Radio Little skits usually over the phone. The best ones are with Howard. He's hilarious. iTunes description: CBC Radio presents the WireTap podcast! Enter the world of Jonathan Goldstein. You wouldn't want to live there, but it's a hell of a place to visit. (25 minutes, weekly)
	Freakonomics Radio Always interesting. iTunes description: In their books "Freakonomics" and "SuperFreakonomics," Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner explore "the hidden side of everything," with stories about cheating schoolteachers, self-dealing real-estate agents, and crack-selling mama�s boys. The Freakonomics Radio podcast, hosted by Dubner, carries on that tradition with weekly episodes. Prepare to be enlightened, engaged, perhaps enraged, and definitely surprised. (weekly)
	Stuff You Should Know You can tell these guys have fun researching their topics. A couple smart guys talking about interesting things. iTunes description: How do geysers work? What about lightning? Join Josh and Chuck as they explore the Stuff You Should Know about the natural world in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com. (35-50 minutes, weekly)
	Relevant Podcast The beginning of the show is funny, especially the "slices" segment. I always skip over the interview in the middle and go to the "editorial question of the week." It's cool that they are all Christians. iTunes description: The RELEVANT Podcast features the creators of RELEVANT magazine discussing the stuff that matters to your life, with in-studio music performances and interviews thrown in for kicks. The weekly show is an off-shoot of RELEVANT magazine, which covers faith, culture and intentional living. (60 minutes, about 30 minutes if you skip the middle; weekly)
	This I Believe: Podcast Five-minute thoughtful sound bites on what's meaningful to people. iTunes description: People from all walks of life describe their personal philosophies in a brief essay. This podcast is taken from the award-winning public radio series This I Believe. More essays can be found at thisibelieve.org. (5 minutes, weekly)
	The Dinner Party Ever since they went to an hour-long format, it seems a bit stretched. It's still an ok podcast. More of a time-filler. iTunes description: The Dinner Party is a smart and funny public radio show about everything excellent in culture, from the company that brings you A Prairie Home Companion and Marketplace. Think NPR meets Vanity Fair. In each episode, hosts Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam talk with some of the world's most interesting celebrities, and along the way equip you with bad jokes, fresh drink recipes, hot food finds, odd news stories... and etiquette tips from the likes of Henry Rollins and Dick Cavett. It's all you need to get an edge in your weekend conversations. (51 minutes, weekly)
	This American Life This is such a standard in podcasts. I almost don't include it, because it's on EVERYBODY'S list. It's really well put together. However, the only thing is that it's an hour long. It's hard for me to listen to an hour-long podcast, unless if it's really REALLY entertaining like My Brother, My Brother, and Me. I personally could have this be cut down to half an hour. The podcast world would call me a blasphemer. iTunes description: Official free, weekly podcast of the award-winning radio show "This American Life." First-person stories and short fiction pieces that are touching, funny, and surprising. Hosted by Ira Glass, from WBEZ Chicago Public Media, and distributed by Public Radio International. In mp3 and updated Mondays. (60 minutes, weekly)
	Forcecast These guys are always upbeat and love Star Wars. There are some Star Wars podcasts where the people complain and are negative. Not here. This podcast is a couple hours long, so I only listen to it at home when I'm doing other things. But this podcast makes me a better Star Wars fan. iTunes description: ForceCast.net podcasts are the official podcasts of popular Star Wars websites TheForce.net and Rebelscum.com. Fast-paced, fun, and informative, the ForceCast�s lineup of shows offer the best in Star Wars news, commentary, interviews and more. Subscribe to this feed and you will receive all of our programming. Subscribe to individual shows at ForceCast.net. (roughly two hours, weekly)
	Radiolab Because this is so highly edited, I often find it difficult to listen to. They edit out any sort of gaps between speaking to make it sound faster, but it feels so artificial. It's a shame, because what they say can be interesting. I might have even unsubscribed from them for this reason. iTunes description: On Radiolab, science meets culture and information sounds like music. Each episode of Radiolab� is an investigation -- a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, Radiolab is produced by WNYC public radio. (about every other week)

Pomegranate the magical fruit

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:00:08 GMT

Author Marco Buscaglia asks on his Facebook wall why pomegranates are appearing everywhere.

Here's why: Pomegranate is the magical fruit. One day Pomegranate was sitting on its magical throne in the land of fruit. It waved its magical fruit wand, and now it appears everywhere. The magic of Pomegranate. Drink of the magical pomegranate juice, and you too shall reap a small portion of its magical powers.

New sizes for everything

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:00:25 GMT

Starbucks is able to make up their own names for sizes.
-- Trenta (916 mL)
-- Venti (591 mL)
-- Grande (473 mL)
-- Tall (354 mL)

I want to make up my own names for sizes.
-- Redonk (extra large)
-- Uuuuh (large)
-- Ok (medium)
-- Not enough (small)
-- WTF (fun size)

When you order a medium Pepsi, you'd say, "I'd like an Ok Pepsi."

My executive order: Use the metric system

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:00:34 GMT

Whenever we get a new president, it's tradition that they issue executive orders on their first day. Mine would be to force usage of the metric system.

Enterprise vs. SDF-1 vs. Imperial Star Destroyer

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:00:24 GMT

If you were to space travel, what ship would you want?

-- Star Trek's Enterprise
-- Robotech's Super Dimension Fortress One (SDF-1) Macross
-- Star Wars' Imperial I Class Star Destroyer

Is it gross to put an open yogurt back into the work fridge?

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:00:42 GMT

You open a yogurt, but then let it sit on your desk and it gets warm after 30 minutes. Is it gross to put it back into the work fridge to let it cool off?

Sparxmind said it's only gross if you forget about it. And what's more gross is if you come back and there's less yogurt in it.

Ew! You know what would be more gross? If you came back and there was MORE yogurt in it. You might ask, "how could that happen?" Let me tell you. The yogurt is alive and growing. It's yogurt. Active cultures. Once you peel that seal, that sucker comes back to life. You never see it coming to life, because the room temperature tempers it's growth. But if you put an unsealed yogurt into the fridge, it becomes a monster.

If planets were cars

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:42:12 GMT

The fastest planet in our solar system is Mercury, flying around the sun at 107,082 mph. Can you imagine having the windows open while driving at 107,082 mph?

Neptune is the Sunday driver of our solar system. 12,191mph. If you knock off the last three digits, it's equivalent to driving a car. With that method, Earth would be about 67 mph. Yup, that sounds about right for earthlings.

Jupiter is the big rig. Road hog. Huge. Chugging along at 29 mph. Saturn is a school bus. On the big side. Full of fun. Driving at a careful 21 mph. Uranus is a bicycle at 15 mph, always lifting it's butt off the seat.

Here's all the planet orbit speeds around the sun in miles per hour:
Mercury: 107,082 MPH
Venus: 78,350 MPH
Earth: 66,630 MPH
Mars: 54,000 MPH
Jupiter: 29,240 MPH
Saturn: 21,640 MPH
Uranus: 15,290 MPH
Neptune: 12,250 MPH
Pluto: 10,700 MPH

And yes, I am including Pluto as a planet. Go suck it you tightwad planetites.

2012 Homerun Derby Picks

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:38:11 GMT

My predictions for the 2012 Homerun Derby:

FIRST ROUND (8 players)
5 Carlos Gonzalez
5 Carlos Beltran
5 Prince Fielder
4 Robinson Cano
3 Joey Bautista
3 Mark Trumbo
3 Matt Kemp
2 Andrew McCutchen

SECOND ROUND (4 players)
12 Carlos Beltran
9 Carlos Gonzalez
8 Robinson Cano
8 Prince Fielder

FINAL (2 players)
3 Carlos Gonzalez (winner)
2 Carlos Beltran

TOTALS
17 Carlos Gonzalez
19 Carlos Beltran
13 Prince Fielder
12 Robinson Cano
3 Joey Bautista
3 Mark Trumbo
3 Matt Kemp
2 Andrew McCutchen

Funny fictional characters on twitter

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:05:10 GMT

Three funny fictional characters to follow on twitter are @darthvader @cobracommander @god_damn_batman

I have a twitter list of funny fictional characters at twitter.com/#!/mattmaldre/funny-fictionals/members. Do you have any suggestions for other funny fictional characters to follow?

Countdown to Back to the Future, October 21, 2015, 4:19pm

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:37:26 GMT

33 photos of Jumpluff: one of the weirdest Pokemons ever

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:00:20 GMT

From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pok�mon encyclopedia: Jumpluff can use its fluffy cotton spores to float through the air. These spores can control its flight even in the extremely high winds of a hurricane. Jumpluff drifts on seasonal winds and can use its cotton spores to masterfully maneuver itself around the globe. It will spread spores as it floats around to create offspring. Jumpluff descends to the ground if it encounters cold air currents while it is floating.

Crazy.

Chicago's noise limit for domestic music is 70 decibels

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:00:37 GMT

Have a neighbor that is playing music too loud? Stand outside their window, 10 feet from the source and measure the sound with decibel meter. 70 decibels is the limit. How loud is 70 decibels?
60 decibels is half as loud as 70 dB
60 dB: Conversation in restaurant, office, background music
60 dB: Air conditioning unit at 100 ft

70 decibels is the noise limit in Chicago
70 dB: Vacuum cleaner
70 dB: Hair dryer
76 dB: Freeway at 50 ft from pavement edge
77 dB: Passenger car at 65 mph at 25 ft away

80 decibels is 2 times as loud as 70 dB
80 dB: Garbage disposal
83 dB: Diesel train at 45 mph at 100 ft
84 dB: Diesel truck 40 mph at 50 ft
85 dB: Milling machine
88 dB: Food blender
88 dB: Propeller plane flyover at 1000 ft
89 dB: Car wash at 20 ft

There are 182 iOS decible apps in the iTunes store. The iPhone app with the best reviews is Decibel Meter Pro with 4.5 stars from 69 reviews. I bought and love it. Just $0.99.

If you'd like to export your decibel readings, then use the $3.99 app Decible Ultra Pro.

Or if you want to buy a physical decibel meter, I did some research on Amazon, and the best-ranked cost-efficient decibel meter is the Mini Digital Sound Level Meter

From the Municipal Code of Chicago, as of 2011: ARTICLE XXI. ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE AND VIBRATION CONTROL (pdf link)

$300 fine for first time violation:

11-4-2740 Remedies for violations.
"(a) Unless otherwise specifically provided, a violation of the provisions of this article is subject to a fine of $300.00 for a first offense, $500.00 for a second offense committed within a one-year period, and $1,000.00 for a third or subsequent offense committed within a one-year period."

Music cannot be louder than conversation at 100 feet away.

11-4-2800 Music and amplified sound.
"(a) No person on the public way shall employ any device or instrument that creates or amplifies sound, including but not limited to any loudspeaker, bullhorn, amplifier, public address system, musical instrument, radio or device that plays recorded music, to generate any sound, for the purpose of communication or entertainment, that is louder than average conversational level at a distance of 100 feet or more, measured vertically or horizontally, from the source."

70 decibel limit

11-4-2810 Mechanical stationary sources.
... "70 dB(A) when measured from a distance of 10 feet or more from the source. The place of measurement shall be from the nearest adjacent public way, or nearest adjacent property, whichever is closer to the source."

Hours are between 8pm and 8am

11-4-2900 Limitations on noise not otherwise addressed.
For any noise source not specifically addressed in Part B of this article, except where exempted or excluded by section 11-4-2920, the following general limitations shall apply:
(b) Between 8:00 P.M. and 8:00 A.M., no person shall generate any noise on any private open space that is louder than average conversational level at a distance of 100 feet or more, measured from the property line of the property from which the noise is being generated.

Are you more likely to go to a symphony or a modern art exhibit?

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:24:08 GMT

In a WBEZ interview about how techno music is like classical music, Mason Bates, composer-in-residence for both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony, gives an example of how people are afraid of the symphony. At minute 11:48 in the inteview he says,

"The primary problem is intimidation. I know so many people, you probably know people, who go to CRAZY modern art exhibits. They are absolutely THRILLED to wait in line at the MCA for something. But they'll say, 'I don't know about the symphony, because I really don't know anything about it.' And as soon as we just can change that, and have people know you just show up and just check something out, you'll have a great time. There are lots of different pieces from different of eras. I think then we'll get that tide flowing in a different."

Part of the problem with the "modern art crowd" not attending the symphony is that attending the symphony is an "event" whereas the modern art exhibit is a space. When people go to an event like the symphony, they feel like there has to be a certain air about how you dress, because it's an "event." There's a crowd of people around you that puts that peer pressure into effect. Everyone has to sit completely still. It's very stiff.

Whereas the art museum still has that feeling of of social pressure, it's a bit more loose in how people can behave.

You are free to roam the galleries. In symphonies you are constricted to your seat.
You are free to spend as much time as you want. In symphonies, you have to remain in the same spot.
You can talk in galleries. In symphonies, you must remain silent.
It's easier to advertise a gallery show. Include visuals of the artwork. With a symphony, you have to create a brand to represent the work. The brand can become overwhelming to people without the actual music to bring it back to earth. The visuals in a gallery advertisement help to balance the museum's brand. With a symphony's brand, it's all about high-class, high-quality.
It can be mad expensive to go to the symphony. Whereas the art museums typically have a free day every week.
Tickets sell out for symphonies. Rarely does a museum sell-out of tickets--only for blockbuster shows. But even if a blockbuster sells out, there's lots of other exhibits to be seen.

I love attending the Rush Hour music performances at St. James Cathedral. The mood is casual. It's free. You can just walk in without a ticket. I find both equally approachable, but points five and six are the ones that prohibit me from going to a symphony performance.

Hattip to Dubplate Dionysus for blogging about this interview.

What do you think? What's more welcoming? A modern art exhibit or the symphony?

People who follow you just to get more twitter followers

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:11:08 GMT

Someone follows you on twitter, and if they look like a normal real person, you might follow them back. That's what I generally do. Who knows? You might develop some sort of connection with that person. They offer the opportunity to follow each other on twitter, you enter that engagement with a follow.

You were so kind to follow them back, and then the person unfollows you.

Why? There could be many valid reasons why. Maybe they don't like your tweets. Maybe you tweet too much or too little. But often people just want to build their following list. It looks bad to be following thousands more people than who are following you. So they simply cycle through people.

In the past couple years I've followed back 338 people who followed me first. (179 with spudart, 159 with mattmaldre) Of those 338 people, 31 have unfollowed me. I'm not saying that all 31 participate in this follow-unfollow cycle, some may have just not liked my tweets. But here are those 31 people:

@Digital Doulos: We are Christian developers, designers and digital strategists leveraging technology to strengthen The Church and reach the world for Christ. Join us!

‏ @KDBLifestyle: Author of Doodle Lounge, come & meet and interact with people who aren't out to change the world but want to change their own world. http://www.doodlelounge.com

@kellyryanobrien: fashion-abled, culture investigator, rogue interrogator, and master of wordsmithness. Founder @chicagoblognet Fashion Director @Stylitics

@JeremySchreiber: Strategy development for sales force effectiveness.

@jasonyormark: SVP of Marketing & Social Media at Strategies 360. Mac Enthusiast, Little league coach, Amateur baseball player.

@sethjputnam: Magazine journalist who writes about unintended consequences. Editor of @themidwestyle. I say yes any time Ira Glass asks me for money. Z-O-U.

@dharmesh: Entrepreneur. Founder/CTO @HubSpot inbound marketing and startup blogger at OnStartups.com.

@katiesheadesign :#Mom, Founder/Designer Katie Shea Design, Creator of #REUSABLE Magnetic #Cupcake #Wrappers Designs #Couture #Roses All #Occassions #Events #NYC made in #USA

@Katlynkt47: Work at home. Dinner at music bar.

@shreddel: Chief ambassador at PoshPorts.com, on a global teaching and learning adventure. Obsessed with media, news, travel, art, music, food & wine. I love to laugh.

@laynepitcher: Marketing & Communications Manager for Silverwood Theme Park managing public relations, market research, web content, e-commerce and web analytics.

@studiosatellite: We're a studio filled with retouchers, designers, creatives, bloggers and just all around fun, smart people.

@SecondCityCEO: Co-Founder of & - Obsessed w/ helping spread entrepreneurship globally. Previously Co-founded InsuranceAgents.com (acquired by Bankrate).

@amandalynjones: figuring it out

‏ @SimonBoylan: Philosopher, writer, mystic, global citizen... Inspired by big ideas, the perpetual ingenuity of humanity and connection with like minds. http://simonboylan.com

@KristinScheel: Holistic Attorney, Mediator, Collaborative Lawyer, Peacemaker, Yoga Teacher. Healthly life, healthy earth enthusiast. Founder of The Turquoise House on Yale.

‏ @MindfulSpark: Tweets throughout the day to encourage you to develop mindfulness & foster value-based living. Complement to @habitspark.

@freshome: Design & Architecture Magazine. The best place to be inspired and take your creativity to the next level run by Micle Mihai

@iSocialMrkt: I love technology, helping people, and my nephews (age 2 and 4). I teach social media education online. Need Tips/Advice for social media? Just Ask!

@TheIndie: Encouraging the discovery of new music, indie music, and real music created by artists from all genres. Free downloads, MP3s, contests & tips. We do Indie 100%

@petenaotg: Lover of God, people, tech, & jokes. Follow me if you're into any of these :-)

@ilovepiccsy We love to discover, curate, catalog, and share images. Check out piccsy.com and blog.piccsy.com for the best images online.

@quiltsbyjess: Making the world more colorful, one stitch at a time. http://www.quiltsbyjess.etsy.com

@twisturthinking: Spare time: Astronaut/physicist/heart surgeon. Professionally: Founder/President of Twist. We help people think creatively to get to ideas and build communities

@PhotoArtQuotes: Art and Photography quotes to inspire your photography. Some from the famous, some from the not-so-famous.

@SunFlowrFineArt

@Art_of_Day: Art of Day features & promotes artists. Art,sculpture,painting,illustration,drawing,pastels,photography. The art of day revolving art tweets!(ArtofDay)

@pvaughter: Lover of Tech, Social Media, Conferences, Travel, Music, Sequins, @michiganstateu & Sunshine. Chicago transplant, now living in the Rockies. Betrothed to @tcar.

‏ @amyreich: Illustrator,licensed artist,textile designer,singer, yoga teacher, mama to toddler!

@MelissaGalt: Keynote Speaker|Marketing Consultant|Biz Coach|Lifestyle Expert|Interior Designer|Visionary|Adventurer|Romantic|Optimist|Giver| Single&Seeking|HUMAN

‏ @FleetFeetChgo: Here at Fleet Feet Sports, we consider it our mission to inspire people to run, walk - and most importantly - to be fit.

@DaveWaite: Creative director, logo designer, graphic designer, website designer, ad copywriter at Zookeeper, a brand design agency in LA.

@ArtistJamesDay: Sculptor & painter working in post cubism, abstract, & visionary realism sculpture

@MikeBrando: Graphic Artist

Sticky note desk and sticky note public art

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:00:06 GMT

This sticky note table is right up my alley. Sticky notes are so versatile. There are so many ways to use them.

I use them for public artwork. They are non-destructive and able to make a message. If a viewer likes the art so much, he/she can simply take the artwork off the place. Or if the property owner doesn't want artwork on their property, removal is super easy.

Sticky note art in public makes people happy because it encites thoughts, but isn't destructive.

From the I like series
Leaving notes on things that I like.

From the Alley giveaway series
When getting rid of stuff, I like to place it in my alley. People take stuff right away. And since I'm putting stuff in the alley, I might as well put a fun note on it for that extra surprise!

From the Call to God series
Prayers written on sticky notes, then place on public phones.

Origins of "FORGIVE" graffiti tag in Chicago

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:00:59 GMT

The hand-written tag "FORGIVE" has been appearing all over Chicago for the past three years. Who does these tags? What is the origin and meaning behind this work? I made a flickr gallery of the 11 earliest FORGIVE photos found on flickr, all taken from 2008 to 2009.

Two years ago someone in Ukrainian Village thought I was the one writing the "forgive" on the sidewalk. I was not the person. My FORGIVE story.

How many pieces of paper can you mail with one stamp?

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:00:20 GMT

Answer: 5 sheets
I previously thought it was 20 sheets, but I was misguided thinking you can mail 3.5 ounces with one stamp. But it's ONE ounce.

Here's how I figured it out:
500 sheets of paper = 5.3 pounds
5.3 pounds = 84.8 ounces
84.8 ounces / 500 sheets of = 0.1696
Each sheet of paper weighs 0.1696 ounces
1 ounces / 0.1696 ounces = 5.89623

Thus, you can get five sheets under the 1.0 ounce limit of first class mail with one stamp.

You can ignore the photos below, because they show me trying to stuff 20 sheets into one envelope.

The Chicago Tribune is 100 years older than my dad

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:19:47 GMT

Just as my dad turned 65 recently, the Chicago Tribune is turning 165.

Sorry, this is for Tribune employees only.

Byliner.com doesn't think bloggers are writers?

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 09:00:01 GMT

Byliner.com is a pretty cool site featuring short stories. I wanted to join and post some of my short stories from my blog. I have good stories, right?

However, on their "submit a link" page they say, "Byliner showcases new and classic feature articles, so no image or blog post links, please." Snaaaap. No love for the blogs. I understand they want quality writing on their site. And it's a lot easier to curate the submissions if they have already been vetted by another traditional publication. That's their niche, and I should respect it, but I can't help feeling left out (so please excuse the title of this blog post).

They should grab the domain bynobloggers.com and have it redirect to byliner.com. I would almost do it, but the joke isn't quite worth $8. Maybe I should create a kickstarter campaign to raise the $8 to reserve the domain for a year. Oh man. And then if I get $16, I could reserve it for TWO years.

Trader Joe's to be renamed RoboJoe's

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:00:19 GMT

Free samples at Trader Joe's are the best. The only thing I don't like about the free samples is the friendly banter you have to make with the free sample artist behind the counter.

On a Monday afternoon I picked up a free sample and free sample artist unintentionally acted like a robot. I picked up the paper cup containing Potato Cave Aged Blue Cheese Bake and said, "thank you." Expecting her to reply back gushing about the Potato Cave Aged Blue Cheese Bake, she instead looked straight forward and replied, "//YES// //THANK YOU// //HAVE// //A// //GOOD// //DAY//"

I selected some unusual items to put into my basket so I would have a topic to talk with the cashier. Milk chocolate covered potato chips sounds like a good cashier conversation. Except my Trader Joe's cashier didn't comment on my items.
They used to say, "Oh i've had this. This is really good."
Or "I haven't had this. Is this really good?"
Or "I haven't had this in a while. It's really good!"

What the eff is happening to Trader Joe's?! It's like they are all in the back drinking robot juice.

RoboJoe's. That's what i'm calling it from now on. "Hey. Wanna go to RoboJoe's?" They should play up the robot angle. Get more males in their 20s-30s. All the RoboJoe's employees can all walk around like robots. //CAN //I //HELP YOU //SELECT //SOME //FOOD?

Every hour on the 01 minute, they can halt what they are doing and perform the robot dance for 11 seconds. All the customers will laugh. People will either purposely go to RoboJoe's at x:01 on the hour, or they will avoid it. Those that go during the 11-second robot dance will join the dance, and it will be like a RoboJoe Musical.

Then it will become a Broadway play. RoboJoe's.

Why the Giant Conan Bobblehead belongs at Chubby Weiners in Chicago

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:20:48 GMT

As Conan O'Brien so eloquently stated to the backdrop of USA USA chants in his show at Chicago today:

Conan has nobly donated to Chicago a 17-foot tall bobblehead doll in his likeness and he wants to know where YOU want him to put it. Tell us where in Chicago you'd like to see Conan's big bobbly mug in the comments section or tweet your suggestions @teamcoco with the hashtag #COCOBOBBLE.

I made the suggestion that he put the bobblehead in front of Chubby Wieners at 4652 N Western Ave.

Feel free to retweet.

Reasons why Conan should put his bobblehead at this location.
1) The pun of giving head at Chubby Wieners is impossible to pass up.
2) Western Avenue is a high-traffic area
3) It's not the typical downtown location
4) The brown line runs right by here, increasing viewership
5) The bobblehead could be placed under the L. What a classic Chicago spot. Under the L.
6) If the bobblehead is placed on top of Chubby Weiners, that will make the bobblehead all the more grand.
7) On top of Chubby Weiners is a good permanent location for the statue as nobody will eff with it.
8) If you do put it on the roof, you'll need to get a structural engineer to examine if the roof can handle the raw bubblehead weight. That would be totally rad.
9) I'm a public spaces artist that has over ten years of experience placing public art on the sly throughout Chicago. I know all about how to fit art into the its best location. You already have an expert's opinion in the field of placing art.
10) Chubby Wieners is rated five stars by hotdogchicagostyle.com and their site claims to be "THE GREATEST HOT DOG STAND THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN!"
11) We all know Conan has one.

Doesn't it look so perfect on top of Chubby Weiners?

Watch Conan present the finest piece of public art ever:

Will Shakespeare's first theatre be destroyed?

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 09:00:28 GMT

The Telegraph reports, "Shakespeare's first theatre discovered in London." Buried at end of the article is this clipping, "The site is owned by Plough Yard Developments, which plan to feature the remains as part of a new office, retail and residential space." I certainly hope they keep the area of Shakespeare's first theatre in tact.

Here's an idea:

Since they making the space into office, retail, and residential; they should take that area and make it into like my Giddings Plaza (pictured above). Tucked in between the residential and retail spaces, Giddings Plaza has a little stage. The area has become quite a social gathering place with benches on a brick plaza.

Just like Giddings plaza has performances every Thursday night in the summer, this stage could have outdoor peformances as well. People sitting in the plaza could say, "yeah, this is where Shakespeare's first theatre was" while eating yummy gelatos. Read about more treasures to discover at Giddings Plaza in my yelp review.

Banana Man on the Kindle?

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:16:37 GMT

Over on my blog about publishing and syndication, read about my adventures trying to get the free Banana Man graphic novel onto my Kindle app.

Mister Rogers auto-tuned "In the Garden of your Mind"

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:36:36 GMT

I can't believe that PBS actually made this. It's really good. I want to be Mister Rogers.

Mister Rogers Remixed | Garden of Your Mind | PBS Digital Studios
(hat-tip to Dubplate Dionysus).

It�s good to be curious about many things.
You can think about things and make believe
All you have to do is think and they�ll grow.

One day in 365

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:30:10 GMT

Yesterday I tweeted, "One day is 0.00273972603th of a year." A couple people retweeted it, so that made me think of how to visualize this. I did the first illustration above. And then I thought a pie graph would make it more dramatic. Although I like how the squares form a sort of skyscraper.

Get tshirts: "Make the most of every day" and One day is 0.00273972603th of a year."

Length of Berlin Wall in Chicago

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:44:44 GMT

The Berlin Wall was 96 miles long. That's longer than driving from Antioch to Joliet. Can you imagine if there was a wall that long built in Chicago? It would separate the west suburbs from the city and nearby burbs. Hmmm... actually...

One-word comments on wife of Lichtenstein video

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:37:33 GMT

The Art Institute posted a one minute video of Roy Lichenstein's wife talking about her husband's show now showing at the Art Institute. Out of the 3,745 views, there was one comment. Just one word in the comment, "Lovely."

To join on the one-word comment fun, I submitted, "Delightful."

Please continue the one word comments on this video.

America's corporations needs to continue to train their employees in new fields

Wed, 30 May 2012 22:41:21 GMT

In my past experiences of hiring people, we've had ranging lists of types of experiences in different areas; and we've found difficulty in finding candidates with the right mix of knowledge in these different areas. Which rather perplexes me, because with more people unemployed, you'd think there would be tons of applicants that can fit all the things you need.

Yeah, we want it all. And you can't have it all. But what if you could?

It seems that during our unemployment times, it's coming to truth that education is REALLY key. We need people with knowledge in lots of areas. People who can write AND code. People who can edit AND design. People who can market AND sell. I'm glad we have liberal arts education that teaches people in all various areas.

But I'd like to see America have our working force continue to learn lots of different skills. It's what our industry is demanding. Therefore we need to supply that demand with our working force.

Why wearing a tie to work every day is fun

Tue, 29 May 2012 19:01:26 GMT

Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group, says in his article, "Richard Branson on Office Ties and the Company Dress Code,"

"It used to be that the one male in the room with an open neck (which was usually me) would be self-conscious about it (which wasn�t me). Nowadays, however, I am delighted to note that it�s the man wearing the tie who is most likely to be the odd person out."

I agree with Branson that wearing a tie makes you the odd person out. I've noticed this at conferences recently, that nobody wears ties anymore. And that's part of the charm of why since last year I've worn a tie to work every day.

Perhaps Richard Branson's business has a different culture, but I feel like the tieless shirt is a fashion that became fashionable 15 years ago. For him to pomp around like he's all cool shows that he's out of touch with the regular American public. We've already gone to the tieless shirt fashion, and now we are back into wearing ties--not because we have to, but because we want to.

In my business culture (the non-CEO culture), ties are no longer necessary, but if someone wears a tie, it's because of one of two reasons:
1) Have to: The person has been wearing ties all their business career, so they simply continue to wear a tie. It's the type of person that Branson thinks about.
2) Want to: The person never wore a tie to work, and now wears one, because it's an expression of his personality. He likes to be professional, but he also likes to be stylish and have fun with his outfits. It's no longer a requirement, but it's a mode of self-expression. It's another piece in his outfit arsenal that allows him to put together a creative and sharp ensemble.

Over 500 free graphic novels on graphic.ly

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:00:09 GMT

I was tooling through the comics reading platform of graphic.ly and found there are over 500 free graphic novels. Here's 14 I added to my library.

To view 9 more (including a Mr. T comic), view the full blog post.

First Capture

Heropotamus

Light Apprentice

Mr. T

Pulp! Magazine

SSX

Tale of Sand

Top Shelf Kid's Club

Warped

High School Romance

How to have a respectable man bag

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:25:06 GMT

A friend posted this picture of someone with a "murse." Murses get made fun of, because they they remind people of purses. But let's try to get some respectable man bags out there. Stand behind your man bag. Be proud of your man bag. You can't be proud of a piece of crap bag.

I am a urban man bag aficionado. Let me give you the tips of the trade from my decade experience of shopping for urban man bags, from a straight male perspective. That one in the photo is HORRENDOUS.

Here are six guidelines to buying a man bag that you can be proud of.

1) No big logos.
That big swirly piece of crap logo is totally stupid.

2) No big ass plastic clips.
That screams SUBURBAN!!

3) Simple form.
This thing can't make up its mind what shape it wants to be. Round? Rectangle? Trapezoid? It's a mess.

4) No overabundance of tons of straps.
Along with having a simple form, the man bag needs to be simple in form.

5) No overbundance of outer bulky pockets.
Along with cargo pants, bulky pockets went out of style five years ago.

6) Exceptions.
You may ignore all the above rules if you are shopping for camping bags, hiking bags, or other nature-related activities. I am talking strictly about bags for urban use.

Here's a fine man bag:

Note: No big logo. No plastic clips. Simple form. No straps flying all over. No bulky pockets. And it's the perfect size of an iPad. Now THAT'S a man bag.

Be an Optimist Prime, not a Negatron

Mon, 21 May 2012 11:00:47 GMT

Last week I ordered this INCREDIBLE illustration on a yellow/orange tshirt.

Fantasy league for retired baseball players

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:26:14 GMT

With Kerry Wood retiring in the middle of the season, he won't have any more stats for fantasy baseball leagues. But what if there was some sort of retirement league?

Stats could be kept on:
-- Appearances at the ballpark
-- Number of times the person appears on camera on TV while at the ballpark. (Scottie Pippen would rule at this in the retired basketball league)
-- Number of autograph sessions retired player participates in
-- Points for volunteer event appearances
-- Appearances doing commentary on TV/radio

What other statistics could be used for retired players?

Amazon to put large Kindles in windows of abandoned Borders stores

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:36:36 GMT

It would be cool if there was a public way for people to read books at the windows of these unused storefronts. Books would probably be too long, so perhaps one-page articles or stories. Maybe even a short news story about the community.

I was standing on the Lawrence red line train platform looking at the Borders when I thought of this idea--mostly because that Borders building has been used for other literature events. Chicago Book Expo 2011 was held in that Borders building (also known as Uptown Goldblatt's Building).

Who is going to offer frosting on coffee first?

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:00:08 GMT

I created a nuclear arms race between Starbucks, Caribou, and Dunkin Donuts. Last week I tweeted the following to ALL THREE AT THE SAME TIME.

They should offer frosting as a topping on coffees. @dunkindonuts @starbucks @cariboucoffee #getonit

Why do Wrigleyville residents complain about living near Wrigley Field?

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:04 GMT

It bothers me so immensely when Wrigleyville residents complain about "how hard" it is to get home on game days. Um. Wrigley Field was here WAYYY long before any of its residents. 100% of the people who live in Wrigleyville moved there after the park was built. Every person who lives there should know that living by such a park can make it challenging to get home.

ABC 7 Chicago did a story on how Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pitching a "Fenway Play" for Wrigley Field. In this story, ABC included a sound bite of a resident saying that "it's already hard to get home."

Closing down Sheffield and Waveland doesn't make any difference in your commute home. Those streets are basically closed on game day anyways. Only an idiot will want to drive down Waveland or Sheffield right by Wrigley on game days.

I lived 2-and-half blocks from Wrigley Field for three years during the late 90s. I never ever thought it was hard to get home. I took the red line home every day. Does the train get crowded? Yes. But it's game day. You know that is going to happen. Enjoy having a great major league ballpark in your neighborhood.

If you don't like it, then don't move to Wrigleyville.

How I got my electricity under 5 kWh/day

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:00:58 GMT

Replaced incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents.
Put all my computer equipment on two surge protectors.
Put the computer surge protectors in a desk drawer that is easy to access.
Every morning before I leave for work, I turn off the the computer surge protectors, therefore turning off the power to my speakers, hard drives, USB devices, and monitors.
I keep my freezer and fridge full of food.

Watch your monthly electricity usage on your electricity bill. Set a goal of trying to lower your usage below a specific number. Then it becomes a fun game.

Comed: Get usage history

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:00:40 GMT

Would you like to know how much electricity you use? ComEd offers your past 24 hours of usage history.
1) Go to comed.com
2) Go to the tab "My usage" and select "My usage history"

You will see a nice chart that presents your past 24 months of electricity usage.

I prefer my stats in kWh per day. I took the numbers and put them into a Google docs sheet; and made my own chart.

For the past six years, I've had a goal of getting my electricity under 5 kWh/day. I'm happy to say I've achieved that a few times.

Use Google docs or Evernote for blog drafts?

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:00:08 GMT

Where do you keep your blog drafts?

I have a single Google doc for blog drafts. It has 41,558 words. It takes about 30 seconds to save. I'm gonna try Evernote again.

I'm gonna take that huge blog drafts doc and split it up into individual notes on evernote. I tried this in January 2011, and ended up with 149 blog drafts. I never ended up using Evernote, because 149 blog drafts was too much.

And now I have an additional 41,558 words. I wonder how many new blog drafts that will make. Hopefully this time it will stick.

Jabba the Hutt and spudart, twins separated at birth

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:29 GMT

(photo credit of Jabba the Hutt can by bevreview)

What happens when your logo looks like Jabba the Hutt? You start to learn the language of the Hutts, Huttese.

Achuta [hello]
Dolpee kikyuna! [I am a friend!]
Goodd� da lodia! [Good day to you!]

This might explain why I always liked the Gamorrean Guard when I was a kid.

Who should have a genius bar?

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:00:28 GMT

In case you missed it, yesterday I posted about how other companies should have an experts bar. A few ideas come to mind: Disneyland and Wrigley Field. Read more about how this would play out at "Disney should have a genius bar with Disney experts."

Why do you go to art museums?

Thu, 03 May 2012 08:46:55 GMT

The Museum of Contemporary Art's twitter account pointed me in the direction of a "Time Out Chicago" article about their new identity, "We are here at the Museum of Contemporary Art." The commenting is closed on the article, so I'm posting my response below.

I'm looking forward to the artist working spaces in the 12x12 gallery. This will bring me back to the museum every week to see what each artist is doing in the space. I especially like the idea of making pins from salvaged material from the MCA. I'd like to see what materials they will be offering.

As for the start of the article, it states, "It takes a lot to make people raise their eyebrows in a contemporary art museum," says James Goggin, the Museum of Contemporary Art�s director of design, print and digital media. In the past few years I've found that my primary objective for visiting art museums isn't to find eyebrows-raising experiences. I go to art museums for a garden experience. It's fulfilling, relaxing.

While I do enjoy artwork that shocks me out of my place, we shouldn't see that as the only purpose of the museum. If I go to the museum expecting to be shocked, eventually you won't be shocked anymore. It's sorta like a dog chasing its tail.

I think one of the reasons museums like shocking work, because it instigates thought, discussion, and media. The curiosity factor of "the museum has WHAT on display?" helps to bring visitors to the museum--in theory. However, I can't even recall the last time my friends or regular people ever used that as excuse to visit a museum.

I would say the great majority of the public are like me, in that they enjoy going to the museum simply because they enjoy the works on display. Therefore, it is like going to a garden. Sometimes there may be a surprise at a garden. SNAKE! But I don't visit gardens for the snakes, I visit them for the plants and flowers.

Why do you go to art museums?

UPDATE: I just realized the Time Out Chicago was written in 2011. I thought this was 2012. Oops.
The MCA has photos posted from this four-week exhibit, We Are Here: Art & Design Out of Context, Jul 5�31, 2011.

An instagram for etsy?

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:00:57 GMT

There needs to be an easier way of selling on etsy. Their posting form is way too long. There's a total of 14 fields to fill out.

-- Who made it?
-- Categories
-- Photos
-- Item Title
-- Description
-- Shop section
-- Recipient
-- Occasion
-- Style
-- Tags
-- Materials
-- Price
-- Quantity
-- Shipping

Seriously. 14 fields. I know these are all important to help people find your work. But really. I just want to simply post stuff. Let me post a photo, a title, and a price. DONE. If I want to add more stuff, then let me add it later.

In fact, it should be so easy I should be able to do it via my cell phone. With an experience as easy as Instagram. I guarantee you, if someone comes out with a super-easy way to sell stuff with your cell phone, it will become wildly popular.

(btw, this item is for sale on etsy, "Difficulty of selling")

8 tips guide to buying a tea kettle

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:00:42 GMT

Looking for a teapot in the Prairie School Style? Good luck. I was looking to buy my girlfriend a teapot for her birthday. She lives in Oak Park the Prairie School center, and she likes that style. I looked high and low for a teapot that is sorta like a Frank Lloyd Wright style. Or even in a bauhaus style.

Along the way I learned some lessons about teapots.

1) There are tea pots and there are tea kettles
You do not put tea pots on the stove top. You put tea kettles on the stove top to heat up the water, and then you pour the water into a tea pot to brew the tea. Who knew?!

From here on out in this post, I will call it tea kettle, because that's what I was really looking for. Something to heat water on the stovetop.

2) The best tea kettles don't have a seam on the bottom
The stainless steel tea kettles that have the wall perpendicular to base are bad. Those involve having a seam. The seam will rust or be hard to clean. The best tea kettles have a rounded curve where the wall meets the base.

3) Enamel tea kettles are better than raw stainless steel
According to many tea kettle reviewers on Amazon, stainless steel might rust. (Which blows my mind, cuz I thought stainless steel didn't rust). Enamel is better. But then, some reviews for enamel tea kettles said the enamel might flake off. I like the look of stainless steel better, so I went with that.

4) There are no Frank Lloyd Wright style tea kettles
They simply do not exist. Please, find one and prove me wrong.

5) Higher handles are good
Some handles on tea kettles get too hot and you have to use an oven mitt to hold the handle. That's dumb.

6) Low plastic handles are bad
You don't want the plastic to melt. That would be bad

7) Plastic covers on the blower-whistle part are bad
That can melt. And that would be bad.

8) Low heat tea kettles are a waste of time
Some tea kettles say that you have to put your tea kettle on a low flame. What? No. I want my water to boil and boil fast!

Ok, so to show how much research I did into both the form and the function of the tea kettle, here are the google searches I did over the course of five hours of research:

Christopher Dresser teapot
Danish Soholm Atelier Teapot
danish Teapot
do i put ceramic teapots on the stove?
frank lloyd wright tea
frank lloyd wright tea pot
frank lloyd wright tea pot -guggenheim
general electric tea kettle
globo teapot
Marianne Brandt tea
modern teapot
naoko teapot
Naum Slutzky tea
Naum Slutzky teapot
Object Creative - Tea
Otto Lindig
Otto Lindig teapot
russel wright teapot
russell wright teapot
Scandinavian teapot
soho teapot
Soholm Atelier Teapot
sorapot
Stelton Potter Tea Pot
Storia Teapot
Storia Teapot, Herman Kahler
tea kettle
tea kettle amazon
teapot design
teapot hello-tiger
toast indian teapot
walter gropius
walter gropius tea

Here's some nice tea kettles on my Modern Tea Kettles pinterest board. Do you have a tea kettle? If so, what type do you have?

Not just input, but also output

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:00:37 GMT

We consume a lot. But what do we do with it? I explore these thoughts in a post, "3 keys to doing something with what we consume" on my blog about syndication.

Cupcakes and business cards

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:00:48 GMT

Last week I met someone online that will be attending a conference with me on May 1 for Eloqua. We exchanged contact info via email, and it got me thinking about how when I meet him in person and I'll give him my business card, which will seem redundant, but also kinda, cuz it's an actual physical object.

When exchanging the real business card, can there be something extra that adds to the sensory experience? I'm thinking a cupcake.

Where are you?

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:47:14 GMT

Do you tell any online services where you are currently are? Foursquare, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook Places?

What happens when a service aggregates all the locations of your friends into one service? Find out at "Where are your friends?" on my blog about syndication.

Requests for holograms of Art Institute sculptures

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:07 GMT

The Art institute of Chicago has this thing on their website where you can browse all their artwork. You can even make collections of their artworks to show to other people!

Last week a chicago twitter account @badatsports asked, "Who else do we need holograms of?" So I made a collection of artworks at the Art Institute that should be made into holograms. Check it out! artic.edu/aic/collections/my/hologram-requests-spudart/17037. I'm looking forward to the potential to do other fun things with collections on the art institute website.

Maybe the Art Institute will be excited to see someone use the collection feature. Then maybe someone at the art institute will find it so funny, they will print it out and hang it up at the art institute water cooler. Thus making my collection into an official work of art.

If there are any artworks you'd like me to add to this collection, let me know in the comments!

Luis Salazar played against the Cubs in the 1984 playoffs

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:00:56 GMT

Did you know the great third baseman Luis Salazar of the 1989-1992 Chicago Cubs also played for the 1984 Padres? The despised 1984 Padres that beat the beloved Cubs in the 1984 playoffs. Luis Salazar even played three games in those playoffs against the Cubs. Here's how he did:

Game 2: Hitting 7th, 3B, 0-for-3, 1 K

-- Top 2nd, Padres behind 0-1
Strikeout swinging for 3rd out with one man on, against Steve Trout
-- Top 5th, Padres behind 1-4
Flyball to RF for 2nd out against Steve Trout
-- Top 7th, Padres behind 204
Flyball to RF for 3rd out against Steve Trout

Game 4: Luis Salazar pinch hits for Kevin McReynolds (CF) batting 6th, 0-for-1

-- Bottom 8th, Padres tied 5-5
Groundout: 3B-1B for 2nd out against Lee Smith

Game 7: Luis Salazar replaces Bobby Brown playing CF batting 6th, 1-for-1 triple

-- Bottom 8th, Padres head 6-3
Triple to CF leadoff against Warren Brusstar
Caught stealing home

I'd like to see what happened when he tried stealing home. He was caught during the next batter, so there were no outs with him on third.

My twin brother Erik is writing a blog post about Luis Salazar's 1984 Donruss baseball card:

Grand Moff Tarkin and Huggies

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:00:09 GMT

On the Grand Moff wookieepedia page, there is an ad for Huggies diapers. I love seeing Huggies diapers next to the Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin of the Death Star.

Best baseball card shop online

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:00:22 GMT

If you want to buy a bunch of baseball cards from one seller online, where do you go? Checkoutmycards.com has lots of great sellers of cards. But you probably don't want to pay shipping from multiple sellers. You want one seller. You want two things. 1) A large inventory 2) Cheap prices

I took the top ten sellers on checkoutmycards.com and did a test with them using Matt Kemp. I looked up how many Matt Kemp cards they have and what were their cheapest Matt Kemp cards.

Joel's Hit Show not only had the most cards, but they were the cheapest as well.

Name of shop	cost of cheapest card	# of Matt Kemp cards	Average price of 12 cheapest cards	median price
JoelsHitShow	$0.22	55	$0.27	$0.25
cardsrus1	$0.20	7	$0.40	$0.45
buymore	$0.49	4	$0.49	$0.49
samjams3	$0.20	16	$0.90	$0.55
Highgradeplus	$0.50	6	$0.61	$0.60
Rookies_n_Jerseys	$0.24	22	$0.64	$0.62
baseballcardsetc	$0.39	8	$0.78	$0.63
TSJCT	$0.34	21	$1.29	$1.17
eaglescards	$0.90	8	$3.29	$3.50
SwagCards	$1.25	35	$5.58	$3.75

Do you have a favorite place to shop for baseball cards online?

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball cards:

Color burn ink in Photoshop layers

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:06:32 GMT

The clouds were moving very fast yesterday. I took eight shots--normal exposures, each about 30 seconds apart. Then I brought each photo into one photoshop file as a layer. Each layer got its own hue. And then each layer was set to color burn.

Even though the movement of the clouds isn't apparent, as I was hoping; the colors that came out are really neat. It's also cool how the NBC Tower got a very high contrast.

Here's one of the original eight photos:

All perfect reviews for Rickey Henderson's autobiography

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:00:52 GMT

Base stealers in baseball are the best. Sports highlights should show ballplayers stealing bases instead of hitting homeruns.

The greatest basestealer of all time, Rickey Henderson has his own autobiography from 1993, "Off Base: Confessions of a Thief." Given Henderson's arrogance, you'd think there would be some bad reviews of the book, but instead all four reviews on amazon give the book a perfect five stars.

I'd really like this book to be available on the Kindle, as I'm not buying print books anymore. Perhaps this will be the first time I'll buy a book, cut off the spine, and run it through our Xerox machine that makes PDFs.

Consuming versus creating

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:44:43 GMT

I've been thinking a lot about how much I consume and how much I actually produce. I think my consuming-to-creating ratio is leaning too much on the consuming side and not enough on the creating side. Over on my blog about syndication, I give "3 keys to doing something with what we consume."

Can I get banned from Walgreen's Facebook Page

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:00:56 GMT

Walgreens writes some unrelevant posts on their wall. I am starting a project where I write silly responses on their wall. What sort of silly stuff am I writing? Find out on my Google Plus post, "Unrelevant Facebook posts?"

(if you can't see the post, then add me to your Google circles)

My letter to a dance critic

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:06 GMT

Three dance critics got together to talk about "The art of the critic" at the Chicago Cultural Center.
-- Zachary Whittenburg, Time Out Chicago
-- Laura Molzhan, Chicago Reader
-- Sharon Hoyer, New City

The three critics were all very interesting, in particular, Zachary Whittenburg of Time Out Chicago. I wrote an email to Zachary about several of the points he made during the panel discussion.

Zachary,

I enjoyed your participation at today's "the art of critique: a dance critics panel." (I attended a dance appreciator.) I would like to highlight some of my favorite parts of the talk--in particular the points that you made, along with some thoughts.

You made a wonderful point about the capitalism and academia in two worlds. You said that you are able to be in both worlds by taking different "containers of language to express my memory of the performance." (and then you went to explain how you wrote about the hip hop challenge as a sports column.) "Containers of language" is such a great phrase.

It was great how you were able to give body to tonight's discussion. At first I was afraid the panel was going to be only about the structure of critique. I had a feeling that there was going to be only a framework about the ins and outs of critique and the state of the dance world, but not about dance itself. Every time you gave actual examples of dance performances, it gave life and substance to the discussion. That really fleshed out the conversation and made it more real and relatable.

I also greatly appreciate your how a thread within your thoughts tonight was the need to understand the performers and choreographers' history, progress and vocabulary. It shows that you truly go into performances understanding where you are coming from and where the dance is coming from in order for you to give clear assessments and interpretations.

One point you made about the media world being too concerned about the distribution models before the business models... While I see your overall point as being true... actually, newspapers were more concerned about the business model at first and thus they didn't get into the distribution model early enough. Once they got into the distribution model, it was too late to start charging money. So in a way, it wasn't because they considered distribution first before money. It was the money that prohibited them from even getting into the game early enough to start. (I've been working at the Tribune for 12 years). But I understand your point of how now we are backtracking trying to find methods of gaining revenue for the content online.

The panel briefly touched on youtube. I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to put anyone on the spot. But I'm wondering if anyone has considered doing dance critiques via youtube videos. And not just a talking head video. But have it include short quick, engaging videos of the dance. Dance is so immensely popular on youtube, it would be great to see some critiques take part in curating some of the dance on youtube.

You also brought up a very realistic point of view of the future of dance criticism. One thing I am excited about the future of dance and dance criticism, is that dance is such a basic expression. Even with naysayers of dance, there is still something very powerful about the expression of the human body. Dance will always be around. And with dance always being around, there will always be people who talk about dance.

Now I'm going to subscribe out your blog and make sure to read your writings in Time Out Chicago.

You can also find Zachary on twitter, @trailerpilot

8 ideas for using collaborative boards on pinterest

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:00:14 GMT

Did you know your friends can pin stuff to your boards? Yeah! You can add contributors to specific boards on your pinterest.

Ideas on how to use collaborative boards on pinterest:

1) Research at work
Does your company want to share design research for a project? Make a board and then share it with your coworkers.

2) Gift ideas for parents
Looking for gift ideas for your parents? Enlist your family members to post ideas to a board.

3) Your neglected boards
Do you run out of time to pin stuff to particular topic areas? Enlist your friends to help!

4) Wedding ideas
Get your freinds and family involved in ideas for your wedding

5) Love board
Share a board with your mate and post cutesy things for each other.

6) All-star board
If you are able to get some people in your industry together to post things to a a board, you might end up with a really popular board that many others will follow.

7) Do it daily
Use 30 Days of Creativity as a model. Their idea is for people to create something every day for one month. They made 30 public boards, one for each day of the month.

8) Open projects
What project can you do that is open to the public where people can contribute? Maybe have people post photos of their favorite trees. Or make a "my favorite door" board where people can contribute.

Once you have collaborative boards, the comments feature on each pin becomes alive! Because you know your friends/coworkers have pinned that item on a board you are working on together, you are much more likekly to make comments.

----------
Just a side note. Right now I'm having some problems making my boards collaborative. On the board settings, there's an area for "Who can pin?" with the options of "Just Me" and "Me + Contributors" I click on the second option and enter a username, but I get an alert "Username not found." I've tried different usernames, and it still gives me the error alert.

Anyone having issues making contributor boards on pinterest?

About the Orange Happy Tree

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:00:28 GMT

I bought "Orange Happy Tree" from the artist Todd Webb. I really like Todd's work, it's very optimistic. Here's my message to Todd when I bought "Orange Happy Tree" on etsy.

Wooo! I saw your tweet about the goose, and I thought, "hmm, I wonder if todd has posted anything new in etsy for sale." And look! It's a tree! I like this one (well, I like all of them, but especially one) because the tree is looking down at his leaf.

OR maybe it's a leaf from another tree! We assume it's his leaf, but it might be another tree's! Anyways. I also like how the trunks all reach out in different directions. And the orange.

Trees in the fall are cool. I almost got the green tree, cuz his green foliage looks like a big afro. But since this one has the extra bonus leaf, I decided to go with this one.

matt

Last year I bought, Snowflake Mountain from Todd. He is one of my top five favorite artists from 2010. He draws one of the world's most wonderful comics. I HIGHLY recommend one of his books, "Casual Poet: the cartoon journals of todd webb."

Note: The green tree is still available! ("Sunset Happy Tree")

Questions for art.sy

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00:49 GMT

Art.sy has 15,000 works of art from over 3,000 artists represented by over 200 of the world�s most respected galleries and museums. They describe their site: The people behind art.sy are big peeps:
-- Sebastian Cwilich, a former executive at Christie's Auction House
-- Art.sy's Senior Advisor is John Elderfield, Chief Curator Emeritus of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
-- Investor Peter Thiel, founder of Paypal
-- Investor Jack Dorsey, creator of Twitter
-- Advisor Joe Kennedy, CEO of Pandora

The website invite only, and I got in! They have a feedback form, and last night I sent them 11 separate questions. Here's the archive of my questions:

How do I find specific galleries or museums on art.sy?

Can I sort the artwork for sale by price? I love collecting, but I don't have the deep pockets to pay $1000.

It is possible to share my art wall/collection with others?

When I click "View your collection on wall" Many of the image appear really small. As in, under 30x30 pixels.

Is there an iPad app in development for art.sy? Several reasons why art.sy would be a great fit for the iPad
1) I really enjoy browsing the site. The iPad is primarily a browsing device.
2) art.sy is very visual. The iPad makes visuals look stunning
3) Art-type people love apple.
4) The iPad is a higher end device, thus attracting a higher end audience. One that would be interested in the higher end quality of art.sy

Do my submissions automatically get emailed back to me? Reasons why form submissions on art.sy should be auto-emailed to the user:
1) When I get an auto-reply email with the contents of my email, it makes me feel like my submission actually got through.
2) I like to have a record of what I sent.

Do you keep track of what people search for on the site? I searched for a bunch of artists on the site that weren't on here yet. It might be cool for you to track what people are searching for and then fill in the gaps with the artists that people most frequently try to find.

For the artists I'm following:
1) Will I get notifications when there is new artwork on the website by them?
2) Will I get notifications when they are showing at particular museums?
3) If you establish "friends" on this site, can I get notifications when a friend of mine adds artwork from an artist that I like?

For the artists I like, but aren't on the site; can you make a waiting list for these artists? It would be cool to get a notification when a particular artist I like gets to be on art.sy.

Can I get alerts when new artwork for sale under $100 is added to art.sy?

As a member of art.sy, can I send invites to my friends? Everyone is so jealous that I got in!

I wonder if the art.sy people are freaking out because some guy sent them 11 different messages with questions. Then again, maybe they will appreciate my insight and hire me as a consultant to their site.

The day when car dealers will become bicycle dealers

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:00:25 GMT

I like at-replying.

You ever get someone completely unrelated following you on twitter or facebook? I'll at-reply a ridiculous question to these people. Lately a car dealership started following me on Twitter. Yes. A car dealership.

Why a car dealer following me on twitter is completely ridiculous:

1) Who in the freaking world will want a car dealer to follow them? Please! Stay away! Stay away!
2) I don't own a GMC. MAYBE if I bought a car from that dealer, then I might follow that person, because there's a connection. But I don't own a GMC.
3) I don't own a car.
4) I never owned a car.
5) I don't plan on ever buying a car.
6) I think cars are a waste on our planet.
7) I think cars are a waste of money.
8) Cars ruin the way urban planning is done.
9) Because urban planning is ruined, our neighborhoods are ruined by not being as walkable.

Yeah, you can say I don't like cars. A car dealer following me on twitter is like the NRA following a democrat peace-lover.

So yeah, so I got a kick that @CastleBuickGMC was following me on twitter. Here's what I at-replied to them. I have to at least hand it to them that they did actually reply... and with a funny tweet at that.

New word: pinbombed

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:00:59 GMT

word:
pinbombed

definition:
When someone pins many many pins of the same topic/theme to Pinterest, so it takes over the screen when someone looks through their feed.

example:
I just pinbombed 30 different photos of potatoes! All my followers will have to scroll through a potatoland field!

tags:
pinterest, pin, pinning, bomb, attack, a lot, many, quantity, excessive

first usage:

This word has never been used online in reference to pinterest. Surprising, since pinterest is the media's newest social media darling. Actually, Google only has 8 results for pinbombed.

Here's a sample pinbomb:

I don't own a car, cuz I don't need one

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:00:49 GMT

Marco posted a great article on his Google Plus, Why Don't Young Americans Buy Cars?

Great stats:
It's true. Our youth is seeing that we all don't need to own cars.

less than half of potential drivers age 19 or younger had a license in 2008, down from nearly two-thirds in 1998.

adults between the ages of 21 and 34 buy just 27 percent of all new vehicles sold in America, a far cry from the peak of 38 percent in 1985.

Good reasoning:
It's nice to hear that the younger generation is smarting up and not caving into our cutural pressures of the car in a driveway.

How can you buy a home when you're underemployed and saddled with student debt? Why would you want to after the horror of the collapsing housing bubble?

Stupid automakers:
Oh yeah! Crap your pants, automakers!

Of course, Millennials are more likely than past generations to live in an urban community, and this may be part of what terrifies car markers.

GM is hoping that the right car, at the right price, can solve these challenges.

That last quote makes me want to say eff you, GM. They think they can manipulate us. That it's a given that everyone buys a car. I cannot stand the notion that every American HAS to own a car.

Why you shouldn't memorize your credit card number

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:50 GMT

I should memorize my credit card number, but I'm afraid of doing so in case I get kidnapped and they try to torture the number out of me.

I think about it almost every time I enter in my credit card number. I think first: I should memorize my number, so i don't have to take my wallet out. Then i think: but what if i'm kidnapped? And then they want my credit card number? I don't my kidnappers to get my credit card number.

New word: gomo

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:06:56 GMT

word:
gomo

definition:
When you are too tired to say the full "good morning."

example:
gomo. i need my coffee

tags:
good morning, greeting, morning, short, bonjour, buenos dias, good morrow, greetings

Birds have invisible flying cars

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:00:19 GMT

Birds have cars.
Flying cars.
They are invisible flying cars.
We just can't see their cars. but that's how birds can fly.
Yup.

Birds leave their invisible cars parked around everywhere.
They just hop into one and fly off.
They park them in trees and on electrical wires.
The cars have a hook, that's how they are able to park their invisible cars on wires.

Sometimes the birds leave the invisibilty switch off, and that's when we see what we think are shoes hanging from wires.
But those are actually bird cars

And their cars get rid of the "fuel" and let it drop to earth, right? beautifying the ground with the polluted fuel.
Yeah. their car exhaust is that white stuff.

-- poem by Matt and Sarah

A new birthday tradition, walk around your house

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:56:52 GMT

On your next birthday, you should walk around your house/apartment/condo the number of years old you are. On my birthday I will walk around my apartment building 37 times. The gates will make it a little challenging, but that's part of the fun. In fact, some of the orbits I will do a parkour leap style over the gate.

Walking around your residence repeatedly on your birthday would probably lead to some interesting insights.

The magic moment where you can eat all the cholesterol you want

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:00:55 GMT

Donuts? Bring them on. Hot dogs. More please. I just took my cholesterol test, so now I feel like I can cheat a little and have some bad cholesterol food. I'm in that magic moment where I took the test, but I don't know the results yet. If I knew the results, then I probably would not want to eat the hot dogs and donuts.

But as long as I'm in ignorance bliss, let's pig out.

Moving from print to Kindle

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:00:31 GMT

Changing your book format preference from hardcover/paperback to Kindle

Amazon wish lists are great. See something you like? Just add it to your wish list. It's not only handy list for yourself, but your friends and family will appreciate having a list of books you are interested in. And if your family is the type that doesn't like buying something off a list, then your wish list is great research into the types of books you like.

You can even add Kindle books to your wish list. Right now almost all 200 of my books on my wish list are the print edition. I'm looking for a way to easily change the format of all my books on my wish list to the Kindle version.

I sent Amazon an email using their contact form:

I have a question about Amazon wish list and changing my book preference to the Kindle. I have about 200+ books on my Amazon wish list. Almost all of them are paperbacks or hardcoverss. I'm assuming that about one-third or one-half of those are now available as Kindle versions.

My question I would like answered is: Is there an easy way of converting all my books on my Amazon wish list over to the Kindle version (where the Kindle version is available)?

Right now I went back to about 10 books and added the kindle version and deleted the old paperback/hardcover version. There are several problems with this:
I lose the original date added. When I add the Kindle version, it puts the date down as today's date. Often I like to know when I added something to my list. I've had this wish list since at least 2000. Having the date added is very important to me.
I lose any notes or priorities. Yes, I could copy and paste the notes and I could assign the same priority. But, really? Do you want your customer to have to do all that work?
It's simply too much work to hand-change all my books by re-adding the book in Kindle format, and then going back and deleting the paperback/hardcover. And then also to reassign priorities and notes.
As Amazon is battling the eBook market with other formats, I would think Amazon would want to make it as simple as possible for customers to change their book format preference on their wish list.

Thank you. I would greatly appreciate an answer to how to change the format from print to Kindle.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this?

New definition: np

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:48 GMT

word:
np

definition:
Short for "nip it in the bud"

example:
person 1: This is totally getting out of hand, I can't stop eating bags and bags of chocolates.
person 2: np

tags:
no problem, abbreviation, acronym, problem, help, control

Crotch: the grossest word in the English language

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:55:13 GMT

What do you think is the grossest word in the English language? I'd say "crotch." Just listen to that word. Crotch. Yuck.

I'll never forget when we were playing floor hockey in fifth grade, and someone whipped their stick up my nuts. The gym teacher came over and kept asking me, "how's your crotch? how's your crotch?" All I could think was, "that word is not helping me!"

New word: overload

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:00:53 GMT

word:
overload

definition:
When something is so immensely cute, overload encompasses the object that is cute and the feeling of cute. The viewer becomes completely whelmed, thus one's feelings goes on overload. And the object of cuteness is an overload of cute.

example:
1) I am so on overload by this cute puppy! 2) This cute pupppy is so cute overload.

tags:
cute, overload, adorable, beautiful, charming, dainty, delightful, pleasant, pretty, overflowing, abundance, heaps, loads, a lot, tons, immense

Don't judge a sandwich by its cover

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:19 GMT

Mary Fons has one of the best blogs in the world. Last week she wrote about enjoying sandwiches with Peace on Wheat. You should really read it. Here's my comment on her blog post:

The next best thing to Peace on wheat is 13 on wheat. They cut the sandwich in half, I like to take that a step further and split the sandwich horizontally in half, so it's four open-faced sandwiches. That way I can taste what's IN the sandwich more.

Actually, that's a good tip for all sandwiches and burgers. To open it up and let the single bun be the bottom and let the insides see the sun. Enjoy the inside of the sandwich. Bread is nice, but when it seals the top and bottom, you can't taste the inside as good.

We read the insides of books. We shouldn't let the cover of a sandwich get in the way of good taste.

How do you enjoy a good sandwich? Please leave a comment on Mary's blog post, Peace on Wheat.

Companies with "solar" in the name

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:00:44 GMT

If a company with the word "solar" in their name, would they have issues with the recent x-class solar flares? Or would they get inquiries about solar flares? Like, maybe the are behind it or something. If your company is named after the sun, certainly you are in cahoots with the sun in harvesting its powerful energy.

The server that hosts spudart.org and unlikelymoose.com is named Solar VPS. I was thinking about these things as I emailed them earlier this week when a large solar flare was released from the sun. It's especially suspicious that on Solar VPS' website, they have an image of an outer space body with the line "IT'S COMING"

MY SERVER IS IN CAHOOTS WITH THE SUN!

Chicago films on vimeo or youtube?

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Does anyone know of any chicago-related playlists on youtube/vimeo of short films done by Chicagoans? or even films about chicago?

I also asked this question on Chicago Magazine's Google Plus.

New word: weekstart

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:00:39 GMT

word:
weekstart

definition:
The start of the work week. Typically Monday. People say "have a happy weekend" on Fridays. On Mondays people greet each other with a happy weekstart.

example:
It's Monday, happy weekstart!

tags:
monday, time, day, week, weekend, beginning, start

first usage:
In a sticky note comics post

The distractions from reading

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:30:38 GMT

Do you find it hard to read on a Kindle or iPad, because you are easily distracted? Read my debate with author Marco Buscaglia on my syndication blog at www.mattmaldre.com.

Google the 66.249.71.43 is melting my server

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:12:56 GMT

Dear Google,
You are fantastic, but can you seriously chill out on siphoning bandwidth from me? On an average day my server dishes out 6 GB of traffic (mostly from spudart.org and some from unlikelymoose.com). But today you have hit me up for 2,616 GB of bandwidth. That's right. Over two thousand gigs off outgoing traffic from google. The main IP addresses hitting my server is 66.249.71.43, from Google.

Ouch.

Lorax mustache in real life

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:55:37 GMT

OMG the cnet person who wrote this article about the Lorax app� her hair looks like a Lorax mustache!

New word: cohog

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:00:04 GMT

word:
cohog

definition:
Two people who take up all the space on the couch.

example:
Hey, why can't you make room for me on the couch!? You two are such cohogs!

tags:
hogs, rude, inconsiderate, couch, manners, polite, bad-mannered, barbarian, barbaric, obscene, uncivilized, ungracious, wild

first usage:

What if trucks and cars were elephants and camels?

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:28:20 GMT

Walking half asleep to work
Engines growling
Elephants and camels travel the street
Thankfully they obey stop lights
or they would run me over

New word: buoyant poop

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:00:10 GMT

Definition:
The type of poop that doesn't flush down the toilet on the first try.

Example:
I don't understand how people don't watch to see if their poopies go down. Sometimes they are very buoyant poop.

Tags:
poop, crap, poo, poopies, toilet, float, floating, buoyant

Source:
Tweet by mattshealth, December 7, 2011

Submitted to urbandictionary:
December 28, 2011

Chicago gets huge tech coworking space

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:16:32 GMT

I'm really looking forward to the new tech coworking space named 1871 in the Merchandise Mart.
-- 50,000 square feet
-- 100 reserved and 220 shared desks
-- 22 conference rooms
-- three auditorium-sized classrooms hosting a series of workshops

I'm most excited for the classrooms, because...

A major focus of the startup hub will be in the abundance of classes, workshops, lectures and seminars. Hundreds of classes will be provided to empower entrepreneurial members (and many open to the public): taught by leading business-builders, successful entrepreneurs, technologists, and even artists and astrophysicists, Collens says, ranging from the practical to the inspirational.

The simple secret to picking the best fruits and vegetables

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:39:25 GMT

How can you consistently get the best produce at the supermarket? It's simple, pick from the top. Whether it's apples, grapes, pears, green beans, peppers, kiwis, or jujubes; the secret is the same: Don't grab for the ones at the bottom of the pile; instead reach for the very top.

The top has the best.

The produce farthest from your reach is the best for many reasons:

When people look for fruit, they pick something up, and then place down at the bottom, thus the bad fruit is at the bottom of the pile.
The fruit at the bottom of the pile has been touched upon many times.
The fruit at the bottom has been dropped on the floor.
The fruit at the top sits atop the pile like a throne in the sky. The master of the fruit kingdom. It watches the other fruit down below get picked over and dropped and squeezed. The fruit at the top laughs--then you come along and snag the king.

Search for "thesaurus" at thesaurus.com

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:00:59 GMT

If you search for thesaurus in the thesaurus, would that make the thesaurus explode in a self-referential infinite loop? Try this potentially dangerous search and the thesaurus will calmly return this result:

Main Entry: thesaurus [thi-sawr-uhs]
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: dictionary of synonyms and antonyms
Synonyms: glossary, language reference book, lexicon, onomasticon, reference book, sourcebook, storehouse of words, terminology, treasury of words, vocabulary, word list

The result is disappointing on two levels. One, I was hoping the site would freeze or choke or just plain freak out. Two, since it gave a calm result instead of synonym armageddon, I was hoping for something fun in the result. Perhaps some sort of bragging. If the thesaurus is giving synonyms for itself, should it slip in something like, awesome, brilliant, genius? If I was the thesaurus, I'd put those words in about me, because the thesaurus is awesome, brilliant, and genius.

It's ok, thesaurus. Your list of synonyms quietly say humble.

New word: WHOAAAAMAZING

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:00:15 GMT

word:
WHOAAAAMAZING

definition:
Combination of whoa and amazing. When something surprises you at first. And then you sit down and admire it's amazing character.

example:
WHOAAAAMAZING! Look at all those fireflies! I have never seen such a sight.

tags:
whoa, amazing, incredible, wow, interjection, surprise, delight

first usage:
BrWe: fireflies! i love fireflies http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/12/stunning-time-lapse-photographs-of-gold-fireflies-in-japan/
Matt: the fireflies are cool!
Matt: WHOAAAAAMAZING!
Matt: OH! That needs to be in urbandictionary

Baseball autograph ideas

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:00:55 GMT

If I was famous I would sign my name with crazy shapes. Squares. Triangles. I'd draw borders around the card. In fact, at stores I'm gonna start doing crazy things with my signature. I was doing a circle around my name. Now i'm gonna draw a border around the receipt. In fact, i will draw a line through the part where i'm supposed to sign, but then my signature will be on the rectangle side off to the right. I'm also going to start signing my receipts with "1993 CCHS badminton champion"

How cool would it be a baseball player? Maybe i should go onto wrigley field wearing a jersey and baseball pants. Walk aroudn like i'm a player and then i would sign autographs.

Here's how the rest of this conversation went with my brother about baseball autographs:

Erik: You should sign your name, then cross it out, then sign it again. Or start signing someone else's name

Matt: It would be cool if Lee Smith would sign stuff with Rick Sutcliffe's signature; and you could say, "he told me i could do this." Do you think they autograph socks? How about my plastic fork? My Drivetrain transformer. It would be nice to get it on an ironhide van. I want to make a beautiful wilderness landscape and have a baseball player sign it.

Erik: Man. I'll tell you what I'd do! on the cecil fielder cover, I'd pay for two autographs. Have cecil sign the cover photo and then have him sign the card on the cover.

Matt: Have him sign the card smaller. Give him a super thick sharpie for the big one; and then a ballpoint for the smaller.

Erik: Right, specifically request that he signs it so it fits on the card

Matt: you know how they do personalizations? Whatever they call it, when they sign your name. I want them sign mine with "Superninja." "Superninja best wishes, Cecil Fielder" Or maybe an anagram of their name:
-- Cleric Defile
-- Dice Cell Fire
-- Iced Relic Elf
-- Red Elf Icicle

Erik: have cecil sign "Cecil best wishes, Cecil Fielder." You think cecil fielder could make an autograph that's like 6 feet wide?

Matt: you think he'll sign a 4-foot wide check for one million dollars? Do you think he would sign a square of toilet paper? Unused.

eBay is for memories

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:00:50 GMT

I found a childhood friend because of eBay. I told my brother about how I was bidding on a Huffer transformer toy. Erik wondered if we had that toy or Marty our friend down the block did.

I've tried googling my friend's name before, but his name is a little too common, so I never got any results. But this time I tried Facebook and sure enough, the first result was him!

It's rather neat that we were able to find him because of eBay. That's when I coined the phrase, "eBay is for memories." I often find myself on eBay looking up old childhood toys or baseball cards.

Putting quotes around the person, not the saying

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:48 GMT

Ill. nuclear reactor loses power, venting steam

not from within the nuclear reactor itself, "officials said."

Normally we put quotes around what people say. But what if we put quotes around the person's name? It puts into question the person's authority.

ASTROBRIGHTS� WOW!

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:00:53 GMT

Can I get myself kicked off the Neenah Paper Facebook Page for my excitement over ASTROBRIGHTS� paper? See comments in screenshots below:

New word: whodda whadda howdda?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:26 GMT

word:
whodda whadda howdda?

definition:
Another way of saying "who?! what?! how?!" Usually spoken in shock.

example:
Your cat is not vegetarian? Whodda whadda howdda?

tags:
who, what, how, interjection, surprise, shock, unbelieveable, awe, confusion, excitement, hysteria, jolt, stupor, whammy

first usage:
Brwe: craigy's cat food just came in
Matt: oh! yum! did you try some?

Brwe: no, you said it smells bad, so why would i try it?
Matt: Maybe you are hungry. You are a cat, after all

Brwe: mystery meat. They say it's fish but it doesn't look or smell like fish
Matt: Your cat is not a vegetarian?!
Matt: whodda whadda howdda?

Sizes are only for people at Home Depot

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:00:15 GMT

The source of my quote "sizes are only for people at home depot"

Matt Maldre: You need a gallery at work

Erik Maldre: i do have a gallery at work. i'll measure it's size
Erik Maldre: 23.5" wide, 12.5" high, 12.5" deep
Erik Maldre: that's my gallery space

Matt Maldre: you need photos. sizes don't do anything
Matt Maldre: sizes are only for people at home depot
Matt Maldre: and people at shoe stores

Corner Backery free combo

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:00:22 GMT

Make a pledge to Corner Bakery and get a free combo!

My pledge for the Corner Bakery:

1) I will not eat as many Milk Chocolate Covered Mint Espresso Beans, even though I'm totally stuffing my face with them now. But I WILL stop.

2) And then I shall watch what I eat and go to Corner Bakery and order from the 600 calorie menu with my little printout of the 100 combinations.

3) And I shall strike off each menu item as I order them in my quest to have all 100 combinations.

4) And I shall order off the list by whatever table number if given to me at the cashier. So if the table number is 34, then I shall order #34 on the list. And if I already had #34, then I shall order from the next available item after #34. Such as #35.

5) I shall document my progress as I order these items in a text document on my computer. And I shall have a story to share with the Corner Bakery of my quest.

6) That is my quest. Please feel free to share my pledge across the nation and the world with everyone who enjoys delightful sandwiches, scrumptious soups, and delectable salads.

10-year anniversary of Groundhog Croquet

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:18:19 GMT

Ten years ago on 02/02/02 I started a new comic strip, Groundhog Croquet. It lasted a whole two strips. Check 'em out at spudart.org/groundhog

New word: putemup

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:00:32 GMT

word:
putemup

definition:
The interjection one yells while one's fists are raised and is requesting that the other person engage in a brawl. Short for "put em up."

example:
You just ate all my milk chocolate covered toffee popcorn!? Putemup! Putemup.

tags:
fight, brawl, fist, fistacuffs, ask, request, engage, interjection, put, em, up

People like paper more than paper companies

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:00:59 GMT

I'm looking for paper companies to like on Facebook, so I do a search for paper.
It's pretty funny that the top pages are not paper companies, but silly things like, "Paper cuts: so small, but so evil." and "I like when my scissors glide through the paper so I don't have to cut." And here you have paper companies that make real paper. And yet, they don't have nearly as many fans.

Neenah Paper has 4,529 fans.
Domtar Paper has 951 fans
Paper cuts: so small, but so evil has 735,633 fans.
i CANT stand writing on paper with pen if the paper is just on the desk 652,268 fans
I like when my scissors glide through the paper so I don't have to cut has 883,598 fans

It goes to show that people connect to things they relate to, not companies. Paper cuts, people can relate to that.

How do you use Google Plus?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:00:27 GMT

Is Google Plus worth using? Most people respond, "I already have Facebook." Yes, but consider you can use Google Plus as a complement to Facebook without going into social media overload.

Facebook is a place to share what you are doing.

Google Plus is a place to share what you are reading.

People tend to not like it when you post a ton of links on Facebook. It's too much. Instead use Google Plus as a place to post all the stories you like. People don't view Google as a social media company. People view Google as a resource. Google provides tools. Fabulous tools. Thus it would make sense that Google would provide a wonderful tool to share articles.

There aren't any mega wide-ranging social news sharing sites out there. Yes, there is reddit. Too dorky. There is digg. It's dead. There is delicious. Not really social. All three of those sites are fine, but they don't reach to a wide audience. Google Plus does.

Not only are there tons of people on Google Plus. But what you post on Google Plus also appears in Google searches. If a friend of mine searches for "Lincoln Square" on Google, they will now see my Google Plus posts about Lincoln Square. Some people are freaked out by the invasion of privacy. I have to admit I used to use Google Plus more freely, posting wise-ass comments thinking only a limited few will see them. But now that all the content on Google Plus appears on the top of Google searches, I'm much more careful.

Having this wider audience makes me want to share MORE things on Google Plus, because now I know it will show up in my friend's searches.

In fact, it makes me want to add WAY more people to my circles and have people add me to their circles. In all the other social media (twitter, facebook, flickr, yelp, foursquare) I have limited how many people I consider a friend or contact. But now I'm just considering going crazy with Google Plus and adding a ton. Why not? You can limit the amount that you see on Google Plus by using the very easy circles. Put only the people you want to read into a "must read" circle.

Use Google Plus to reach out and find new people. You can't really discover new people on Facebook unless you meet them in person first. Google Plus presents an opportunity for you to find more people to share content you like.

What do you think? How do you use Google Plus?

What brings you joy?

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:00:26 GMT

What makes you joyful? Not just happiness. But joy. The comfort and pleasure of joy. We set out to answer that question a couple years ago in my bible study group. We were to write about what brings us joy. I missed the group that week, but I still wrote my joy story. I'm told that mine was really long. lol. That's good!

What brings me joy is the awareness that God is here.

The simple things that remind me that God is present. That God's creation has design. How amazingly balanced our seasons are. Even though we may think of our seasons as extreme with the cold weather we have now, the fact remains that our planet has seasons that are within limits that sustain life. An amazing array of life. All the shapes of trees. All the different types of animals. All the amazing different ways animals behave. All designed by God.

Our awesome underwater world. Our Shedd Aquarium is wonderful. The creatures in our oceans instill awe. For awe is to be aware of God's AWESOMENESS. From Psalm 104:25, "Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. "

Another thing that brings me joy is when we sing songs in church. Especially when the songs are about things that I've been learning. A few recent examples. Over Christmas I learned about how incredible it is that at Christ's birth, the shepherds were invited to share the praise of Christ's birth. That as they shared the good news of Christ's birth with others, they were in essence singing with the angels. What an incredible thought. To sing with the angels. Now whenever we have a song at church about singing with angels, it gives me great joy.

Also last sunday when we sang the song, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say again I say rejoice" is based on the verses in Phillippians we are studying now. I love to have the background behind the songs we sing.

What brings me joy is to hear others pray. And when I read prayers. For prayers in print are just like hearing other people praying. I have a Lutheran Book of Prayer that I read from almost every morning. The Monday prayer says the following:

Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the privilege of work.
Use our talents and energies in Your service for our fellowman.
Help us to see our tasks as expressions of trust from You.
Keep us from seeing our chores as cumbersom duties and toil.
Remind us we are doing more then merely making a living.
Give us the joy in Christ to do all things to Your glory.
Enable us to see in all our tasks that we are called as laborers in Your vineyard.
Keep us faithful and useful to all as men and women who have only one Lord, even Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

I find great comfort that God uses our commonplace work as a way of sustaining our world as a whole.

I find joy in that we have the true word of God. Through the ages God has worked to perserve his Word, so we may have it. I find immense joy in the comfort that God is bigger than culture and He can achieve what He wants--which includes preserving his Bible.

I find joy our pastors preaching every week from God's Word. And in the sermons preserved in podcasts and text online. [note this was written in january 2010] I find immense joy in being able to share sermons with others. My mother who is currently in the hospital comes to mind. Joy is found in trials. James 1:2-3 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."

I find joy when I bow down. For when I submit myself, that's when I become more aware of God.

I find joy in all things deep, like the ocean. I find joy in things small and well-designed, like grapes. I find joy in things vast like the sky. What a wonderful reminder we have every day. As things can get so busy and cluttered down here, we can look up to the the open sky. God has kept our sky open, so we can be reminded of his vastness.

All reminders of God's love and forgiveness that is vast, deep and wide.

What's your favorite fictional characters?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:00:54 GMT

TV:
-- Uncle Iroh (Avatar Animated Series)
-- Spongebob Squarepants
-- Ron Stoppable (from Kim Possible)
-- Jazz (Transformers)
-- Balki Bartokomous (Perfect Strangers)
-- Rolf the Dog (Muppet Show)
-- Gonzo (Muppet Show)
-- Kramer (Seinfeld)
-- Tom Haverford (Parks and Recreation)

Movies:
-- Quorra (from Tron Legacy)
-- Buddy (from Elf)
-- Linkavitch "Link" Chomofsky (from Encino Man)

Books:
-- Orion Pax (Transformers)

Favs of mine that should have a favorite character, but no specific ones stick out:
-- The Office
-- Jack Chan Adventures
-- Star Wars
-- G.I.Joe

Matt: i'm having a hard time picking a favorite from Star Wars. UNBELIEVABLE. I don't have a fav character from Star Wars

Tom: Oh my, that would be hard for me too ... Star wars relies on the relationship between the characters. I love C3PO but he would be nothing without Luke or R2D2

Matt: Oh good reasoning tom! That's totally why. Oh man. Maybe that's big part of the reason why like Star Wars and Lost.

New word: lll

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:00:37 GMT

word:
lll

definition:
laughing laughing laughing. Not just a short laugh. Not just a laugh out loud. But a prolonged laugh of good length.

example:
Did you see that potato? lll

tags:
laugh, laughing, long, extended, length, happy, funny, hilarious, acronym, netspeak

Thanks to unlikelymoose for coming up with this definition over IM. For those curious how it developed here's the original conversation:

Matt: what do you think this word is? putemup
Erik: putemup? some kind of computer blip
Matt: nope! Branden got it on the first try

Pause.

Matt: put em up
Erik: i have no other guesses!
Matt: that's what it is! putemup = put em up
Erik: what? i can't put up any more guesses
Matt: lol. you thought i was just saying "put em up" to you. l o l
Erik: l l l
Matt: l l l that's cool! What's it mean?
Erik: laugh laugh laugh
Erik: lll
Matt: lll
Erik: lll

Matt: are you going to submit that to urbandictionary?
Erik: no. be my guest

Matt: that definition is not on there!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
Erik: LLL
Matt: lll

Matt: what should be my sample usage for the definition?

Matt: Did you see that potato? lll
Matt: I should make all my examples on urbandictionary involve a potato.
Erik: when you're not laughing out loud, you're just laughing, hence lll.
Matt: no. lll means laughing in a long seuqence. It's a long prolonged laugh.
Erik: oh. ok.

Matt: right?
Erik: right

UPDATE: urbandictionary did accept my definition.

Will the U.S. Capitol fly my Estonian flag?

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:00:44 GMT

Dick Durbin is selling American flags for a mere additional $4.05, you can have your flag flown above the U.S. Capitol. Pretty rad. However, you have to PRINT out a pdf, MAIL it in with a CHECK. What�s a check?

The asterick on the page is pretty funny:
* Requests for flags not flown over the United States Capitol should deduct the $4.05 flying fee from the total amount.

How about the other way around? What if I pay Dick Durbian $4.05 to fly my own flag over the capitol? I�m going to mail them an Estonian flag and send them a check for the $4.05 flying fee. And a $4.00 check for them to mail my flag back to me. I already bought the Estonian flag for $6.47. I can't wait.

Pros and cons of Spotify

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:31 GMT

Spotify. Why use Spotify? "Millions of tracks, any time you like. Just search for it in Spotify, then play it. Just help yourself to whatever you want, whenever you want it."

Here's my reasons why you need to sign up now.

I really like being able to play any music i want at any time. And not having to buy it all.
Make your own playlists and share them with other people. I have 18 playlists including "Beat it remixes and covers," "Hand Clapping Songs," "My most-played songs of 2011."
Playing other friends playlists. Think of playlists as mix tapes.
It scrobbles to last.fm, so you can keep track your most played tracks, artists, and albums. Anyone who listens to music should be on last.fm. PERIOD. All the music services I use connect to last.fm: Spotify, iTunes, Mog, even Pandora. Pandora requires a firefox add-on.

Bad points:

It doesn't have all older music. Some of my favorite albums from the 90s aren't on Spotify. That stinks. But heck to pay $5/month, I'm happy to have all the current recent music.
Intrusive to facebook at first. I don't want all the music I listen to to be posted on facebook. But there's a setting to turn that off.
Spotify itself really isn't a music discovery system like how pandora or last.fm works. Where you put in an artist or song and have it play similar tracks. BUT. There is a website that people post their playlists and that is a great music discovery system. http://sharemyplaylists.com

Third party mashups

One of the great strengths of spotify is its API, which allows some very interesting third party mashups. I've been keeping track of them on my delicious account with a spotify tag, http://delicious.com/spudart/spotify. Here's the highlights:

BRITify - Daily Spotify Playlists from Awesome BBC Radio
http://www.britify.com

biblify.com - the latest album reviews for new spotify releases
http://www.biblify.com

Spotibot.com - Generate Spotify Playlists powered by Lastfm!
http://spotibot.com/playlist

Listen Spotify Playlists
http://www.listenspotify.com/en/playlists

Playlistify.org - Bake, share and discover playlists.
http://playlistify.org/

Spotify Mac Remote is a plugin for Spotify that allows you to use your Mac�s IR remote control & multi-touch gestures to Play, Pause and change tracks.
http://themacbox.co.uk/smr/

freshspotify notifies you when new music from your favourite bands is added to spotify's library and lets you browse the latest new music
http://www.freshspotify.com

3-leaf composition

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:00:33 GMT

At my work desk, I have a round table by me that rarely gets used. It's now an art pedestal for the 1400 Gallery. (The gallery being my workspace in the Tribune Tower). This particular work of art is three leaves laid out in a composition. One might say it's inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. Or perhaps Robert Smithson.

The leaves are found from the local foliage (the official work plants on top of my storage cabinet).

Normally these would be just three leaves sitting on a table, but it's interesting how a mere sticky note with a caption activates the leaves into artwork status.

"3-leaf composition"
leaves
2010

Fun with BuckyBalls

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:00:36 GMT

Photos by Miss Construed, Amadika, Jheppcatt.

I have a bunch of BuckyBalls sitting in the 1400 Gallery (my desk at the Tribune Tower). At the time the gallery was showing an exhibit of 10 puddle jumpers curated from a list of 56 puddle jumpers from flickr.

One day one of the sales people came over and started playing with them and put them on top of the puddle jumpers. He quickly realized that they can be put in a string and make the people into jump rope jumpers.

It was really cool. Even how in the orange photo, the rope is cut so it appears to go under the boy's leg. The BuckyBall jump rope really fits in well with these photos, because these are already happy photos. As if leaping over puddles wasn't fun enough, now the people are having even MORE fun jumping rope over a puddle.

I look forward to implementing the BuckyBalls into future exhibits of the 1400 Gallery.

2010 Winter Olympic Mascots in 1400 Gallery

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:00:18 GMT

I bought my niece all the plush mascots keychains from the 2010 Winter Olympics. To make mailing stuffing to keep them from jostling around, I made 11x17 xerox enlargements of each figure. A couple extra copies were made to hang up in the 1400 Gallery.

The tiny cute little keychain mascots become much bigger. A portrait of each mascot. But since they are so short, their heads sit down lower in the frame. Except for Quatchi, he's the big mascot.

I'm told the xerox style looks like Blair Witch Project. The irony is quite nice. These friendly little mascots with the stark black background and intense lighting.

To have some extra fun, I also put one of Sumi by the magazine rack peeking out.

Art made in art museums (13 projects)

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:00:01 GMT

Current museum projects

I've got several art projects that take place in art museums. Last summer I got reciprocal art museum pass from the Walker Art Center and it allows me to go into over 400 art museums nationwide. With this freedom, I�ve been attending art museums more. Ideas have been sprouting for how I can create art in the museum. And how that art can interact with the existing collection.

To help me aggregate and see what's on my plate, here's a collection of ideas and projects:

1. Origami made from Felix Gonzalez-Torres paper

Felix Gonzalez-Torres' stacked paper has much potential. A stack of paper waiting for your imagination to take hold and shape it into something. This origami series is to show some of the possibilities of what this stack holds. As the origami object is photographed on top of the stack, it moves the stack upward into the world of creation. This is how the typical museum functions. The final product is upwardly shown.

Read more about this project on the flickr set.

2. Autograph Aesthetics

Some baseball player autographs have wonderful aesthetic qualities. I went on eBay and purchased the autographs that looked most visually interesting. Then I went to the Art Institute of Chicago's modern wing and matched up the aesthetics of the autograph with modern paintings. Read more about this project at this blog post. The Art Institute of Chicago's official twitter account calls this series "wild card."

3. Self-portrait reflections in modern art

Little did Joseph Albers know that 46 years later his "Home to the Square, Soft Edge--Hard Edge" would be used as a self-portrait by the admiring artist Matt Maldre. I want to start a series of self portraits in modern art. (flickr set, facebook post)

4. Ewok and ______

The first ten photos of this set are images of an Ewok action figure and artwork in my parents house. I plan on bringing my Ewok action figures to art musems and take photos of the ewok and the art.

I like how the ewok can be transplanted into landscapes or other stituations. It makes the artwork come alive and it makes the ewok come alive. (flickr set)

5. Light reflections on art

Ellsworth Kelly featured in this photo. I'd like to do more explorations of how artworks look when you stand close to the work and see how the museum lighting reflects off the artwork. (flickr set)

Upcoming art museum projects

On the Spudart Facebook Fan Page, I explore potential ideas for art projects. Here are the museum-related ideas I've posted in the last several months.

6. Color light reflections on art

Taking the light reflections project further and take photos of famous artworks with colored lights shining on them. (facebook post)

7. Art behind fence

Bring a section of chain link fence and photograph museum artworks behind it. This particular photo isn't a museum artwork. It's a nativity at the Farmer's Garden Market across from my apartment. Seeing this inspired the idea to do it in art museums. (facebook post)

8. RC car in museum

I really want to drive a remote-controlled car around in an art museum. The above are some tweets that I made with the Museum of Contemporary Art's response. (facebook post)

9. Security guard answers

I'm starting a new Spudart series where I ask art museum guards a question, and then later I draw their portrait from memory with their answer. What would be interesting questions to ask the guards at art museums? (facebook post)

10. Other people's notes in museums

Whenever I see someone writing notes in a gallery or museum, I want to ask that person if I can take a photo of their notes. What do you think of this as a new art series? (facebook post)

11. Notes left on museum benches

I'm thinking of doing a series called "notes left on museum benches." (facebook post)

12. Museum guest books

Anybody know of any museums or galleries in Chicago that have guest books that people can leave comments? It would be really cool to photograph the comments left in these books. Often the comments are more interesting than the art itself. (facebook post)

13. Glass and art

It would be interesting to bring a sheet of glass to an art museum and photograph it in front of artworks. The idea is that it would capture other interesting reflections that would interact with the artwork behind the glass.

It would also speak to several points:
-- How we view artwork behind glass.
-- Who is viewing the artwork (as seen in the reflections).
-- What is around the artwork (as seen in the reflections).
-- What is sight/what is object (by the nature of glass itself).
-- How is the art object and object that needs to be protected.
(facebook post)

My 68 favorite youtube videos of 2011

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:37 GMT

Throughout 2011, whenever I saw a video I liked on Youtube, I would add it to my 2011 favorite playlist. Now you can enjoy all 68 fun youtube videos!

If you are curious, I already have a video in my 2012 favorite playlist.
There are 122 videos in the 2005-2010 favorites playlist.

Alley Giveaway

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:44:15 GMT

Today Gapers Block featured a photo from my "Alley Giveaway" series. In effort to minimize my apartment, I got rid of a bunch of stuff. The alley behind me always has people trolling for things left behind. As soon as something is put in the alley, it's gone within the hour.

To have some fun with what I left in the alley, I put some fun notes on the items.

Please enjoy.

Elevator embarrassment at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:04:33 GMT

I�ve never been caught leaving my public art around. Until today. It happened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

The idea
The past couple days I've been thinking about what artwork I can leave in public elevators. This morning I thought of putting a sticky note by the ground floor button that says, "What will you discover outside?" And the sticky note will have a hole cut out, so I can put the sticky note over the ground floor button. (without covering up any of the numbers).

It's a nice notion. You are hitting the first floor, so I'm assuming you are going outside, so it's a nice thought for someone to have while going outside. "What will I discover outside?" Completely innocent and nice.

The first elevator ride
I go to the MCA for lunch thinking that will be a fun place to leave the first sticky note in this series.

Before I place the sticky note, first I have to ride the elevator and rub the note over the button, so i get an indentation of where to cut the circle. I got on the elevator at floor 2 and pressed "4." I got out my sticky note pad, put it over the floor 1 button and just as I got a succesful rub, a cute MCA worker gets on at the basement. It's perplexing that a visitor would be on the elevator at the basement because those are only offices. I guess I was so busy rubbing the sticky note that I didn't bother actually pressing the 4 button all the way.

She asks, "whoa. what are you doing here? exploring?" She wasn't mean at all, in fact, she was really nice (and did I say cute?). I'm like "uh, i dunno. i guess the button didn't get pushed all the way." She asked me where I'd like go to and I told her floor 1. So she pushes the 1 button on her side.

When we arrive to the first floor, it's weird, cuz the elevator doesn't open to the gift shop, it opens to soem weird hallway, and i walk out confused and she says the gift shop is through the door.

Ok, that was a bit awkward, but I'm still gonna make the sticky note! The gift shop on one doesn't have any place to sit, so I walk up the stairs to the second floor where i can sit down and cut out the circle and write the text.

The second elevator ride
I go back to the same elevator, I press up. It arrives. Nobody is inside. I walk inside and press floor 4, and i place the sticky note over floor 1, and take a photo. DONE!

But then the elevator all of the sudden opens on floor 5�the offices, and you know who gets on? THE SAME CUTE GIRL!!!! AND she's still very friendly and says, "are you still exploring the building?"

And i'm just all flustered at this point thinking she's surely gonna see what i just did, but she's talking with me and i'm just like uh duh uh duh uh duh. I go to hit floor one, but i can't see if the button gets light up because i have a sticky note over it!

I hit "1" on the other set of buttons and that lights up. She helpfully suggestions that I get off at floor 2, because it's easier to find the gift shop from there. She probably thought I got lost at floor one, and got back on the elevator.

I got off at floor two all dazed. She never saw the sticky note when i talked to her, cuz she was talking with me the whole time.

Spudart.org over one million visitors in 2011

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:00:44 GMT

In 2011, spudart.org hit a milestone. There was over one million visitors to the site! :) That's not total since the spudart.org has been up, that's just for the year 2011.

Thanks to everyone who visited. Here's the totals for each year since I installed Google Analytics in 2007:

      Visitors   Pageviews
2011  1,248,678  1,503,290 
2010    970,898  1,167,951 
2009    924,205  1,147,885 
2008    670,514    857,089

As they say in the business world, it's good to see growth year after year.

Tron deodorant aisles in Walgreens flagship store in Chicago

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:00:20 GMT

Deodorant aisles like Tron? Individual candy bag dispensers? Alcohol prediction machines? Yes, you have just stepped into the flagship store of Walgreens in Chicago. The energy was palatable. You could feel the excitement with everyone in the store. And the lines were not long at all since there were eight cashiers ready to check you out. Let's take a look at what's new, but also if anything was missing from the Walgreens we all know and love.

This Walgreens is brimming with shiny excitement.

They have Tron deodorant aisles!!! I felt like i was on The Grid. The aisles and products were all illuminate as this was the place Kevin Flynn, Quorra, Zuse, and Clu would pick up their Secret and Axe deodorant.
They had hair dryers hooked up so you can test them out. I tell ya, I had fun pushing all the on buttons for every hair dryer at once. That's probably why they have them in the back corner of the store. Kids like me like to turn them on all at once.
There was some kiosk that helped you pick wine and beer. You could tell it what type of event you are going to and how many people were going to be there and what type of booz they like to drink, and it will figure out the math for you. Basically it could predict the your future of alcohol.
Their candy aisle has these special holders for the bags. Everything is SO tidy and organized. It's SUCH a delight.
Escalators! I felt like i was in Target. Helvetica lettering. But they didn't have shopping cart escalators.
Lots of Argo Tea products. I kinda felt like I was in an Argo Tea.

Ok, so that's all the fancy stuff. But is this REALLY a Walgreens? What about the standards that makes Walgreens the Walgreens we know and love?

They had dark chocolate peanut M&M's, so i got a bag.
My cashier did not have a nametag. Her name wasn't on the receipt either.
I didn't see a season aisle!!! A Walgreens without the seasonal aisle? I don't know if it's a walgreens! CORRECTION: I went back and they DO have a seasonal aisle. It's kinda buried up on the second floor.
I didn't see any Slim Jims. I didn't really look for them though.

If anyone is going to the flagship Walgreens store, let me know. I will be happy to be your tour guide.

2012 resolutions

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:00:34 GMT

Things to do in 2012:
1) Visit more coffeeshops.
2) Whenever I see a bench I haven't sat in, to sit in it for at least one minute.
3) Always sit on the Giddings Park for one minute when I walk to work.
4) To not use my phone on the train during January.
5) Send more postal letters.

Anyone have any resolutions/goals for 2012?

Wall photos on an angle

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:00:21 GMT

These two photos appeared next to each other in my most interesting photos 2011. I like how they are kinda similar.

Fantasy Money League

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:00:21 GMT

There should be a fantasy football league that is just about money. People could say, "did you see how that money did?" And then someone else could say, "that money totally had all the money!" The third person would reply, "that was so on the money."

Is 12 noon pm or am?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:00:33 GMT

Is 12 noon pm or am? I always get confused. Who would be the best person to help me out? None other than the people at AM/PM gas stations.

Here is a series of letters I have written for AMPM where we get to the bottom of the matter of fixing this noon pm/am thing.

------------------------------------------------------

Dear AMPM,

I always get confused if 12 noon is am or pm. Which one is it?

The time traveling confused,
matt

------------------------------------------------------

Dear AMPM,

I never understood why 12 noon is pm. If you count continuously through the day shouldn't 12 be pm? Let's take a look. 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am, 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am, 11am, 12am, 1pm, 2pm... Doesn't that make more sense?

Let's not work against time. Why would all of the sudden 12 noon become a pm? It should follow in line with the other numbers and be a pm.

At one time,
matt

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear AMPM,

I think I have a solution to this 12 noon being pm thing. We already established in my previous message that it doesn't make sense for 12 to be pm.

But the argument goes that 12 noon is the halfway point of the day, so therefore it should be pm. Ok. That makes sense. But then it doesn't make sense why it's 12. If we are declaring that it's the start of the half day, why do we continue calling it 12? It should just be zero.

Since you are the owner of the AM/PM, from now one, I would like you to declare that 12pm noon is now 0pm noon. So when it's 12:26pm, it would be 0:26pm. That would make so much more sense.

Thank you for implementing this change.

Let's time this perfectly.
matt

------------------------------------------------------

Etsy visiting paypal

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:00:41 GMT

I like it when Etsy visits paypal.

Spudart.org blog on a little break

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:13:40 GMT

The Spudart blog is moving to another platform! For the past month I've been spending most of my time converting my blog from a very old platform, pmachine over to a more robust one, drupal.

Excuse me while there is a temporary lack of posts. It's become quite urgent that I convert my blog over.

If you'd like to know more of the story, here's what happened:

Spam attacks
There was a spam complaint that my site was sending spam. Except I wasn't. Someone else was pretending to be my server and sent spam out. My server almost removed all my accounts due to this complaint. (I had a 72 hour notice).

Server upgrade
I told my hosting company this spam was certainly not from me. They took a look at my server backend and found that I had old versions of CentOS and Plesk. They upgraded those two to limit the spam attacks.

Commenting on spudart.org disabled
However, the server upgraded disabled the comments on my blog. Anytime someone tried to leave a comment, an error page would pop up.

Move to a new blogging software
To get commenting back I needed to move my site to another blogging platform. My current blogging platform is pMachine. The company that made and supported pMachine abandoned it in 2004. Therefore it's really out of date. Drupal is very flexible and will allow me to do lots of great things I wasn't able to do before.

Upgrading to PHP 5.3
In order to use Drupal, I need PHP 5.3. I was on 5.2. I figured that's not that big of a jump and shouldn't break anything. Ooops. PHP 5.3 now declares some of the pMachine functions depreciated, specficially eregi(). So that means everytime someone looks at one of my webpages with that function, it adds a line to the error log. My site gets a bunch of traffic, so that means these error logs grow and grow.

Site going down due to large error logs
All the sites on my server including spudart.org and unlikelymoose.com would go down, because the error logs would get so big that it maxes out my 33 GB of space. Normally I use about 14 GB. So these error logs are getting up to over 19 GB in size! I'm already busy trying to figure out how to make the data get mapped over to Drupal, so I don't want to slow myself down with trying to figure out how to replace that old functions with the newer preg_match(). (it's not a straight swap, preg_match() uses slightly different values).

Regular blog posts coming soon
The new spudart.org will be up very soon. I'm getting quite close to figuring it all out. And then when the new site is up, I'll be back to making regular blog posts. Thank you for your patience.

Why newspaper photos are better than baseball cards

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:26:29 GMT

This is a cool photo of Henry Blanco. It's too bad the design of the card is covering up an essential part of the photo, home plate. It makes you wonder what the photographer thinks of this card.

2011 Topps Update #74 Henry Blanco Diamondbacks.

It makes you wonder if the runner was safe or out. That's one of the things I like about photos in newspapers. There is a caption, and you know what happened. In baseball cards, they never tell you what happened. Hmmm. That's kind of a realization for me. I would rather collect newspaper photos than baseball cards. The photo on the card has no story. The photo only serves as a general illustration of that player from that year. There is no story within that moment in the baseball card.

106 billion sticky notes can cover all of Chicago

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:26:19 GMT

Precisely it would take 105,714,892,800 sticky notes to cover every square inch of Chicago. How did I come with that?

3 inch x 3 inch sticky note

63,360 inches per mile
63,360/3=
It takes 21,120 stickies lined up to cover one linear mile.

21,120*21,120=
446,054,400 stickies cover one square mile.

Chicago is 237 square miles of land.
446,054,400*237=
105,714,892,800 sticky notes to cover Chicago.

I was thinking that every time I place a sticky note, how much of Chicago do I cover? 0.000000000945940514% of Chicago. I think that's right. Correct me if my 3:30am math is wrong.

Pood: It's not what you think

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:08:59 GMT

I played the word POOD in Words with Friends. I always thought the past tense of poo would be spelled POOED. My second-grade humor was greatly pleased when Words with Friends accepted POOD. What a great Scrabble potty word to play.

When you play POOD, make sure to toss out the real definition: "a Russian unit of weight equal to approximately 36 pounds."

Then if you want to be really funny, give your weight in pood. (hat tip to Nicole for that joke) I weigh four and one-third pood.

Looking at the world through a tube

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:00:44 GMT

I'm glad he got the tube off his head

This reminds me of the time when Unlikelymoose and i were at an art museum in San Francisco and we saw someone walking around looking at the artwork through a rolled up map. It might have even been a paper towel tube the person brought with her. Now it's a joke whenever we and i go to an art museum. That we walk around looking at the art through a tube.

Two pinterest pins that belong together

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:22:12 GMT

I saw these two pins on the same day. Somehow they belong together. Here's the links:
First one: Face protector thing
Second one: Baby face thing

I like how the caption on the first one talks about how ridiculous it is, but then the equally ridiculous second pin talks about how it's so smart!

USS Enterprise an aircraft carrier?

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:56:48 GMT

Sparxmind pointed out to me that the USS Enterprise on wikipedia seems to be depicted as an aircraft carrier. Last time I checked it was a spaceship in Star Trek. Maybe it actually is the Star Trek spaceship in that illustration, it's just one of those things where it's a weird angle.

English words with double-i

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:29:06 GMT

It seems like my Scrabble / Words with Friends rack always ends up multiple i's. Does the letter i like to group together in herds? If you have the double-i syndrome like me, here's some words that might come in handy for you.

alibiing
filariid
retiarii
aalii
aaliis
bacchii
congii
coniine
denarii
genii
medii
nauplii
obiism
obiisms
piing
radii
senarii
skiing
skiings
splenii
taxiing
teiid
teiids
torii

How many of these will i remember?-- or coming in handy? Probably: skiing, torii, and radii

Mattress in an alley

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:58:15 GMT

One mattress photo. Three different websites. The comments that resulted:

Instagram:

Foursquare:

Flickr:

Tweeting about pooping

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:45 GMT

Everyone on twitter has the urge to tweet about what they eat. Or how their knee hurts. It's the typical stupid twitter joke that comedians tell. I avoid tweeting about such uninteresting things on my main twitter accounts. That's why I tweet them on my not-so-great twitter account devoted to my health, @mattshealth. Totally boring, right?

But I like to keep track of when pains or aches happen, so I have a record of it, just in case. When the doctor asks, "How long has your knee been hurting, I can find the exact day." It's very helpful. Everyone should set up a second twitter account dedicated to what you eat and when your back starts giving you problems.

And then you get to tweet about pooping.

That's why one day I was shocked when @burritobeach started following me. Well, I wasn't really all that surprised since the day before I tweeted, "The goat cheese and black bean burrito at Burrito Beach is quite good." But still, it's impressive that Burrito Beach is on top of things with social media.

Delighted they took the time to follow my account that is only read by my closest friends and rarely read by the twitterverse, I replied back to them with my joy:

I was hoping they might, just might, give me a coupon for a burrito. But instead I got this:

Yeah, I guess that means no burrito coupon for me. I hope they will read my classic tweets like this one: "I haven't had an IRL conversation about pooping in a long time." Besides, maybe it makes sense that @burritobeach is following my @mattshealth. Burritos and pooping goes hand-in-hand.

The Christmas lights machine gun

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:45:13 GMT

I've always wanted a gun that shoots out strings of Christmas lights.

I would hold the Christmaslightstring Machine Gun in the G.I.Joe Roadblock style and yell out in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice, "MERRY CHRISTMAS AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!" +chugga chugga chugga+ (that's the sound of the machine gun shooting out christmas string lights)

Ever since high school, I seriously dream about this every Christmas.

Fun mail drop-off boxes

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:34:25 GMT

I would like to make it goal of mine that I will always have pre-postaged postcards with me at all times. If i come across a cool-looking mail drop-off box, I can use that box.

And then I could take a photo of that drop-off box with my phone, and immediately mail a photo of the mailbox to the person getting the postcard and be like, "hey look at this super cool drop-off box! I just mailed you a postcard into that box! Have a great day!"

The question is, what should be on these postcards I carry around? The postcard can't have an image of the mail drop-off box, because the idea is that I DISCOVER a cool looking drop-off box. Oh! How about I carry blank pre-postaged postcards that are BLANK. And then I do a quick doodle of the mailbox.

Seven artists who inspired me at Chicago's One of a Kind Show

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:54:08 GMT

Do you know about the "One of a Kind" annual show at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago? I never heard of it, yet this is its 11th year running. Maybe I never heard of it, because I'm always going to the Renegade Craft Fair at the same time.

There couldn't be more of a contrast between the two craft shows. The Renegade Craft Fair is a hip show featuring artists in their 20s and 30s. It attracts a likewise audience. It's shown in the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse with multiple rooms stuffed with people.

The One of a Kind show is your typical arts and crafts show, only it's much larger with 600 artists in the shiny clean Merchandise Mart. It's not that crowded (compared to the Renegade's smaller space). The One of Kind attracts a MUCH older crowd. I felt 20 years older walking around the One of a Kind. Seriously. There were all these old people. Not that it should make a difference. But the show was just dominated by your older rich crowd.

Nevertheless, there were seven artists that inspired me from this show. Here they are.

Paul Fletcher
Huge encaustic paintings. It was interesting see how he handles the wax medium on large boards. There was one piece that really captured me. "Shifting winds" The image online doesn't do it justice. In fact, it looks really muddy online. But I stared at this painting for a few minutes admiring the textures and imagining myself in that grass.

Nha Vuu
Nha's drawings reminded me of my friend Laurel's drawings. It made me wonder if Laurel would be interested in Nha's other drawings.

Sarena Mann
While I'm not a huge fan of the aesthetics of these pieces. I enjoyed the various ways they hung from string. I've been thinking of ways to expand my wire man swing series. One of my thoughts was to use a kite. Here it was fun to see someone else using a kite with a wire.

Jon Smith
Jon's paintings of people looking at paintings in art museums look rather Edward Hopper-esque. Use of simple space, layout, lone figures deep in thought. I also appreciated Jon's work as I've been thinking a lot about different ways of making art in art museums.

Emmy Star Brown
I always enjoy Emmy's work. It's amazing that these are paintings.

Rebecca Plotnick
I've already been following Rebecca on flickr and etsy, but I had a new experience seeing her work in person. She interprets spaces very well. In particular her subway series looked very interesting hanging together as a series. Her work makes me reconsider how I interpret inside spaces.

Gregory Prestegord
Gregory was tearing down his booth as the show as going to close in 15 minutes. I got to catch a glimpse at a couple of his paintings on the floor. I was really taken by the visceral qualities of the oil painting. And the urbanness of the subject matter. If I did oil paintings, I'd want to do paintings like this.

Social and economic influences on the future of theatre

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:00:56 GMT

The future of theatre is a paper my friend John is writing. This 5th question was very interesting: 5. Is there any social and/or economic politics that can effect or affect the future of building stages and theatre architecture?

Here's my response:

In our age, fear is ruling the day with our economics. Less funding and shrinking budgets can do two things. 1) Make people fearful of losing their jobs and thus holding onto what they know what works. And they put any money into producing a more attractive show. Or 2) People face reality and see what the market is and react accordingly and innovate with less means.

In the creative world often the best creativity comes when there are limitations. We work with those means. If you see limitations as a reason to fear, you will have less creativity.

Plus as we produce more work creativity, we will turn to our audiences and engage with them more. In many ways. Through face-to-face feedback. Through online means. Through opening up our theaters and creating programs that bring more people in to collaborate. Not only in real space, but allowing the audience to use their own technology to capture the event and build upon it.

And as we bring community in, those with passion will perform works in their own micro-stages, both in real life, but also by posting performances to online arenas. Feedback and critique will become a fantastic loop that will draw more people in to be an audience and to participate.

Collaboration starts with caring for others. We need to put down our reasons to fear and our self-preservation and start caring more about others. Once we start caring and engaging with our audience, we will have more creativity.

Where there is creativity, life flourishes.

I really like this last line. Do you have any thoughts on the future of theatre?

What is your opinion and thoughts on the future of Stage Design in America?

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:34:03 GMT

My friend John interviewed me for a paper he's writing on the future of the theatre. One of the questions he asked was: What is your opinion and thoughts on the future of Stage Design in America? When you close your eyes and read newspapers or talk to other peers and professors or professionals, what can you envision the future stage will probably look like?

Here's my response:

A growing rift between 1) very high-production plays 2) very loose casual any-space plays. There will be less high-production plays, but they will become more elaborate. And there will be more grassroots plays.

As a visual artist who creates artwork in public spaces, I find the immediacy and accessibility to the public much more interesting than a polished gallery space. There will still be the place for traditional theatre. But we'll see more types of shows where the play is staged in front of a casual standing audience. Much like a rock show at a bar. Or a performance in a garage.

It's interesting to see how the Hubbard Street Dance theatre now does performances in the Art Institute galleries interpreting specific pieces of artwork. Crowds gather to watch. Great intrigue is sparked. These non-traditional spaces are engaging. Audiences are free to walk around.

Performances like Fruza Bruta where the audience stands under the peformers will gain attraction. Innovative ways of working with not only materials buy also the space. It's interesting to note how in Fruza Bruta, the audience stands Auditorium Theatre's stage. Thus making the audience just as much peformers as the dancers.

In our age of technology, people are craving direct human contact. While the theatre traditionally provides human contact in concept, there is still a rift between the actors on stage and the audience in the seats. People want to move around. To interact. To engage. Audiences don't want to only consume. They want to have a feeling of ownership. Use of cell phones should be encouraged. People want to capture the moment. Their cell phones are part of their brains. People want to share. People want to interact. We should be enabling our audiences to post videos, audio, photos, and tweets.

We currently don't allow this level of interaction and reposting because of fear. (see next question)

Tomorrow I'll post the next question.

New word: CRZAY

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:00:53 GMT

Word:
CRZAY

Definition:
When something is beyond crazy. You can't even get yourself to say crazy the normal way, you end up saying CRZAY.

Example:
Person 1: This donut is so CRZAY.
Person 2: You mean crazy?
Person 1: Did you hear what I just said? I said CRZAY.

Tags:
ape, batty, berserk, bonkers, cuckoo, flipped, insane, kooky, lunatic, mad, nuts

Running into people in the aisles of Google

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:29:52 GMT

Browsing through the public library, you see others standing in the same subject aisle as yourself. But when you Google something, you don't see others doing the same search as you.

Google should have an option where you can turn on public searching. You can then see when others are searching similar topic areas as yourself. Your public searching options could be open to everyone on the internet. Or to just people within your circle.

Spongebob physics

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:00:44 GMT

I like seeing this in my firefox google search bar.

Hard to spell words

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:00:01 GMT

Are there any words you find hard to spell? Here's my collection of tweets over the past few years that shares my difficult words:

"rubbage" is actually spelled "rubbish?" #learningtospell

I tend to spell simplier instead of simpler, which is ironic, because I'm making the word more complex. #learningtospell

simplest? wow. i thought it was simpliest. #learningtospell

Wow. cemetery has a lot of e's in it. Seems like that last one should be an a. #learningtospell

Huh, there is no second u in curiosity. #learningtospell

Manila is spelled with one l? What's next? Vanilla?

Wait, so the printmaking term "chine colle" is not spelled shingolay? #boywasioffalltheseyears

Huh, there is no second u in curiosity. #learningtospell

Galileo is hard to spell

Don't try to overcomplicate "anemone" when you spell it.

The word camouflage disguises itself through difficult spelling

They are gonna hafta kick us out kick us out at the Spell Yeah spelling bee tonight with @theastrolabe http://ow.ly/6DVrN

Am I a nincompoop if i spelled it nincumpoop?

spellcheck just told me that spellcheck is not a word

It's funny how spell-check auto-capitalizes Styrofoam

Do you have any words you just recently learned how to spell? Please share your hard-to-spell words in the comments of this blog post.

Video self-portraits by teens in the MCA's Creative Agency.

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:00:31 GMT

The Museum of Contemporary Art is working with 17 teen artists to make self-portrait videos. Give them a look. They are interesting.

Alejandro: I'd like to hear more of Alejandro's interviews with MCA visitors.

Alexis: Interesting piece asking strangers who she is. Seeing that she's a photographer, I'd like to see people give her the answer by photographing her with her camera.

Anthony: It would be interesting to see Anthony give these sticky notes away to people as a way of giving himself to others.

Benjamin: He's a wise man recognizing that we shouldn't get stuck doing only what we do best, but what we love doing.

LaMar: I want to see him make jewelry for that tree.

About The Creative Agency

The Creative Agency (TCA at MCA) is a new program focused on art interpretation where 17 teenage Members and two Lead Artists meet weekly at MCA Chicago. TCA at MCA aims to help young people make sense of art, themselves, and their world through the lens of their own creative questions and passions, and with contemporary art as a resource.

Do you have any favorites from the 17 videos?

Urban squid seen in Chicago

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:07:04 GMT

My photo is featured on the homepage gapersblock.com today (archive in Rearview).

This caution tape was flapping around so fast, it was like a squid swimming in water. It really did! You ever see squids swim? Their legs flap around in a sort of synchronized motion. And that's what this caution tape totally looked like. That makes this an urban squid swimming around at intersection of Division and Damen. What happened that windy Sunday afternoon?

The urban squid tries to latch onto a bus. Get away bus! GO GO GO! Don't let the urban squid grab a whole busload of people!

A daring young lad walks right by the urban squid. Oh wait, he's on his cellphone. This unaware young lad stupidly walks by a life-threatening squid!

Urban squid hungry for sporty outfit with white highlights! (that or my sweet potato cinnamon roll that I was going to share with whomever answered my okcupid broadcast http://pic.twitter.com/SSPzukYj)

This bold man in fur collared jacket approaches the squid to attack it and save the world. HELP US FUR-COLLARED-JACKET SUPERHERO!

Ideas on how to improve the Pace bus service

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:00:19 GMT

Let's admit it. The Pace bus service in Chicago isn't really all that popular. You always see only one guy riding on the bus, Mr. Pace. Here's seven suggestions on how Pace can improve their bus service.

1) Pen cups
To increase ridership they need to include cups of pens on every bus. I can't tell you how many times i wish i had a pen with me on the bus, but i didn't. And then i look on the floor for a loose pen. And i NEVER find one. Pen cups, filled with pens. Man. I'd love that. (or pencil benches)

2) Drink beer on the Pace

3) Helping people with wasp stings
What is the procedure when someone gets stung by a wasp on a Pace bus?

4) Outfits
The drivers need to wear fun cute outfits. Kinda like a train conductor outfit, but for bus drivers

5) Trader Joe's cashier rule
Pace should employ the Trader Joe's cashier rule. The cashiers at Trader Joe's are supposed to ask you two questions while they are checking you out. It doesn't matter what the questions are. The first one could simply be, "how are you?" But they have to ask two questions. So then the bus driver has to ask each rider two questions. That would be friendly. Just like the Trader Joe's employees.

6) Get a new logo
That Pace logo is awful. What font is that? Something from the middle of the 70s. Hmm. Last time I checked we are in the 10's. Not the 70s. If you are going to have a 70s logo, at least have one that's rad like San Francisco's MUNI.

7) Google Plus
Do something with Google Plus, like Pace Plus. And i'm not talking about making a Google Branded Page. I'm talking about your own sort of social media platform. I have no idea what this is, but something with how you can have like, social media and bus riding--combined.

What do you think the Pace bus service should do to improve? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Clouds hanging from trees

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:00:44 GMT

I want to hang clouds from trees. Sorta like the clouds are ornaments. That will be a neat sight to see. How should I make the clouds? I made a poll on the Spudart Facebook Page. Please vote on the poll.

How should I make the clouds?

Amit Gupta needs you

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:11:28 GMT

I had the honor of meeting Amit Gupta, founder of Photojojo the most fun photo website. He was very intrigued by the public artwork that I do.

Only a couple weeks later, he found out that he has acute lukeumia and needs treatment immediately. He needs a bone marrow match.

Please help Amit. I took great joy in that he absolutely loved the thought of finding one of my artworks on the street. In turn, I would absolutely love if you joined a bone marrow registry. It's super easy. You just rub a cotton swab inside your cheek and mail it in.

The reigstry needs your kit before Nov 30 to help Amit.
http://amitguptaneedsyou.com/

Paul McCarthy on deconstructing spaces

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:00:26 GMT

A few interesting points from Art21's interview with Paul McCarthy:

Equating amusement parks with art.

It's a really interesting idea to explore how a place like Great America can be artwork. I would like to explore this.
The way Paul McCarthy explores is is that he makes his sculptures into a ride. He puts the viewer into a physical experience.
I like the concept of how the aesthetics of an amusement park is like art. Both with the visual appeal of the rides. But also the mundane things like how a certain walkway looks. A friend Steve Tanner has a Facebook Page, Magical Trash, dedicated to documenting the trash cans of Disney theme parks and resorts.

Art, but not equated to a gallery or museum

I find this interesting, because recently I've been making art in museums where I create art within what is acceptable behavior by a visitor. Paul doesn't touch about this specifically. But makes his exhibits do things not typically done by museums.

How the room opens up. It's a solid object, and when it opens up, the object disappears.

I really like the idea that you have a room. But then the 3d room becomes a flat 2d object. I think the regular gallery visitor looks at the 2d items on the wall, but doesn't consider that they are placed within a 3d experience with walls. I would really like to hear a gallery talk by curators on how they decide to split up the gallery space. How different artworks can talk to each other. How the prevent other artworks from dialoguing.

Cindy Sherman finally tries a digital camera

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:00:08 GMT

Art21 scored an exclusive with Cindy Sherman where she talks about shooting digital for the first time in her life. Wow. Cindy. It's 2011, and you never shot with a digital camera? That was one surprise in this video.

Another surprise was that I didn't enjoy her photos that she shot for Vogue magazine. I've never been a huge Cindy Sherman fan. Her photos are always too ghostly for me. But these Vogue shots clearly look like she's trying to hide her age. There's so much makeup on her, that she looks like a birthday cake. Maybe that's her commentary? I dunno. In the interview where she wasn't wearing all that makeup, she looked attractive. I don't know why she felt like she had to make her self-portraits for Vogue look so extremely creepy.

Maybe I shouldn't say all this, because it's not very nice. But I have good respect for Cindy Sherman and her place in art history. So that's why these two points really surprised me. I'm curious if others are surprised as well.

Do you want support or understanding?

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:00:04 GMT

Thanks to Kelly Ryan O'Brien for posting this on her Idols and Egos blog

Yeah! I think this is why I always want honest critiques of my work. The past few months I've been thinking a lot about if I want support or understanding. I can't complain when I get support. Support is great. But what I really desire is understanding. So often people are just willing to just give support and not understanding by saying, "that's nice" without a reason why it's nice. Without really understanding what you are trying to achieve.

It comes to that taste thing that Ira talks about. I have this taste, vision, thing in my head. And when I make something that doesn't come out right, I want to learn from it. And keep pushing forward. But then there are people who are nice and say what I did is nice, and all i can think in my head is how my artwork there isn't really nice.

So yeah, I'll take the nice support. But I want honest understanding more than anything.

Aa, Ab, Ad, Ae, Ag, Ah, the first six of the 101 wax creatures

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:05:55 GMT

In theory there are 101 of these wax creatures. So far six have been discovered.

In my encaustic painting class we learned how to make mono prints with wax. Here are little monsters made on tissue paper with a blue to yellow gradient monoprint background. The monster is a green wax brushstroke. Each has a two-letter name. Enjoy.

Feel free to "like" them on facebook.

What should the puppy have in his circle?

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:46:36 GMT

Tell me what to put in the puppy's circle, and I will draw it!

Here's what people have suggested to me so far:

A bone (@personalgenius on twitter)
Kibble! (Tom Saaristo on flickr)
Scooby Snacks (Jamie McQuinn on facebook)
A cat should be in a basket in the circle with the dog watching over it lovingly. (via Brittany Westfall on facebook)
Pumpkin (Tammy Weston on facebook)
I want to add a neck, legs, and tail to the outside of the circle. (Erik Maldre on facebook)

Every day I pass by the puppy in Giddings Plaza, I will draw one of these items in his circle! Suggest more ideas and I will add it to the list for me to draw. Even if the puppy gets rained away, I will redraw the puppy with the circle and the next item. If enough items are added to this list, it will become a recurring piece of artwork in the Lincoln Square neighborhood for people to see change over time.

November 17, 2011: Great day for art

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:00:59 GMT

There are two incredible art events happening in Chicago on Thursday, November 17, 2011.
1) A talk at the Cultural Center on Chicago's bridges (i love Chicago's Bridges)
2) A dance performance interpreting artwork at the Art Institute (art + dance = love)

---------------
Preservation Snapshots: Chicago�s Bridges

Chicago�s bridges are a reminder of the city�s geographic situation: a narrow river with low banks was the young city�s busy harbor but cut off downtown access on two sides. Engineers developed ingenious new solutions to provide convenient river crossings, while architects strove to make them more beautiful. The result is a collection of moveable bridges that are such a unique part of Chicago�s character that several are now protected as city landmarks. Lecture given by Chicago geographer and historian Dennis McClendon.

November 17, 2011, 12:15 pm

Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St., Claudia Cassidy Theater
Chicago, IL 60602

---------------
Echo Effect Event

Photo: Hubbard Street dancers Jesse Bechard, Jessica Tong, and Jonathan Frederickson with Georgia O�Keeffe, Sky Above Clouds IV, 1965. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Georgia O�Keeffe painted her bird�s eye view of clouds repeating the forms making each one different, yet each one the same. Hubbard Street 2 dancers with HS2 director Taryn Kaschock explore repetition of a set series of movement against varying conditions to demonstrate how each viewing seems entirely new.

November 17, 2011, 6-7 pm
Art Institute of Chicago, Fullerton Hall
---------------
I'm so excited!

Try four audio podcasts on art

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:00:37 GMT

While looking for more art podcasts, I found three audio podcasts that I'm going to bring into my mix of podcasts. How about you give them a try too?

---------------

Art Talk KCRW

Edward Goldman offers impassioned views on what he sees in galleries and museums around the world.
-- every five days
-- 3-4 minutes
-- audio available on iTunes and kcrw.com

---------------

Bad at Sports

Despite the name, this podcast is about art. I rarely listen, just because of the length. Usually over an hour.
-- weekly
-- 1 hour
-- audio available on iTunes and badatsports.com

---------------

Museum of Contemporary Art

Gallery tours
-- 1-2 minute segments
-- Whenever a big exhibit is up
-- audio available via iTunes

Gallery talks
-- 1-2 hours
-- Whenever they have a talk about a big show (not all talks are archived)
-- audio available via iTunes and mcachicago.org

---------------

The CAD Report with Nat Soti

Arts and culture podcast which uses the various exhibitions and programs at the Chicago Art Department as launching points for engaging conversation.
-- about an hour
-- sporadic frequency
-- audio available via iTunes and natsoti.podbean.com

---------------
Art Insitute of Chicago

They stopped doing audio podcasts in 2009.

Two good art video podcasts

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:08:16 GMT

Tateshots and etsy are two video podcasts that I look forward to with every release.

---------------

TateShots

A selection of short videos each month, with a focus on modern and contemporary art at Tate. TateShots is probably in my top five most favorite video podcasts.
-- semi-weekly
-- 3-5 minutes
-- video available on iTunes and channel.tate.org

The Tate also has THREE MORE podcasts!
-- Tate Events
-- Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera
-- Tate: Remixed is a digital media collaboration between B3 Media and Tate.

---------------

Etsy

Features etsy artists. Sometimes their subjects get even a little too quirky for me (which I didn't even think was possible). But it's nice to see a range of real people making art in their homes.
-- semi-weekly videos
-- about 4-5 minutes
-- video available on iTunes and vimeo

---------------
Tomorrow I feature four audio podcasts on art that I haven't listened to yet, but I'm going to give a try.

Art Institute reviews my art as "wild card"

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:44:49 GMT

The Art Institute of Chicago's official twitter account calls my art "wild card"!

View all 15 "wild card" photos on the Spudart Facebook Page.

Autograph Aesthetics

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:31:01 GMT

Art. Baseball cards
Art as collectible. Baseball cards as collectible.
Art signed. Baseball cards autographed.
Art as aesthetic object. Baseball card as aesthetic object.
The mark of the artist. The mark of a baseball player.
Paintings are indexed in catalogs. Baseball cards are indexed in catalogs.

Some baseball player autographs have wonderful aesthetic qualities. I went on eBay and purchased the autographs that looked most visually interesting. Then I went to the Art Institute of Chicago's modern wing and matched up the aesthetics of the autograph with modern paintings.

Self-portrait reflections in modern art

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:00:02 GMT

Wanna be in art? Head on over to your nearest art museum and stand in front of a framed work of art. You'll see yourself in the reflection. Snap a photo and now you are officially in the art!

It would be great if people would post photos of themselves in modern art.

Above is a collection of photos with me inside a Joseph Albers. I purposely framed my hands with the iphone inside the center square of each serigraph. The iPhone captures the contemporary nature of viewing art in the 21st century. The art preserved on the wall from its time in 1965. Outside the art is 2011. The viewer with the newly released iPhone 4S.

Time parallels itself.

I'll be posting more photos of self-portrait reflections in modern art. I hope others will join me in this reflective journey.

Fun comments on Amazon wish list

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:00:27 GMT

HINT HINT HINT
My birthday is coming up on November 20. And I have this VERY handy wish list on Amazon with 302 items listed. Is that overwhelming? It's sorted by priority. 11 items are marked as highest. 52 has high. Then the rest at medium, low, and lowest.

Wait. Still can't decide? I left fun comments on the items. Check out these classics:

Ten TV shows about art. All available online at blip.tv.

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:51:27 GMT

Blip.tv looks like it has some good tv shows about art. Here's ten that I just hand-picked and added to my subscription.

Fear No ART
Discover the artists behind the art. Join host Elysabeth Alfano and go behind the scenes into the back stages, studio, kitchens and rehearsal studios of some of the most the nation's most creative geniuses.

International Festival of Arts & Ideas
Every year in June, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas bring together a diverse group of artists, writers, thinkers and world leaders to discuss the most pressing issues in art, society, politics and the environment. Every other week through out the year we share with our web audience our ...

Westdocs
Situated in a carefully renovated seventeenth century townhouse, WEST has been developing an international programme of exhibitions showing artworks that challenge the public�s perception of art.

5 things I learned today (and don't want to forget)
Pulled together from many places, of many interests, of many purposes and of many ideas, this is a stream of stuff. Everyday we find links for the curious: photography, videos, design, art, science, tech, gadgets, anything worthy of our collective time and attention

Gallery Girl
Join Andy as she takes you around the commercial art gallery scene in Melbourne. A light-hearted and informative program that will review art, the artists, the gallerists, the curators, the VIPs and a behind-the-scenes look at the visual arts industry.

EatSleepDraw TV
Welcome to EatSleepDraw TV. Where we highlight some of the amazing art and artists on EatSleepDraw.com

The 'What Is?' Project
The "What Is?" Project is an ongoing series of interviews asking universal questions. We explore everyday people's thoughts on love, art, happiness, friendship, consciousness and many other topics. Our goal is to capture and share the beauty and diversity of viewpoints

Arcade44.tv
Arcade44 is a channelzine dedicated to bringing you inside the lives of people shaping pop culture. Exclusive video editorials on music, style, art + culture.

Crane.tv
Crane.tv brings you the best of contemporary culture and lifestyle, globally. Devised by an experienced editorial team, we cover the latest trends and happenings across five verticals: art, design, fashion, lifestyle and travel.

The Virtual Instructor-Free Art Lessons
Free Art Lessons on a wide variety of subject and media. Drawing, painting, and digital art lessons are all included.

the gap

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:00:13 GMT

the gap that the gap is in
not totally cool, not totally lame
not really anything

A fun game to play at an art museum

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:00:06 GMT

Go to an art museum with a friend and this word list. Discuss the artwork using these words. Either pick a word a random. Or go straight down the list.

This particular artwork is by John Baldessari, "Terms Most Useful in Describing Creative Works of Art" 1966-1968.

Onemegabyte

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:15 GMT

The word "onemegabyte" sounds so cool. Too bad the domain and twitter account are taken. And yet there is no website and no tweets. Nothing is being stored on that onemegabyte.

I took down the Apple server during the iPhone 4S launch

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 02:26:33 GMT

I'm pretty sure that I'm the one who make Apple's Softbank server die today during the iPhone 4S launch. And I'm serious. I know this probably isn't true. But I do half believe it. Today was a great lesson in patience and approaching all situations with a positive attitude.

On the first day of the iPhone 4S release, I tried to buy it at Chicago's Michigan Avenue Apple store. In that location I was the first person to get server errors on my signup. My very helpful Apple guy was on the phone with Verizon on and off for two hours. Other Apple employees would walk by and ask what was happening. We had two Verizon reps standing with us. Nobody knew what was going on.

Then we got word. Softbank Server is down. That's the server that does the Apple transactions. Now surely you'd think that I didn't bring it down right? That's silly.

I left the Apple store iPhone 4S-LESS. I just had a ticket stub that was good for only that day.

I came back at 5:30pm. The servers were back up. I waited in line for 1.5 hours. Then when we finally went to activate the phone, the SAME problems were happening. The transaction wasn't going through. The apple rep made a few calls. Now I'm starting to think that I did take down the server. Server problems in the morning. Now AGAIN in the evening.

Why my information crashed the Apple Server:
1) Maybe it's the fact I got a new driver's license this summer (they use your license ID in the process).
2) Maybe it's because I'm a twin.
3) Maybe AT&T has a vendetta on me for writing a blog post blasting them in 2007.
Whatever it is, something in my records is making things not work. I'm thinking the server is going to go down AGAIN. Because of me.

I sat and read my magazine as we got the same errors we got in the morning. Then we decided to try not porting over my number. And it worked! Yaaay! Here's a summary of my waiting times:
Morning: 30 minute wait in line, 2 hours trying to port over to Verizon
Evening: 90 minute wait in line, 1 hour trying to port over
I have to admit, I think I did a really good job at being patient.

12 reasons why I was happy and patient throughout the whole process:

1) Excited to get a new phone!
Yay!

2) My old phone is nearly dead
While standing in line in front of the Apple store, I pulled up AT&T's website to get my ID number. My phone died shortly after that. Rather fitting that my phone would die JUST before I was gonna get a new one. The battery dies after about 30 minutes. SRSLY.

3) My 3-year-old iPhone 3G is so slow.
About 25% of the time I try to use any app, it thinks for about 20 seconds and then goes back to the home screen. It's slow. I was in a good mood to get a new phone.

4) Free coffee!
And then in the first wait, an Apple employee got me a Starbucks coffee! How sweet!

5) Free water!
In the evening they were handing out Smart Water! Then I got a

6) During my second visit one of the Apple employees recognized me.
This Apple guy was one of the people who would come over and help my morning dude. In the evening he saw me in line and came over to say hi. He was very nice and friendly.

7) The challenge
In the morning it was like a challenge. My Apple guy, Nick would not give up. Only until we heard the servers were down did he finally let me go. He was a great trooper.

Then in the evening I told my new Apple guy Erik about this morning. When we had to call Verizon up, I saw history repeating over again. So I pulled out my magazines and asked Erik if he say Parks & Recreation last night. He did. I told him about how it's like Ron Swason's Pawnee Rangers and their survival camp. "I'm digging in and getting ready for survival"

8) Upbeat Apple employees
All the Apple employees were so positive. They made the experience a great one.

9) Prayer
My second time going to the Apple store, I could have put up a beef. While walking down there, I could feel a sort of anger brewing inside me. I had this "right" to skip the line, because of what happenened the morning. I knew that wasn't right, but a part of me felt that. I prayed to God to help me. Then I realized. Matt, it's only a phone. It's only a phone.

I got to the store, and the line outside wasn't too long. So I just stood in line. I didn't even bother debating with employees to get me to skip the line.

10) Making friends in line
In the morning I didn't talk with anyone at first. But half way through I started talking with this one guy about selling iPhones on Craigslist and other Apple things. We talked all the way up to when we got to the front.

Then in the evening I met a nice couple. The guy works for the Chicago Housing Authority. He and his girlfriend LOVE the comic "Love is..." He photographs it every day and sends it to his girlfriend. That's even how he proposed to her. I work that the place that syndicates "Love Is..." He asked me why the Sun-Times stopped running it this August. I told him I'm exactly the person to find that answer! I gave him my business card.

11) Atlantic Monthly
I never read the Atlantic Monthly. Before leaving for my second trip to the Apple Store, I grabbed two copies from work (we syndicate the articles from it). Their articles touch on contemporary issues, but draw in historical references and causes.
-- How Skyscrapers Can Save the City
-- Invisible, Inc. (about the origins and future of camoflage)
-- How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans (about the origins of our party system, and why the founding fathers didn't want parties).

12) Patience lessons
The past six months with my slow iPhone, I've been learning patience. At every opportunity where it's slow, it reminds me to be patient and accepting. So with this whole process, it's just an opportunity to build on the patient skills.

When waiting for the Verizon transfer, I just read a magazine. I imagined that I was in a cafe. Or at home reading. What's really the difference? I'm reading. I'm in a public place. Actually, the place I'm at is one of the coolest places, because it's all Apple people. Apple people rock.

The second time I was waiting I read more magazines. And this time I was on the first floor back by the employee area. I kinda felt like an Apple employee. Sitting around hearing all the employees talk and interact. I did feel like I worked there. That was kinda cool. I tell ya, those Apple helpers have to do a lot of work.

fml means full of mayo (what does fml mean?)

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:02:00 GMT

"Dude, fml." What does fml mean? Whenever I see "fml," I think "full of mayo." I know it means "f**k my life." But that's dramatic and negative. Full of mayo is much more fun. Can you imagine being full of mayo? What does THAT mean? One mystery leads to another.

Definitions of fml:

fml could mean that you just had a sandwich that has tons of mayo on it and you cannot handle any more mayo. You are full of mayo. "I just ate this sandwich, i'm so fml, I surely cannot handle any cabbage slaw."

or fml could mean the sandwich is full of mayo. "This Jimmy Johns #13 Gourmet Veggie Club� is so good, but fml, it's fml." That's a double bonus. I mixed in the traditional use of fml with my definition of fml.

The definition of fml could also be that you just ate a complete jar of mayonnaise with a spoon. You are really full of mayo. "I can't believe this mayo jar is empty. I'm so fml."

The meaning of fml could be whenever someone is giving you a load of crap. A load of crap is basically like mayo. So you could say that person is full of mayo. (disclosure, I do like mayo on my sandwich, but I don't like crap on my sandwich.) "Dude, I can't stand you just did that! You are so fml."

Or I dunno. Maybe it's a compliment to tell someone you love is full of mayo. Maybe you love mayo so much, you relish in the thought of a person being full of a thick, creamy dressing consisting of egg yolks beaten with oil and vinegar and seasoned. (from Google's define:mayonnaise). "Dude, I so want to hug you, you are so fml."

And yes, full of mayo, should be fom, not fml. But that's what makes this all the more fun. fml is more of a gut definition. fml just feels more like full of mayo than fom. That mayo is sitting right in the middle of fml.

The linguistic elitists at urbandictionary.com accepted my alternate definition of fml. Currently they have 32 definitions for fml. Mine is ranked #32. Urbandictionary, you are fml.

Please thumb up my 32nd definition of fml:

All the palindrome words you can type with your left hand

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:12:23 GMT

Here is the complete list of all the words that are palindromes AND that you can type with just your left hand. There are 16 such words.

dad
deed
ere
esse
eve
ewe
gag
radar
redder
refer
sagas
sees
sexes
stats
tat
teet

View the complete master list of all the palindrome words in existence.

Steve Jobs sticky note memorial on Apple Store in Chicago on Michigan Avenue

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:00:00 GMT

Be boldly simple.

That's my sticky note memorial I wrote for Steve Jobs. Lots of people wrote things like "Steve Jobs changed my life." "I have a hole in my heart." Do you really? The man is a great thinker. He's bold. He's daring. He gets his vision out. That's inspiring. Hmm, I guess he could change someone's life. But I wasn't about to write that.

Instead I wanted to share what I learned from Steve Jobs. And that's his committment to quality. To not step down from quality and the user experience. I like that. It makes me step up my game and want to achieve better quality and not just schluck things out.

Maybe I should have wrote "be boldly quality." But that doesn't make much sense. I took out my sticky note pa. I always carry one with me. Incidentally, I wasn't purposefully going to the Apple Store to do this. I was going to Macy's down the street, but I simply could not pass this up.

Reasons why I couldn't pass by the Steve Jobs Memorial at the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue
1) It's a public art project. yay!
2) It's a collaborate art!
3) It involves sticky notes (one of my artistic media of choice)
4) It's tied in with Apple. I'm an applehead.

There were all these people looking and taking photos. I needed spaced to think about what to write. I walked around the corner, leaned up agains the wall and wrote:

Be boldly simple.
is what i'll remember from Steve Jobs.

Now I had to find a place for my note.
I looked up high. Meh. I don't like it too high, cuz then it's like mine is up on this high place. But nobody had been leaving any way down low close to the ground. Perfect.

I like it lower to the ground, because that keeps it's humility. It's also offset from the others. It doesn't need to be part of the crowd. Think different.

Encaustic photo tutorial

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:00:32 GMT

Wanna learn how to make encaustic photos? Here I'll show you how to transfer photos onto wax! Far out!

Gesso setup
These are 10x15 inch pine boards. And yes, I have lots of storage in my shelf by the window. My dining room is really more of a studio working space.

Waxing setup
We space-time warp over to the 3rd floor of the Lill Street Art Center. It's a nice big room with lots of space.

Walk-through of my setup:
1) Printout of everybody's generous helpful votes from the Facebook album.
2) Heat gun
3) Heating pan with bowl of melted wax set to 225�
4) Gesso'ed board (without wax, we'll get there!)
5) My toolbox with all my super encaustic supplies
6) Handy dandy aluminum foil roll
7) Paper towels
8) Rubbing spoon with folded paper towel
9) An board in progress (waxed with image applied) but I didn't rub off all the paper
10) Paper removal station with sponges and can of water
11) Printouts for the next print! They are standing at attention ready to be deployed.
12) Garbage can, cuz we don't throw things on the floor. We are artists, not barbarians!

Waxed board
I dip the brush in the tub of melted wax and brush it onto the board. This is what it looks like. I shoulda gotten some pics of me brushing on wax, but i'm so fast with the wax, the camera wouldn't be able to see it. It's like a lightning bolt. ZAP!

Wax board with printout
Let's put this nice tulip photo onto a wax board! Are you ready!?

Placing wax board onto photo
Normally you think you'd place the photo on top of the board. But I like to put the board on top of the photo. Yeah, that's right. I flip it around. It's nice to have the photo a little bigger than the board. When printing the photos, I messed up a little and didn't make the photo big enough. It's easier to line up the board onto the photo this way. Trust me.

The board is completely laying on the photo
Where did the photo go? It's under there. Don't freak out. The board didn't eat it or anything.

Board with print
I place the board onto the working table with the print side up, cuz we are gonna get ready to rub that photo onto the board!

Those are easels in the background. They like to do painting and drawing in this room too. But tonight I have the room all to myself!

Rubbing a photo onto a wax board
And then we rub like we never rubbed before. Seriously. To make sure the photo transfers onto the wax, you have to rub this sucker HARD. I like to put all my weight onto the spoon as i rub. I'll rub so hard, that the wax underneath will move around. You need a really sturdy table for this. If your table is not sturdy, it's gonna be really frustrating.

Also, that spoon is gonna get REALLY hot if you are rubbing it right. Seriously. It's metal. It gets hot! I fold up a paper towl and put it in the bowl of the spoon. You know what else is cool about spoons? You can use one hand to press down on the bowl of the spoon, and use the other hand to hold the handle. One hand is pressing down. The other hand is guiding the spoon around.

Don't bother trying to use that wooden tool just to the left. I tried that on one of my photos and it sucked big time. Half the image didn't transfer! Wooden ceramics tool, you need to stay in the ceramics department where you belong!

Was I too mean to the wooden ceramics tool?

Another thing. When you think you've rubbed it enough, repeat the rubbing and spend twice as much time as you think you'd need. This part is really important.

Rubbing off the paper off
Now that you did a great job rubbing the print onto the wax board, it's time to take the paper off. But ah! You can't just peel the paper off, you silly bug. That paper is STUCK big time on the board.

What are we gonna do?!

Dip a sponge into a can of water and start rubbing the paper off. The paper will get all soggy and precipitate off. I don't know what the real word is for that term. But the paper gets all soggy. And just globs off. Yeah. Glob. That's the technical term.

In this photo you can see the photo appearing! Magical! The toner adhered to the wax! Keep on rubbing that paper off soldier!

Final encaustic photo
Now that we finally got all the paper off, here's what the final board looks like! Note you can see that the wax has a pattern on it from all the rubbing. For this particular image I rubbed in circles. On other prints I've done horizontal or vertical lines. Those look nice too.

The final print has a nice wax glean to it.

Palindrome words master list

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:07:49 GMT

I combed the internet for a master list of palindrome words. I found a bunch. But none were a master list. Here's one list with all the palindrome words combined. A total of 216 palindrome words.

a
aa
aba
acca
adda
adinida
affa
aga
aha
aibohphobia
aibohphobia
ajaja
aka
ala
alala
alla
alula
ama
amma
ana
anana
anna
apa
ara
araara
arara
ataata
atta
ava
awa
beeb
bib
bob
boob
bub
cammac
civic
dad
debed
deed
deedeed
degged
deified

deked
deled
deleveled
denned
dered
detartrated
devoved
dewed
dexed
did
dod
dud
ee
eke
elle
eme
ere
esse
eve
evitative
ewe
eye
gag
gig
gog
goog
hadedah
hagigah
hah
hajjah
halalah
hallah
hamah
hannah
heh
huh
i
igigi
ihi
imi
immi
irori
kaiak

kakkak
kanak
kayak
kazak
keek
kelek
kinnikinnik
kook
lemel
level
liril
ma'am
maam
madam
malam
malayalam
mallam
marram
mem
mesem
mim
minim
mm
mom
mum
murdrum
naan
nan
nauruan
neven
non
noon
nun
oho
omo
ono
oo
oppo
otto
oxo
pap
party-trap

peep
peeweep
pep
pip
pip-pip
poop
pop
pullup
pup
put-up
racecar
radar
redder
redivider
refer
reifier
releveler
renner
repaper
retter
rever
reviver
revver
rotator
rotavator
rotor
sagas
samas
sedes
sees
seities
seles
selles
sememes
semes
senones
seres
serres
sesses
sexes
shahs
simis
sinis

siris
sis
sixaxis
solos
sooloos
soosoos
sos
spacecaps
stats
stets
stots
succus
sulus
susus
tallat
tat
tattarrattat
tebbet
teet
tenet
terret
testset
tet
tippit
tirrit
tit
toot
torot
tot
tst
tut
tut-tut
tyt
ulu
ululu
umu
utu
waw
wow
y
yaray
yay
yoy
zerorez
zzz

How many doors are on your commute?

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:00:24 GMT

Every day I go through eleven doors on my commute to work.

1. My apartment door
I am responsible for locking my door.

2. The first foyer door

3. Second foyer door
The address is painted on with gold paint. I know. Fancy.

4. Western station door
Normally there is a guy standing here selling the Chicago Tribune. How many papers does he possible sell in one day? One paper? This door also functions for all the people coming from the Western bus. I don't know why, but the Western bus people always like to run to through this door. Even when the train isn't coming.

5. Brown line train door
Normally about three other people get on the train before me. I always let everyone go first.

6. Red line train door
It's funny that this photo is all jiggly, fitting for how we hop off the brown and onto the red. Again, I let everyone else on first. I don't know why I do this. Maybe A) it's nice. B) It lessens any stress. Some people are so focused on the unspoken battle to be the first on the train. That's silly.

7. Nordstrom door
I usually cut through the Nordstrom mall. This is the door under Michigan Avenue. Oh, I guess there are two sets of doors here. Well, I count them as one. Recently they put in this motor door on the right. It's cool, but the door ends up staying open for a while. I use the one on the left. It doesn't have a motor.

8. Nordstrom revolving door
Whenever I go through a revolving door, I always push high up on the door, so i don't have to touch the part that other people touched all day long.

9. Tribune Tower revolving door
Complete with cannonball. It's so cool to work at a place with a cannonball at the entrance

10. Tribune Tower elevator door
Four different gargoyles are on these doors. One is picking his nose.

11. 14th floor backdoor
Sometimes you have to jiggle your ID card on the reader to make it work. I like to think that the card reader just likes to make out with my ID.

Those are my 11 doors that I pass through every day to work. How many doors do you pass through on your commute?

Lion, sunshine, flower, popcorn?

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:14:22 GMT

What do you think this is?
-- Lion
-- Sunshine
-- Flower
-- Jelly donut splashing into a bowl of milk
-- Popcorn
-- Foliage around Spongebob's house

Please leave what you think this is in the comments. Thanks!

Jean Marc ACEO auctions on eBay

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:01:44 GMT

Three great things:
1) Fun city drawings on 2 �" x 3 �" paper
2) On sale for $0.99 on eBay
3) From Kelsterbach, Germany

I was in. I bid. I tweeted about it thinking that NOBODY else would ever dare bid on this auction.

I even scheduled a celebratory tweet to automatically publish after the auction closed. I even had a fun plan to ask the seller to include a bus on the drawing.

Certainly nobody will bid on this auction, right? I was wrong. Someone outbid me!

I'm dumbfounded. I'm astounded. How? How? How? So now I just simply emailed the seller asking if they would put a bus on one of the drawings.

10 year anniversary of the spudart blog!

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:17:44 GMT

Ten years ago I wrote the first spudart blog post on September 28, 2011. In those ten years, we've had 22,755 comments! Here are the top ten most commented blog posts. In honor of all the people who commented, I hand-selected several comments from each post and featured them in a webcomic.

1. Walgreens monthly sweepstakes survey for $3,000 CASH, wagcares.com (1579 comments)
May 04, 2011

2. letter endings and salutations (1271 comments)
November 03, 2002

3. One-line animal ASCII art: fun for IM and txt messages (348 comments)
July 24, 2006

4. Songs for Grade School/Junior High Graduation (336 comments)
July 27, 2005

5. Len Kasper and Bob Brenly: Cubs announcers (323 comments)
April 11, 2005

6. electric shocks in my brain (322 comments)
November 04, 2004

7. bowling team names (309 comments)
May 16, 2003

8. Why do humans like to throw things? (237 comments)
July 06, 2004

9. Campaign for a Papa Johns in Chicago (152 comments)
October 08, 2004
Webcomic coming for this one.

10. another ripoff soda pop contest (144 comments)
Webcomic coming for this one.
November 13, 2002

New word: idontbelieveinsearchengines

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:50:30 GMT

I'm excited to submit another word to urbandictionary, because hopefully the high-culture elitists at urbandictionary reject the word and then my list of rejected words will grow. Here we have the new word "idontbelieveinsearchengines"

Word:
idontbelieveinsearchengines

Definition:
When you ask someone a question because you are too lazy to Google it.

Usage:
Hey, how many times have the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, idontbelieveinsearchengines.

Tags:
question, ask, lazy, google, search engine, inquiring, inquiry, query, ask about, pick one's brains, quiz, raise question, search, seek, show curiosity

-------------
UPDATE:

Yup. The linguistic elitists at urbandictionary.com have REJECTED my word. It took them two hours and 24 minutes to make their decision. "Editors reviewed your entry and have decided to not publish it." Screenshot of the rejection letter:

B&W images for photo transfer in encaustic wax

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:18:19 GMT

For my encaustic painting class we are going to learn image transfer. We were told to bring patterns of just b&w--no gray. This is what I'm bringing.

Starting with the Gummi bear and moving clockwise:
-- Gummi bear drawing
-- Photoshop 3 toolbox
-- 365 diagram
-- Vintage CTA map
-- 30,000 days diagram
-- Groundhog Croquet
-- Adobe Photoshop 1 and Adobe Illustrator 1.0 splash screens

"i don't believe in search engines"

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:00:12 GMT

The phrase "i don't believe in search engines" has rarely been said online, according to search engines:

5 times ask.com
3 times Google
2 times excite
1 time bing
1 time dogpile
1 time altavista
1 time hotbot
1 time aol
1 time lycos
1 time yahoo
0 times amazon
0 times barnesandnoble.com
0 times Google books
0 times Google scholar

Think twice before playing "qat" in Scrabble

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:00:15 GMT

Stuck with a letter "Q" in Scrabble? You always look around for a "u" to attach it to. Right? Or maybe you are really slick and you look for the letter "i" to spell Qi.

Let me introduce you to another word that comes in handy for the letter Q. That word is qat. The letters "a" and "t" are in abundance in Scrabble. I guarantee that you'll play qat so many times in Scrabble, that you'll be quatting it up the qat.

So just what is a qat? The official Scrabble dictionary (I do have one in print on my shelf, it has yellowed newsprint pages) says a qat is a kat. Nice. What's a kat? A kat is an evergreen shrub. That sounds nice, doesn't it? I picture things like the Christmas tree from Charlie Brown's Christmas. Or maybe a nice little evergreen bush on someone's lawn. I was happy playing qat with images of happy evergreen shrubs dancing in my head.

And then I looked up "qat" on google images.

Holy freaking crap. I don't want to play "qat" ever again. Ok, that's a little dramatic. But still. Dudes stick qat in their chaw and chew it like cud? Gross!!!!!

And if those images don't have impact on you, then try this one on for size. I was going to post the photo here, but I really can't withstand such grossosity existing on my website in full size.

Qat? Eeek. I'll play it, because it's so handy, but wow, I sure don't really want to. And if your grandma taught you that word in Scrabble, I'm concerned about your grandma.

Does all street art brighten a community?

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:00:25 GMT

When does unofficial street art become accepted by the public? Sixty Inches from Center has an interesting blog post, "Street Art Approval" analyzing the work of Mental 312, and how his unofficial murals have managed to remain. It's a very interesting blog post.

I left a comment on it about how some street art can be destructive. I'd like to republish my thoughts here. (note, i edited my comments a little bit to make my points more clear, if you'd like to read my original comment check out the comments section on the blog post on Six Inches from Center)

There's something good to be said about artwork that fits in with the environment. (A subtle poke at artwork that is more about peeing on turf than about fitting in). I applaud artwork that is welcomed by the general public. I know, I know. What you may be thinking is, "what about artwork that challenges us?" Yes, there is that street artwork that does exist. And it does get painted over, because people don't want to be challenged.

But I'd like to challenge the street art community and ask how often does our artwork really challenge the public? Or is it more about simply "expressing myself." Does your expressions really impact the public? What are your motivations? Are you just wanting to get your work seen? Are you doing it so you get the high out of taking ownership of a certain location?

I know those feelings. I like being able to see my work sitting somewhere.

I want to share my thoughts here not as someone standing higher up criticizing, but as someone who is in the trenches with you. Someone who really wants the public to get something bright out of their day. I want us street artists to really touch people. When I leave my artwork around, i think about how it will be received. I don't want to just fulfill my desires as an artist to express. But I want to consider my audience and their reception.

And I also don't like destroying someone's property.

I hope my work is uplifting and non-destructive. I know most of my fellow street artists don't agree on the non-destructive part, but whatevs. That's just my own perspective. But I find it kinda sad when people complain about their destructive work being painted over. (it's both sad to have their work painted over, but it's also sad that we have this expectation of ownership of certain places when we really don't. Which is another interesting topic is the ownership of public spaces, because we do in a way own public spaces, but in a community fashion. So if the community deems the work not fitting, it gets painted over.)

So to not destroy someone's property, I simply let my art be removed. Easily removed. In fact, I embrace that, because it means someone likes it enough to actually take it. If they take it home or give it to someone else, then hopefully that work will have even more impact.

Back to Mental 312's murals. Despite my personal viewpoints on street art destroying property, I only have those view in terms of MY OWN work. I still greatly appreciate others good street art, even when it's painted on walls. Granted, I'd like street art to be more of a gift to the community, rather than a promo for the artist. I like Mental 312's work, because it does brighten up the community.

There is something very culturally interesting about his/her work and how it strikes a fine balance of acceptance and outlawness. There is one of his works in my neighborhood in Lincoln Square (at Lawrence and Hoyne). I appreciate his work. One of these days I want to do a more full analysis of why his work succeeds. If anyone has any thoughts on Mental 312's work, please leave your ideas in the comments on this blog post.

If you disagree with anything I said, please also let me know. I'm totally open to dialogue on this issue. And I know I take a stance that is not really accepted in the street art community.

IDEA: See where every book in the library came from

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:00:01 GMT

Borders donated 8,000 books to the Chicago Public Library System. I'd like to see a list of the titles they donated.

Actually, come to think of it, I'd like to see where every book in the library came from. Every book has some sort of history. Whether it's from some purchasing person at the library. Or if it was a donation. Or whatever. It would be neat to see where the books came from. Maybe there's a certain book purchaser at the library that I'd really like to follow.

Wish happy birthday on facebook with a tiny balloon image

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:00:30 GMT

Tired of giving the same old Facebook birthday greeting? Mix things up and share a fun image. How about using a 15 pixel by 15 pixel balloon? It's unique and funny.

Sometimes people post obnoxious photos on their friends wall for their birthday. While, I'm okay with posting silly photos, sometimes you don't want to be overly obnoxious. That's what is nice about the little balloon. It's small and humble. And it's hilarious. Or at least, i think it is.

Please feel free to use this little balloon on this blog post.

Also feel free to use any of my lines about the balloon. Here's what your post could look like:

And what's really cool is when you click on the image, it ends up being this little balloon floating in a this vast wide open space. It's like a balloon floating in the sky. How cool is that? Very cool.

The most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:00:14 GMT

I like how my tweet about the Muppets opening theme song looked like in my twitter widget. The words stack nicely.

The most
sensational,
inspirational,
celebrational,
muppetational

You are suurep�rane

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:50:14 GMT

What do you think someone needs to hear?

The question was posted by the You are Postcard Workshop at the Renegade Craft Fair. While walking the fair this past weekend, lots of great vendors were selling great wares, but I was left wanting something more meaningful. Something more interactive. Something more engaging rather than products.

Along comes the Chicago Reader booth "from your friends at you-are-beautiful.com" They were holding a little workshop where people can fill out postcards completing the sentence, "You are _____________."

The instructions posted said:

FILL OUT A POSTCARD.
Finish the sentence. What do you think someone needs to hear?

ADDRESS A POSTCARD.
Write your name & address, (or a friends) on a different blank card.
Get a surprise greeting in a few weeks!

TOSS IN A DONATION.
$1 Suggested Donation. This will help cover postage costs.

Here's what the blank postcards looked like:

What a great question! What would you tell a stranger via mail? What would that person need to hear? Words like "cool, nice, neat" came to mind. But I needed to give this some thought. I sat down on the sidewalk in the shade and busted out my sticky note pad to explore my thoughts.

I wanted something really thoughtful. Here's my thought process:

I'm pleased with suurep�rane. It's unique and has lots of meaning. I wasn't able to check what the top results on google were for this word, because of the lack of internet access. Because you know the person who gets this card will end up googling suurep�rane.

I just googled suurep�rane and I'm shocked by the lack of good results. I'm hoping that my blog post or flickr post will result at the top. Here's what the final card looked like:

11 questions for Chad Ochocinco about his aquarium bed

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:38:24 GMT

View the entire photo on Erik's blog

My twin brother posted about Chad Ochocinco's aquarium bed and I had so many questions for him, I'm going to make my questions into a blog post. Please please, read my brother's post.

Where are the bed sheets?
Does Chad Ochocinco sleep without sheets? There's a remote on the corner of the bed implying that bed is used. I can see not having sheets on the bed (maybe) because they wanted the photo to focus on the aquarium.
Why include the remote?
Does the remote control the aquarium?
Does the remote feed the plants? (I see no fish).
Also, what is up with the huge electrical outlet on the wall ABOVE the aquarium? It looks odd.
What if one of the plugs fall out and into the aquarium?
If you spend all that time and money on this custom aquarium, then why not take the effort to put the electrical sockets down below, out of sight?
Also, this begs the question, does Ocho like to lay in bed and pretend he's in the ocean?
Does he imagine he's a fish?
If so, what type of fish?

I have many many questions for this Ochoperson. I want a tour so I may ask him these questions personally. Unlikelymoose is arranging a personal tour with me and this Ocho. If you'd like to join me, let me know in the comments below. Also, please feel free to leave more questions for the Ocho on Erik's blog post, Aquarium bed.

Should I take painting or ceramics?

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:27:59 GMT

My local art center Lill Street starts their classes next week. They offer both ceramics and painting (and lots of other classes). I have a list of ceramics projects I'd like to do, but whenever I take ceramics, it totally dominates my life for ten weeks. Painting sounds cool, but I don't have any clear idea of what I'd like to paint. I do have a collection of paintings I like in an album on my iPhone (seen in photo above).

I'm leaning towards the encaustic painting class, because it's just five weeks. And it's one that i'm most excited about. The oil painting and ceramics are more like, "I want to take an art class, sooooo..."

Photos that float in the sky right after photographing

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:55:18 GMT

Five tourists armed with cameras were taking photos of the Trump Tower architecture. As they were shooting, I wanted their photos to fly magically into the air for me to see. We have technology now that allows people instantly share their photos and for us to search for new photos based on location.

But I was getting this vision of when someone takes the photo it automatically somehow floats in the air for everyone to see. And then if I liked that photo, I can go ahead and just grab it from the sky and save it to my own device. Or maybe I could walk up to the photo and leave a voice comment.

Or maybe when the photo is floating in the sky, I can go up to the person who shot it and have a conversation with that person, but then there can be other people online who can join in on discussing the photo.

Making spudart to be more about art

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 16:07:38 GMT

Spudart is becoming be more and more about art. A friend recently told me when she first visited spudart, she was expecting art and not all these random ideas. In the past year I've been trying to make more art posts.

With that art-focused strategy, I'm also going to make my twitter account @spudart to be more art focused. Where my general life stuff will be going on @mattmaldre.

Think of @mattmaldre as my new main twitter account where @spudart is just for art and creative ideas.

A new mathematical operation: the maldre, the average of extremes

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:06:13 GMT

Watching your weight every day is fine, but a more effective method is to see your trend over the past week. Using the new maldre math operation, you can effectively analyze your weight once a week.

Almost every day on Livestrong's Weight Tracker, I enter my weight for that day. Which is good and all, but I find it more effective to do an analysis once a week to see where I am.

For the past week I take my top weight and my lowest weight, and then I average them. That is my weight for the week. For instance take the previous week,
-- August 24: 156.5 pounds
-- August 27: 159.0 pounds
-- August 28: 159.5 pounds
-- August 29: 156.0 pounds
Therefore I take the average of 156 and 159.5 pounds and I get 157.75.

Why the "maldre" math operation works:

It's encouraging to not go on binges of eating a ton and jacking up my weight. If I end up with a really high number during the week, then it screws with my weekly weight.
It's rewarding for getting a lower weight. When I hit a lower weight, it helps lower down my weekly weight.
It's more accurate. Doing a flat-out average of all the recorded weights for the week might end up being misleading. If I happen to weigh myself a bunch when I'm heavier in the week, and only record myself once when i'm lighter, then my average weight will be skewed. I don't regularly weigh myself every day, so doing the highest and lowest weights makes the most sense.

Why is this math operation called the "maldre?"
I recently asked on facebook, "What's the term called when you take the highest and lowest number from a set of numbers and average those two extremes?" And nobody knew the answer. Some people thought it was mean. Some thought it was average. What i'm describing is indeed not mean, median, mode, or range. Did I uncover a new mathematical operation? If so, what should it be called? Seeing that three of these already start with M, let's name this one with a name that starts with M... Hmm, what should it be? I know! Maldre.

Explanation of Mean, Median, Mode, Range, and Maldre:
(most of this example was copied from purplemath.com)
Take this set of numbers: 13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21
Mean: 15
Median: 14
Mode: 13
Range: 8
Maldre: 17

The "mean" is the usual average, so:
(13 + 18 + 13 + 14 + 13 + 16 + 14 + 21 + 13) � 9 = 15

The "median" is the middle value
13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21
Median is 14.

The "mode" is the number that is repeated more often than any other, so 13 is the mode.

The "range" is just the difference between the largest and smallest values. The largest value in the list is 21, and the smallest is 13, so the range is 21 � 13 = 8.

The "maldre" is the average of the largest value and the smallest value, so: (21 + 13) � 2 = 17

For artists, the future is always better than the past

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:20:10 GMT

When I was in art school, one of the art majors who was a year older than me (thus making her much wiser than myself) pointed out how people like to talk about previous years were so great. But as an artist, the future is always better.

We learn from the past and the past artworks we've done. We grow and improve upon the artwork that we make. As artists, we can never just sit and wish we were in the past. We have the opportunity to keep creating, and to keep making better artwork than we have made before.

This comment was left on my cousin's blog as he was reminscing about his "golden years" on his blog. Check it out. I added second comment with more thoughts about how looking to the past helps us construct a better future. I know Peter would appreciate any of your comments on his blog post.

Two things I learned about working in a cafe

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:38:44 GMT

1) Hard drives need a computer to work

I brought my laptop to a cafe to do some photo work. All my photos are on an external hard drive, so I packed up the drive and all its cords. I arrived at the cafe and ordered my food. While unpacking the hard drive system, I suddenly realized my laptop wasn't with me!

For a brief moment I thought if I could do the photo work without the computer. I pictured myself connecting my brain to my hard drive, but then I realized that my brain doesn't have Adobe Lightroom installed.

2) Don't forget your laptop

In general, when going to a cafe to do work on a laptop, it's a good idea to bring your laptop.

3) BONUS: Wearing a bike helmet makes you taller

I had the cafe people hold my food and drink while I raced back home on my bike to grab my laptop. I kept my bike helmet on while I ran into my apartment. On the way back down the stairs I hit my head on the porch stairs. Thankfully my head was ok, because you know, I was wearing a helmet.

2011 Youtube favorites

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:33:43 GMT

Have fun at work: Write on tape dispensers

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:55:54 GMT

Spread some fun at work. Take your coworkers tape dispensers and write something fun on it. Give some smiley faces. Write a message. It's only tape. You can even say that you are making their normal boring tape into super exciting tape!

You coworkers will thank you. They might even return the favor and the next day you'll find smiley face tape on your phone. :)

(if you are feeling especially bold, try using dry erase markers on their monitor. People might not appreciate this one as much).

Please go ahead and spread the fun and write something on your co-workers tape dispenser. Post the photo on flickr, facebook, wherevs. Just throw the link to your photo in the comments on this blog post. Thanks!

You should totally drive around the city with clouds in your pickup truck

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:49:11 GMT

My friend Lisa (a citygirl) is inheriting a pickup truck. If you have a pickup truck, what would you do with it?

If i had a pickup truck I would carry around bricks and then stop at random places and make tiny micro houses.
Or I'd fill it up with gummi worms and then go tailgating at a Bears game.
Standard answer: I'd put a plow on it and plow parking lots and driveways.
Funner answer: I'd put a plow on it and plow the beach and make a monster sand castle.
Start a battle cry, "Get yo' Wranglers on!"
Put a pool in the back. A pool of um, hummus and then show up at a farmers market and totally crash into the veggie truck.
Alligators are always fun. I'd put alligators back there. They'd have a cage around them so they wouldn't get loose, but I'd keep the door kinda loose, so if they wanted they could hop out.
I'd climb stuff with my truck. Like, stairs. And I'd park it on the stairs of the Art Institute and go inside.

What would you do with a pickup truck? Let us know in the comments. Thanks!

Printmaking demonstration by Julian Cox inspired me

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:11:48 GMT

Thanks to everyone on Facebook for recommending the printmaking demo (by Julian Cox at the Le Gallery Thorndale on August 7, 2011)

We had a small, but highly interested crowd of three people (including myself), so we got to ask lots of questions. The instructor Julian Cox brought an itty bitty tiny little press and he showed us how to print woodcut and intaglio.

It was really nice just to see someone working with ink and spreading it on plates and making prints.

I got a kick out of hearing him use printmaking terms I haven't heard since college, like charlatan and mineral spirits. It was also nice to ask him about his personal methods on how he likes to work. For instance he doesn't use cherry wood for his woodcuts, because it's too expensive (only the fancy people use that). Instead he uses five-ply birch wood from kitchen cabinets.

He also likes to wash his hands after inking every plate (a little obsessive i thought, but that's how you get nice clean prints).

Did you know that in the 1600s etching was the new technology that people didn't want to embrace? (kinda like the computer of its time). Printmakers loved engraving and this "etching" was just ludicrous. Julian gave great insights like this into the history of printmaking.

He's also a big fan of having a green shop, so he rarely uses mineral spirits. Totally cool. In college I would slosh around mineral spirits like it was water. I would even wash my hands in it. Now you don't even want your skin to come in contact with it. No wonder I would often feel light-headed after printmaking.

The gallery that hosted the demonstration currently has a show up of over 60 Chicago artists. It's quite a mix of work. The show came in handy, because Julian walked us over to a couple prints and talked about their techniques such as aquatint and chine colle.

If you are in Edgewater, swing on by the gallery and see the variety of work. My favorite was the ceramic boxes that featured houses from the Edgewater neighborhood. I almost bought one for $12. And Michelle Sharpe's paintings of buildings were very interesting. The different treatments of the windows engaged me into their scenes. Some of the windows looked like fire, which brought a different energy to the non-fire windows.

If you go to the show, make sure you also check out the side room. There's additional exhibit space beyond the door in the far back left. Le Gallery Thorndale is right next to the Thorndale red line stop. 1106 West Thorndale Avenue. Open Saturdays and Sundays 11am-4pm. Julian Cox teaches printmaking at the Evanston Art Center.

Use the money on Jonathan Stark's Starbucks card

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:26:55 GMT

You can save the image of Jonathan Starks' Starbucks card onto your phone and use it at Starbucks. He encourages it. Or if you are feeling like if you are in a giving mood, you can put money on the card. Check out @jonathanscard to see how much money is currently on the card.

What a great idea! I totally want to put five bucks on this card. But then what if someone hacks this account and gets all the payment methods? That account has my payment information. You know how amazon has a list of all your different payment methods? I would not want my payment information on some account that millions of people have access to.

The more i think about it, people could just donate money to a worthy cause. This starbucks thing is neat in its method, but really the motivation is to give. So you are giving so someone can have a coffee. Ok. That's cool. But if you really want to give, why not give to people who need it. Most people who go to Starbucks don't really need the extra money. And ultimately, you really aren't giving to that person, you are giving to Starbucks. I don't think Starbucks really needs donations.

But there is the intangible of the overall effect of making people more giving. And perhaps that's really the bigger story here. I could get wrapped up in the details of who gets it and such, but then that makes me more miserly. I'd rather have a society where everyone was more free-giving. So in that sense, I give this project a thumbs up.

Do you think this project is lame for giving money to Starbucks? Or do you think it's cool that it makes people be in a more giving mood?

LEGO is sending minifigs to Jupiter

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:29:30 GMT

Aboard NASA's journey to Jupiter will be LEGO mini-statues of Jupiter, his wife Juno, and Galileo. Why? CNN reports, "LEGO is partnering with NASA to promote children's interest in science, math, engineering and technology."

Are they going to offer these minifigs to the public? If they want kids interest, they better offer these minifigs to us. I'd love to have a minifig replica of what's sent to Jupiter. That would be so cool!

The comments on the CNN article are pretty typical. People are complaining about putting these minifigs on the trip. Here's my comment to them:

I'd also like for the people with no imagination to open their minds to this. They are all freaked out about three little minifigs being tacked onto this mission. People, think bigger. NASA is doing this to get kids attention. The children are our future. To get kids excited about space exploration is huge. Don't think of it as being silly. Think of it as being creative. Think of it as a very clever way to get kids involved.

Also, do you want to live in a world where there is no creativity?

What do you think about the LEGO minifigs being sent to Jupiter? Stupid? Fun? Creative? Ingenious?

NASA logos, the meatball and the worm

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:39:13 GMT

I like the nicknames they gave to the logos. The worm and the meatball. (from a New York Times article)

The old school feel of the meatball is nice, but just speaking from a logo perspective, it's a complete mess. There's so much going on in that logo, it's a disaster. And i don't think NASA wants to be associated with disasters.

The worm is nice. Simple. bold. Sci-fi. I like it. The worm name for it is fun too, because worms indicate earth. And that's our starting point for earth exploration. So when it comes time for us to encounter another planet with life (which i don't believe exists, but anyways) when we enounter another planet with life, those lifeforms can point to our logo and say "Greetings, are you from the planet of worms?" Which is pretty true, that we are a planet of worms (that is dirt with worms, i'm not calling humans worms, although I suppose are kinda wormy looking--especially to an alien).

What do you think of the logos? Leave your thoughts in the comments. Thank you.

The mysterious pink donut without sprinkles

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:02:57 GMT

I highly encourage you to leave a comment on sparx's photo of a pink donut with no sprinkles.

Here's a highlight-worthy comment:

maybe the donut has an anti-sprinkle deflector shield. I bet now that the donut is inside you, you now have an anti-sprinkle deflector shield around you. And when you poop that donut out, there will be no sprinkles on your poop, because, you guessed it, you poop will now have the anti-sprinkle deflector shield.

Get into the swing of Montrose Harbor

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 06:57:26 GMT

A curly pier swirls off Montrose Harbor. Along the spiral is a wire fence; great to hang a swing. A spiral pier just begs you to walk all the way to the end. It also begs you to hang a swing at the very end for people to discover as they reach the end of the pier.

Along the way to the end of the pier, i was looking for something to use as the baseboard of the swing. Thankfully there wasn't any trash on the pier, but that also limited my options. The only thing was this wire fence. Parts of the continous wire fence were broken leaving the wire laying on the ground.

This wasn't just simple wire. It was more like a rope of wire with many many strands. I picked a thinnerish strand and busted out my wire cutters. Five or ten minutes passed by with me gnawing away on the wire rope to get a two-inch piece. The work was worth the effort, because it's kinda neat to have a wire guy sitting on a wire swing.

I was planning on hanging him from one of the wire ropes. But at the very end of the pier stood one column without a wire rope. Which was ok, because there was still a thing to hang him from.

Once he was finally installed on the swing, he really swung around a lot! Check out this video of him swinging. He swung so much that he lost grip with the string! That happens at about 2:10 in the video and i start cracking up.

Read about wireguy visiting Winnemac Park

Most highlighted verses in the Bible

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:51:28 GMT

The Amazon Kindle allows you to see which parts of a book have been highlighted the most by everyone reading it on a Kindle.

Here's the Bible verses that were had the most highlights for the ESV version.
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540 Highlighters

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, [21] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
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411 Highlighters

Philippians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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357 Highlighters

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
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340 Highlighters

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
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295 Highlighters

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
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294 Highlighters

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
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292 Highlighters

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare [38] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
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214 Highlighters

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
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192 Highlighters

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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Fun nickname generator, add "town" to the first syllable of your last name

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:00:31 GMT

Ever want to come up with a fun nickname for someone, but draw a blank? Now you have a surefire way of making a cool nickname. Use this simple formula: First syllable of the person's last name + "town"

For me, my name is Matt Maldre. Mal + town = Maltown.

I came up with the idea while in the men's bathroom at work. Marco Buscaglia came in and I wanted to say, "hi." But I have a personal "no talking rule" while I'm at the urinal. (I mean really, I'm peeing, I'm not gonna talk to people while I pee. I'm sorry.) But so I thought in my head, "Hey Bustown!" What a cool name that is. Bustown.

Some examples of other nicknames using this formula from top searches on google:
Mark Ronson = Rontown
Kristin Cavallari = Cavtown
Gina Carano = Cartown
Dolly Parton = Partown
Justin Bieber = Biebtown
Natalie Portman = Porttown
Jason Momoa = Momtown (I like Momtown. "Hey, Momtown!")
James Franco = Frantown

If your last name has one syllable, then use the first two letters.
Adam West = Wetown
Lauryn Hill = Hitown
Taylor Swift = Swtwon
Tiger Woods = Wotown

What's your nickname? Leave it in the comments below. Thanks.

Bibbi babka lyrics by Balki Bartokomous of Perfect Strangers

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:14:34 GMT

One of the most classic tv scenes ever. Balki Bartokomous and Larry Appleton make Bibbi-Babkas and sing a song. This video had me totally cracking up.

(If above video doesn't load, you can view it on youtube)

Here's the lyrics from Perfectstrangers.tv:

When you rolling out the dough,
Just make sure you roll it slow.
If you make the dough too quick
Bibbibabka make you sick.
When you pour the filling in
Just make sure you wear a grin.
When you smile on what you bake
Bibbibabka turn out swell.

King Kong climbs Wrigley Building in Chicago

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:30:45 GMT

15 years ago a King Kong army was purchased from a Yakutia dealer. These King Kongs laid dormant for all these years until a select few King Kongs were selected among the King Kong army to train. They did King Kong pullups hanging from bridges. They did arm curls with trees. They were getting ready. Ready for one day their Eesti agent brought the select King Kongs along with him waiting for the right moment to be released...

All of the sudden one of the King Kongs stars climbing up the facade of the Wrigley Building! On his way up, he stood to take in the scene and let out a ROOOOOOAR! (wait, is that the sound that King Kong makes?)

A giant dragonfly came to attack King Kong. He landed just underneath King Kong and tried taunting him. But King Kong let out a loud ROOOOOAR and he flew away.

King Kong beat his chest. The master of the Wrigley Building. All the Wrigley Company employees got scared by King Kong. Now they are moving out of the building. King Kong wins.

View more photos on the Spudart Facebook Page

IDEA: Foursquare medallions

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 08:30:25 GMT

Badges are cool. Like, actual badges you stitch on and stuff. But you know what's cooler? Medallions. Wearing a medallions around is like being an Olympic superhero.

They should make real-life medallions for the foursquare badges. And then you could walk around with like 15 medallions around your neck. And then when you run into Michael Phelps, you can be like, yo, what's up fellow medallions dude?

I have a package of 25 medallions. Oddly enough all 3rd place ones. They are asking for foursquare badges to be printed and affixed to them. They are begging. But you have a neckful of foursquare medallions, that only means they need to be placed around a neck and worn out in public.

I don't know if I have the boldness to do that. Maybe that's why badges are attractive. Badges are more subtle. If anyone wants to seriously do this project with me and wear the medals around public, I will totally make all your foursquare badges into medallions if you do something like commute to work with them on (without a jacket, wear them proud). Or go out to lunch and walk down Michigan Avenue or something.

Let me know, you foursquare olympic hero.

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More related questions about these medallions across social media:

Google Plus: I have 25 medals that want to be used. Anyone have any ideas?
Spudart Facebook Page: What's cooler? badges or medallions?
Facebook personal profile: Will you be part of an art project and walk down Michigan Avenue with all your foursquare badges as medallions? I'll be your personal paparazzi.
Twitter: Have you ever won a medal?
Flickr: Take your favorite activity. It's now an Olympic sport. Would you be happy finishing in third place?

Let me throw this in: tellradioshack.com Radioshack $10 coupon survey, $1000 sweepstakes.

Wire person on a swing with string

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 05:04:50 GMT

View more photos in the "Get into the swing of..." album on the Spudart Facebook Page.

About the "Get into the swing of..." series

Little swings in public places. Swings are fun. We need more swings in places. These little swings have a figure enjoying the scene around him. It's a reminder to people to enjoy the view wherever you are. If a little wire guy on a swing is enjoying the scene, you can pause for a moment and enjoy it too.

I've been wanting to do figures on swings for quite some time, but I always pictured them being ceramic figures, but then a few weeks ago I saw some paper clip figures on flickr or deviantart (I wish I had the reference). Making them from wire makes it a little easier to implement this series. Sorry, Lill Street Art Center, I really do need to take a ceramics class though.

Originally I was envisioning placing them on the guardrails at CTA stations. But with the sun this weekend, these guys were asking to be put in the park a couple blocks from me.

A few discoveries with this series:

Wire cutters make good twig clippers.
It was nice to sit down and an actually make some art with my hands, and to spend a little bit of time on it.
I prefer the swing to be in an area that is not completely obvious.
It's fun to make the swings look like they are animated. The leg lift of the wire guy in this photo makes it look like he's having fun swinging around.

Where this series will go:

I'm gonna place swings in various public places. CTA stations, street signs, pretty much anthing that's horizontal and can take a swing.
If possible I'm gonna make the swing out of found objects in the area. The CTA station swings could be made out of discarded transit cards.
The wire figure might get more elaborate. I'd really like for it to have a hat. Or to make a girl figure with pigtails.
The figure might be made out of found objects too.

What do you think I should do with this series?

Andre Dawson, National Gummi Worm Appreciation Day

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 05:15:09 GMT

Can you yell at a Hall of Famer from the upper deck and have him wave back at you?
How much info can you fit onto a scorecard?
Do worms celebrate National Gummi Worm Appreciation Day?
What does the world's giantest pretzel named Pretzilla look like?

All these questions are answered from a game at Wrigley Field on Friday, July 15th.

Youtube (Andre Dawson waves at my brother):

Flickr (my scorecard):

Facebook (photos):

Tumblr (my out of office message):

Why did Mat Kearney use a photo of me on his album?

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:32:52 GMT

Somehow I ended up on Mat Kearney's single, "Hey Mama." I had to dig this particular photo of me out of my MySpace profile, so I'm not really sure why Mat Kearney's people were trolling my MySpace profile for photos of his new album. Go figure.

I'm glad I really like this song, since y'know, I'm the one singing it. I first heard "Hey Mama" in the gym today. The hand clapping in this song is really nice, so I wanted to add it to my "Hand Clapping" playlist in Spotify. I got back to my desk, searched for the song, and lo and behold, I thought I was looking at myself in the album cover for this single! In other photos of Mat Kearney, I don't really look like him, but the resemblance in this particular photo is really weird.

Hi Mat. Too bad you are missing a t in your name. It's spelled Matt, just so you know.

UPDATE: here's another photo that has an even closer pose:

tellradioshack.com Radioshack $10 coupon survey

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:47:11 GMT

Radio Shack shoppers with a www.tellradioshack.com receipt can fill out a survey and get a $10 coupon for their next purchase of $40 or more from Radio Shack!

The Radio Shack employees are the best. Just this past weekend I went in there looking for a mouse for my computer. Not only did the employee help me find a mouse, he got to the root of my problem which was that the trackpad on my laptop wasn't working anymore. We discussed the new Macintosh computers coming out in September. He even told me about Radioshack survey where I could win the $1000 sweepstakes.

He also shared with me his experience dropping his iPhone in the toilet a couple days ago. The iPhone could not be saved. He even put it into a bag of rice. But he saw the bright side of things and now he's on an Android phone, so he's able to learn about that platform to better serve his customers.

I wish I could remember the name of this helpful employee. He worked at the Radio Shack at 1965 West Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL. Store #01-6495. I really hope I win this survey with the $1000. But for now I'm happy getting a $10 coupon. I want to tell radioshack thank you.

Every Metra train to have 'Quiet Car' with library and art gallery

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:26:51 GMT

The suburban train line system in Chicago recently started a new policy of having a "Quiet Car" on every Metra train. These "Quiet Cars" have signage to indicate that you are on a "Quiet Car" and thus you are to be quiet. If you happen to miss these signs Metra says, "There will also be more on-board announcements on trains with 'Quiet Cars.' These announcements will also include a friendly reminder from the Conductor as he collects fares."

Metra should take this a step further and change the environment of the car so people know they are on a "Quiet Car." They should have bookshelves on the "Quiet Car" so people know to act like it's a library. Or maybe artwork, so it's like an art museum.

They should take out one of the the seats on one side of the train and replace them with bookshelves and paintings and fine art sculptures. Actually they could tear down the second platform on one side and have it be one really big wall that's open. I want to totally redesign the Metra Quiet Car.

11 things that have changed on the CTA since 1996

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:00:27 GMT

My twin brother has not ridden a Chicago public transit train since 1996. Over IM I shared with him 11 things that have changed on the CTA since 1996:

spudart:
1) They no longer take tokens
2) There is no conductor in the back of the train that opens and closes the doors
3) People go apple picking on the trains
4) You are not allowed to cross from car to car while on the train.
5) The conductor no longer announces the stops (there's a recorded voice)

yikesmoose:
can i take photos with a tripod?

spudart:
6) No
7) You cannot leave suspicious packages laying around.
8) The following brown line stations have been renovated: Kimball, Kedzie, Fransisco, Rockwell, Western (my stop), Damen, Montrose, Irving Park, Addison, Paulina, Southport, Belmont, Wellington, Diversey, Fullerton, Armitage, Sedgwick, Chicago.
9) All stations are handicapped accessible.
10) All stations have lego boards on the edge of the platform to warn you from falling over into the tracks.
11) People can pay for the train by tapping their wallet against the turnstile

spudart:
This is going to be a blog post
thanks!

Make the ultimate chocolate cereal mix

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:56:42 GMT

Thanks to lokate's discovery of Brownie Crunch, a new idea has been born. An idea that will revolutionize how you eat cereal--chocolate cereal. It's so incredible, I can't decide what to name it.

Take all the chocolate cereals and combine them into one cereal. Oh chocolatey goodness! This is how to start your morning. This is how you are to end your day with dinner. Combine the following available chocolate cereals: Reese's Puffs, Cocoa Puffs, Chocolate Cheerios, Chocolate Chex, Lucky Charms Chocolate, Chocolate Mini-Wheats, Brownie Crunch, Cocoa Pebbles, Count Chocula. Did I miss any?

What should this chocolate masterpiece be called? Chocolate Explosion. Chocolate Mashup. Cocoa Delight. Chocolate Heaven. None of these are capturing the incredibleness of it. ChocolateSuperCocoaIncredibleFudgeCrunchieCocoaSuperBrowniePowerPowerPower.

If you take nine different types of chocolate cereal and combine them into one, what would you call it? Please leave your name ideas in the comments. Thank you.

New idea for the "What is your treasure" series

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:59:50 GMT

For years I have been leaving plastic treasure chests around Chicago with a message inside that says "What is your treasure?" Only recently did I realize that the photos would have more impact if I shot the treasure chest with the note showing.

I really like the idea of having the paper showing in the photo, because then the viewer of the photo immediately gets the idea of what the treasure chest is doing in that location. The only thing is that when the paper is in the jaws of the treasure chest like this, it looks like the chest is eating the message. Which is funny, but weird.

And now, I just had the idea that I could photograph the paper hanging out of the treasure chest closed! It would be like a little tag hanging out. AAAAAND! The part of the message that is inside the chest could be an email address for people to email their answer!

I never include a website address on any of my public art, because I don't want my artwork to be promotions. They are artwork for someone to consider and possibly change their day a little. I don't want them to be self-serving promotion engines for me. Having a URL on any of my public art immediately makes it into a "here's something neat, but i'm putting this here, so you visit my site."

But with an email address, that changes things. Especially if it's a gmail address, because then i'm not promoting a domain. All I ask for is feedback. I've been meaning to put email addresses on some of my pieces, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a good gmail address that will capture the feedback I desire on all my public art projects.

For this particular project with the treasure chests, the hanging out message works great! It captures someone attention. They open the chest to see what's inside, and it's a request for someone to share what their treasure is. I'm essentially asking someone to fill up the treasure chest with their thoughts.

The Spudart logo looks like the Chicago bean

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:03:45 GMT

My Spudart logo bears a somewhat resemblance to the Chicago Bean, aka Cloudgate. I find pleasure in this because when I designed the Spudart logo in 1998, I wanted my logo to function like a potato where it has many inherent possibilities--to be able to look like different things. A potato. A plane. A face. And now it looks like the Chicago Bean.

I came across this realization after making a post on the Spudart Facebook Page. The Chicago Bean and my logo are sitting next to each other, and it was like, whoa! (And for those keeping score. My logo was done in 1998. The Chicago Bean's construction started in 2004. Just say'n).

I suddenly have mind power

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:24:11 GMT

Five strange things happened to me this morning.

1) Farmers Market Sign
I lived across from the same old "Farmers Market" building for 8 years. It's not really a Farmers Market, as it's more a shack. A couple months ago someone bought the property and has been renovating it. Early this week I was thinking about how it would be cool if they renovated the retro Farmers Market sign. And this morning a guy was on a ladder fixing it! Mind power. I thought about it, and it happened!

2) Stalker garbage truck
A stinky garbage truck passed me in the alley. It was a big stinkeroo. I stood in Giddings Plaza to take a photo of the word "CHICAGO" written in chalk on the brick pavers. But I almost didn't take the photo, because I was thinking, "Gee, this stink is SO BAD." I continue my normal walk to the train station, and the very same garbage truck passes me by on another street! Stalker garbage truck! The truck read my mind and crossed my path again! Jedi mind powers!

3) Sanitation Control Vehicles
Just yesterday a friend and I were talking about garbage trucks! He came up with a new name for them, Sanitation Control Vehicles. Oddly enough that phrase never existed on the internet. And then today a Sanitation Control Vehicle decided to stalk me.

4) Ability to push buttons with my mind
I walk from the Tribune Tower lobby to the elevators and a guy walks out, so I grab the door and hop in. Nobody else is in the elevator, but MY very floor button is already pushed! Floor 14. I exclaimed, "Sweet! Wow!" I MUST have used psychic mind powers to push that button, and I didn't even realize it. Is that dangerous to have this mind ability and not even realize it with your own mind?

5) Tripod duplication
All this time during my commute I was carrying a tripod with me. I get to work, and there's a tripod on the ground already. What! How did another tripod get there? Then I realized my dad loaned me two tripods, but for a couple seconds I thought my mind created a duplicate tripod on the ground. Answer? Superhuman mind powers of duplication.

Pop your photos with a $20 fisheye lens (and pretend you are a fish)

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:00:44 GMT

It's lots of fun shooting with a new lens, especially a funky fisheye lens (from the super-fun photojojo). Everything looks all fun and curvy, especially on the CTA train where you got lots of layering of things. The reflections in the windows. The curving of the windows. Tack on some super sunset clouds and you have a fun train ride!

This particular train was on one of those trains with few seats, so I was standing taking these photos. It was the last car on the train with few people. The conductor was taking the curves really fast, so I was being whipped all over the place. It was pretty funny. One time the fisheye lens popped off my iphone. I learned that lesson to be careful with the magnetic lenses. But they are so handy! And they'll bring you an extra pop and reason to shoot more. I shot 155 photos from this particular train trip.

Shooting with a fisheye lens on a train actually kinda makes sense. A fisheye lens is how a fish sees the world. Riding a train is like being in an aquarium. You are inside a glass enclosed space with other fish. The wide variety of people on the train are like all the colorful different types of fish. You are all swimming together on the tracks, like a school of fish.

Next time you are on a train, imagine you in an aquarium with other fish, it'll be a splashy experience! Maybe next time I'll bring some aquarium gravel with me and spread it on the ground.

You can get a fisheye lense for your iPhone (or almost any other cell camera at
http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/cell-phone-lenses/)

The giant turkey leg mission

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:51:29 GMT

I was on a mission to eat a giant turkey leg. A great Chicago tradition at the Taste of Chicago. During this mission, I discovered that Chicagoans love to talk to a guy photographing a turkey leg on a tripod in front of Buckingham Fountain.

We got out of work early, so I went to the gym and then headed on my mission. Going to the gym only prepared my stomach more for giant turkey leg consumption. The booth this year serving turkey legs is Manny's Deli. Strange that a jewish deli would be serving dinosaur legs, but whatevs. I'm glad that a booth--whatever booth it may be--is continuing the Chicago tradition.

Manny's booth is on the far far south end of the Taste. On the hike down there, I passed by Buckingham fountain and noticed how nice it looks. One of the traditions of eating a turkey leg is finding a nice place to consume it. Buckingham fountain would have the location this year.

The five-foot-tall vertical turkey legs attached to Manny's booth made it very clear that I had arrived. No line. I asked for a turkey leg. The guy asked me if I wanted it dipped. I think they only ask that so they can point out that the turky leg is drenched in BBQ sauce. People were gasping at the turkey leg as I walked through the crowd. It's always fun to walk around with a turkey leg. I was about to find out how much fun it is to photograph a turkey leg.

Holding up the turkey leg with one hand, and shooting with the other resulted in some decent shots. But I really wanted an HDR shot to grab all the color depth, and that wasn't going to happen with one hand holding a turkey leg and one holding a camera. For HDR shots, you need the camera very still--and the subject very still.

Balancing a turkey leg on the fence would be impossible. And there was no objects nearby to balance the turkey leg on. Except... well, I do have this tripod with me. I put the turkey leg on the tripod. It looked like some sort of glorified magical food.

I took some shots, but given the angle, you couldn't see the turkey leg. But how could I angle it down without the turkey leg falling off? Why DUCT TAPE OF COURSE. I pulled duct tape out my bag and attached the back of the tray to the tripod. VIOLA! Now we are cooking!

About four or five different groups of people came up to me, all excited. "That's gotta be the best shot of Chicago ever!" "Yeah, that rules!" haha. It was fun. One woman asked me if I was going to eat it. I laughed in reply, "OH YEAH, I'M GONNA EAT IT!" And eat it, I did.

Manny's put together a good turkey leg. It has a good amount of meat. The sauce was good. I hope the turkey leg looks as good in the photo as it tasted.

Why Bill Clinton attracts five-foot-tall bedbugs

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:35:11 GMT

The Transformers Space Bridge must have opened up yesterday, because it dropped off the two most unlikely characters in Chicago. Bill Clinton and a 5-foot-tall bedbug.

First it was kinda strange seeing a Bill Clinton talking about a bunch of cars parked in Pioneer Court. But that made sense because the Clinton Global Intiative is all about green energy. But who knew Bill Clinton has bed bugs?

While everyone was taking photos of Bill Clinton, a woman asked me, "what's that big bug doing there?" I had no idea what she was talking about. A big bug? But sure enough, on the other side of the cars was a five-foot tall bug watching Bill Clinton!

The insect just stood there admiring Clinton. The bugs hands perched interestingly on the railing while he gazed on. It was so cute. We were debating what it was doing there. To settle the debate I HAD to go over and find out what in the world this bug was doing there.

I couldn't get myself to talk to a five-foot tall bug, so I asked some of the people standing around the bug. A girl started was explaning to me it was a bedbug and I noticed the Hot Shot logo on her shirt. They were walking around Chicago handing out Hot Shot spray when they stumbled upon Bill Clinton. Isn't that how bedbugs just find people? They just happen to stumble across you.

It's kinda ironic that a bedbug would be handing out bedbug spray. He's almost like a renegade bedbug.

A strange day indeed to see a five-foot tall bedbug and Bill Clinton in the same spot. It's no coincidence that just this week the Transformers 3 movie was released with announcing that the Space Bridge is right here in Chicago. Just across the river. It's true! That's how Bill Clinton and this huge bedbug got to the same place. Space Bridge.

After all this happened in the morning, I went out to place sticky notes on where Bill Clinton stood and where the Bedbug stood. "Bill Clinton was here" sort of notes. Just to document it. But then the bedbug was still out there! Just like a bedbug. He finds a place and he likes to hang out there for more than you thought. @rebelliousbird took my photo with the bedbug. I felt really weird putting my arm around him, but he was a friendly bedbug.

Review of Transformers 3: Dark side of the Moon (Spoiler Alert TF3)

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:31:27 GMT

My first words to people at work after seeing the midnight showing of Transformers 3, "I'm so glad that Chicago is not totally destroyed in real life."

My review of TF3 is broken up into several parts.
-- The bad
-- The good
-- The sad
-- The weird
-- What I wish the movie had
-- Summary
Read the full review of Transformers 3 with spoilers. --------------------------- SPOILER ALERT --------------------------
The bad:

You would be better off skipping the first half of the movie and show up an hour late. Seriously. I plan on doing that with my next viewing of the movie. The first half of the movie is mostly establishing the relationship between Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Yawn.

They had to mention several times throughout the movie that Megan Fox broke up with Sam. Ok. We get it. Ok. Sam has a new girlfriend. We get it. But no, they have to drag it on how about Sam realizes that he loves Carly.

They had too many scenes where they overhyped the hotness of Carly. To show that a woman is beautiful, just show that she is beautiful and let her stand on her own. You don't need to do the cheesy lines that say, "oh look at those curves." But judging on the other males reactions in the crowd, they really enjoyed those parts. It was just overdone in my opinion (i like women without the sleaze).

This movie had so many things mashed together, there wasn't a coherent whole. Here's all the mashed-up plots:
-- Sam has a new girlfriend, Carly, who is kinda bitchy
-- Sam needs to find a job to prove himself
-- Carly leaves Sam, cuz he wants to fight with the Autobots
-- Conspiracy theory that our missions to the moon was to investigate the alien ship that crashed there in 1962
-- Conspiracy theory that Chernobyl was humans discovering some alien transformer machine part
-- Sam realizes he loves Carly and chases after her
-- U.S. Director of Defense makes life difficult for the Autobots
-- Sentinel Prime escaped Cybertron with space-travel gate
-- Car museum mogul is mastermind behind human spies for the Decepticons
-- Megatron unveiling master plan to fool the Autobots
-- Autobots banished from planet earth
-- Sentinel Prime plans to bring Cybertron to Earth

All that mashed up into one movie. The conspiracy theory stuff was kinda cool, but it seemed a bit convoluted. Maybe I'll enjoy it more as I see the movie a few more times.

The main part that was bad with the movie was a lack of a true villain. For the first half of the movie we don't really see any villains at work. It's all uncovering these conspiracy theories. The only true villain in the first half is the U.S. Director of Defense. Everyone hates her because of all her red tape.The villain for half of the movie is simply red tape. Lame. Then the second half of the movie the main villain is Sentinel Prime. And he's kind of a weird villain to root against, mostly because he's kind of a lovable old looking Transformer.

Many times people totally overacted to the stereotype of their role. It's almost like Michael Bay was saying, "now take your role and make it ten times more dramatic! Dramatic! I want you to be dramatic!" But sometimes it works. Look, I'm not going to this movie for fine acting. I'm going to be entertained. So I can see how there was all this dramatic acting. Oh, let me put the fun dramatic acting under the good...

The good:

Ken Jeong (the teacher from the tv show Community) was hilarious! Jerry worked with Sam and revealed some of the conspiracy theories. John Turturro played his funny conspiracy theory guy. John Malkovich also did a funny character of the crazy obsessed boss. NO RED CUPS!!!

And even though I say that there was a lack of a true villain in this movie, we still have an interesting character in Sentinel Prime. The original leader of the Autobots before Optimus Prime. The inventor of the space bridge. Dude has some history. And then how he turns on the Autobots, because he truly sees a vision to bringing Cybertron to earth. It makes sense. It's a great turn in character. I just kinda wish he was more villainy when he was a villain. Heh. Funny I should say that. As if killing Ironhide wasn't enough.

The Chicago destruction was very cool. They really destroyed the city. I got to experience a lot of it first hand as I work in the Tribune Tower facing a lot of the scenes. I almost feel like I FELT more of the destruction by seeing it in person rather than on screen. In the movie it felt more like a painting. Lots of interesting paintings.

The best part of the movie is at the very very very end. On the LaSalle Street Bridge (pictured above in a photo I shot) is where Megatron and Sentinel Prime both die. It was an awesome fighting scene. Most of the movie is quickie action stuff with all this destruction around. But Michael Bay picked a great spot for this final battle. The strong curing metal arches of this bridge provided a great backdrop for Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime's fight. And then Megatron comes in and kills Sentinel Prime from behind. So much like Megatron. But then Optimus Prime rips Megatron's head off! Fffrrzzzp! Seriously! He just ripped that thing off like a dandelion.

It was cool how those little Autobots transformed into computers. And how Laserbeak transformed into a monitor. Also Laserbeak being a Japanese copy machine was hilarious. Laserbeak was a cool character. It's too bad he had more personality than Soundwave.

Bumblebee reaching up into that Decepticons chest and blowing him away was cool.

I was totally geeked when the soldiers used Tribune Tower as a sniper location to shoot off Decepticons. Great use of the architectural arches.

It was totally cool walking downtown this morning seeing all the buildings from the movie. It was also a delight to see them not destroyed in real life.

The sad:

I was kinda sad to see Starscream go (killed by Sam Witwicky!). And i was sad to see Ironhide die. But at least Ironhide's death was to underscore the drama of Sentinel Prime's turn to the Decepticons. SHOCKER! Seriously. We were like, WHAT!

The weird:

In Transformers 3, The Milwaukee Art Museum is a museum for cars. The incredible atrium is the office of the leader of the museum, Patrick Dempsey. An office? That was just weird. But whatevs. I kinda wish they showed some of the actual art in the museum. But instead it was all classic cars. But I suppose that's fitting. Him being a Decepticon spy leader. That his cards were Decepticons. That makes sense.

The trailer has one of the most incredible scenes ever in movie history. Optimus Prime flies into Wacker Drive, transforms, and then totally kicks ass with his sword. But in the movie, they only showed his legs moving along. It was like they cut off the top half of the scene.

What I wish the movie had:

A breakdance dance-off between Soundwave and Blaster.

Less humans more robots. As my brother said in IM, "you know how they edit out all the swear words for movies on TV? I wish they sold DVDs of movies that are edited like that. TF3 is the perfect example. I think there's really no place for it in a movie that sells an enormous amount of toys related to the movie. I think it's highly inappropriate to do both."

Sentinel Prime needed a sidekick. He looked alone on top of the Jeweler's Building.

Summary:
Skip the first half and just enjoy the Chicago scenes. Don't try to over-think what's happening. Just enjoy the wonderful aesthetics.

The new word for cool is JAMONIT

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:15:36 GMT

Jamonit! That's how to say cool. It comes from the song "Jam on it" by Newcleus:

On June 22, 2011 I started the trend by making a bunch of tweets with #jamonit!

FractalSphere: LOL that's hilarious! RT @spudart Can we have a movie where breakdancers face off against parkour peeps? #idea #jamonit #bestmovieever
View Tweet

spudart: One of the best Youtube comments evar: "how does Newcleus like their brekfast toast? With JaM ON IT!!" http://ow.ly/5o3lN #jamonit
View Tweet

spudart: @marcobuscaglia That is so #jamonit!
View Tweet

Fusspot: RT @spudart: Can we have a movie where breakdancers face off against parkour peeps? #idea #jamonit #bestmovieever
View Tweet

spudart: Can we have a movie where breakdancers face off against parkour peeps? #idea #jamonit #bestmovieever
View Tweet

spudart: What do parkour peeps think of breakdancers? (and vice versa) #jamonit
View Tweet

spudart: Just to be clear. The all-blue jumpers are Rock Steady Crew. The all-red jumpers are New York City Breakers. #jamonit
View Tweet

spudart: @gobocat #jamonit!
View Tweet

spudart: I gotta relearn how to breakdance. I think breakdancing will come in REALLY handy. #jamonit
View Tweet

spudart: ja-ja-ja-jamonit is for stuff that is like, INCREDIBLY cool. The number of ja is in direct proportion to the level of coolness. #jamonit!
View Tweet

EwokLumat: Ewoks like to #jamonit
View Tweet

mattmaldre: @kkschiavone you just completely exploded my mind. breakdancing at work! #jamonit (i meant in general)
View Tweet � Show Conversation

mattmaldre: When the breakdancer street performers are on Michigan Avenue, I want to show up in an all-red jumper and show them some moves #jamonit!
View Tweet

spudart: @amywunderlich oh yeah! a Cupcake challenge! Cupcake throwdown! #jamonit
View Tweet � Show Conversation

spudart: @amywunderlich instead of battling with guns, let's battle with breakdancing! #jamonit
View Tweet � Show Conversation

spudart: @nmw2306 Here's how you pronounce #jamonit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEmg5GaAHbk&p=71781C8ABE0021E9
View Tweet � Show Conversation

MeomiCloud: @spudart so bad it's good? hah (oof, now I have the song stuck in my head.) #JA-JA-JA-JAMONIT
View Tweet � Show Conversation

spudart: Who do you root for? The breakdancing crew wearing the all-blue jumpers, or the all-red jumpers? #jamonit!
View Tweet

spudart: @sarjbright OH man. That is so not #jamonit!
View Tweet

spudart: The world needs more decisions made by teams wearing single-colored jumpers making crazy breakdance moves #jamonit!
View Tweet

spudart: @nmw2306 #JAMONIT!
View Tweet � Show Conversation

spudart: @tomsherman #JAMONIT!
View Tweet

spudart: I'm trying to adopt #jamonit as my new word for #cool ... JAMONIT!
View Tweet

Bridge look-a-likes

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:48:44 GMT

There's a great site that tells you what photos look just like yours. It's gazopa.com. Tell it the URL of your photo, or upload your photo; and it will give you all the photos online that look like your photo. To test it out, I took my most popular photo on flickr, Chicago's Moving Bridges over the Chicago River, and entered the URL, http://www.flickr.com/photos/spudart/452035169/ into gazopa. Here's some of the best results it gave me.

Yeah, at first glance it's a bunch of gray

iPhone data usage

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:46:25 GMT

How much data do you use on your phone? I'm making this blog post to keep track of my data usage on my iPhone with AT&T.

Seeing that this is a blog about art, maybe I should do something artistic with it. Should I make stacks of pennies where each penny is a megabyte? Or maybe I should eat the same number of dark chocolate peanut m&m's for each megabyte.

Special number in my inbox

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:00:01 GMT

I reached 12345 messages in my m***@spu***rt.org inbox. It looks kinda cool.

Note, this is not my regular gmail. This inbox is for m***@spu***rt.org, hosted by google's gmail. It's my general email address I use to sign up for everything. If you want to reach me personally, either use my art******@gm***.com or my contact form.

Todd Webb's Snowflake Mountain (artwork I own)

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:30:13 GMT

I started a new pinboard of artwork I own. One of the first things I pinned on this board is a wonderful piece by Todd Webb (one of my top five favorite artists from 2010). Todd writes and draws one of the world's most wonderful comics. I HIGHLY recommend one of his books, "Casual Poet: the cartoon journals of todd webb from november 2003 to may 2005."

These two quotes totally encapsulate his work to a tee:

"Todd Webb's comics are less about chronicling life's events than expressing an
unabashed love of living, good medicine for anyone in a bit of a funk."
-- Jeffrey Brown, author of 'Clumsy' and 'Little Things'

"Todd Webb's cartoons are not only a breath of fresh air, but a ray of hope."
-- Jimmy Gownley, author of 'Amelia Rules!'

When I saw he was selling this drawing on his etsy, I totally jumped at buying it. I wrote the following message to Todd when I purchased "Snowflake Mountain" from him on etsy. (note, I believe he's a Christian, because in a couple of his comics he refers to going to church, so hence the Scripture references in the note)

Wooo! I'm a big fan of your Casual Poet book. (this coming from a guy who works for a comics syndicate).

This snowflake mountain drawing reminds me of a few verses from Psalms:

Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! ... Let them praise the name of the Lord , for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. (Psa 148:9, 13 ESV)

Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord , for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Psa 98:8-9 ESV)

The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. (Psa 65:12-13 ESV)

Spudart the webcomic

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:00:09 GMT

For the longest of long times I've been thinking about starting a webcomic. But I didn't know what characters to do. Or what to name it.

Until now. Dude. It'll be a webcomic about talking potatoes.

Here's the IM convo that started the idea:

And the first webcomic for your pleasure:

You're a teaniac (tea maniac)

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 03:07:40 GMT

Rebelliousbird recently called me a teaniac (tea maniac). What other combinations are there?
teaver (tea + believer)
teatee (tea + devotee)
teaddict (tea + addict)
teaiast (tea + enthusiast)
teaical (tea + radical)
teaist (tea + extremist)
teak (tea + freak)
tealot (zealot + tea)
tean (tea + fan)
teaniac (tea + maniac)
teatric (tea + eccentric)
teapot (tea + crackpot)
teacake (tea + fruitcake)
teacase (tea + nutcase)
teapath (teah + pyschopath)
teaball (tea + screwball)

Of those 16 names, the following domains are available:
teaddict.com
teaiast.com
teaical.com
teaniac.com
teatric.com
You're welcome tea shop startups.

Do you have any favorites of the 16 names?

Bauhaus is the second result for a google search of design

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:03:03 GMT

I was curious what would be the top result for a google search of design. The first result is wikipedia's entry for design. I was very happy with the second result, IIT Institute of Design, aka the Bauhaus.

My brother and I did our high school history project on the Bauhaus coming to Chicago. Good ol' Bauhaus. You are still relevant in the age of Google.

Name a roadblock pillar at the Quincy CTA station

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:15:09 GMT

Dear flickr friends, please name one of the roadblock pillars in this photo by leaving a note on my Quincy train station image.

Leaving a note is as easy as 1,2,3:
1) Sign into flickr.
2) Go to the photo.
3) Go up to "Actions" and pick "Add a note."

Tom already named the second pillar from the stairs "Fred." I'm gonna go back and leave sticky notes on each of the pillars with their names.

Youtube videos of Transformers techno and dance music

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:17:28 GMT

Here's a collection of 10 youtube videos that feature Transformers clips with techno/dance music in the background.

Transformers Soundwave breakdancing!
Soundwave, one of the coolest Transformers ever, is a totally rad cassette player from the 80s. It only makes sense that he can annihilate the dancefloor by breakdancing. Super cool video. This video is what inspired me to find other Transformers dance/techno videos on youtube. Sadly, this is the only video I could find of Soundwave breakdancing.
Transformers Dance
This 2005 commercial for the Citro�n C4 is what gave vision to how amazing live-action Transformers can be.
(DW) Transformers Remix
At first this video seems like it's the regular intro for the 1985 Transformers cartoon. But it lays on a remix at 0:30. Not a great remix, but it's fun.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - DJ Sogma Scorponok Remix
Nice dramatic clips from Transformers 2 to this epic song.
Transformers vs. Daft Punk - Robot Rock
I love how many dancing scenes this video uses from the 1986 Transformers movie.
Techno Transformer
Cool collection of newer Transformers animated clips from Transformers Galaxy Force, Generation 1, Armada, Energon, and Beast Machines. (Song is "Help Me" by Kelis)
Transformers The Movie : Trailer Remix (1986)
Another epic song. This time done to the 1986 movie. Great use of voiceovers from the movie along with the timing of the music to the video clips. The timing of Prime falling at 1:49 is really really cool.
Transformers "Lets Roll 2 Ol Skool Remix 2007
Since this song is "Let's take it back to the old school," I kinda wish the entire video was 80s clips. But only the first 0:52 had 80s clips. But the Transformers 1 clips do function well here to the song, even though the song is rather repetitive.
Transformers: The Movie (1986) Original Trailer
The official trailer for the 1986 Transformers animated movie. Ok, so it doesn't have dance music, but I love how the voice artist says, "And the FINAL confrontration between Optimus Prime and Megatron."
Transformers Prime(Daft Punk Fall)
I'm not sure where these CGI clips came from, but it's kinda neat to see them played to Daft Punk's "Fall."

Artist painting of Nolan Ryan 1989 Donruss by rummery_78

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:32:41 GMT

Nolan Ryan's 1989 Donruss card is a classic. Ryan getting ready to launch his deadly fastball. The 80's style gradient. The Astros star prominently shown on Ryan's jersey. His right foot firmly planted on the 1989 Donruss logo.

It was a delight to see rummery_78 do a version of this card. I like how the yellow to green gradient is rendered in his markers. That's my most favorite part of his interpretation. I have a special something for that 1989 gradient.

How many pennies can you mail with a 44-cent stamp?

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:28:28 GMT

Since a stamp costs 44 cents, can you mail 44 pennies using just one stamp? Let's figure it out.

The US Post Office says that you can mail go up to one ounce with a 44-cent stamp.

How much does a penny weigh? The US Mint tells us that one penny weighs 2.500 grams.

How 2.5 gram pennies fit into one ounce? Google tells us 2.500 grams = 0.0881849049 ounces.

Let's do the math. Google tells us that 11.3398092 pennies fit into 1 ounce.

Answer: You can mail up to 11 pennies with one 44-cent stamp.

In 2004, I asked this very same question and Tom answered the closest with 10 pennies. I can't remember if I ever mailed him the pennies. So I mailed him the pennies on Friday. Tom, you'll be getting your pennies soon! (unless if they get squeezed out of the envelope while going through the US Post Office processing rollers)

I like...

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:11:08 GMT

The season of "I like notes" has started! While waiting for the train, there was a giant block of cheese standing behind me. These cheese was so big, it was way bigger than my head. It was bigger than a desktop laser printer. I like cheese.

This giant cheesey cheeseness needed a sticky note declaring the goodness of cheese. It was begging for a "I like note." But I hadn't left a sticky note around in months! Months! It was time. It was time to start the I like notes series! Quickly scrounging through my bag I had a longing hope for a pad of reliable sticky notes. I had some! I like cheese. Stuck it to the billboard and here comes the train! Hold the train! I need a photo. I snapped a few shots and hopped on the train. Thus starts the "I like notes" series.

I encourage anyone out there to participate in the "I like notes" project. Write a note on something you like and post the photo to www.flickr.com/groups/i-like-leaving-notes-on-things-i-like.

USA map made of postcards

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:42:51 GMT

Seekatesew made a fun map out of scrap fabrics.

photo courtsey of seekatesew

It would be fun to make a map from of postcards. Especially postcards mailed to you from people! Postcrossing would be perfect for this. Instead of doing just America, you can fill in a map of the world! Although, I would have a hard time cutting up my postcards. Perhaps if there was some cool software that would allow you to scan in your card and mask it onto a virtual map online.

Organizing your sticker library

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:40:30 GMT

Do you have a sticker library? Here's some fun reasons to have stickers on file:
-- On the workplace pass-around birthday cards, you can sign with a fun sticker by your name
-- Instead of using tape on wrapping for presents, you can use stickers!
-- Cover envelopes with stickers
-- Place stickers in random places to cheer people up (although please make sure the sticker is easily removable)

Now for those who do have stickers, do you have them all cluttered up in one file? Or maybe they are spread all over the place. I fall into the single-file mess.

One file was working fine for a starting sticker collection, but it has become an overflowing, bursting explosion in my file cabinet. It was always a challenge to find particular stickers.

I laid mine all out on the table by categories

And now they all reside happily in their own file.

8 surprises from throwing a paper airplane off a train platform

Tue, 31 May 2011 13:10:27 GMT

What discoveries happen when you throw a paper airplane from an elevated CTA train platform? I had so many fun surprises that they couldn't fit into one story! The one story ended up making little baby stories. Eight of 'em! So spread their surprisey goodness across the web, you can read them in eight different places where I'm actively online.

	Surprise #1! Chicago Theatre marquee blocked from CTA Station on youtube.
	Surprise #2! This paper airplane is really brown! on the Spudart Facebook Page
	Surprise #3! CTA attendant doesn't harrass photographer on the "what makes me happy every day" livejournal
	Surprise #4! Paper airplane lands in funny spot on flickr
	Surprise #5! Nobody picks up paper airplanes off stairs on 43things goal, "create small pieces of art, and leave them for people to find"
	Surprise #6! "I'll just stand here ON TOP OF YOUR PAPER AIRPLANE" on tumblr
	Surprise #7! "Let's take pictures of ourselves standing by a paper airplane, but not include the paper airplane in the photo." on my personal facebook profile
	Surprise #8! Pigeons fly like paper airplanes on deviantart

Eight surprising chapters all part of one story. Read 'em all. Or read half of them. Ok, eight is a lot. If go to any three of the above sites and leave comments, I will mail you the a paper airplane from these chapters! Seriously! A FREE AUTHENTIC ART PAPER AIRPLANE. Make sure you let me know if you complete a trifecta commenting spree, and your surprising paper airplane WILL be delivered.

Princess wrapping paper and photo album

Mon, 30 May 2011 10:00:50 GMT

My niece is turning four years old and she LOOOVES princesses. Here's princess-theme for wrapping paper and photo album. I wish I included glitter or sparkly stuff.

What are polka dots?

Fri, 27 May 2011 12:00:24 GMT

What do you think polka dots are? I like to think they are lots smiley faces. Or a group of planets. Or a circle party. Or bubbles in bubble tea. Other people online don't have the same vision for polka dots. Do a google search for "What are polka dots?," and you'll get these answers:

Polka dot is a pattern consisting of dots.
-- chacha

1. One of a number of dots or round spots forming a pattern, as on cloth.
2. A pattern or fabric with such dots.
-- thefreedictionary

round, evenly spaced dots of uniform size
-- Funk's _2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings, & Expressions_, p. 929

round, evenly spaced dots of identical size
-- Martha Stewart

Polka dots are a pattern, either regular or random, of circles, or dots, that may be different sizes or all uniform in size.
-- wisegeek

They all answer about a visual description of them. But what about an interpretative description? Polka dots can be lots of things. They can be the white candy things on top of Sno-Caps. The holes of a speaker cap. A bunch of poker chips. A group of rolled-up hedgehogs.

What do you think polka dots are?

The Grand construction is over, or so I thought

Thu, 26 May 2011 14:51:36 GMT

This morning I exclaim out loud, "Wow, my train station is so nice now! It's so open and big!" I look around amazed as other commuters pass me by. I think, "Gee, aren't these people happy that our station is finally done with construction?"

For the past three or four years we've walked by raw concrete walls and wooden board walls, even walked ON wooden board floors. It's been a great work by the CTA to keep the station open during construction. But wow. it's taken so long.

Then today the Grand station on the red line is finally done with construction! All the fake wooden walls blocking off half the station are now gone, revealing a new wide open station. I walk around with my mouth open amazed at how big the station is. I walk up my normal stairs shocked that there is now an ESCALATOR.

I even say out loud for other people to hear, "Wow, there's an ESCALATOR!!!" I can totally get used to having an escalator escort me up out of the station onto the sidewalk. All this time there was this wooden wall by the stairs, and it was hiding an escalator. Although I am really perplexed at how the walls were dirty. You'd think that with unveiling these new parts of the station that the walls would be clean.

Plus it's kinda confusing how they were able to make this new fancy exit with all these decorative walls. It's like someone had dropped it out of the sky and it landed here magically.

As the escalator escorts me up onto the sidewalk, I look around and even the area around me was different... Waaaaaaait--A McDonalds?--Waaaaaaaait. I'm at the CHICAGO stop, not the GRAND stop! Ohhh, haha. I guess Grand is not done after all. I was totally fooled, because the Grand station is being renovated to look just like the Chicago station.

I accidentally gotten off the train one stop too early. And my imagination made the Grand station open early.

Is Geocities really dead?

Wed, 25 May 2011 15:46:12 GMT

Oh Geocities. I miss my Geocities site. One of these days I'll have to check my floppy disk archives to see if I have it tucked away like a hidden city.

My URLs were:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/6389/
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/studios/9365

My brother had one:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/WorkShop/3651

I like how you would pick your neighborhood based on your interests. Erik and I choose SoHo, because that was the neighborhood for "Art and Writing." oocities.org has a list that describes all the different neigbhorhoods. They also have a decent partial archive of Geocities pages. But alas, Erik's and my pages are not archived there.

Here's the list of neigbhorhoods:

Area51 ::: Science ficition & fantasy
Athens ::: Teaching, education, philosophy, reading, writing
Augusta ::: Golf
Baja ::: Off-road & adventure travel
BourbonStreet ::: Jazz, New Orleans, Cajun food, Southern United States topics
CapeCanaveral ::: Science, mathematics, aviation, technology, engineering,
CapitolHill ::: Government and Politics
CollegePark ::: University life
Colosseum ::: Athletics & sports
EnchantedForest ::: Topics of interest to children
Hollywood ::: Films and actors
MotorCity ::: Automobiles & racing
NapaValley ::: Wine
Nashville ::: Country music
Petsburgh ::: Pets
Pipeline ::: Extreme sports
RainForest ::: Conservation
ResearchTriangle ::: Research & Development, technology
SiliconValley ::: Computers, programming, hardware & technology
SoHo ::: Art and writing
SunsetStrip ::: Music like blues, punk rock & rock n roll, grunge
TimesSquare ::: Computer & video games
TelevisionCity ::: Television
Tokyo ::: Far East
Vienna ::: Ballet, opera & classical music
Yosemite ::: Outdoor sports/recreation, climbing, skiing, hiking, rafting

It's also fun that another Geocities archive project, goecities.ws, asks the following:

What will happen if the penny is gone

Tue, 24 May 2011 12:00:37 GMT

If we eliminate the American penny, the nickel will then be the penny. The dime will be the nickel. And the... dime... will be the QUARTER. And then we will have no quarters.

Oh wait. The dollar coin will be the quarter. But the dollar bill will be the dollar. And then i'll get a bunch of dollar coins cuz they will be worth 25 cents.

What I'll do if America eliminates the penny

Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:30 GMT

If America gets rid of our pennies. I'm gonna import the pennies from another country into our country. Like, lots of pennies. Maybe Canadian ones. That's how I'll pay for things. With Canadian pennies.

America will think the penny is gone, but then BAM--this influx of Canadian pennies.

The patient paper airplane: Part 1 of 2

Tue, 17 May 2011 11:30:11 GMT

Every day I'll print something colorful, make a paper airplane, and throw it off a Chicago elevated train platform.

I wanted something quick to print out, so I went to my photo archives and pulled this colorful HDR shot Chicago L: Randolph Stop. I love the color in this shot and I knew I was walking ot the Randolph stop, so it would be fun to throw a Randolph paper airplane off the Randolph platform. When the airplane sits on the ground, it needs to be colorful enough to intrigue someone to pick it up. Plus the urbanity to the textures would make for a super-cool paper airplane.

Last time I made a paper airplane (the tulips), I folded the plane at work and stuck it in my bag. That made for a slightly crumbled plane when I got to the train station. This time I slipped the unfolded sheets into my bag. And these papers are printed on BOTH sides. Fancy. I know.

With the recent gift of the CTA Train Tracker, lately I've found myself in a rush to get to the train and not taking the time to photograph and enjoy downtown. Knowing that I needed to spend time folding an airplane, photographing it, throwing it off the platform, I decided to not watch when the next train is coming. In fact, when I arrived at the station a brown line was just leaving. That's ok, gives me plenty of time.

TO BE CONTINUED...
Will these airplanes fly? To read the rest of the story, go to my photo on flickr at "The patient paper airplane: Part 2 of 2!"

IDEA: Memorize the "Reese" song and perform it in the Walgreens candy aisle

Mon, 16 May 2011 10:30:09 GMT

I so want to memorize this song and then sing it when I'm at Walgreens, in the candy aisle... or anytime I see Reese's candy!

You can have a skittle, a mento or a sweet tart.
It ain't no riddle, you don't need an ID card.
It's not illegal, it might give you some cavities.
It's kinda little, I'll take a handful if you please.

Yo, everyone loves 'em, from animatronics from outer space.
Can't get enough of them, I'll empty a bag right into my face.
You get 'em at movies. Get them in a combo meal to save
Doesn't represent a rainbow, might melt in your hand if you dare to wait.

It comes in a cup or chocolate bar varieties.
Comes in three colors, the three you see in Autumn leaves.
They're kinda spooky, synonymous with Halloween.
They are the dookie - you'll find a sack inside the freeze.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reese's Pieces at the movies, Reese's Pieces slumber party.
We'll eat Reese's in the treehouse, we'll eat Reese's on safari.
Candy coated and you know it, peanut butter, it's no wonder
Reese's pieces got me wheezin', free me from the spell I'm under.

Reese's Pieces at the movies, Reese's Pieces slumber party.
We'll eat Reese's in the treehouse, we'll eat Reese's on safari.
Candy coated and you know it, peanut butter, it's no wonder
Reese's pieces got me wheezin', free me from the spell I'm under.
Reese's pieces!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

World's Fair, Chicago in the year of 1893,
a man named Milton, a disaster outta Lancaster, P.
Inspired by the Germans and their chocolate making machinery
he invented milk chocolate or stole it from the Swiss, that's history.

So Milton built a factory, and a town and a park and a school for orphans,
made bars and kisses and chips real cheap so poor peeps could afford them.
What a great depression - Nine-Twenty, not funny, no money in the pocket,
'cept Pennsylvania where Milton kept on cranking out chocolate.

The Mr. Goodbar and then a World War and Milton did his part.
Made anti-aircraft guns and sent the soldiers chocolate bars.
Meanwhile they had a ship in, was secretly dipped in peanut butter
in his Pennsylvania basement. It was so exciting, cue the lightning/thunder.

Name's Harry Burnett, you can bet my ass didn't go to Harvard.
Be hold up in a cup, couldn't have done it without George Washington Carver.
"I was living the high life - champagne, limousine, it was a trip,
then I died of a heart attack - all for not, I was bought in fifty-six."

Now please fast-forward to the seventies, scientists discover Penuche.
Peanut Butter's too oily, Pieces takes their part in the food chain,
and their name is commonplace in the latest interview with a lady named Witherspoon.
Don't eat a whole bag, kid, 'cause Mom'll be mad and Dad said dinner's soon.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reese's Pieces at the movies, Reese's Pieces slumber party.
We'll eat Reese's in the treehouse, we'll eat Reese's on safari.
Candy coated and you know it, peanut butter, it's no wonder
Reese's pieces got my wheezin', free me from the spell I'm under.

Reese's Pieces at the movies, Reese's Pieces slumber party.
We'll eat Reese's in the treehouse, we'll eat Reese's on safari.
Candy coated and you know it, peanut butter, it's no wonder
Reese's pieces got my wheezin', free me from the spell I'm under.
Reese's pieces!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whoa. That's alotta lyrics! Will someone come with me to Walgreens and beatbox the bassline, while I do the lyrics?

IDEA: National water network

Fri, 13 May 2011 12:36:46 GMT

Too much water in some places, not enough water in other places. Memphis is flooded. While Texas is in drought. Don't we live in America where innovation rules? We are able to send electricity over large regions. We have the internet that connects all computers in all households. We have cable TV available almost everywhere. But what about water?

Why not have a national water network? Water is essential for life. If you think we'd have tubes connecting everything together, it would be for water. Take all the money spent on floods and dry crops, that's gotta be a lot of recovery money that we spend. Let's invest that in a National water system and let the water flow.

IDEA: Bucket of chalk with a sign

Thu, 12 May 2011 14:39:02 GMT

Remind me to leave chalk in the plaza more often. Walking home after thinking about purpose, these smiley faces greeted me in Giddings Plaza. It would be fun to leave a bucket of chalk with a sign giving kids an idea of what to draw. A few ideas of what the sign could say:
-- Draw an animal!
-- Draw a smiley face!
-- Draw a bunch of happy houses!
-- Draw something that lives undersea!

What else would you direct kids to draw with chalk?

IDEA: Paper airplanes as way to make time fly

Wed, 11 May 2011 12:40:59 GMT

Counting down time until the next train? Make paper airplanes and launch it in flight! Is it littering? I don't think so, it's a paper airplane! Who doesn't like finding a paper airplane on the ground? Plus, if you found a paper airplane on the ground, wouldn't you pick it up and throw it? Paper airplanes are fun. You can't deny it.

The paper airplane pictured in this blog post was the second airplane I made while waiting for the brown line train at the Chicago stop. It's a historic airplane. I made it with the same notepaper when I wrote about purpose.

The sky's the limit with paper airplanes.

1) Use different types of paper.
Revive paper that you were going to recycle. Scraps of paper, receipts, envelopes from bills. Just wing it, any paper has the potential to take off. Get fancy and make some custom print outs with colors and stuff.

2) Different styles of planes.
The classic dart. The floater. My favorite from 4th grade, the bat (pictured above).

3) Different messages you can include on the airplane.
Say something fun and light. Say something deep to be aware of the gravity of the situation. Say something fun (yes, i'm repeating fun again). Say nothing. Say anything.

The possibilities are astronomical. My brain is spinning and orbiting around with eeexcitement! With paper airplanes, things are always looking up. Let me know in the comments if you make any paper airplanes.

What is your blog's story?

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:00:55 GMT

Jaime Tardy had something interesting to say about blog writing in her post, How My Blog Landed Me on Yahoo�s Homepage (Twice) in the First Year

Lesson #1: Believe your story is awesome, then tell it often

We all have a story. Before you ever get mentioned in other blogs or press, you need to believe your story rocks. You are telling your story for a reason on your blog. Is it awesome? Sometimes we are too close to our own story so it sounds easy or not good enough. What do others think about your story?

(If they don�t think it�s at all interesting, then go out and create a more interesting story in your life!)

That made me think, what is my blog's story? How can I frame my blog so that it makes an interesting story? I was on the train while reading this blog post on my iPhone, so I took out my paper notepad and started to write out ideas on the story of my blog. What is my blog story?
-- Leaving thoughtful art on streets
-- Placing art in public places to make people think
-- How to live more creatively
-- Doing something creative every day
-- Observing the world in creative ways
-- Enabling others to see the world creatively
-- Getting people to think deeply
-- Inspiring people to reflect
-- Inspiring people to find purpose

That last one made me think. Purpose. What is your treasure?; Your time here is limited, where are you going?; and If you became ruler of the world, what three things would you do first?. Stuff like that. I was thinking about purpose and what a blog about purpose would look like. I don't really blog about purpose. But it sounded like an interesting theme.

Then something interesting happened. On the top of all my notepad pages I have different bible verses. Often it's amazing how a particular bible verse can speak to a specific situation that I'm writing about. Here I just filled a page about what my blog can be about, and the very last item was about purpose. And what's the bible verse? "We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." --Romans 8:28

Very interesting. I'm a big fan of God's purposes being done through the normal everyday activities. I should blog more about that sometime. A great writer on God working through the everday is Gene Veith. He's got a great blog where he occasionally writes about vocation. Below is an image of my sketchbook page with the verse at the top and my notes on the bottom half.

One of these days I'm gonna set up a blog that is more focused and has a true story to tell. I really enjoy the flexibility that spudart.org gives me to blog about anything. But it would be really nice to have a blog that can give some consistent insight into a specific life adventure/viewpoint.

I already know that I should have a blog that talks about what it's like to leave art in public places. I just need a name for it. I love the name spudart so much for many reasons. One of them is that spudart really fits my style of placing art on the ground for people to discover. But spudart has become so embranded with who I am. Spudart is more than a project. I need a name for this art-leaving project. I have leftinpublic.com, but that sounds weird.

What should I name my blog that will be about leaving art in public places?

IDEA: CTA blooper video

Mon, 09 May 2011 12:28:48 GMT

photo credit: Vera Gavrilovic, "Bumpy ride"

Dropping iPhones, people running to catch the train, stuffing each other to get each to pack onto a train. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) should take all surveillance camera footage and make a special youtube highlights video. I know, privacy rights. This won't actually happen. But it would be funny if it did.

This past week I've had several iphone catches. Maybe I need more sleep. The best catch was standing at the Lawrence red line stop at 9:00am. It was raining, I was under shelter. I took out my iphone and i did a total juggle. From the right hand, tumbling, bounced off the left hand, tumbling, bounced off right hand, tumbling, caught by right hand. Actually, it was more like juggling than tumbling. Dear CTA, you have the right to use that surveillance footage in your blooper reel.

This idea is inspired by Vera Gavrilovic's funny photo "Bumpy ride" on flickr. Vera also has a blog about ★ Photography ★ Art ★ Fun ★ Chicago ★ vivagirlcoblog.com.

Have you had any funny experiences on public transit that you would like to see as part of a blooper video?

Gas pump sticky notes

Fri, 06 May 2011 12:00:35 GMT

As gas prices rise, people's tempers rise. Oh, our car-obssessed culture. People treat the price of gas as if it's a human right to have gasoline flowing from fountains. People are posting sticky notes on gas pumps that say, "How's that 'hope and change' working out for you?"

This kinda frustrates me, because it treats gasoline like it's a high priority in our lives. I know, car drivers on budgets are having a hard time. And I know that there are a considerable amount of people who HAVE to drive for work to get their family around. I get that. Maybe if our cities weren't designed so much for car usage, people would be more inclined to use their bicycles.

What I don't get is single people who choose to ignore public transit. Or ignore riding a bike to run errands. Price of gas too high? Then ride a bike. I'm going to start my own campaign where I put sticky notes on gas pumps promote bike usage.

What phrases could the sticky notes on gas pumps say?
-- All fueled out? Ride a bike.
-- Rising gas prices got your temper rising? Ride a bike.
-- Gas prices tanking your wallet? Ride a bike.
-- Time to pass gas. Ride a bike.
-- I passed gas and rode my bike today.
-- Fill up your wallet. Ride a bike.

Once I get a collection of phrases I'm going to make a Faceobok poll. Please leave any additional phrases in the comments.

telldunkin.com receipt gets you a free donut

Thu, 05 May 2011 21:38:45 GMT

Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins have some nice cashiers. Today on my Fruit Blast Strawberry receipt said, "Hey America! Want a free donut when you purchase a medium or larger beverage? Go to www.telldunkin.com"

On the survey they ask, "Please tell us what you liked most about your experience at this Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin-Robbins. Feel free to mention a crew member's name in your comments. Here's what I wrote:

The cashier that rang up and made my Fruit Blast Smoothie Strawberry was very very nice. She was delightful at the register. She was quick and efficient in making my smoothie. And when she handed it to me she gave me a nice big smile.

I don't know what was sweeter the Fruit Blast Smoothie or the cashier. In fact, i think she was a Dunkin' Donuts cashier, because the Baskin Robbins girl was cleaning tables. I was a little bit confused where to order. But the very nice Dunkin Donuts cashier rang up my order.

Even though the Fruit Blast Smoothie is priced too high at $4.49; her smile is priceless.

If you like Dunkin' Donuts or Baskin-Robbins, please let us know why in the comments of this blog post.

www.WagCares.com Survey $3000 Cash

Wed, 04 May 2011 23:17:58 GMT

Walgreens shoppers with a www.wagcares.com receipt can fill out a survey and win $3,000 CASH. You can fill out the form and tell about your experiences from your recent Walgreens visit.

Great Walgreens cashiers are the best. I have a favorite cashier at the Walgreens across from the Tribune Tower in Chicago. Her name is Pilar. Today I got one of those receipts from Walgreens that says "How are we doing? Enter our monthly sweepstakes for $3,000 CASH. Visit tellwag.com to take a short survey about this Walgreens visit." Pilar delightfully pointed out to me that I should go to the website and fill out the survey. So I did. Who doesn't want to win $3,000 CASH?

There's a question on the survey, "What did you like most about your recent visit to Walgreens? (PLEASE BE SPECIFIC)" I love how they put in all caps "PLEASE BE SPECIFIC." My response:

The cashier Pilar was wonderful, as always. Pilar is the #1 reason why I go to Walgreens almost every day after lunch. She's a delightful older woman that truly enjoys her job. She recommends yummy candy to me. She's nice and sweet. Has great attention to detail. Pilar knows what I like and she points out great deals to me. Pilar is able to resolve problems in a professional manner. Very friendly. Very helpful.

A few steps down in the survey they asked to rate the cashier by these five qualities:

Greeting or acknowledging you
Helping you quickly
Being knowledgeable about the locations of products
Being able to resolve any problems or provide options to help you
Making you feel they care about you

Next time I'm going to construct my "Please be specific" essay to follow these five points. It's fun giving praise to cashiers.

Here's some praises other Walgreens shoppers gave to their cashiers:

"Very accomodating. Always helpful. They deal with people from all over the world." --Frank Davis

"I love to shop walgreens because they have real good deals. the cashiers are very helpful with finding things and knowing where everythings located at." --Alice

"I love going to walgreens cause they have almost everything I need for school and holidays ect.. the list goes on I go there everytime I get some spending money :))" --DeMarco Horace

Do you have a favorite cashier, either at Walgreens or elsewhere?
Please tell us about your favorite cashier in the comments. Thank you.

Arena Bowl logo challenge

Tue, 03 May 2011 12:00:06 GMT

Tannerman tweeted about the Arena Bowl logo challenge. I agree with him that logo competitions usually mean they are too cheap to hire graphic designers with talent. My submission was a parody of a logo submission, on a sticky note!

You have until May 8, 2011 to submit your logo. Who knows, you might win!

Transformers "Dark of the Moon" movie filming Chicago on Wacker Drive, Optimus Prime kicks butt scene

Mon, 02 May 2011 13:04:34 GMT

A giant fireball explodes on Wacker Drive for the Transformers 3 movie, "Dark of the Moon." Now that the trailer is out, we know that this is the location where Optimus Prime kicks some serious butt with his sword.

This is a real photo of what actually happened during the July 21, 2010 filming in Chicago.

It's so great having my work window facing this view. All day long while they were filming this scene there were soldiers shooting. And the shooting was loud. I was on a call with DC about a website design, gunshots were blaring outside my window, and DC asked, "what's going on over there." I replied, "oh nothing, just gunshots. Y'know. Chicago."

But seriously, I should have just hung up the phone, because everytime they fired, I would stand up on my desk to watch. It happened all day. Yeah, a lot of productivity happened that day. Not. But it seriously did improve employe morale. It's just so freakin cool to have a prime-time seat watching the Transformers being filmed all day. I kept my camera on the tripod on my window sill for whenever something cool would happen. Like, cars flipping and stuff.

I stayed late at work to shoot them continue to film. And that's when the FIREBALLS started to happen. That's right GIANT FIREBALLS on Wacker Drive.

And now with the Transformers trailer out for "Dark of Moon," we see that this is VERY SCENE WHERE OPTIMUS PRIME KICKS BUTT. Sam Witwicky calls out to Optimus Prime for help. Lo and behold, here comes Optimus flying into the scene, transformers and kicks butt while explosions go off around him. Prime takes his sword out and totally spears one Decepticon and then spears another Decepticon. We don't know how many Decepticons he spears, because it's a trailer. I can't wait to see the entire scene.

Not only did I grab this photo, but I also got video of it. It's really quite incredible. Watch it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t4X3mBYWEw

What's at ArtChicago 2011? Rubik's Cubes and candy wrapper goblets

Sun, 01 May 2011 12:27:33 GMT

The highlights of from the 120+ galleries at ArtChicago 2011 are: 708 Rubik's Cubes, 950 candy wrapper goblets, sea anemones, a Transformer face, and one massive inspiring bridge.

"Cube Works" by Sophie, 768 Rubik's cubes (ArtChicago 2011)

This piece was selling for $11,000 by London's Woolf Gallery at ArtChicago; which seems a lot for a bunch of Rubik's cubes, but think about it. If a Rubik's cube sells for $11, then it would cost $8,448 to buy 768 of them. However, I'm assuming if you are buying 768 Rubik's cubes, then you'll get a massive discount. But even then, let's say you get them for half off, then that's $4,224.

And then all the time spent getting each cube to have the right color. But that shouldn't be too hard, because you only have to get the right color combination on one face.

I'd like to see what the back of the sculpture looks like. It's nice that the artist and gallery offers us a view of the side. Actually, that's what made me realize they are rubik's cubes. Which having the side of the artwork reveal the medium is interesting. But then that's what people often do when looking at a painting or a uniquely created photo. You look at the edge to see what it's on.

One other thing. The number of Rubik's cubes are incorrect in the label. There are 22 cubes wide. 32 cubes high. That makes for 704 cubes, not 768.

"A new beginning" by Petr Weigl, Bone china & black glass (ArtChicago 2011)

Sea anemones at ArtChicago! These china tubes were positioned on a large reflective black glass being sold for $22,500 by London's Woolf Gallery at ArtChicago.

Someone better have a super fancy aquarium.

"Black goblets 950" by Joanne Tinker, Candy wrappers (ArtChicago 2011)

Little miniature goblets made from candy wrappers. Selling for $8000. That's $8.42 per goblet. How much liquid can each goblet hold? They are little micro shot glasses. Although I suppose that's part of their artisticness is that they are so thin and fragile. And they did at one point hold something consumable--a piece of candy.

"Mask of Beethoven" by William Wauer (ArtChicago 2011)

More like Transformer face. This was totally an Autobot's face. In fact, I bet the artist made it as one of the faces of a Transformer, but then someone else came along and said it's Beethoven's mask.

There was a long three paragraph description on the caption, but I didn't bother reading it. This is a transformer face if I ever saw one.

This transformer face was being sold at ArtChicago 2011 by the Martin du Louvre gallery of Paris.

"Bridge #1" by Alexey Alpatov, acrylic painting (ArtChicago 2011)

The most inspiring artwork at ArtChicago this year. This 8-foot wide canvas is massive with an equally massive subject. I've been thinking about going back to making paintings, but I didn't know what to paint. Now I know. Not just bridges, but massive architecture.

I really like all the methods of painting Alexey uses. The scraping, patching, swipes, splatters, washes. All done to give solid volume. A solid mass. I really like the strength of this painting.

Many people walked by and commented on how they liked the painting. They would look for 5 seconds and then walk on. Which is fine. But when you investigate this painting and all the techniques used, this painting becomes captivating. One of the things about artwork is the empathy the artist can envoke through the evidence of creation. That is, the signs of how the work is created. That's why Pollock's work is so captivating.

With this painting Alexey is definitely in the same class with Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Gerhard Richter, and Anselm Kiefer.

This painting is being sold at ArtChicago 2011 by the Art-Kvartal Gallery, Moscow
59x98
$28,000

More of Alapatov's bridges can be seen on his website http://www.alpatov.su/m04_en.html.

I might be adding more to this list as I'm going back on Sunday.

Transformers totally destroy Chicago

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:11:23 GMT

STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND WATCH THE NEW TRANSFORMERS TRAILER.

At first when I was watching it, I thought, "oh this is neat" but then they showed more and more Chicago, and i was like WHOA WHOA I CAN'T BELIVE THIS. INCREDIBLE. I had a front row seat at the Tribune Tower watching them film downtown. And WOW, did they ever use that footage. IT'S INCREDIBLE.

View screenshots 1-10 and 11-15 on my tumblr.

Why are most of the words for clothing are one syllable?

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:00:11 GMT

Think of an article of clothing. Chances are that word is one syllable.

belt
blouse
boots
bra
briefs
cap
coat
dress
gloves
hats
jeans
pants
robe
scarf
shirt
shorts
skirt
slip
socks
suit
tights
vest

Can you think of any more?

Einstein Bagels' Pretzel Bagel Poppers should be $1.99

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:32:24 GMT

Here's a message I sent to Einstein Bagel Brothers via their contact form:

I like your Pretzel Bagel Poppers. However, I'm writing because they aren't quite worth $2.99. They are definitely a $1.99 treat. Please consider making the price $1.99 and I'll buy them again.

For my valuable comment and feedback I just gave you, I would greatly appreciate a coupon for some free einstein bagels. Jimmy John's gives you a coupon for a free sandwich when you contact them. It's good customer service. Does Einstein Bro's have good customer service? We'll find out if I get a coupon for some free food. Oh, my mailing address for the coupon is: Matt Maldre, 4809 N. Bell Ave, #1E, Chicago, IL 60625-1946

Hopefully Einstein's will pony up some free coupons. :-)

Contract template for one-time use of a photo, no payment

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:07:54 GMT

I get asked a bunch from people online to use one of my photos in a project. Most times I will charge the person. Sometimes I won't. Here's an example of a contract template I just drew up to handle requests. Before sending this out, I fill in all the blank fields.

[____insert client's name____],
I'm honored that you would like to use my photo. Yes you may use my photo if you agree to the four legal conditions below.

Four legal points:

"Photographer" is Matt Maldre
"Publication" is [____insert name of client____]

1) Single Issue License. The photograph [____insert name of photo____] is to be published once in the [____insert name of client project____] of [____insert client's name____].

2) Alterations. At no time may the photographic image(s) be altered by Publication/Presentation. Any proposed post-production work to occur on any and all photographic images must be set forth in writing by Publication prior thereto and pre approved by Photographer. (basically, if you monkey around with the image, let me know if you change anything in it)

3) Additional Licenses. Publication will not make any further license or use of the Photographs for any retrospective or additional use by the Publication, advertising, promotional, publicity, commercial tie-in, merchandising, or other use and may not assign, auction, transfer, give away or otherwise dispose of the Photographs without first obtaining the written consent of Photographer in each instance.

4) Copyright. Copyright in the Photographs will be retained by Photographer, subject to the restrictions and Photographer�s approval rights in this Agreement.

Four logistical points:

1) Upon agreement to the four legal points, the photo maybe downloaded at: [____insert URL, usually flickr URL____] If you need a higher resolution, please let me know.

2) If there's any room anywhere for photo credits, you may credit it "�[____insert year here____] Matt Maldre. All rights reserved. www.spudart.org"

3) If you'd like to use it for anything else beyond [____insert name of client project____] please let me know.

4) I would love to know more about [____insert name of client project, if needed____]. Can you tell me more?

Thank you again for inquiring about one of my photos. Please reply to this email if you agree to these terms and would like to use my photo.

I grabbed some of the lingo from the Photo Session Agreement on keepyourcopyrights.org. After a quick search, I couldn't find any contracts that were just for one-time use of one photo. All the contracts I found were for photo shoots and wedding contracts, so I drafted this quickie up. I'm by no means a lawyer. But this is a little bit better than just saying, "yeah, go ahead and use my photo." Because there might be some people out there who would use your photo and then sell it and then use it for other projects.

What do you think of this contract? What would you change?

Illinois Department of Transportation didn't know 'dooring' collisions were an issue

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:45:24 GMT

This blog post is my rant for anyone who flings their car door open on the street side without looking. The Chicago Tribune wrote an excellent article, "Illinois to start tracking bicycle 'dooring' collisions. This part of the article drives me crazy:

----
IDOT officials expressed concerns that such a requirement would burden police with additional paperwork and that there were few complaints from the public about doorings.

"We were never against collecting the data. There was never really any large effort to make us aware that doorings could be an issue," IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said.
----

How in the world can a TRANSPORATION expert not know that dooring is an issue. Note he didn't even say important issue. Just a plain issue. It's almost like dooring doesn't exist for IDOT. Thankfully IDOT is now aware that is an issue, "IDOT will mount a public outreach effort to communicate with drivers about the need to look around before popping open a door, especially in areas with high concentrations of bicyclists, the governor's office said."

It always amazes me how drivers will just fling their door open on the side of traffic without even looking if there is any cars or bikes coming. Aren't people taught as kids to exit the car on the sidewalk side? And if you MUST exit on the street side that you are very careful. You don't leave your door open on the street. And you certainly don't just stand in the street by your car with the door open.

I hope IDOT's campaign will teach all the drivers out there to not casually fling their doors open.

Writing on water with floatable letters

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:04:55 GMT

What a wonderful idea for a public art project! Writing on water. Making a bunch of floatable letters, stringing them together with fishing line, and then letting them float in the water.

Wooster Collective writes:

From Guildor:

From Writing on water is like writing down a thought in order to keep it secure even when it is shaken by the course of life, to distinguish the important things from those you should just let flow by.

This pictures were taken by the photographer Thomas Pagani in Treviso and Milan.

The two italian sentences, made in Treviso are:
-- Think thoughtless
-- Happiness happens

The other one, made in Milan, is:
-- Love, let the rest flow

Since I work by the Chicago River, I greatly enjoy this artwork. Imagine what it would look like in Chicago. At first I thought the artwork would float away, but the artist smartly ties the letters to the shore with fishing line.

Although I do rather like the idea of the letters floating to new areas. Plus this work inspires me to think of new phrases to include in my art. Most times I use questions to provoke thought. But here Guildor uses some really great phrases.

Does the head of the CTA, Forrest Claypool, ride the CTA every day?

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:00:48 GMT

The head of the CTA should experience what all the riders experience.
1. Getting onto a crowded standing-room only train.
2. Having your monthly CTA pass break then while you wait for the CTA to process you a new pass, paying for a five-day pass on top already paying for a monthly pass.
3. Being told to get off a train with 400 other people without any explanation.

It's one thing to hear about these stories. It's another thing to live through them. As the head of a system where people experience these problems, the head of the CTA should experience them as well, so he can better address how to handle them.

As a CTA rider it would give me a little bit of satisfaction knowing that when a train is delayed that the head of the CTA is experiencing the same thing.

Melting snow makes music on xylofone

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:00:59 GMT

When I see something like this that's so cool, it makes me want to do it too. But then since it's already done, i'm happy that someone saved me the work of producing the video. (via wooster collective)

I've thought about shooting this with dripping rainwater at the Western brown line stop, but Michal Koh�t's use of melting snow is so much better than rain water. The melting snow signals a change of season. What was once frozen, cold, lifeless is now producing music... colorful music at that too.

Bingoo is a word, that's happy!

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:00:57 GMT

I found a new blog that is full of fun happiness. While leaving my first comment on the delightful intergalactic croquet photo, my captcha said, "bingoo." Who knew that "bingoo" is a word! Oh captcha how you can bring about such fun words. Especially when they are coupled with super fun blog posts like this one.

The above screenshot is from Lisa Rupp's blog post "Bicycle Wedding" from her blog "That's Happy." Please check out that blog post as it's got some super fun photos of a bicycle wedding.

Grover-themed wrapping paper and photo album

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:24:27 GMT

Make custom wrapping paper based on the gift you are giving. I'm giving my one-year old nephew a plush Gonzo, so I made all the wrapper paper themed after him. I took a photo of Grover on top of a nice wood background and then printed a few 11x17 prints.

I also used the Grover photo on the cover of a photo album. Everything features a regular shot of Grover. To spice up the birthday card, I took a close up shot of Grover's blue fur for the cover. Then on the inside has Grover wishing Luke a happy birthday.

Billboard art by Doug Fogelson

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:56:47 GMT

(above image is a blog post by chicagoartmagazine)

Great idea to rent billboards. I wonder how effective the abstract subject matter is to the general public. Often we forget that the general public does not interpret art the same as formally trained artists.

The idea behind the blurred image referencing contemporary street art is interesting, but only when knows that it's referencing contemporary street art. I don't think the average joe will realize that when looking at these billboards.

After looking through some of the links in this blog post about Doug's work (Chicago Art Magazine, Time Out Chicago, and New City), he displays some great abstract art that alludes to certain things. I wish that these billboards attained that same level of allusion.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps the general public does get some interpretive meaning out of this. But I'm betting most people just say "oh that's some mistake." That would be too bad, because it looks like there is much more effort by Doug behind this project.

Overlapping all the letters

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:00:36 GMT

I took every letter in the alphabet and overlapped them. It yielded an interesting result, as seen above with Helvetica Thin. Take a look at the entire blog post from 2006 where I also did versions with Helvetica regular, Courier, Times.

Recently someone took this to another level with a Youtube video. @printmag tweeted, "A look at Unicode: all 65,536 characters worth" with a link ffoitl's Youtube video, unicode:

My favorite parts:
1:51 when the letters start playing with the dots
3:59 arrows!
4:01 braille

Space shuttle complainers

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:01:01 GMT

IDW G1 Card - Astrotrain by *Guidoarts

Chicago didn't get a space shuttle. But are we complaining? Nope. But it's fun to hear the other cities complain. From CNN:

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the Johnson Space Center in Houston should have been one of the retirement homes for an orbiter, "but it is clear political favors trumped common sense and fairness in the selection of the final locations for the orbiter fleet," he said in a statement.

He noted that Houston "played a critical role throughout the life of the space shuttle."

"Like many Texans, I am disappointed with NASA's decision to slight the Johnson Space Center as a permanent home for one of the space shuttle orbiters," Cornyn said.

"There is no question Houston should have been selected as a final home for one of the orbiters -- even Administrator Bolden stated as much. Today's announcement is an affront to the thousands of dedicated men and women at Johnson Space Center, the greater Houston community and the state of Texas, and I'm deeply disappointed with the administration's misguided decision," Cornyn said.

Seattle also got in with their whines. Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington:

"The Museum of Flight put a tremendous amount of effort into landing a retired shuttle in the Pacific Northwest. As the home of modern day air travel and the 747, which has gracefully transported shuttles for the last 30 years, Seattle would have been a perfect fit," Gregoire said in a statement.

Yeah, we all wanted a space shuttle. Who doesn't? Space shuttles are freaking cool. In fact, one of my favorite transformers is Astrotrain, who transforms into a space shuttle. I should stand here and complain that Chicago was the center of all train industry and continues to be a train hub in our nation. Therefore, since Astrotrain not only transforms into a train, but also a space shuttle, Chicago should have gotten a space shuttle.

Here's who got space shuttles:

Atlantis:
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
in Florida

Endeavour:
California Science Center
in Los Angeles

Discovery:
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
in Virginia

Enterprise:
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
in New York

Do you suppose that one of these is actually Astrotrain? Cheer up Houston and Seattle, remember, Astrotrain is a Decepticon. One day he'll transform and wreck havoc on the museum. Then they'll be sorry that they ever had a space shuttle.

Group photo with personalities

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:00:45 GMT

Cheesy photos like this one are fun. This photo of Maliq & D'essentials shows a group of people all wearing a synchronized black, but each person shows a bit of their personality.

Is working at an ice cream shop fun?

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:00:51 GMT

Someone on Yahoo answers asked, "Is working at an ice cream shop fun?" He also asks a bunch more questions in the details. I answer each one of them below:

I worked at an ice cream shop in Chicago for two summers. You have some really great questions. Here's my answers.

-------------
About how old do you have to be to work at an ice cream shop for instance Carvel or Baskin-Robbins, where you live?

I was 17 and 18 years old when I worked there. My co-workers were all between th ages of 17 to 21. But there was one older woman who worked the daytime shift. She was about 40 years old.

-------------
What are the ups and downs about working there?

The downs were when the shop was totally totally crazy. Like a Saturday night when the line would go out the door. Wow. That was busy. But that really didn't happen all that much for us. Most of the time we had a few people in the shop. The best days are when it rains, because people don't get ice cream in the rain. And when you have the "closed" sign up, people barely ever come in at all. We accidentally learned that one time! lol.

The ups are having fun with your coworkers. And it's about bringing happiness to your customers. Think of ice cream at home. Isn't it fun to scoop out ice cream at home? It's just as fun--wait--it's actually MORE fun to do it at work. Because you have all these different flavors and different toppings. Everything is set up at work to create the ultimate in ice cream creation. Ice cream creating is one of the fine arts in this world. It's a delight to do. Even when there is a long line, that can get a little stressful, because people don't want to wait. But really, in the back of your mind you think that you are still serving ice cream. And that's just totally rad.

And because of the incredible ice cream/frozen yogurt skills you attain on the job, you keep those for the rest of your life. Anytime you see a self-serve frozen yogurt machine, you can approach it in confidence and a level of mastery nobody else can attain. That is, unless you have a twin brother like me, who also worked at an ice cream shop for not just two summers, but for three summers. In college we had a self-serve ice cream machine, and we would have ice cream cone buildoff competitions.

Another up about the job is being able to meet cute girls. Cute girls love to come into ice cream shops. And cute girls love it when guys make their ice cream cones. Oh yeah.

-------------
How long do you work there for, hours a day, hours a week, how many days a week?

I worked there for two summers. I workeda bout 20 hours a week. Our shifts were 3-4 hours per day. The day woman worked 40 hours a week on weekdays. She would open the shop around 11 and her shift would end around 7pm.

-------------
Do you get breaks or atleast get time to just relax and sit for awhile? Breaks?

I worked 3-4 hour shifts, we got no official breaks. But often there would be lulls in traffic coming in. So there was time to sit. But there were also times when we had a line. But for the most part I would say that there wasn't a ton of work. It was pretty relaxing. And you didn't get bored out of your mind, because there's always stuff to clean. You want your ice cream shop to be really clean. That's essential. Plus we as humans like things clean. So to make things clean makes you feel good. It makes you feel productive.

While I got to relax, it wasn't relaxing to the point of being boring.

-------------
At least how much they'd pay per week/month?

I got paid mininum wage. But the joy from the job is the best. Consider it. Everyone who comes into the shop is coming for ice cream. Everyone loves ice cream. Everyone who comes into the shop is in a good mood. It's ice cream time!

Plus since we were in a strip mall, there were aother stores next to us. We had an unspoken deal with the Little Ceasars that we would make whatever ice creations they wanted, and they would build us any type of pizza we wanted. Some othe best pizzas I ever had were from that deal.

-------------
Can you eat free ice cream?

We weren't supposed to, but we did all the time. But a big time warning on this. Many of the people I worked with got chubby. I avoided eating the ice cream at all costs. I simply drank water during my entire shift. The only time I would get free ice cream is when during slow times we would have frozen yogurt throwing wars.

The owner of the shop was a very very picky man. He had a scale next to the register and we were supposed to weigh our ice creams to we weren't giving out too much. But according this expectations, he wanted us to put way too little into each size cup. People would get upset if we gave out the correct weight. So we always went over. The only time we would use the "proper" amount is when the boss would work alongside us. Over two summers, I worked with him maybe three times. And yes, people totally complained about the amount, but then I would just simply point over to the boss.

But for the most part when the boss wasn't there, it was totally a blast. When people would ask for whip cream, i would give them so much whip cream that it would tower soooo high. People were amazed. And that's one of the life lessons i learned working there. Often we had a partner to work with. We would have competitions on who could create the better ice cream cone for our customers. people want incredible ice cream cones with the most ice cream they can get. We didn't let them down. You always want to put more ice cream in your cone than your partner does.

-------------
Source(s):
I wrote a blog post, "Ice cream shop life lessons" at http://www.spudart.org/blogs/randomthoughts_comments/P1600_0_3_0/

MLB baseball stadiums with wifi internet access

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:05:34 GMT

Here's a comprehensive a list of ballparks that have wifi. If you have any updates, please let me know in the comments below.

MLB baseball stadiums with wifi:

Atlanta Braves (Turner Field)
-- Free

Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field)
-- Free

Houston Astros (Minute Maid Stadium)
-- $3.95 for a 4 game pack
-- 225 access points

Minnesota Twins (Target Field)
-- Free
-- 100 WiFi access points that cumulatively should handle up to 4,000 fans on the Wi-Fi network at once.

San Francisco Giants (AT&T Park)
-- Free
-- Network name: attwifi

---------------------------
MLB baseball stadiums without wifi:

Baltimore Orioles (Oriole Park at Camden Yards)
Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park)
Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field)
Chicago White Sox (U.S. Cellular Field)
Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ball Park)
Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field)
Colorado Rockies (Coors Field)
Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park)
Florida Marlins (Sun Life Stadium)
Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park)
Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Angel Stadium of Anaheim)
Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium)
Milwaukee Brewers (Miller Park)
New York Mets (Citi Field)
New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium)
Oakland Athletics (Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum)
Philadelphia Phillies (Citizens Bank Park)
Pittsburgh Pirates (PNC Park)
San Diego Padres (PETCO Park)
Seattle Mariners (Safeco Field)
St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium)
Tampa Bay Rays (Tropicana Field)
Texas Rangers (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington)
Toronto Blue Jays (Rogers Centre)
Washington Nationals (Nationals Park)

Fun collaborative story writing on twitter

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:54:21 GMT

Seth Putnam tweeted "And then what happened?"

To which I replied, "... and then the helicopter zoomed by my window ... and then what happened?"

It's a fun question. "And then what happened?"

New coins to be released in form of ball bearings

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:58:54 GMT

There should be some country where they use ball bearings for their coin currency. Every country's coins are flat. Why not have them be round? It would be fun to have a handful of ball bearing coins in your pocket. They could even have inscriptions on them.

I got this idea after seeing a collection of little metal balls inside a co-worker's drawer (as seen in the photo). It would be really cool if these ball coins were metallic so they could stick together and you could make sculptures out of them.

In fact, I will now accept ball bearings as currency. If anyone owes me any money, I'll gladly take them. The conversion rate depends on the weather of the day.

Talk about "Beat the Streak" 2011

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:08:49 GMT

General link for: Beat the Streak on MLB
Sign-up link to join: the Amazing League 2011

Let this blog post be the place where people talk about their 2011 streaks in MLB Beat the Streak.

You know what? Since 2004, nobody in our league has ever defeated me in Beat the Streak. One year I got an 11-game streak. In 2008 I won with twelve games. In 2009 and 2010 I won with thirteen games. Think you can beat that? I'm sure you can. Come join our league and let us know how your streak is doing.

Rebecca Black the next Milli Vanilli?

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:07:15 GMT

Everyone is talking about the Rebecca Black youtube video, "Friday." 63 million views thus far by a 13-year-old. That's cool. I admit I like sugary pop songs. But this one is just... too... well, it's amusing. Let me say that.

10 years from now when we talk about music from 2011, this will be one of the songs we remember. And for that, it's worth talking about now. She's sorta like Milli Vanilli. The only difference is that I would be surprised if Rebecca Black is able to produce another hit. Her performance in "Friday" is really bad. I'm sorry. I know this is just a 13-year-old girl. And perhaps that's part of it. But she just kinda gives this constant stare into the video camera and doesn't really go beyond this "dear in highlights" stare.

And what's up with that rapper dude in the car? Total creepoid! The only adult in the video, and he's an old adult. And he's driving alone. Rebecca is partying with her friends, and this poor dude has nobody. Those special text effects at the beginning and around the middle-end of the video are HILARIOUS! It's just asking for it to skyrocket into meme-o-land.

Ok, back to Milli Vanilli. People love to make fun of Milli Vanilli, even aside from the lip synching. But I still like Milli Vanilli, cheesy as it is. We'll see if Rebecca Black will be a one-hit wonder, or if she'll be able to rise to the high levels of Milli Vanilli.

Facebook Flair

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:07:18 GMT

Remember Pieces of Flair on Facebook? The app were you could add a bunch of glossy buttons to a bulletin board. Here's what my board looks like now:

It's got a lot more buttons on it than when I originally posted about it in 2008.

Mashable releases report that trashes cities with people living below poverty line

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:27:57 GMT

Today Mashable released a report, "Top 100 Socially Networked Cities in the U.S." They took the the percentage of households that use social media to determine "which city has the bragging rights to calling itself The Capital of Social Networking." Chicago ranks at #39. New York City at #53.

Cities rank low are because they have more people living below the poverty line. This report is pure junk. Helping these people are more important than some pure junk "socially networked ranked list."

Mashable also welcomes people to "See how your city ranks, and feel free to trash-talk those other lesser bergs in the comments." This phrase infuriates me. So cities with more people living below the poverty line are "lesser bergs."

G.I. Joe snow adventures in comic books and 1400 Gallery

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:00:45 GMT

Comic books that take place in the snow are so cool. I love arctic adventures. Two G.I. Joe comic books take place in Antarctica. One from 1989 (G.I. Joe Special Missions #20), the other from 2006 (G.I. Joe Special Missions "Antarctica")

The 1989 comic book is really cool, because the interior pages are printed on the old school uncoated paper. When I photographed this comic book, I placed the light on the table with the comic book, so it would highlight the pulpy goodness. These were photographed on the night of the Chicago's third largest blizzard with 20-plus inches. I figured what is better to do during a blizzard than to read some G.I. Joe snow comic books.

The photos were printed on 11x17 paper and I hung them up in my cube at work. I call my cube the 1400 gallery, because every couple months I hang up a new a theme. See all seven G.I. Joe comic book prints in higher resolution detail on my tumblr account.

Spring at Chicago's Ohio Street Beach

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:35:06 GMT

Today was Chicago's first sixty degree day in 2011. When I was at the beach during lunch, I had to touch the water to welcome in Spring. I have to admit, it was strange watching the water rolling onto the shore, because it reminded me of the tsunami in Japan. Of course the waves coming in on Lake Michigan aren't from Japan. But I was imagining that they were.

It was such a nice day that I wrote "Yay for spring" in the sand. What would you have written in the sand?

The aesthetics of baseball autographs

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 02:12:08 GMT

The aesthetic forms of the signature are very intriguing. When I paypal'ed $1.74 to the seller, I included the following note:

Thanks for selling this card. It has to be one of the coolest signatures ever. It's like a work of art. Pico's signature is much like a Picasso cubist painting with its deep curves and bold shapes. The internal dynamic of the biomorphic forms verges on codifying Pico's identity.

His signature here is truly a work of art. I'm going to comb through eBay and collected artistic autographs. It's also inspiring me to make my everyday signatures on receipts to be more artistic.

Even the elements of the card and photo resemble this Picasso. Pico faces the right as does the seated woman. Pico has a big nose, the woman has a big nose. The design of the card has distince shapes with perpendicular lines and angled lines, so does the Picasso. Horizontal lines in the Score logo. Horizontal lines in the woman's hat.

Here's the details on the Picasso:
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Seated Woman with Wrist Watch, 1932. Oil on canvas 51 3/16 x 38 3/16 in. (130 x 97 cm). Collection of Emily Fisher Landau � 2006 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Jerry L. Thompson

And the details on the Pico:
Jeff Pico (1966-present). 1989 Score #13. Ink on paper 2� inches by 3� inches. Collection of Matt Maldre. Photograph by eBay's newportemporium.

You'll enjoy more posts about baseball cards:

What secret things could these ninjas do?

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:51:15 GMT

If I buy 48 of these ninjas from the dollar store, what should I do with them? A few responses from the Spudart Facebook Fan Page:
-- I think you should place them around the city like your sticky notes.
-- hide one in your best friends house, one or two a day every day for a month in different hiding spots.

I was able to find these ninjas via a Google alert I set up months ago for whenever the word "ninja" appears on dollartree.com. This alert sat dormant for months, and now it finally comes through. I just wish the ninjas didn't look like Venom from Spider-Man.

Anyone have anymore ideas on what to do with the ninjas? Ninjas are secretive and perform secret missions. Maybe I when I plant them around, they could be doing secret-type stuff. What secret-type things could these ninjas do?

Fake business card titles

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:33:27 GMT

I want to make up crazy fictional titles for myself and put them on business cards and drop them into fish bowls in restaurants. Any good ideas for business card titles?

I recently posted this on the spudart facebook fan page and got some great suggestions:
-- Groundhog hunter
-- Cuticle Consultant..
-- Goldfish Therapist
-- Cat herder
-- ‎"Our state-of-the-art vacuum cleaners really suck"
-- Odor Judge

Any additional suggestions?

How much 2011 baseball cards cost

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 07:56:40 GMT

In case you're wondering how much baseball cards cost nowadays. If you buy a box of packs, here's how much they'll cost:

2011 Topps Baseball Cards Series 1 Blaster Box
10 packs per box, 8 cards per pack
80 cards
$20/box ($0.25/card) ($2.00/pack)

2011 Topps Baseball Cards Series 1 Box
24 packs per box, 12 cards per pack
288 cards
$47.95/box ($0.17/card) ($2.08/pack)

2011 Topps Opening Day Baseball (note this is not the official annual Topps set)
36 packs per box, 7 cards per pack
252 cards
$30/box ($0.12/card) ($0.83/pack)

Keyword alerts for new comic books

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:30:51 GMT

Is there a service where you can get alerts when a new comic book is out featuring your favorite characters? For instance, I'm a huge Transformers fan. There are many many different Transformers series. There are at least 76 different series in existence. I like to be alerted whenever there is a new one.

I'd also like alerts for:
-- G.I.Joe
-- The Muppets
-- Colossus
-- Anything snow related
-- Any comic that takes place in Chicago
-- Anything by Francisco Ruiz Velasco
-- Any comic that uses 3d glasses
-- Any comic that integrates games

The closest site that gives you alerts is Comixology. But with their site, you have to MANUALLY subscribe to each series. You can't simply get alerts for the keyword Transformers. I would really like a site that gives me alerts based on my list above. Any suggestions?

56 photos of puddle jumpers

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:34:43 GMT

Flickr is a-jumpin with photos of people jumping over puddles. Here's 56 leap-tastic photos of puddle leapers.

In honor of April Showers month in 2010, I found images of puddle jumpers on flickr and hung them up in the 1400 Gallery. I have the photo credits on record, I need to dig that up.

Top song for February 2011

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:15:42 GMT

My most listened-to song for February 2011 is Girl Talk's "Steady Shock." Really, the top song should be the entire Girl Talk album. As the cityforward blog says, "more specifically its style of hyper-mashup: it�s not so much music, a series of songs, as it is a 71-minute manipulation of the brain to experience music." Read the rest of her blog post, "What Girl Talk�s "All Day" Means to see what she means.

Download the entire album for free at illegal-art.net/allday. That is the artist's website. Don't worry it's not some ripoff website. My top song from the album is "Steady Shock." But I don't like the second half of the song, because it's mostly cuss words. And I don't like cuss words.

My favorite song from the album is "This is the Remix." Especially at the end where they mix in INXS.

National Jelly Day

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:22:57 GMT

There is a National Peanut Butter Lovers Day (March 1), but where's the love for Jelly? Foodie expert Tom Saaristo pointed out to me via txt that there is no National Jelly Day.

Let's declare a National Jelly Lovers Day. When should it be? The day after National Peanut Butter Day!
March 1: National Peanut Butter Lovers Day
March 2: National Jelly Lovers Day

It's official. Enjoy your jelly!

Bouncyball land of a million bajillion bouncy balls

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:56:16 GMT

Oh wow. I want to live in that bouncy ball land forever and ever!

Say, I wonder how they released the balls. They just didn't pour them out of a dump truck, because they would just roll down the street. They would have had to release them from a high point.

How close are you to the Comcast monthly 250GB data limit?

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:57:58 GMT

Comcast limits your data usage to 250GB per month. Are you near your limit? You can find how much data you use at your Comcast High-Speed Internet Data Usage

How much data have you used?

Top tweets of January 2011

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:36:20 GMT

If I ever threw my office computer out the window, I would attach a parachute to it, so it wouldn't get damaged.
11:53 AM Jan 25th tweeted by @mattmaldre (my twitter account for design, marketing, web and tech things)

I like how the word YAY looks like two people with their arms up in the air.
6:12 PM Jan 27th tweeted by @spudart (my twitter account for art, life, and fun ideas)

A black hole is a big mysterious thing. It's kind of like a hole and it's black and ... wait ... I wonder if that's how it got its name?
6:54 PM Jan 8th tweeted by @brewsterrockit (the twitter account for Guardian of Earth. Defeater of space squids. )

Want more snow? Get out the snowhose

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:00:40 GMT

(Photo courtesy lahp)

What if garden hoses sprayed snow instead of water? During summertime, you can quickly cool off. But then the snow melts. The real value of the snowhose is during the winter. Missing the snow? Spray some on your lawn. 20 inches of snow not enough? Get out the snowhose and spray on some more.

What type of person do you want to be?

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:00:57 GMT

Maybe your car desire might reveal your inner desire. Alex Garcia writes:

If I felt a deep need for sheer power, I'd be all over the bulky 4X4 trucks. A desire to be validated as a cool cat? Maybe a sloping Porsche. A need to be perceived as a smart and practical person? Maybe a Honda.

I guess I don't desire to be another person, because I don't desire to own a car. Then again, I do enjoy buying Hot Wheels, so maybe I want to be a kid.

The macintosh beach ball

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:00:53 GMT

An instant message conversation between me (spudart) and my brother (unlikelymoose) today:
Spudart: Adium has been giving me the beach ball frequently the past two days.
Unlikelymoose: when life gives you a beach ball, go to the beach.

I tend to avoid Microsoft Word

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:46:10 GMT

(image from pcadvisor.co.uk)

I like plain text editors. TextWrangler is my favorite. Big bloated text editors like Microsoft Word, I try to avoid using. But my workplace uses Microsoft Word to exchange text documents. I only open up Word for these documents. And I reluctantly use Word to open the documents. I need to change my attitude about this. There is a substitute for Word called OpenOffice.org. But that's just as bloated as Word.

Whenever I open Microsoft Word, I often think, "Wow, i was able to get this far in the day without having to open Microsoft Word." I'd like to see a graph that shows a history with the time of day when i open up Microsoft Word.

Chicago Snow Blizzard 2011: 19 HDR photos

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:11:47 GMT

Photos from Chicago's third largest snow storm ever. I walked around Lincoln Square the day the blizzard ended and took these photographs of the neighborhood.

following twitterversary

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:00:59 GMT

It's funny whenever you do a search for something and your own site comes up. I'm searching for a tool that will tell me the twitterversaries of all the people i follow. I googled: following twitterversary, and the fourth result is my own site.

Asking who is the winner of the debate

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:00:49 GMT

I think it's funny how we ask who won debates. Is there ever truly a winner in a debate? Not saying that debates are bad, they are very very good. I tend to see debates as more of a discussion. Imagine at th end of a discussion with someone, you declare, "you know, i think i won this discussion."

What is your eclectic score?

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:24:03 GMT

Take the 20 musicians you listen to the most. How different are they? You can compute your electic score with the eclectic test. Oh, and you have to use last.fm. My eclectic score is currently 93/100, meaning my musical preferences are very diverse.

Here's my friends who regularly use last.fm and their scores:
98: rlindquist
96: wesn881
95: astrolabe1976
95: burningcan
93: srhbth
93: spudart
90: eringail
88: xifisparx
87: rule29
Everyone has eclectic taste!

Find interesting stats on your music listening. It's totally easy and free. Sign up at last.fm, and download the audio scrobbler. Everytime you open iTunes, it will keep track of what you play. If there are times you don't want it to track your music, simply close the audio scrobbler application. You can even keep track of what you listen to on your iPod and iPhone.

Counting in Jawaese

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:57:52 GMT

Jawaese is the language that Jawas speak in Star Wars. They are desert scavengers. Selling what they find. Thus numbers are very important to them. Here's how to count to ten in Jawaese:
1 Po
2 Ko
3 Kyo
4 Yo
5 Dyo
6 Lyo
7 Does not exist in Jawa arithmetic
8 Ho
9 To
10 Kisewa

Why is there no number 7?

1. Jawas use a base-9 system. We use a base-10 system. Maybe they are just on a base-9.
2. Seven is bad luck for Jawas
3. They forgot
4. To somehow screw people over when Jawas sell people droids.
5. It's all a Darth Sidious plot.
6. Jawas ran out of words that end with "o"
7. The missing number represents the their missing heart.

Which reason do you think why there is no number 7 in Jawaese?

the trees of the field will clap their hands

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:46:35 GMT

I came across this verse in Isaiah 55:12 and immediately thought of this video I shot last fall:

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. --Isaiah 55:12

Here's a few more

Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. --1 Chronicles 16:33

let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy --Psalm 96:12

Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel. --Isaiah 44:23

For the accompanying photo, I wrote this caption:
Yellow yellow leaves, my how you move in the wind. You dance and sway. Celebrating your fun summer and the finale of autumn. Finishing the season in a flair of color and delight.

Perfect unbroken ice on the Chicago River

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:34:48 GMT

When the Chicago River freezes over, usually the police boat comes and breaks up the ice. I'm not sure if it's for security reasons (people thinking they can walk on the ice?) or if it's to help the embankments from cracking (ice expanding), or maybe the police just like to have fun and break ice.

I like it when the ice is not all broken up. I mean, i like it still when it's broken up. But it's nice when it's a flat white scene.

We are God's artwork

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:00:58 GMT

I have a new blog dedicated to exploring the intersection of being an artist and a Christian. I plan on making one blog post per week at ChristianNotebook.com.

This week I explore that we are God's artwork made to do good things. Read more at christiannotebook.com/content/we-are-god's-artwork.

Which 2011 Chicago mayor candidate supports the arts the most?

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:00:37 GMT

Time Out or some publication did coverage on which candidate supports the arts the most. (excuse me as I forget the link, if anyone has it, please leave it in the comments)

They looked at if anyone in their family is in the arts. What memberships the candidate owns. They also asked each candidate what is their favorite cultural institution. Putting aside any preconceived bias, you want to know who I think had the best answers?

Rahm Emanuel.

He got a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School and was a dancer for a number of years
His wife was working at the Art Institute when they first started dating.
He was the House representative for my district when the Old Town School of Music moved in, and he says how he's seen a neighborhood improve due to a cultural institution moving in. (this one is big for me, because it shows real impact and things he will do for our city).
He loves Redmoon Theater and Second City.
He frequently visits the Museum of Contemporary Art and Art Institute.
All of his children play an instrument.
His son has done theater over the past two years.
He supports Pilsen has become a hub for independent artists and small galleries.
He supports Ravenswood�s old industrial buildings as artist workspaces and administrative offices for some of the city�s small theater companies.
He plans on seeing neighborhood-based artistic communities grow across the city by prioritizing zoning and development funding for arts and cultural hubs.
He wants to restore the Chicago Art Expo�s rightful place next to the Basel Expo in Miami.

I challenge anyone to find a Chicago mayoral candidate that has more connections to the arts than Rahm Emanuel. He will be getting my vote.

Meet the seahorse personalities at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:00:18 GMT

Seahorse week on my flickr account is now over! Come meet all 12 featured seahorses! George, John, Thomas, James, James, John Quincy, Andrew, Martin, John, James K, and Zachary.

George the seahorse George devotes much time to farming and other business interests, including his underwater distillery.	John the seahorse John enjoys farming at his home. He began to work on an autobiography (which he hasn't finished yet).	Thomas the seahorse Thomas has an eagerness to satisfy his boundless curiosity for life. He pursues science and natural history through research, experimentation, and invention.
James the seahorse He wanted to travel to Paris, but didn't have enough money. He changes documents about his life to make his legacy look better.	James the seahorse (the other James) This James is another James, no relation to the previous James. He sold his sea farm to the Thomas' university and lives there now.	John Quincy the seahorse Served in the seahorse house of representatives. He became an important antislavery seahorse voice in the Congress.
Andrew the seahorse Andrew participates in frequent duels. He had been wounded so frequently that it's said he "rattles like a bag of marbles."	Martin the seahorse Friends with the barnburners and free soilers, Martin opposes seahorse slavery being expanded into the west oceans. Martin travels extensively to Europe. And likes to spend time with his grandchildren.	William the seahorse Likes to talk for hours. He'll often talk even when the ocean is getting cold and he won't wear a hat or scarf.
John the seahorse (the other John) While loving peace, he also supported seahorse slavery. Many seahorses called him a traitor.	James K the seahorse James is a great seahorse. Said what he intends to do and does it.	Zachary the seahorse Zachary is a seahorse of contradictions. A fighter that doesn't like to fight. A politician that doesn't like politics. Zachary doesn't like talking to other seahorses.

I'd like to see Walter Payton run

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:00:14 GMT

How did the great Walter Payton run? I'm curious to see this great running back play in one full regular game. I was in 5th grade when the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1986, so I don't really remember all that much about him, especially comparing him to the players of today.

If you see Payton run now, it's just a highlight clip. I'd like to see an entire game where he ran for over 175 yards. He did that 11 times in his career. But where can I get my hands on an entire game with Walter Payton?

Amazon has the entire 1985-1986 season on DVD. Not just highlights, All full games. He ran over 175 yards in one game that season, against the Green Bay Packers. He got one touchdown, and the bears won. Seems like a good game to watch.

NEW WORD: wird

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:00:00 GMT

wird

def: Weird and wild
example: The bears play tonight? That's wird.

How Youtube is wrecking story-telling

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:00:09 GMT

Alex Garcia wrote a very thought-provoking blog post about the new forms of story telling on Youtube, "YouTube Doesn't Care About Your Beginning, Middle, End." He reveals the Youtube secrets to viral success.

-- It resembles a daily experience. In this case, driving down an off-ramp.
-- It is shocking. Wow, a golden voice.
-- It has a human face to connect with.
-- It is straight and to the point.
-- It is authentic and real.
-- It gives enough information to orient the viewer, then narration disappears.
-- It has entertainment value.

Alex explains a lot more in his blog post, you should really read it. On top of that, Alex promoted his post with an extreme tweet. Here's my response to his tweet:

Alex, I like your dramatic tweet, "How YouTube is wrecking story-telling." Well, I don't necessarily agree with it, but I like how it's very dramatic. At first I disagreed that Youtube isn't wrecking story-telling. Wrecking makes it sound like story-telling is going away. Story-telling is being destroyed.

But wrecking story-telling might also be interpreted as that youtube is knocking down old preconceptions, and... AND building up new ways of story-telling.

I love Youtube. I love new story-telling. I also love hearing insights of how some of the new ways aren't really the best ways. I hope the old quality ways of telling a story continue. But I also hope the new shaky ways take foot as well.

What do you think of how people are using Youtube to tell stories in new shaky ways?

Seahorse week

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:00:56 GMT

It's seahorse week on flickr.com/spudart. Every day this week I'll post a seahorse photo in the morning, and one in the evening. In total there will be 12 seahorses.

Every seahorse has a name and a short biography. The first one is George the Seahorse. George devotes much time to farming and other business interests, including his underwater distillery.

Twitter conversation with Brewster Rockit about vending machines

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:00:21 GMT

You have the chance to talk with an intergalactic space captain! Every day Brewster Rockit tweets hilarious stuff about his journeys and observations on life. One day he gave insight into how life is like a vending machine. Here's a conversation i had with Brewster about vending machines and life.

You can follow Brewster Rockit on twitter @brewsterrockit.

Chicago needs less cars, more walking

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:00:16 GMT

It always shocks me how many people have such a love affair with their cars in the city. The Chicago Tribune reported that my street Lawrence Avenue will have wider sidewalks and less lanes. Many people complained about the move. It befuddles me. Tell me car drivers, do you hate people who walk?

Here's my comment I left on the article:

All these complainers! As somone who lives on Lawrence, who walks on Lawrence, who bikes on Lawrence; I applaud this improvement. It improves life. People who drive their cars all the time need to take a breath, take a walk, or ride their bike.

Are cars the most important things in our life? Your comments reflect that attitude.

What needs to happen in the city is to have the following:
1. More people walking
2. More people riding bicycles
3. More people taking public transit.

We certainly don't need more people driving cars. This move to make Lawrence more friendly and a BETTER PLACE TO LIVE is a great move. People who live to drive their cars should drive their cars out to the burbs and stay there. This is a city. Not a suburb.

You know who else commented on this article? Our very own Tom! Can you believe it! After I left my comment, I read the rest of the comments and Tom was on there! It was like bumping into him out in the middle of cyberspace. Hi Tom! I totally agree with Tom's super great comment:

I think that is a fantastic idea! It may be a move towards the ban on all personal automobiles for which I've been in favor of for the last 10 years. Chicago needs to look at the pedestrian-culture cities around the nation and learn that it is a very walkable city and that sidewalks should take precedent over autos. Sidewalks should be comfortably wide (at least wide enough that 2 wheelchairs can pass each other. Sidewalks should be routinely cleaned of garbage. Sidwalks should be continually monitored for for damage so that they can be repaired. But most of all, sidewalks should be plowed and scrapped of ice and snow.

Intersections with roads that are 1 human foot wide are dangerous and in my mind, totally ludicrous. Let's start with putting some downtown streets on this diet. Often people aren't given enough time to cross a 5 lane intersection before the DON'T WALK sign starts counting down. Lastly, let's turn State Street into the pedestrian mall it once was.

Walking people unite!

The music service of the future

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:00:28 GMT

You know what would make for a great music listening service? If they allowed you to embed playable clips on your own website. So if I blog about a song, people can play it right on my site. AND if someone clicks the buy button, i get a cut. The entire song would be playable if the person is a subscriber of the service. Otherwise, non-subscribers can listen to a 30-second preview.

In addition to being able to embed individual songs on my site, I could embed entire playlists. That would rock.

I guarantee you if a music service offered these features, they would be the next big thing. But it has to include ALL four features:

1. Embed playable songs on your own site
2. Embed playlists on your own site
3. Songs are playable to subscribers, non-subscribers get 30-second clips
4. Songs sold from these playlists and embeds will give the site owner a cut of the profit.

The 4th item is key. Right now amazon lets you get 5% of the cost of the song. But it's a pain embedding songs on a website. You can only link to the amazon site. That's dumb. Let people make their own playlists on their own site.

My biggest flickr fans in 2010

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:00:10 GMT

A big thanks to all the people who commented and faved my photos on flickr in the past year. In 2010, I posted 373 photos to flickr. 154 people wrote 613 comments. 533 people made 1,706 faves. Here's the top ten commenters and favers of my photos.

	Top ten commenters:			Top ten favers:
1.		67 comments vivagirlco	1.		144 favs vivagirlco
2.		61 comments tomsaaristo	2.		41 favs tomsaaristo
3.		60 comments unlikelymoose	3.		40 favs unlikelymoose
4.		36 comments srhbth	4.		32 favs billy wilson photography
5.		15 comments digicat	5.		21 favs srhbth
6.		14 comments ifmuth	6.		16 favs nidalina
7.		12 comments fresnel10	7.		14 favs sdcox2010
8.		11 comments reneerk	8.		14 favs autograt
9.		6 comments kellyhafermann	9.		12 favs matamedia
10.		6 comments hollenbo	10.		12 favs lorenzo baldini
10.		6 comments matamedia	10.		12 favs pitchisperfect
10.		6 comments beckybloom

Top ten musicians of 2010

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:00:24 GMT

In 2010, I listened to 10,450 songs. Here's a playlist with the top ten artists. I picked one song for each artist. You can click the widget and it'll play 30-second clips of all 10 songs.

(note, if you cannot see the widget below this text, please visit the blog post Top ten musicians of 2010)

Amazon.com Widgets

Tal & Acacia: 344 plays
(sample "Love's Gonna Getcha")

Lenka: 232 plays
(sample "The Show")

A Fine Frenzy: 185 plays
(sample "What I Wouldn't Do")

Regina Spektor: 181 plays
(sample "Fidelity")

Franz Joseph Haydn: 156 plays
(sample "Symphony No. 59 In A Major "Fire Sym...")

Cascada: 116 plays
(sample "Evacuate the Dancefloor")

t.A.T.u.: 113 plays
(sample "220")

Kate Earl: 111 plays
(sample "All I Want")

Lelia Broussard: 106 plays
(sample "Satellite")

Lindsay McCaul: 100 plays
(sample "Grief Born")

Top ten places to leave comments in 2010

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:00:42 GMT

In 2010 I left comments on 1,374 photos and blog posts across the web. Where are these comments? Here's the top ten places:

141 comments: veravivagirlco on flickr.
Vera has mighty observational powers and uses her camera to capture many many interesting slices of Chicago.

102 comments: unlikelymoose blog.
He's my twin brother and he blogs every weekday.

77 comments: srhbth on flickr.
Sarah is another prolific photographer. She has been known to stay on a bus ten stops past her stop just to capture a photo of graffiti on a bus seat.

44 comments: windycitizen blog.
Anyone can submit a Chicago story to this site. You can vote for which stories you like, and they get moved up on the homepage. It's a nice Chicago community here.

41 comments: sparxmind blog.
Sparx makes fun and interesting insights. I'm telling ya, if you want to know a guy that comes up with interesting projects, you should follow sparx.

29 comments: assignmentchicago blog.
I tell everyone that this is one of the best blogs on the web. Alex, a Chicago Tribune staff photographer, doesn't just post interesting photos, he also gives great explanations, behind-the-scene stories, and thoughts on being a photographer.

18 comments: chicagoist blog.
One of the long-standing Chicago blogs. It's a standard.

12 comments: digicat on flickr.
Cat posts fun photos. I like the ones with the birds on a wire.

11 comments: chicagonow blog.
The Tribune gets a variety of bloggers to post about a variety of topics. I tend to follow Art Talk Chicago and Going Public.

10 comments: andertoons blog.
One of the best cartoonists out there. Mark posts fun about being a cartoonist and other random things.

The honorable mentions:

10 comments: greatscott on flickr
9 comments: artinstitutechicago on flickr
9 comments: littleguysblog blog
9 comments: summerdressgirl on flickr
8 comments: vivagirlco on flickr
8 comments: unlikelymoose on flickr
7 comments: tom blog on xanga
7 comments: chicagooutdoorsculptures blog
7 comments: withthepoodlesalready blog
7 comments: prettyhandsome on flickr

Are you tired of Youtube?

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:00:56 GMT

MidVentures asks in a blog post if Youtube has hit their Tipping Point. The author of this post heard a couple teenage girls in an airport say, "i'm so over youtube." The teenage girl's reasoning was mostly because it was annoying that so many people are doing crazy things for the purpose of being famous.

It's an interesting blog post, I recommend you read it.

Here's my reaction:

Hmmm good points made here. Another comparison is the question, will Youtube become like "America's Funniest Home Videos?" I don't think so, because Youtube is way more diversified than America's Funniest Home Videos. But the point of your post here is that many many videos on Youtube are of people wanting to claim fame.

If that's the focus of Youtube, then perhaps it will go down. But online video in of itself will not go down. Will home-made videos go down? Hmmm, I don't think so. Even though many homemade videos are done for fame, and thus annoying, there are plenty of other great videos out there.

Now the future lies in curation, or channels. Giving people just good interesting videos that aren't focused around the "I want some fame so watch me do this crazy thing."

Perhaps what's more annoying is getting all the emails and notes from friends about these "fame-monger" videos, but that's more about having friends and family that share these sorts of things. Reminds me of the late 90's/early 00's when people would email silly things. Fortunately that has calmed down in the past five years.

The sharing goofy things got shifted over to blogs in the early 00's. Then over to MySpace. Then Facebook picked up in this area. So people are still sharing. Just in a different medium. Makes you wonder if people will stop sharing goofy things. Or if the medium of sharing goofy things will just continue morpf over time.

Most-read spudart.org posts made in 2010

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:00:23 GMT

In 2010 I made 179 blog posts on spudart.org. In total those posts got a sum of 76,632 views. The following are the ten posts with the most views. (The number in parenthesis is the number of hits the post got in 2010.)

Atari emulator app for the iPhone (1,557 views)
People love the Atari. People love the iPhone. Merge them together and you get one monsta combination.
Live blogging the Chicago Blackhawks parade Stanley Cup celebration (1,187 views)
It was a great day for Chicago as the Blackhawks celebrated their Stanley Cup victory. It was also great for Tribune employees as we had a nice view of the celebration. I have a story to share about this day, but I'll only do it in person. Ask me about it sometime.
The higher hit count for this post might be the result of it being a live-comment post. As the event happened I knew several people were refreshing the page to see what's new.
How to kill a spider with just your eyes (1,160 views)
Oh the joy this brings that such a silly story is number three. I'm still perplexed how this spider out-witted me, even after I killed the darn thing with my eyeballs.
An iPhone leads 20 people off a stuck Metra train in Chicago (1,156 views)
What happens when an episode of "Lost" meets the a Metra train.
The secret identity to Kool-Aid Man revealed! He's actually a pitcher of Sangria (1,067 views)
People online loooove secrets, especially when it pours out the true identity of the Kool-Aid Man as alcohol. Way to bust into #5, Kool-Ai--I mean, Sangria Man!
Results from people in your social circle (1,060 views)

Wow, I was really exploding in praise for Google's social circle results. I suppose that's the one good thing that came out of Google Buzz. I would have to say my excitement over this feature has lost its buzz. Sorry, googs.
More cars than drivers in the USA (943 views)
The stats in this post still perplex me. Pulling in at #7 on this list, perhaps it confounds a bunch of others as well.
You can recycle empty sugar packets (929 views)
Toot Toot! Play that recycle horn! It makes me happy that a recycling post made this list. I would love if more people expanded their consideration for even the smallest of things to recycle.
An eHarmony customer rep told me if I lied, I would get more matches (904 views)
I'm trying to not harbor vengeance in me by being happy to see this post get lots of hits. But people should know that eHarmony encourages their users to lie on their profiles. I'm guessing the reasoning that it's "ok" is that supposedly everyone has a degree of lieing on profiles. But I don't buy that excuse. How can you start off a potential relationship with even a small lie? Uh, honesty, truth, anyone? Oh wow. Ok. Maybe I'm still a little upset with eHarmony.
Chicago Moving Bridges defeats finger tattoos for one day (879 views)
It's rather amazing how popular finger tattoos are. My 4th most popular post in 2009 was also about finger tattoos. And now we see 'em appearing again in 2010. Maybe I should make a post about finger tattoos in 2011.

And if you are curious, you can check past years' top posts:
� Most-read posts made in 2007
� My six favorite spudart posts in 2007
� Most-read posts made in 2008
� Most-read posts made in 2009

Top tweets of November and December 2010

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 05:59:36 GMT

Three hand-picked November tweets from @spudart

It would be fun to trade a USA state with another country's state for a few years.
Nov 4

If elevators did not exist, how tall would the tallest building be?
Nov 16

When typing on a keyboard, sometimes I like to think that I'm playing a musical instrument.
Nov 30

My three favorite December 2010 tweets, also from @spudart

It would be fun if random cars made elephant sounds for their horns.
Dec 7

Ponders, what is the relationship between squirrels and ewoks in the forest? friends? enemies? co-workers?
Dec 8

I want to make an igloo in Pioneer Court outside of Tribune Tower http://amzn.to/ePj0hS
Dec 26

the yeah but but yeah poem

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 11:00:36 GMT

Here's a fun poem:

yeah
but
but
yeah

Top 50 photos of 2010

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 11:00:32 GMT

My 50 most interesting photos posted in 2010

The following set was automatically created by dopiaza's set generator. It's a really cool script. Every day it checks the popularity ranking of all my photos I posted in 2010 and then ranks them in this 2010 most interesting set.

I copied the images for this set on December 28, 2010. But the actual set on flickr updates every day, so the set on flickr might be a bit different than the one shown here. If you really like any of these photos, and you want to see it move up in the list, then comment or fav the photo on flickr.

Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much, President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 13:00:47 GMT

"Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much."
-- President Franklin D. Roosevelt

But my President Franklin D. Roosevelt, during your presidency of 1933-1945, there were many time-saving inventions; such as the photocopier, the ballpoint pen, and duct tape. Maybe we have little time; because the color television, invented in 1940, immediately sucked up hours a day.

(This image is from National Archives at Chicago's Facebook Fan Page. Every day until the end of the year, the Elgin High School History Club is sharing their archival discoveries. Please "like" the Chicago National Archives Fan Page at facebook.com/nationalarchiveschicago.)

Why do college sports fans hate the Big Ten's smart new logo? (and how to fix it)

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:00:53 GMT

fastcodesign tweeted:
Why Do College Sports Fans Hate the Big Ten's Smart New Logo (by @PentagramDesign)? http://bit.ly/hRIHNc

My response:
Because these same college sports fans aren't smart to begin with. Note, I'm not saying all college sports fans aren't smart, I'm just saying the ones who think it took 25 seconds to make. Although, I have to admit, I don't like college sports. But if the stupid fans don't like the logo, they shouldn't just say "oh it took 25 seconds to make." Because that's not the problem.

I'll tell you the problem with this logo. It got a little over-designed. The forms are great. The word BIG and the letters IG forming 10. Very clever. But they should have just kept it to one color. The multiple colors crap it up and make it confusing. People don't like to be confused. When I first saw this logo, I thought it said. B, IG. or B, 10. It should simply read BIG, one color. And then you can see the 10 in there.

What do you think of the new Big Ten logo?

Art Institute Lions for Christmas 2011

Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:36:57 GMT

Here's what the Art Institute should do for their lion sculptures for Christmas 2011. Wrap them entirely in crochet. People would love it.

Photo from http://animalnewyork.com/2010/12/wall-street-bull-crocheted/

Here's what the Art Insitute of Chicago did in 2010:

And what the lion sculptures wore in 2009:

What do you think the Art Institute lions should wear for the 2011 Christmas?

What would you do with 50 square meters of public space?

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 13:00:56 GMT

Seen via Wooster Collective.

A few artists unofficially assembled a fence in the middle of the popular Palackeho square in Prague. The government officials were confused and didn't do anything to it at first. The artists wanted to question what is public space?

I want to question you, what would you do with this fenced-in space? Here's a couple starter ideas:
-- Fill it with objects. e.g. stuffed animals, notes, carved hearts
-- Have theatre shows. I can't think of any specific shows.
-- Make it into a zoo. Fill it with live animals.
-- Put a door on the fence and make it into a playground.
-- Take down one side of the fence, leaving all three sides standing. Hang artwork on the inside and outside of the fence.
Please vote for any of the ideas above, or leave your own idea in the comments.

Being an optimist

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:21:31 GMT

Being an optimist simply brings lots of joy. We all like to enjoy. To enjoy is to have joy. The question is where does this joy come from? Not just mere happiness, but a true joy that comes from a true source. To find these sources, one certainly needs to approach it from a certain perspective. And have certain methods and approaches to life. Much like how you wrote in this page. It's great to have a wonderful outlook and perspsective

Perspective always points to a source.

More thoughts to ponder on Alex Garcia's blog.

Photo usage and rights

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:15:15 GMT

An interesting conversation was happening about using one of my photos on Brian Micklethwait's blog. Brian debates about "what the owner of the photos would think." It's fun reading about this debate. Especially since I'm part of it.

I'm totally with Brian Micklethwait. I very much like it when people post my photos WITH the credit. As Michael points out, it helps my photos to be found.

I also work in the syndication business for Tribune Media Services, where we handle the distribution of content. Now that's a little different ballgame, and I'm by no means representing the viewpoints of my employer, only myself. But I could see how some people might be irked if content is used without permission. But in my humble opinion, that's old school industry thought. What rules in today's industry is developing your brand and trying to get as many people to recognize your work. Having blogs post my photos is a superb way of getting my photography out there. Not only does it expose it to more people by having it seen by people who read this blog, it also enhances the SEO rankings of my photos.

Now that being all said when attribution is given. That's really the key. The photo must link back, and also have a text link too. I've seen many places just take photos with no attribution. I love tumblr for its quick sharing attributes, an image can totally go viral so easily via tumblr. But it's also a mixed bag. Sometimes attribution is given, sometimes it's not.

One small thing to consider too, is if you use someone's photos is to give them a heads up. 'Hey, I really liked your photo and I hope it's ok that i'm using in this blog post.' I personally love to hear when people link to my photos. It's a nice compliment, and it's great distribution for me too. A win-win. Plus, by sending a simple email, you get to have a little bit of a connection with another person. The blogger gets to know the photographer a bit more. And vice versa with the photographer getting enjoyment out of knowing that is work is linked elsewhere.

For now I'm happy to see the referral links in my flickr logs and see where some of my photos are being used. That's how I found this one here.

Oh I should also note, when it's a for-profit company that would be using my photos, then yeah, then I consider charging for usage. I do it on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes I let the for-profits use it simply with attribution. Sometimes I charge a fee for usage and let them use it specifically for that one situation. (sometimes people think when you let them use an image for something, that they can go hog wild and post it greeting cards, letter head, brochures, etc). While I'm of the mindset that exposure is a great benefit to me, it's also nice when for-profit companies are able to help give me some payment.

So what i'm explaining is all rather gray.

Favicons of the top 500 websites of the world

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:00:37 GMT

The top 500 websites according to seomoz:

City nicknames: the last three letters of the top 100 U.S. cities

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:37:09 GMT

What if cities were nicknamed after the last three letters of their name? New York would be called "Ork." Houston would be named "Ton."

Here's the full list of 100 American cities, sorted by population (according to wikipedia). Roll over the nickname to see the original name.

Ork  Ore  Ach  Rgh  Son
Les  Aso  Ami  Ide  Olk
Ago  Tle  And  Ton  Ham
Ton  Ver  And  Ton  Lem
Nix  Lle  Igh  Sti  Ham
Hia  Kee  Ngs  Age  Edo
Nio  Ton  Lsa  Aul  Ock
Ego  Gas  Lis  Ark  Uge
Las  Lle  Ton  Ano  Gas
Ose  And  Ulu  Alo  Sta
Oit  Ity  Ita  Son  Ake
Sco  Son  Uis  Yne  Ert
Lle  Nta  Ans  Oro  And
Lis  Que  Mpa  Oln  Eno
Tin  Ity  Ana  Ale  Eah
Bus  Sno  Eim  Ler  Ton
Rth  Esa  Ati  Urg  Ine
Tte  Nto  Eld  Ity  Ter
His  Ach  Ora  Ale  Ron
Ton  Aha  Edo  Ndo  Ise

How do you feel about your city's nickname?

Keeping the cold inside your jacket

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:00:58 GMT

When you walk into a store from the cold, do you unzip your jacket to get warm? Sometimes I think that if I keep my jacket zipped up, I will keep the cold inside my jacket. Think about it.

When you want to keep something cold, you put it inside a bunch of insulation. Let's say you are outside and it's 60 degrees inside your jacket. When you go inside where it's 70 degrees, are you keeping yourself colder by keeping your jacket zipped?

Top song of November 2010: All I Want

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:00:04 GMT

My most listened-to song of October 2010 is Kate Earl's "All I Want." Available on Amazon and iTunes. Her last.fm page says, "Kate's music has been likened to that of Bjork, Joni Mitchell, and Fiona Apple."

Do you administer a Facebook Fan Page?

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:00:07 GMT

Two questions:
1) Do I know you? (in real life or from online)
2) Do you administer a Facebook Fan Page?
If the answer to both questions are "yes" then I want to follow your Page, and actually read it on a daily basis!

Below is a list of all the people I know that administer Facebook Pages. Let me know if you are not on this list. I'll add you. :)
-----------------------------
Original Content on Facebook Page (posts are not auto-generated by RSS feeds):

Art/Design/Crafts:
* Angie O'Neal Graphic Design
* Art School Girl Biz
* Brando Art
* Heidi Spring Art
* Lavenderpop Gay Greeting Cards
* Medusas Stones
* Supah.com

Photography:
* Chris Guillen Photography
* Wendy Alas Photography

Music:
* Dana Little Music
* Down The Line Band
* Hope Hoffman Studio
* Oh, Alchemy
* Sabrina Chap

Etc:
* Brewster Rockit Space Guy: Comic Strip
* Confessions of a Foodie
* Encyclopaedia of an Ordinary Life
* I Want Him Dead: The Movie
* I am a Michiganian, not a Goose
* Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
* National Archives Chicago
* Travels with Tiny

-----------------------------
Mix of feed-generated content and original content:

* Alice Graphix
* Assignment Chicago
* Becky Haycox
* BevReview
* Dunkirk Systems
* Maxwell Colette Gallery
* Rule 29
* Straight Up Ventura County
* TimSchraeder.com

-----------------------------
All automated content from RSS feeds:

* Andertoons
* Kidology
* Nuzzles�
* PopMatters
* SteveandAmySly
* TannerWorld
* Vexillophilia Flags and Flag Fun

-----------------------------
Note, I want to know what pages you actually administer. Note if you simply work for that company. You must be the administer who makes posts on the page.

Read only what you want in Facebook by using lists

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:00:32 GMT

Facebook Pages. Do you read them? I like Pages, but I never read them. It's kinda sad, because I have friends who administer Pages. To solve that problem, I'm making a list in Facebook of all the Pages that my friends administer.

How? Did you know that you can make your own lists of friends? So if you only want to read particular people, you can edit who is in that list. You can also do the same with Pages!
1. Go to www.facebook.com/friends/edit/.
2. Click the button "Create a List" at the top center of the page.
3. Enter a name for the list and all the Pages you want in that List.
4. Click "Create List"

It's completely private. People won't know what list you have them in.

Here's a screenshot of steps 3 and 4:

Save money! Instead of rubber tires, get a bike with iron tires

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:23:42 GMT

In these harder times, bicycles with rubber tires are too expensive. Save your pennies and get a bicycle with iron tires. From the National Archives Chicago Facebook Page:

Would you get a bicycle without rubber tires to save money? Please like the National Archives Chicago Facebook Page

NBC Chicago can exploit and resell your submitted photos

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:14:46 GMT

NBC Chicago has a fun section on their website called "So My City." They welcome people to "Tell us your moment." I was about to submit a couple of my photos and stories, until I read their terms of service.

You basically give NBC Universal the perpetual and irrevocable, license to copy, alter, reproduce, distribute, sell, EXPLOIT your photos (these are their exact words, including "exploit").

Check out section 5, "User Content"

Rights Granted to NBCU: By uploading or inputting User Content to any NBC Local Media website you hereby acknowledge and agree that you are granting NBCU (including without limitation, its licensees, successors and assigns), the perpetual and irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to: (a) use, copy, create derivative works from, reproduce, distribute, display, exhibit, host, cache, store, "fingerprint" [through use of content recognition technology], archive, index, categorize, comment on, tag, transmit, broadcast, stream, edit, alter, modify, synchronize with visual material, create algorithms based thereon, and transcode the User Content to appropriate media formats, standards or mediums; and (b) otherwise use, exhibit and exploit, and sell, license, assign and otherwise transfer to third parties the right to use, exhibit and otherwise exploit the User Content (in whole or in part and as altered by NBCU in its sole discretion) throughout the world in perpetuity, in any and all media, whether now existing or hereafter devised, including, without limitation, on NBC Local Media�s websites, on other websites, on the NBC Local Media television stations, the NBC television network, and on all owned and affiliated broadcast and cable networks, as well as in connection with any distribution or syndication arrangement with third parties or third party sites, in any media format or medium and through any media channels and for any purpose, including, without limitation, downloads, streams, in audio visual recordings, motion pictures, television programs, productions, advertising, promotion and publicity, including, without limitation, advertising, promotion and publicity for the Site and the Services, as well as the other websites and User Content produced by NBCU, and its parent and affiliated companies, all without further notice to, consent from or payment to you. You waive any and all "moral rights" you may have in the Content.

Bolding is mine. I'm not sure what "moral rights" i'm waiving. But it sounds like I'm certainly giving away my photos. According to their terms, they can take your submitted content and sell it to other companies. If they wish, they could sell your content to stock photo agencies.

Now we assume that NBC is not going to do anything bad. We know that NBC will be responsible and not do bad things. They just want people to put stuff up on the "So My City" feature, and they just want to be able to show the photos on their website, and possibly on tv. That's cool.

But then why do their terms have such strong language about being able to sell the content anywhere anytime? That's really extreme. We certainly assume they won't do that, but their terms allow them to do that.

NBC, I like you a lot. I don't mean any harm with this blog post. I like your news broadcast. But your terms are really extreme. You might say that it's norm for the industry, but as a photographer, it certainly makes me not want to post anything on your site. For now maybe I'll only submit my lesser quality iphone photos.

Chicago City Hall during Christmas is beautiful

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 18:19:41 GMT

The old marble walls are lit up with alternating green and red lamps. It's simply majestic.

During lunch I walked from the Tribune Tower down to Daley Plaza looking for Christmas things to photograph. The Christkindl Market in Daley Plaza was pleasantly not busy for 3pm on Thursday. However, I wasn't feeling inspired by anything to shoot outside at the market.

This year the market has many ornament shops. It was a delight to not have it super crowded inside. I was able to take some photographs inside. It was amazing how all the ornaments in the boxes were neatly arranged. Seriously, many of the ornaments were not just merely in the box, they were PLACED in the box. Birds orgnaments all facing the same direction.

Hungry for some more Christmas photos, I left the ornament shop and looked around the market. Across the street a wreath was hanging on the City Hall entrance. It wasn't super grand or anything, but cropping in the photo can make it look bigger. I set up my tripod across the street straight on with the entrance, and it was rather nice how there wasn't many cars or people standing in the way.

I hesitated going inside City Hall, because years ago the security in City Hall did not let me take photos of the beautiful marble arches. I figured I'd give it a try. The worst that can happen is that security tells me to go away.

Security didn't give me any problems photographing. I kept thinking they would come over, but they never did. In fact all of the main floor on City Hall is one big social club. Everyone is friendly and greeting each other. City hall totally feels like a movie set with everyone asking each other how they are doing. Nobody asked me how I was doing while I stood there with my tripod taking long exposures. Instead I got a bunch of people glancing and looking at me. I would smile back.

I was very happy to take photos of this beautiful interior. I'll be uploading more to flickr in the coming days.

Google image search for your name

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:35:36 GMT

Do a Google image search for my name, Matt Maldre, and the results show a photo of me that I use everywhere. I'm wearing a tan plaid shirt. But then just a few results after that, there is a guy with a headshot like mine and he's also wearing a tan plaid shirt! He is Seth Putnam and he has me on his Chicago twitter list.

Seth, if you see this blog post. Hi! You have good taste in clothes.

ART PROJECT IDEA: Put something in the tiny bike basket

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:00:52 GMT

This photo by vivagirlco sparked an art project idea. It would be fun to lock up a cute itty bitty little bicycle like this and put a note on it asking people to put something in the bicycle basket.

Perhaps it could be anything people wish. Or maybe there could be a sticky note pad and people could drop a note in. Or maybe it could be a basket for pennies. What do you think the little bicycle should ask to have dropped into its basket?

What streets have you lived on?

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:04:59 GMT

I'm starting a new twitter hashtag named #streetswhereilived Please tweet all the street names of where you have lived. Mine are 114th, Griffin, East, Cornelia, Bell

What are all the streets where you have lived?

Quark 8.5 released

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:08:54 GMT

I'm surprised that Quark is still releasing new versions. Last week I got an email from Quark saying they are releasing version 8.5. Here's my email response to them. I like giving Quark a hard time.

Finland stamps are the cutest stamps in the world

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:00:33 GMT

Finland's stamps feature the cutest illustrations and photos. Cartoon hippos camping, animals dancing around a Christmas tree, funky shaped stamps, raspberry delights, snow dogs. C'mon you can't beat that. This is going to make me a collector of Finnish stamps.

A great big thanks to Greatscott66 for posting these. He posts fun stamps that he gets via postcrossing.

Finland's stamps rock! A hippo flipping pancakes!

Two squirrels, a hedgehog and a rabbit all celebrating Christmas!

Are those stamps on the far left? Too cool.

Stamps in the shape of clouds? Finland, you rock it once again.

What is this? Some sort of Finnish raspberry delight?

Seeing all these fun Finland stamps makes me want to become a collector of Finnish stamps.

awww how cute! A doggie stamp! Yay Finland!

Chicago Christmas photos

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:55:17 GMT

In celebration of Christmas coming up, here are some of my favorite Christmas photos shot around Chicago.

Does this photo look dark to you?

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:03:25 GMT

Does this photo look extremely dark to you? On my monitor at home it looks fine, but at work it's very dark

It should look bright, not dark. When I worked on this photo at home it didn't look like the bean was under cloak of darkness. (The lighter photo is now the current photo on flickr)

ART PROJECT IDEA: Historical plaques project

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:49:03 GMT

I'm thinking about doing a project with all the historical markers in Chicago. Maybe a collection of photos. A photo of just the plaque. A photo of the location where the plaque is. Maybe a 30 second video of the surroundings showing a 360-degree around the plaque. In addition to the photos, it would be fun to also include pencil rubbings. I've always wanted to do a pencil rubbings website. I could showcase photos, videos, a pencil rubbing. Or maybe it could also be a pencil rubbing trade if anyone wants a pencil rubbing. If it's a trade thing, maybe the photos could be included.

I also have a new art project in the cooker called "sandwich bag art museum" where i hang up paintings on canvas inside a plastic sandwich bag at specific locations around the city. Maybe the painting could be related to the historical plaque.

Wikipedia is also a wealth of information on historical things. It would be nice to tie wikipedia in somehow. And those QR codes are popular. I'm not sure if people really use them. I like the idea of a tangible piece of art by the plaque. Or maybe even just a note. Or maybe it could be a clipboard with paper on it asking people for their thoughts.

One thing about all this history stuff is that it can get rather trivia-full. I'd like to somehow tie it back to daily life as well. Either how this specific piece of history has made our lives different now. In the case of this wheat plaque the artwork could be about the importance of wheat in our lives. Or the importance of wheat to Chicago. Or how this was the start of the futures market. Or maybe a branch off of something related to what how things are like now. Is Chicago a wheat center now? If not, where is it now.

Do you have any ideas on what I can do with this historical plaques project?

Tweet number 100; 1,000; 10,000; one billion, ten billion

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:09:07 GMT

In honor of 11/11/10, I bring you the tweets at significant numbers.

Tweet #100. Twitter was really exciting at the start.

Tweet #1,000. The first people on twitter were party animals!

Tweet #10,000. Curbing your wheels?

The one billionth tweet. At first glance this tweet looks like it would stink. A tinyurl? But the japanese is actually kinda neat. ""Grew the most of her teeth" and another 19 faint chan! 19 years after that!"

The ten billionth tweet. Twitter is taken over by people who cannot spell.

Walgreens shoppers seen digging 650-foot holes around stores

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:08:11 GMT

Walgreens opened up a geo-thermal store in Oak Park. TribLocal reports:

The technology functions because of four close-looped, liquid-filled boreholes that extend 650 feet into the ground. The liquid is heated using the Earth's natural temperature, about 55 degrees. Heat is drawn from the liquid when needed to warm the store, or pushed back into the boreholes if cooling is required.

How cool is that! I think I'm gonna dig four 650-feet deep holes around my Walgreens and fill them with geothermal liquid.

Walgreens employee: "uh, what are you doing?"
Me: "oh I'm digging a 650-foot hole in the ground to fill it with geothermal liquid. I'm gonna make four of these around your store."
Walgreens employee: "ooook. Why?"
Me: "So you can save 46% of your store's energy needs!"
Walgreens employee: "Let me help!"

Of course, if this was Pilar I was talking to, she would say, "you want candy?"

(Thanks to Tom for emailing me this story.)

Top song of October 2010 is a robot love story

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:50:10 GMT

My most listened-to song of October 2010 is Lelia Broussard's Satelitte (a robot love story). Available on Amazon.com and iTunes. Lelia Broussard is also my most played artist of October 2010.

Top five tweets of October 2010: Super Mario Bros & liquor Jelly Bellys

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:47:31 GMT

I changed my work twitter account from @tribunematt to @mattmaldre this past month. The tribune name was too corporatey. All the Twitter users in the Chicago Tribune don't use "Tribune" in their name, and I felt kinda funny using it in my mine, especially since I don't tweet all that much specifically about the Tribune. Instead I use this account to tweet about design, marketing, and other online stuff.

So if you want tweets about design, marketing and other online stuff, follow @mattmaldre. Here are my top five favorite tweets from the @mattmaldre account during October 2010:

i wish google maps could zoom in under water in the oceans
Oct 19

To use Microsoft Word is to hoard. To use Google Docs is to share.
Oct 1

It's pretty cool that we can copy files on our computer without using a Xerox machine
Oct 26

A tribune security guard called the Trader Joes creme-filled dark chocolates, "Jumbo-sized Junior Mints"
Oct 18

What if friendster made a comeback? That would be miraculous--and somewhat wonderful.
Oct 4

Chicago Comic Shop Crawl

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:08:42 GMT

I love this idea! Two of these shops have been on my "to visit" for way too long, and now this is just the incentive to get me to visit.

From Chicagocomics.com via gapersblock.com

Forget pub and bar and even zombie bar crawls....book crawls are where it's at, specifically comic shops uniting for an inaugural Comic Book Crawl. First Aid Comics, Chicago Comics, Challengers Comics + Conversation, and Third Coast team up want you to come by, get 20% off with a filled out passport, and have the chance to win over $1000 worth of cool comic book prizes. Details available at each store.

Will this someday be powered by foursquare check-ins?

Who are your most similar friends?

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:00:59 GMT

Find out which if your friends has the most common interests with you. A new feature on Facebook lists your top friends that have the most common liked Pages as you. facebook.com/pages/browser.php.

Here's my list:

Hey, how about you like the new Spudart Fan Page? Then we'll have one more thing in common. :-)
facebook.com/spudart

How would you caption this photo?

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:00:53 GMT

A leaf was under the under, and the under was under a bus.

Election results are like fantasy football

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:16:50 GMT

Watching the elections results come in on election night is like watching fantasy football about halfway through Sunday.

During election night they say, "22102 of the 88209 of the precincts are in. It looks like so-and-so is in the lead by xx points. The other guy needs xx points to get in the lead"

During fantasy football Sundays we say, "2 of the 8 players have played. It looks like so-and-so is in the lead by xx points. I need xx points to get in the lead."

That's why people like watching election results come in, it's just like watching fantasy football and trying to predict the winner.

Inform yourself before voting

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:43:47 GMT

I might sound elitist saying this. But I really don't want you voting if you are just going into the booth and guessing. I love that we can vote. Voting is important. Shaping our democracy is important. Having the voice of the people be heard is important.

But just haphazardly going in and guessing doesn't do anyone any good.

The message of "Go Vote" is somewhat misdirected. The message would be more effective if it was "Inform yourself." Because anyone who takes the time to inform themselves will vote. Today I voted, but I skipped the part on the judges. Normally I do my research on the judges and come prepared. However this time around I didn't know which judges to vote for, so I simply skipped that part. But I bet there are plenty of people who simply check all the boxes, or vote for the names that sound entertaining. That doesn't help us to get quality judges.

Yes, EVERYONE should vote. It's the foundation of our democracy, but please know who you are voting for. Gapers Block has a nice list of links:

If you're looking for some help in deciding on who will get your vote, here is some help from the Sun-Times, the Trib, Vote for Judges, Chicago Bar Association, the Independent Voters of Illinois, the Chicago Federation of Labor, Illinois NOW, the Reader and Windy City Times.

What do you think of Oprah's new logo?

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:54:44 GMT

Chicagoist rips on Oprah's new logo. Making fun of it because it has serifs and bold colors. If you ask me, sometimes people are too negative. Anything that's is bright and positive, has to get a snarky negative response.

Here's my comment I left on their blog post:

I dunno. I think we are in the day where we can have gradients in logos. That was back in the day when printing was really poor and we could only do two-color jobs. Now as long as OWN has a version of their logo for one-color jobs, then that's fine.

I kinda like the logo. It's a little crazy. But hey, it's pushing the edge a little, and not in a stupid Gap box way.

What do you think of the OWN logo?

The last time you were on a bus

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:46:05 GMT

Me to my brother @unlikelymoose, "You need to ride a bus. You don't even have to drive the bus. You just get on and sit."

Spudart readers, when was the last time you were on a bus?

New Macintosh iTable released at Lincoln Park Apple Store in Chicago

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:00:36 GMT

The plaza outside the new Apple Store in Chicago is aluminumly fantastic. It actually outshines the Apple Store itself. The store is essentially one long hallway. The simplicity inside the store is nice, but was very crowded. Perhaps I should try going back there in a month when the store is empty.

The plaza outside was very nice. A few years ago it it was just a weedy field. Now we have a nice plaza with a fountain and aluminum tables... wait... ALUMINUM tables? Yes! They look just like the aluminum Macbooks. I like to call them iTables, Apple's newest innovation. Slim trim sleek tables. The iTable can sense when you put your Macbook on it, and it will not only automatically check you into Foursquare, it will give you a sandwich.

The entire outside of the store is also clad in aluminum (or something that looks like aluminum). When sitting outside the store, I get the feeling that it's one super duper Macintosh Pro Tower. All the computers on display inside are actually processors for this monster Mac. It features 1,444 cores of processing power 64 THz (that's 64 TeraHerz, or 6,400 GHz). Buy one today and you'll also get the cooling pond fountain.

Now if we could only get aluminum slides inside the North/Clybourn station. Can you imagine sliding down one big slide to the train?

Using middle names in emails

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 02:16:38 GMT

For an extra touch of fun, use people's middle names in emails. Whenever I find someone's middle name, I like to put it in my address book. Then whenever I email that person, the "to" field shows their full name.

It gives a touch of formality to a medium that is quite informal.

A question about the "Pump up the Volume" lryics by M.A.R.R.S.

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:30:40 GMT

A question about the "Pump up the Volume" lryics by M.A.R.R.S.

Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Pump up the volume
Dance dance

Put the needle on the record
Put the needle on the record
When the drum beats go like THIS
bhlahjaljalkjaweeeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaaaaaaahlleee owwww

So just how do you transcribe that part of the song where the crazy singing happens? All the lyrics websites simply do not include that part.

Forgive written on the sidewalk

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:44:36 GMT

A Ukrainian woman yelled at me while I photographed the word "forgive" on the sidewalk.

Walking down Chicago Avenue in the Ukrainian Village on a bright Sunday, I was looking for small things that I like to photograph for the "I like" project. This word "FORGIVE" was painted onto the sidewalk with what appears to be gum or something.

I wanted to write on a sticky note, "I like forgiveness" but that seemed redundant in the photo. The words FORGIVE simply speak for themselves, so I decided to photograph this outside of the "I like" project.

I set up my tripod and snapped some shots when an older Ukrainian woman with a couple other ukkie woman in her crew started yelling in my direction. I have no idea what she was yelling, because it was in Ukrainian. I looked around for someone else that she would be yelling at, but I couldn't find anyone. I looked at her confused, looked at the ground, looked at her.

She yelled something a couple more times, and I was thinking, "Gee this is kinda ironic. This woman, who is probably going to church, is yelling at me for photographing the word FORGIVE on the sidewalk."

Well, I suppose it's up to me to forgive her for any misunderstanding.

Buying stickers online

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:39:07 GMT

Does anyone know of any fantastic websites that sell stickers for super duper cheap? My sticker file at work is getting quite low. I want to rebolster this library to pure sticker delight.

I usually pay about $1 for a thing of stickers. Which is a decent price. It seems that most places sell stickers for $2 for a package. I'm sorry, but that's too much. There has gotta be a place that sells stickers on the super cheap if you buy a bunch.

9+ Social Media Tools mentioned at "Mapping Social Marketing Strategies" by Crain's Small Business Forum

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:30:11 GMT

Crain's Small Business Forum had a panel of four social media experts for "Mapping Social Marketing Strategies" today on the 80th floor of the AON Center in Chicago. It was an excellent forum, I walked away with a good list of action items. Here's the items related to tools.

Tools to check out:

Google Blog Pulse
I'm not sure if this is the correct name. I can't find a "Google Blog Pulse" There is Google Blog Search and an unrelated Google site that is named "Blog Pulse." However, Google Blog Search is nice. I use that in Google Alerts/Google Reader (see below).

Sprout Social
Free for now. Mentioned along with the $500/month Radian6.

Google Goals
Perhaps this tool was misnamed. There are no results for a product named Google Goals. Instead, there is a goals section in Google Analytics. But still, this is something I need to explore in Google Analytics.

Gigya
The panel recommended AddThis and Gigya. Personally, I'm not a fan of AddThis. Their button has way too many options on it. Has anyone out there ever used an AddThis button? As in, actually used it. Not put it on your site, but have you clicked on an AddThis and tweeted something? I haven't. Too many options. I'm hoping Gigya will be better.

Knowem
The panel also mentioned namechk.com, which i LOVE. I'll be curious to see what Knowem has in store.

Tools for me to recheck:

Social Mention
This was mentioned along with Google Alerts. I can't get Social Mention to load a search right now, but I love Google Alerts. The panel mentioned how you can get emails with it. But I like Google Alerts in Google Reader much more. That way Google Reader gives me stats on how much activity certain keywords have. But apparently Social Mention can give you sentiment. Which would be interesting.

Hootsuite's clout filter
I love Hootsuite and use it regularly. I never saw this clout filter though. That sounds interesting.

The panel included: Matt Batt @storyassistant, Gini Dietrich @ginidietrich, Marty Higginbotham @stagechannel, Diane Rayfield @dianerayfield. Moderated by Lisa Leiter @lisaleiter. Full profiles available on the event page.

There were many other tools mentioned in the forum. I just captured the ones to add to my action list. If you have any tools you like, or if you were at the forum; leave a comment below. Thanks!

Proper bagel manners in the office

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:37:16 GMT

Let me ask you a question:
If there are bagels offered in the office. You want half. Do you take the top of the bagel?

Answer:
You never take just the top and leave the bottom. Instead you cut the bagel in half and take the top and bottom of that half. But when you cut the bagel, your hand only touches your half while cutting.

It may be easiest to just take the pre-cut top. But c'mon. That's like ripping the head off a muffin. Nobody wants the muffin stem. The muffinhead is the best part. Same holds true for bagels. Nobody wants the bagel butt. Please be considerate and don't take just the bageltop.

Thank you.

3000 favorites on flickr

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:00:13 GMT

Faving photos on flickr is fun. Giving appreciation to other people's photos. Making a collection of your favorite photos. I recently faved my 3,000th photo on flickr. In 2008, I made an image of my first 1,000 favorites. Here's the next set of 2,000 favs and 3,000 favs. It looks like I'm faving 1000 photos per year.

Look at all 1,000 favs in one mighty image file (#2000 to #1000 on flickr) Or view it one one webpage with all the images clickable to the original source.	Look at all 1,000 favs in one mighty image file (#3000 to #2000 on flickr) Or view it one one webpage with all the images clickable to the original source.

Top 10 words found in the title of my 2,000 to 1,000 favs 57 chicago 14 philly 13 jazz 12 lego 11 tree 10 park 9 art 9 red 9 blue 9 obama	Top 10 words found in the title of my 3,000 to 2,000 favs 31 ewok 30 chicago 16 dog 14 worm 12 slot car 11 spiral jetty 10 eye 10 lincoln square 10 red 7 worms

The top 21 places where my last 500 comments have landed

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:36:18 GMT

I've been posting of all my comments on delicious since March 2009. A couple days ago I hit my 1,500th comment. It was on srhbth's photo, 201009endofsept0060a (pictured above). On April 17, 2010 I covered my first 1000 comments. Now let's see where comments 1,000 to 1,500 went.

Here's the top 21 places where my last 500 comments have landed.

74 comments: vivagirlco on flickr
48 comments: unlikelymoose blog
38 comments: spudart blog
37 comments: spudart on flickr
30 comments: srhbth on flickr
22 comments: sparxmind blog
18 comments: assignment-chicago blog
7 comments: windycitizen website
6 comments: andertoons blog
5 comments: artinstitutechicago on flickr
5 comments: imaginepub blog
5 comments: lakeshorebranding blog
4 comments: chicagonow website
4 comments: techcocktail blog
4 comments: chicagoist website
4 comments: liska blog
4 comments: makingcreativematter blog
4 comments: artisantalent blog
4 comments: deepblueskies on flickr
4 comments: digicat on flickr
4 comments: kellyhafermann on flickr
4 comments: sparx on flickr
4 comments: summerdressgirl on flickr
Note, this does not include twitter or facebook.

Observations

Once again vivagirlco's photos rank at the top.
Both vivagirlco and srhbth are the most productive posters in my Google Reader. Both post about 300 photos per month. I enjoy commenting on their wonderful photos.
I'm happy to see that I commented more on my brother's blog (unlikelymoose) than my own.
He posts good fun creative stuff.
New people on the list.
There's a bunch of new blogs on this list. The top newbie is Assignment Chicago, a fantastic blog from my photographer friend Alex Garcia with the Chicago Tribune. Seriously, it's one of the best blogs in the world.
I've been making an effort to comment on design industry blogs in chicago this year: imaginepub, lakeshorebranding, techcocktail, liska, artisantalent.

Top three tweets of September 2009: Super Mario Bros & liquor Jelly Bellys

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:56:24 GMT

For September's top tweets, three hand-picked tweets from @spudart.

Imagine elevators as the tubes in Super Mario Brothers. They warp you to another level.
28-Sep

IDEA: they should make liquor jelly bellys and call them "Jelly Oh Nelly Bellys"
9-Sep

The number eight is made of two meatballs. I want a number made of three meatballs.
8-Sep

Read more fun tweets from September 2010 in the comments on the Top September 2010 tweets on spudart.org.

The gmail hat

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:00:33 GMT

If you send a message with the subject line as a smiley face, then in the browser tab it looks like the smiley face is wearing a gmail hat.

Gmail - :)

Do by doodling

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:51:52 GMT

Isn't it cool how the words "do" and "doodling" sound very similar? Doodling is doing.

For the longest time I've wanted to make a webcomic. I have lots of random ideas. They get posted here as blog posts. cool cool. But a webcomic would be able to carry those ideas very well. I've planned and thought and planned and brainstormed. But never really got to the do part.

Yesterday I went to Blick (I miss Pearl) and got some doodling supplies:

A small sketchbook
A big sketchbook can be intimidating. I want to be able to draw my comic on the train. And I don't want to be one of those people with a big sketchbook who are like, "LOOK AT ME DRAWING ON THE TRAIN. I'M SO TALENTED." I got the smaller sketchbook to be a bit more discreet.

Photo-blue pencils
I get too concerned about what I draw for the webcomic ends up being too permanent. But with photo blue pencils, I can sketch and sketch, and then when i finally have what i want, I can just ink it in. (then scan the drawing in and easily photoshop out the blue lines)

Pencil sharpener
Since I will be doing sketching on the train, I will need a pencil sharpener. But I want a slim thin one. Can you believe that Blick didn't have a compact pencil sharpener. I think I looked at their selection for like 10 minutes in disbelief. Oh did I mention that my train ride is 30 minutes each way? That's why I want to draw on the train.

Stickers
They were hanging by the cash registers and they are so cute. I can't wait to use them for birthday cards at work. (When I sign a birthday card that goes around, I always put a sticker in there too). Every fun person should have a sticker file. Oh, and btw, this is not really related to the webcomic. It's just fun. Oh wait. webcomics are fun. So they are related. So there.

Now I just need to do by doodling.

My experiences with hard drives

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:00:00 GMT

My setup
I have nine hard drives running. Three are main external hard drives:
-- One for work
-- One for photos/movies
-- One for music/laptop backups

Each of these drives has a backup drive sitting next to it. And I have a second backup sitting at another location just in case something happens to my apartment. So that means I have nine hard drives.

Dead AC adapters
This past week, I had two AC adapters die. Both the AC adapters are from the Icy Dock MB559UEA-1S.

You'd think it would be easy to buy a replacement AC adapter, but it's not. People just don't sell them, and if they do, you aren't assured that they will properly fit into your drive. So now instead of buying a whole new hard drive which costs about $100, I can just buy a new enclosure for $25.

Dead hard drives
Thankfully I've never had a hard drive completely die on me. Like I said, I have my drives double-backed up just in case. But a couple weeks ago, my photo hard drive did stop working. But DiskWarrior was able to fix the directory, and all the files were still there.

When DiskWarrior fixed the drive, I wanted to make sure that all the files were still there. I wanted to compare the files on the fixed drive with my backup drive. But I could not find a tool that would adequately compare files on two drives. Amazing. That's a blog post for another day.

I did have a hard drive arrive DOA (Dead on Arrival). I ordered a Iomega Prestige 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 34474 from Newegg.com. The sucker didn't work. It was an experiement on my part to try buying an all-in-one drive. But it cost me. To return the item, I had to pay for shipping and a RESHELVING FEE. It end up costing me $30 to return the busted drive that never worked. I love newegg.com for their reviews, but I'm never buying from them again.

Good hard drive enclosure with Firewire
The ICY Dock mentioned above has Firewire 400, but I would not recommend it, because I've had two AC adapters from that model die. I do have three of Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360UFS-BK.

I've been very pleased with these enclosures. No problems. But Firewire 400? Macs aren't made with that anymore. It's tempting to get Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360FBSU-BK.

Firewire 800 would be nice. Double the speed. But in a few years USB 3.0 is gonna be around, so why spend all the money for Firewire 800 now?

---------------------------------
Spudart's guide to hard drives:
1. My external hard drive storage recommendations
2. Best external hard drive options for mac users
3. My experiences with hard drives
---------------------------------

best external hard drive options for mac users

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:00:38 GMT

Yesterday, we covered my recommendations for external hard drives, Vantec NexStar CX NST-300S2-BK for the case. And a good hard drive is Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Green WD20EARS. Now let's cover the details on why I picked these choices. There are four main things to think about when picking an external hard drive.

1) The memory capacity of the hard drive
In terms of size, to me it's obvious to get 2TB. You'll always fill it up. Just get the biggest size that isn't a rip off. 2TB has been out for awhile now so it's a good price. If you can only afford something cheaper, then go for that.
+++ Summary point 1: It's worth the money to get the 2TB.

2) The physical size of the hard drive
2.5-inch drives are for laptops. 3.5-inch drives are used for externals. It may be tempting to get a 2.5-inch drive to be versatile. You can put it a laptop, and you can buy an enclosure for it too. But there aren't that many 2.5-inch enclosures. You have many more options for 3.5-inch drives. Besides, how often do you really crack open your laptop?
+++ Summary point 2: Get a 3.5-inch size drive

3) The type of hard drive
What type of internal connection should the hard drive have? There's IDE, SATA I, and SATA II. You don't want IDE. That's old. And there's really no difference between SATA I and SATA II. Both work together. Both are actually about the same speed when you do speed tests.
+++ Summary point 3: Get either SATA I or SATA II

4) The type of enclosure
The different external connections for an enclosure are: USB 2.0, Firewire 400 (IEEE 1394), Firewire 800 (IEEE 1394b), eSATA, USB 3.0. Here's them broken out:

USB 1.0
-- 12 Mbps
-- First Mac with USB 1.0: 1998

Firewire 400 (IEEE 1394)
-- 400 Mbps
-- First Mac with Firewire 400: January 1999
-- New Macs no longer have Firewire 400 ports!

USB 2.0
-- 480 Mbps
-- First Mac with USB 2.0: June 2003
-- Very standard

Firewire 800 (IEEE 1394b)
-- 400 Mbps
-- First Mac with Firewire 800: June 2003
-- Macbook Pro, iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Pro all have a Firewire 800 port. the Macbook and Macbook Air do not have Firewire 800.

eSATA
-- 3,000 Mbps
-- Buggy
-- No way to connect to Mac

USB 3.0
-- 5,000 Mbps
-- No macs have this yet

So when it comes time to buying an enclosure, what do you want? For now all you want is USB 2.0. Don't bother with Firewire 400 or 800. Macs no longer have Firewire 400. The enclosures that have Firewire 800 cost twice as much. When USB 3.0 comes out, your Firewire 800 enclosure is going to be old news.
+++ Summary point 4: Get USB 2.0

Overall summary:
Get a green 2TB 3.5-inch drive that has an internal connection of SATA I or SATA II. The case should just have USB 2.0.
+++ Enclosure: Vantec NexStar CX NST-300S2-BK.
+++ Hard drive: Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Green WD20EARS

Side point
Since you'll be getting USB drives, you'll need a hub. I like this seven-port hub, because the wires don't come out the back. It can sit flush against the wall.

---------------------------------
Spudart's guide to hard drives:
1. My external hard drive storage recommendations
2. Best external hard drive options for Mac users
3. My experiences with hard drives
---------------------------------

My external hard drive storage recommendations

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:00:02 GMT

If you are looking for more hard drive space, buy an external case and the hard drive separate. Many times when a hard drive fails, it's just the case that fails. You want to be able to easily take the hard drive out of the case and slide the hard drive into another case to troubleshoot.

For the external case, I recommend Vantec NexStar CX NST-300S2-BK. It's got USB 2.0 and Firewire. It's quiet. The power light is not obnoxious. And a good hard drive is Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Green WD20EARS.

Boom. You are done. You can go ahead and buy these setup now and be happy. Want more details, check in tomorrow to read the further options when buying external hard drives.

---------------------------------
Spudart's guide to hard drives:
1. My external hard drive storage recommendations
2. Best external hard drive options for Mac users
3. My experiences with hard drives
---------------------------------

IDEA: make a jumbo jet into a kite

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:48:02 GMT

What if you took a rope that is 30,000 feet long and attached it to the jet? Better hang on tight, cuz they fly around 500 mph. For some reason i picture the rope dangling down all the time, but if the plane goes that fast, then you'll be trailing BEHIND the plane, rather than dangling BELOW the plane. But it sure would be fun if you could dangle below the plane dodging buildings.

The sheer length of the rope is impressive too. 30,000 feet is 5.6 miles. If you are standing there with a five-mile-long rope, it'll take a while for all the rope to finally start liftoff with the plane.

Oh maybe it should be a long rope attached to a hot air balloon. That's a much better idea. Can you imagine just seeing someone go by your window hanging onto a rope? And then you look up in the sky and you can barely see the hot air balloon. It would be cooler if a person could dangle below the jumbo jet, cuz that's like REALLY high in the sky.

Thanks to Vera for inspiring this post.

Just how high can a hot air balloon go?

Beverly Hills Cycling Classic, Chicago's Tour de France

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:54:48 GMT

A bunch of professional bicyclists from around the world race through Beverly Hills neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. The race is mere blocks from where I grew up! The race track through the neighborhood is a little over one mile long, they go around it 50 times.

The really cool part is that a bunch of people from the neighborhood all come and watch the race from people's lawns. You can stand on anybody's lawn and go right up to the edge of the street and literally feel the breeze. People are out there drinking and kids are playing. More people should know about this event, it should become just as popular as the south side irish parade. It happens every year in July.

Cool things:
-- Being able to get some close-up action photos of cyclists zooming by
-- Bed mattresses wrapped around poles
-- Walk around the beautiful neighborhood
-- Talk to friendly people (if you are so inclined)

Leave a comment below and click the "notify" button, and when the race comes up next year, I'll give you advance notice of when and where it will be.

Vacant art store to be transformed into ice skating rink

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:09:33 GMT

(If you cannot see the above video, please view it on youtube)

What should be done with the space left behind from Chicago's Pearl Art & Craft supply store on Chicago Avenue? One idea is to make it into an indoor ice skate rink. After making this video I know realize it's not as simple as throwing water down on the foundation and freezing it, because you'll crack the foundation. But still. it would be cool to have an ice skating rink there. Although the pillars do prevent a problem. Maybe they can wrap bed mattresses around the pillars like how they do on the south side of Chicago for the Beverly Hills Cycling Classic.

What do you think they should do with the old Pearl Art Supply store? Leave your ideas in the comments.

Steve Jobs boycotts Japan for airport ban on ninja stars

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:41:10 GMT

Japanese airport officials would not allow Steve Jobs to bring ninja stars onto his private airplane. In turn Steve Jobs vows to never return to Japan.

According to iPhone App Review:

"Jobs said it wouldn�t make sense for a person to try to hijack his own plane, according to the report. He then told officials he would never visit Japan again, the magazine reported."

But seriously, I think the Japanese officials are right. Steve Jobs wears black all the time. Ninjas wear black. I could see Steve Jobs going all ninja on the plane and start throwing the ninja stars.

Steve Jobs, you are dangerous man.

The only single-letter domains with websites are q.com and x.com

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 09:31:47 GMT

It's rather amazing how many of the single-letter domains have no websites behind them. The only ones with domains are q.com which goes to qwest.com, and x.com Paypal's Developer Network.

a.com nothing
b.com nothing
c.com nothing
d.com nothing
e.com nothing
f.com nothing
g.com nothing
h.com nothing
i.com nothing
j.com nothing
k.com nothing
l.com nothing
m.com nothing
n.com nothing
o.com nothing
p.com nothing
q.com qwest.com
r.com nothing
s.com nothing
t.com nothing
u.com nothing
v.com nothing
w.com nothing
x.com Paypal Developer Network
z.com nothing
0.com nothing
1.com nothing
2.com nothing
3.com nothing
4.com nothing
5.com nothing
6.com nothing
7.com nothing
8.com nothing
9.com nothing

NEW WORD: qdobbing

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 23:25:44 GMT

qdobbing

When you go to qdoba multiple times a week to milk their coupon offers.

"Oh man, I am totally qdobbing their offers this week. I know they probably only want you to go once a week, but I'm qdobbing this deal up." --source IM conversation, spudart with sparxmind and Lisa S.

My top five favorite artists: Jay Carlson, Jake Bronstein, Todd Webb, Chris McVeigh, Erik Maldre

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:58:03 GMT

The Museum of Contemporary Art recently asked on twitter, "Who are your top 5 favorite artists of all time, and why?" Great question. Immediate thoughts came to mine was Joseph Beuys, Edward Hopper, Paul Cezanne, Jackson Pollock. Pretty standard art history picks. Ok, what if I broke out a little bit more and picked the likes of Christo, Jorg Immendorf, Starn Twins, Laslzo Moholy-Nagy. Still pretty standard historical stuff.

Honestly, they don't inspire nearly as much as current artists do. Really. The art produced now is so much more interesting. Don't get me wrong, I love going to museums and seeing this classic work. But when it comes to creativity, these older artists aren't simply in comparison to what artists are producing now.

Here's five artists off the top of my head that are producing work that inspires me.

Jay Carlson
Creative projects inspire me to do fun things
theplug.net @theplug

Jake Bronstein
Love his "50 cents per idea" project. Has many other great ideas.
zoomdoggle.com @jakehimself

Todd Webb
Optimistic cartoons always inspire me to do a comic strip
toddbot.com @toddbotdotcom

Chris McVeigh
Wonderful photos of LEGO minifigs
chrismcveigh.com @ActionFigured

Erik Maldre
Conceptual art, 2d and 3d doodle master
unlikelymoose.com @unlikelymoose

In the coming months I hope to write longer reviews about each of these artists, but for now here's a quick teaser for my top five favorite artists of all time.

Who are your five favorite artists of all time? Please leave your list in the comments below. Thanks!

August 2010 Chicago's Lincoln Square photo gallery

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:13:32 GMT

Every month I make a gallery of photos taken by others of my neighborhood. Here's August 2010.

Yeah, a bunch of fountain photos. But I like the Blago graffiti. And the word mobile.

Top five tweets of August 2010: Jawa hugs, answers, Tribune Tower fire, p-mail

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:08:15 GMT

For August's top tweets, here's one hand-picked tweet from each account that I use regularly in the past month.

Would society be more apt to write or create if we all wore pens over our ears?Tue Aug 10 02:41:26 via MixeroMatt Maldre
spudart

Please give a hug to @the_jawa and @java_jawa #ffFri Aug 20 13:22:50 via HootSuiteEwok Lumat
EwokLumat

Sometimes when I have the answer to a coding problem I'm working on, I'll sit at my desk and raise my hand. "I have the answer!"Thu Aug 05 20:20:09 via TweetDeckMatt Maldre
tribunematt

Security came up to our floor for the fire in our microwave. Hall full of smoke (@ Tribune Tower w/ 3 others) http://4sq.com/5LqIMdFri Aug 27 18:12:56 via foursquarespud foursquare
fourspudart

I've been peeing so much, I should just bring my laptop into the bathroom and work there. Then I could send p-mail.Tue Aug 24 21:14:23 via Ping.fmMatt's Health
mattshealth

Interpreting 50cent's tweet about Gunnar sunglasses

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:00:09 GMT

50cent recently tweeted this nonsense:

Tweetin with my gunnar glasses on trick! u aint got these suckas. get ur money right ima get like 50 new hoes wit http://twitpic.com/2jrqrfMon Aug 30 21:38:50 via Twitpic50cent
50cent

His tweet doesn't really make much sense. Let's break it down:

-- Tweetin with my gunnar glasses on trick!
He's got Gunnar sunglasses on. He's tweeting. He puts in "trick" cuz he's especially excited. Or I'm assuming that's what "trick" means.

--u aint got these suckas.
He's bragging that nobody else has these sunglasses. Oh, aren't you special. You get to have sunglasses that other people don't have. Oh, i'm so jealous.

-- get ur money right
He's telling us to get our money right. So I'm supposed to get my money in order. He's telling us if you only had a better money software managing system, then you would have enough money to afford Gunnar sunglasses. Get ur mint.com ons to git yr Gunnars and yo hoes.

-- ima get like 50 new hoes wit these
Apparently women will date a man because he has cool sunglasses. Hmmm. And not only will women go after a man just because of his sunglasses, but he will get 50, that's right, FIFTY women. But if there are fifty women in one room, they won't all be able to see his sunglasses. There will be too many women. Will he sit them all on a bus, and then he'll walk up and down the aisle with his Gunnars?

Andy Rooney calls modern public art "pretentious nonsense"

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:34:28 GMT

I love Andy Rooney for his straightforward honest opinions. In this Youtube video Andy critiques modern art for being "pretentious nonsense." However, the thing Andy has to understand about modern art is that it's meant to be simple. Don't overthink it.

The sculpture "Two Indeterminate Lines" is about two lines. And what can two lines do? Here you have two lines forming a tunnel. Rather simple. Andy is a man who can enjoy the simple things in life. So you'd think he'd understand simple artwork.

I think perhaps he has a very high expectation for art. He wants art to simply show talent and craft. And so be it. I'd rather someone have a high expectation for art than none. Or at the very least he wants to know the artist has some talent. He asks that artists be able to produce something tradition first before making some crazy stuff. Good point. You should be able to master your tools before showing some crap to the public.

What do you think of Andy Rooney's comments on modern public art?

[full disclosure, I work for Tribune Media Services where we syndicate Andy Rooney's column. BTW, I love reading his column. I do. As I said before, I like his honest, simple insights. Plus the man is just really funny.]

A smiley face takes two pinky fingers to type :)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:41:01 GMT

:) the smiley emoticon. It's fun to think that it takes the simultaneous effort of both your pinky fingers to type a smiley face. The left pinky holds down the shift key, while the right pinky finger presses the colon eyeballs and right parentheses smile. :)

And speaking of typing, did you know that Spongebob Squarepants can teach you how to type?

I love how of he's typing out the TOP SECRET Krabby Patty recipe. Of all things to type. If Plankton only knew he had to spend $14.95 to get this DVD, and he would have his hands on the Krabby Patty recipe. Then again, does plankton even have ten fingers? I think he's just got two pointy hands.

Official websites for every country in the world

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:17:59 GMT

It would be cool to see a gallery of every official country website. I'm thinking of every year I'll take a screenshot of these websites. Ten, twenty years from now it would be interesting to see how they evolve.

Can anyone find a list of all the official government websites for each country? If possible, I only want THE one official website for each country. Right now i'm using Yahoo's Directory for Regional Countries. But that's not a handy list of the main government website for every country on the planet.

Etsy allows obscene seller to remain online

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:33:06 GMT

A shop named "sexoffender" has been on Etsy since 2009. It's clearly wrong to have a store with this name. Etsy is not taking the store down. Please please please report this store to Etsy. If enough people complain, then hopefully, they will take the store down.
------------------------------------------------
HOW TO REPORT THIS STORE:

Go to: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sexoffender
Click on the link "Report this shop to Etsy"
In the drop-down menu, select "Username or avatar have mature, profane or racist content
In the text box it says, "Type a brief note if you'd like..." In this box, I suggest telling Etsy that this store is in violation of 5.7 of their Terms of Use.
Click Submit.

------------------------------------------------
ETSY SAYS SEXOFFENDER IS OK

It's shocking that Etsy thinks having a sexoffender on their website is ok. On the Etsy bulletin board today an Etsy admin said:

Please avoid discussing specific sellers in the Forums in less than positive lights. It is not ours to police anything other than our terms of use, we do not moderate content based on taste (or lack thereof).

If you find any items on the site that are not in keeping with our Terms of Use, please flag them for review. Thanks.

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6609014&page=11

(Those are the words of an Etsy admin.)

Sexoffender is not just a lack of taste it is obscene. Sex offenders are obscene. It Etsy thinks sex offenders are not obscene, then they welcome sex offenders on their website. It's a clear violation of #5.7 in Etsy's own Terms of Use.

5. Prohibited, Questionable and Infringing Items and Activities
Restricted Activities: Your Content and your use of Etsy shall not:
(7) Be obscene or contain child pornography

http://www.etsy.com/terms_of_use.php

------------------------------------------------
PLEASE REPORT THIS STORE

Please help set Etsy straight and report this store.

I hesistated in giving out the link to the store, because I do not wish to promote it in any way. But the store must be reported. I used to love Etsy. I really hate seeing that Etsy has allowed this store to remain online for this long. It really makes me question if ever want to use Etsy again. If Etsy gets enough feedback, they should start thinking clearly and take this violation down.

Please share this post on facebook.

The median Twifficiency score is 41%

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:00:35 GMT

You may have seen a bunch of people tweeting their Twifficiency score.

twifficiency.com explains:
--------------
In a nut shell, Twifficiency calculates your twitter efficiency based upon your twitter activity. This includes how many people you follow, how many people follow you, how often you tweet and how many tweets you read.
--------------

It gives you just one number for your twitter account. @spudart my twitter account got 39%. What in the world does that mean? I would like them to break that number down. How did I get 39? What is inside that number?

In a quest to see what 39 is, I took 1,000 tweets that mention twifficiency and made the above graph. The median is 41%. Ok, so i'm just a bit below average. But to make the twifficiency score more effective, it would be nice to know what specific areas I could be doing better. Do I need to retweet more?

Philip Johnson destroys Mies van der Rohe

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:51:28 GMT

Unlikelymoose has pitted pinnacle architects Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson against each other in a Faceoff Friday. Who will win? My choice is Philip Johnson. To prove my point, I made a collage of all his menacing photos.

For the full details on how and why Philip Johnson will completely crush Mies van der Rohe, head on over to see their battle unfold at Faceoff Friday: Old man modern architect style

Flickr firsts, your flickr birthday, flickrversary

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:00:51 GMT

What is your first photo posted to flickr? Here's all the first flickr photos of my flickr contacts:

And my first photo on flickr:

I like that it's a set of stairs that I climb every day. To think those stairs have not been painted for five years. I should do a series on this set of stairs outside the Tribune Tower at Michigan Avenue and Illinois Avenue.

Wrigley Field rooftop club discounted tickets

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:00:07 GMT

The Wrigley Field rooftops are struggling financially as the Cubs suck. "There's a lot of money going out and only some coming in," said Rich Zasiebida (in a Tribune interview), managing partner of the Skybox on Sheffield, 3627 N. Sheffield Ave. "People have got hefty mortgages. We're busting our (hump) over here." The Chicagoist also reported on Wrigley rooftop clubs are striking out. Here's a comment I left on that post:

It's about time that the prices go down on the rooftops. Pure logic would say that a rooftop ticket should be cheaper than a Wrigley Field ticket. I love the idea of rooftops. They are great. Don't get me wrong. Rooftops. Fantastic. Neighborhoods. Fantastic. It's part of Wrigley's charm. But spending over $100 for a ticket to sit on the rooftop outside the ballpark? I always thought it was crazy. But corporations can be crazy with how they spend money for their top executives. I'm happy to see that corporations are being a little more wise with their money.

I'd like to see the rooftops go back to the day when they were simple and innocent. Of course, those days are long gone and I should accept the commercialization of the rooftops. I wish the rooftop owners well, but I'm sorry, things have gotten out of hand with the price. It's kinda like the housing market. Things totally exploded like crazy. And now people are struggling now that prices are starting to come back to reality.

Welcome to reality.

Urban dictionary rejected my word submission for noodlefoamtubeannihilate

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:00:30 GMT

Urbandictionary.com is the alternative dictionary for slang, subculture words, phrases, and phenomena not found in standard dictionaries. I love the site, because users submit totally crazy definitions for words--both existing words and totally new words. All my submissions for new words in the past have been approved. Words such as super-fragglistic, amehzing, IHYDM, whoat!, and doublerainbow.

Urbandictionary silly words
To give you an idea of the range of silly words urbandictionary.com has accepted in the past, here's some words that come up when you search for spud:
-- spudarnold: A case of spudarnold is someone that improvises novels and converts them into untold myths.
-- spuderromany: a spud is someone who is a potato headed frizz ball with stups for legs and who often falls over due to a smal surface area in the feet.
-- spudonkulous: whatever you want it to mean, with a positive interpretation. it could mean exciting, interesting, fabulous, etc.
-- spudunkle: A way of describing something.
I'm not even going to include the definitions or links for the words Spudwank and spudenda. They are definitely rated R.

Rejection letter
Urbandictionary, land filled with crazy words has DENIED my word of noodlefoamtubeannihilate. They emailed me a rejection letter stating, "Editors reviewed your entry and have decided to not publish it." Here's what I submitted:

noodlefoamtubeannihilate

Definition: to utterly destroy (or annihiliate) someone in a duel using noodle foam tubes

Usage: Whoat!? This guy overthrew me as mayor of Walgreens? If I ever, EVER see him in Walgreens, I'm gonna challenge him to a duel. I will so noodlefoamtubeannihilate him.

THE authority
I'm still a huge fan of urbandictionary.com, I just never knew they had such high standards for words. Apparently noodlefoamtubeannihilate is just too crazy. I know, I know; the word is too long. But that's part of what makes it so fun. It's rather funny that the New York Times reports, One of the first definitions on the site was "the man", referring to "the head of the establishment put in place to 'bring us down.'"

Urbandictionary has now become "the man." But I will continue to noodlefoamtubeannihilate anyone who thinks it's not a word. C'mon, I dare you to tell me it's not a word, I'll totally noodlefoamtubeannihilate you with some noodle foam tubes from Walgreens.

My first tweet

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:33:35 GMT

Curious about what your first tweet is? Just head over to mytweet16.com and they'll show your first 16 tweets. (However, if you have over 3,200 tweets, they won't be able to retrieve your first 16 tweets.)

Signing up for twitter, duh.Mon Apr 09 09:07:03 via webMatt Maldre
spudart

Just for fun, here's a few of the first tweets by some of my friends. Click the comments to view all 37.

Has decided to create a twitter, yes I am following the trend.Sun Jun 21 19:06:51 via webPeter Kreten
pkreten

Hello cruel world! This is my first tweet! Right now: Drinking a General Foods International On The Go Vanilla Latte.Tue Mar 03 17:52:15 via webLisa Schryver
RebelliousBird

slicing meatWed Mar 28 20:45:51 via webErik Maldre
unlikelymoose

checking out ... twitter!Wed Jan 28 02:23:30 via webVera
VivaSpyGirl

There's always that one person who has a story to top everyone else's, every time.Thu Jan 07 16:25:16 via txtSarah Beth
srhbth

tweet!Thu Apr 16 02:43:10 via txtErin Ellis
withthepoodles

Listening to Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearings.Tue Jan 13 15:34:15 via webTheAstrolabe
TheAstrolabe

readingWed Aug 01 03:36:11 via websparx
sparxmind

Visiting Newsday today. Getting some work done between training sessions.Thu Feb 21 19:16:58 via webMichael Fioritto
fioritto

working on interactive map. listening to the avengersTue May 01 13:53:58 via webNoel
MATAMEDIA

Participating in Tek'tanik New Jersey represent!
http://bit.ly/USysoWed Sep 09 04:30:11 via webdmitry strakovsky
dima_strakovsky

isn't a graphic designer because the industry switched to Quark the day that I graduatedThu Nov 20 23:26:01 via webTom Saaristo
tomsaaristo

My first tweet!Mon Nov 23 21:23:41 via TweetDeckKristyn Schiavone
KKSchiavone

7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity http://tinyurl.com/ylkev6r #NYTimes #Taliban #captivitySun Oct 18 02:06:40 via EchofonAbhay Shah
abhayshah76

The truth about the blue moon!!! http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/12/30/blue.moon/index.htmlThu Dec 31 14:44:43 via webAlyssa Hyem
tribunealyssa

Great time at #chitwestival last night - had fun meeting some great people!Fri Mar 26 16:47:57 via webAngela Pahigianis
apahigianis

Chilling on the couch waiting for the dogs to come off the grill and chatting with my Mom out in SoCal. L:HomeFri Jul 06 20:46:56 via TwitterPodAaron Curtis
thecurtis76

still working hardThu Dec 04 17:35:21 via webLisa Hillmer-Poole
lahp

Always a good idea for a team with no offense to carry 13 f-ing pitchers.Sun Jun 14 14:38:40 via webDesipio.com
desipiodotcom

Just joined Twitter. One month ago today, the doc film, "Vincent, A Life In Color" played at the WIsconsin Film Festival.Mon May 04 22:14:40 via webVincent P. Falk
VPFalk

hanging out with JeffThu Apr 05 03:36:58 via webAllie Osmar
allieo

"OZ" Marathon !!!Tue Sep 15 21:47:13 via webKairi Soosaar
KairiSoosaar

made an all egg-white omelete with cheddar this morning. Jacques Pepin taught me to break eggs on counter, not on a cup and it worked!Sun Apr 11 01:17:33 via webErik Maldre
erikeats

@BrentDPayne Happy Birthday to you. ^3 /Office SpaceTue Sep 22 06:14:31 via TweetDeckAndre Aguto Alforque
alforque

Just getting my twitter on....finally.Sun Mar 16 05:29:40 via webRule29
rule29

listening to why twitter is dangerous to AmericaTue Nov 11 06:28:46 via webSarah
baconinthesun

When does a stranger blocking your photograph at Millennium Park actually add to it....? http://bit.ly/1IYq87Wed Aug 05 18:07:45 via Twitter ToolsAlex Garcia
AGarciaPhoto

To tweet or not to tweet? But this is the direction things are going these days and I don't want to be left behind in the old world.Sat Dec 12 06:18:19 via webBrittany Westfall
brittwestfall

hi.Sat Apr 25 23:06:55 via webmatt's crzy comments
mattmaldre

wow. i have a REALLY bad case of the toots todayWed Mar 31 20:52:56 via Ping.fmMatt's Health
mattshealth

Even the robbers won't rob banks nowadays. http://tr.im/bottomliners090325 #comics #funny #bottomliners #recessionWed Mar 25 17:34:32 via HootSuiteComic Strip Beat
comicstripbeat

Hi. I'm Lawrence Avenue and this is my Twitter.Sat Mar 28 13:07:04 via webLawrence Avenue
lawrenceavenue

Setting up this account, so I can chat via tweetdeck and not clog up my regular twitter account @spudartSun Mar 22 02:09:50 via webTweet Chatter
artdude75

Hi there.Sat Apr 25 23:08:07 via webChristian bookmarks
matthewmaldre

Kristina has a blog at http://kristinainchicago.wordpress.comThu Jun 04 17:24:02 via webMaldre News
maldre

(note, if you are not in this list, it's not because i'm ignoring you. Either mytweet16.com can't pull the first tweet from people with over 3,200 tweets. Or sometimes they would give me a blank page when I tried some people's names.)

Ewoks home of Endor discovered on Earth

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:00:38 GMT

Ewoks have been known to live on the forest moon of Endor. But it was only until recently that Google Maps has discovered that Endor is actually a small town in South Africa. According to this satellite imagery, you can see the village where ewoks live on earth. There's even a road to get to their village--Highway S469.

One of the ewoks tweets regularly on twitter, you can read his antics at twitter.com/ewoklumat.

Now that we know ewoks live on planet earth, do you think ewoks should be in a zoo? Or should they be given equal rights as humans?

Dr. Suess, Walt Whitman, Matt Maldre

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:48:40 GMT

It's really cool when one of your quotes appears alongside quotes from people such as Dr. Seuss and Walt Whitman. Quotesdaddy.com so far has published 22 of my quotations.

Angels can wear Buerhle jerseys

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:24:22 GMT

Today is the second day in a row that I saw someone walk by and then the EXACT same person walked by a minute later.

The first experience was sitting at the first floor cafe outside Nordstorms on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I saw some college kid with his parents walk by. That guy made me specifically think about memories of walking in the mall with my mom. Then a minute later the same guy walks by again. Going the same direction.

The second experience involved a girl wearing a 56 BUEHRLE White Sox jersey on the red line. She stood by the doors waiting to get off the next stop. It's a bit unusual to see someone wearing a White Sox jersey on the north side of Chicago. As she stood there, it made me think about how people follow sports like a religion. Granted sports are good, because it gives us common ground to have something to talk about. Conversation is good.

But sometimes people find their true identity in their sports team. c'mon, it's a bunch of guys playing baseball. What if the conversation was about something more important? What if instead of the game last sunday, we talked about the sermon last sunday? Instead of stats, what if we talked about verses?

All these thoughts crossed my mind as the girl with the 56 BUEHRLE jersey stood waiting to exit the train. Wanting to tweet these ideas, it would be nice to have a photo of the girl wearing the 56 BUEHRLE jersey. The photo app on my phone took literally about 30 seconds for it start up. Very strange. As soon as the doors open at North and Clybourn, she gets off the train and I miss my photo.

Oh well. Then two stops later at Chicago Avenue, who do I see get off the train? The EXACT same girl wearing the 56 BUEHRLE jersey. I just saw her get off the previous stop. Literally. I saw her get off and the doors close. How in the world was she on the train again getting off at the previous stop?

Factor in that my phone couldn't start up the photo app to take a photo of the girl, and it makes me think that maybe, just maybe, this person was an angel. We are told angels are in our midst. Maybe this angel was wearing a 56 BUEHRLE jersey. (And after all, Buehrle did throw a PERFECT game)

What would an ewok trade to get the Death Star's laser pointer?

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:58:05 GMT

The commanding officer of the first Death Star has a laser pointer. He's willing to trade it to you. What would you offer to the Death Star Commander?

Now, let's add another layer to this. Let's say you are an ewok. And you really want the Death Star Commander's laser pointer. What would you trade to get his laser pointer? Right now this is happening in real life on twitter.

I'm tweet as Ewok Lumat (the woodsmith of the ewok community). Wilhuff Tarkin (aka "The_Managment" on twitter) has been talking all about his super cool laser pointer. Now me as an ewok is extremely intrigued by this laser pointer.

Five reasons why an ewok would want the Death Star commander's laser pointer:
1) Ewoks, like cats, go crazy for laser pointers
2) The Death Star does hang out by the moon where the ewoks live
3) Seeing that the Death Star is essentially one really big laser pointer, it would be really cool to have the commander's laser pointer.
4) An ewok could pretend he is blowing up planets with the laser pointer
5) An ewok could build some McGyver-like contraption with mirrors and stuff to magnify the laser pointer's power and destroy the Death Star

Now, please answer in the comments the following question: If you were an ewok, what would you offer as a trade to get the Death Star commander's laser pointer?

Give birthday greetings in ewokese

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:00:47 GMT

Ever draw a blank for what to write on someone's facebook wall for a birthday wish? Draw a blank no more! Why not wish your friend a happy birthday in ewokese!? It's a real language with a dictionary on the Star Wars wikia. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ewokese.

Here's a greeting that I just left on a friend's wall today:

==========
I've summoned the ewok named Lumat to give you brithday greetings. Ready? Ok, you can go now, Lumat...

Allayloo Allayloo! [Celebrate celebrate!] May your birthday be full of Lulalar [singing] and Chiutatals [moons] and Drik [happy]. :)
==========

Feel free to just copy and paste that greeting. Or use the ewokese dictionary to craft your own. Oh, and while you're at it, I tweet as an ewok on twitter. Please follow ewoklumat.

New Music Tuesdays Podcast

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:54:12 GMT

Apple used to produce a weekly podcast called "New Music Tuesday." It was a nice 15-minute show that gave a quick overview of new music coming out. They played song clips and gave brief commentary about each clip. It was a great show, but Apple stopped producing the show in September last year.

I'm a total music moron, does anyone have any suggestions for podcasts that provide a nice weekly music overview?

Top four tweets of July 2010: paws, capris, cereal, laptops

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:11:16 GMT

For July's top tweets, I picked the one tweet from each account that I use regularly in the past month.

@DepressedDarth who needs chopsticks? me eat with paws. or just dunk my face into the plate.
http://twitter.com/EwokLumat/status/19670390993

When you roll up your sleeves, do you ever feel like you are wearing capris on your arms?
http://twitter.com/spudart/status/19690364728

Carrying home 4 boxes of cereal sans bag & foursquaring is trickier than I thought (@ Walgreens) http://4sq.com/bg7aLP
http://twitter.com/fourspudart/status/18569999865

Laptop rule: Every laptop has an 18-inch perimeter where no drinks are allowed to stand.
http://twitter.com/tribunematt/status/19859619454

Who will win the monster versus sushi fight?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:00:58 GMT

(photo by ohalchemygirl)

It's a monster versus sushi smackdown! Who will be the last monster or sushi standing? My bet is on the tamago. I love tamago. (that's the rectangular yellow egg maki).

Please leave a comment about which character you think will win in this fight.

Share a list of all your iphone apps

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:00:42 GMT

Share your entire iphone app list with others. I'd like an app that can do that. And share the folders you use to organize your apps. While, yes, many would argue they don't want people to know ALL their apps. But then you could just "mark as private" specific apps.

It would be fun to have an automatically updated list of all the apps you own and whenever a friend downloads a new app, you get a notification. That way, when you see a new app a friend downloaded, you can ask, "Hey, how do you like that ABC app you downloaded?" And it would spur people to use more apps, and also creating more community with users of the iphone.

(btw, the image in this blog post features the super cool app, Star Wars: Battle for Hoth, available on the iTunes store.)

Crazy parking job in Chicago's Lincoln Square

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:12:48 GMT

Just a couple blocks from my apartment a car did a crazy parking job. jacklydon on flickr captured the moment with nine photos. After leaving a comment on one photo, I started to have fun leaving comments on other photos. It ends up that each photo in the series now has a funny comment. :-)

	I saw the aftermath of this, we were wondering what had happened. Now i know. Thanks! It looks like this car wanted to parkthere really badly.
	Nice parking job.
	The way people park these days. Sheesh.
	Only later did this person realize that this Subway is not a drive-thru.
	I know sometimes I have an insatiable craving for a cold cut combo and I'll say,"nothing will stop me from getting my cold cut combo" But c'mon, this is a little excessive.
	Someone gave this person bad directions. No,you're supposed to drive THROUGH the Lincoln Square gate, not INTO it.
	Google Maps FAIL. Don't park your car according to GPS coordinates, they may be a little bit off.
	Oh, this car had dreams of being a bicycle. Free to roam the sidewalks.

Do you have any funny captions for these photos?

Walgreens offers H1N1 shots in an ICEE machine?

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:43:38 GMT

Get your cherry-flavored H1N1 shots! Would you like your H1N1 shot to be flavored as blue raspberry, Coke or wild cherry? Walgreens has a bright yellow sign posted on their ICEE machine stating that people can get their H1N1 shots here at the ICEE machine. Sounds kinda gross.

UPDATE: Within an hour of sending my message, Walgreens called to tell me that the sign is now taken down. The woman on the phone was very nice and appreciative. See, Walgreens totally rocks!

Here's an email I sent to Walgreens about their H1N1 ICEE shot dispenser:

Dear Walgreens,
I'm a regular shopper at the Walgreens of 430 North Michigan in Chicago. For the entire year, you've had a sign up on the ICEE machine saying "GET YOUR H1N1 SHOTS HERE TODAY." Have you noticed that not many people are getting ICEE's at the popular Chicago location of 430 North Michigan Avenue? Chicago is having a hot summer this year, and it's a shame that your ICEE machine is being used to advertise H1N1 shots.

I bet many people, like myself, are afraid to get ICEEs just because it seems to be giving double duty as an H1N1 vaccine dispenser. All logic would say that an ICEE machine is not an H1N1 vaccine dispenser. We all shop based on feeling. Even if I have an urge for a nice cold ICEE, seeing that H1N1 sign makes me feel really awkward. I always have turned away from the machine, because of this sign. I bet many others do as well.

You should consider taking down the H1N1 sign off the ICEE machine. And then you'll notice a great increase in ICEE sales at this location. I know that for a fact, because I would certainly become a regular ICEE purchaser at this location. I'll buy enough to make the machine go dry.

I love Walgreens, so that's why I take the time to write this letter. I want to see Walgreens succeed, especially MY walgreens at 430 North Michigan Avenue. And please give Pilar (my favorite cashier) a little bonus. She's the best.

Truly is a funny word

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:48:39 GMT

The word truly is funny.
1. Truth is absolute.
2. The ending -ly is like in appearance, manner, or nature : having the characteristics of

So truly would be having the characteristics of truth. But with truth, it's either true or not true. There's not kinda true. It's like as Seinfield said, something is either wet or not wet. Once you are wet, you can't be any more wet than wet.

To say truly, something would be to be absolutely true. Not just kinda true.

Watch spiders and listen to classical music at St James Cathedral's Rush Hour Concerts in Chicago

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:36:04 GMT

After work wanna unwind to some live meditative classical music in a beautiful setting? Every Tuesday during the summer, St James Episcopal Cathedral offers a wonderful getaway right off the Michigan Avenue. It's a beautiful church.

Get there no later than 5:30pm to get a seat. It fills up. I like to sit along the wall, so when I use my phone to tweet or checkin to foursquare or yelp, I won't be annoying to the older crowd. And it's truly an elderly crowd.

I sat and watched a spider spin a web. And a bug crawl on some guy's collar.

This review also appears on yelp at www.yelp.com/biz_share?flow=reviewpost&bizid=XwibCueA...

Optimus Prime spotted live in ROBOT form! (Transformers 3 movie Chicago filming)

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:12:17 GMT

Transformers 3 is filming outside my window at Tribune Tower. I'm capturing the highlights in HD video and posting them to Youtube.

Actors carry around poles with the transformers face to represent the Transformers. Here two transformers are in this scene while Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley have a dialogue inside a burnt-out car.

Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley run across Michigan Avenue into an upside-down car while fire and smoke burn in the background. This was filmed from the Tribune Tower overlooking Pioneer Court.

Just what is temperature anyways?

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:00:53 GMT

It's pretty cool that we can measure the hotness of the air. Thank you Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit.

The heat index got up to 102 in Chicago yesterday. How do those numbers add up? What if the temperature number always started at zero and it had to add up like peanuts in a jar? Just what is a temperature number if we start to think of it in terms of units. We have 102 floating units in the air at all times.

I really have no idea how temperature numbers work. It just measures the hotness. Or something with mercury rising in the heat. The wikipedia page on temperature has an animation of a bunch of balls bouncing around in a box. Looks like those balls would be pretty hot with all that activity. You think they ever stop for a water break?

I want to thank Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit for coming up with our temperature scale. But he wasn't the one who discovered temperature. I still don't really know who invented temperature, but we do know that Fahrenheit visited Daniel R�mer in 1708 and improved the R�mer scale, one of the first temperature systems.

I love graphs like this:

Be glad our days are 24 hours and not 2,784 hours

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:15:14 GMT

Isn't it nice how our planet spins around every 24 hours? We go to bed at night and it's still hot. But when we wake up, it's nice and cool. Imagine if our planet only rotated every 116 days. Then we'd never have the chance to cool off. It would get hotter and hotter. Yipes!

Here are the other planets day lengths for how long the Sun takes to go once around the sky, which is called the synodic period of rotation.

Mercury..175.940 days
Venus....116.75 days (2,784 hours)
Earth.....24 hr 0 min 0 sec
Moon......29.53 days
Mars......24 hr 39 min 35.24 sec
Jupiter....9 hr 55 min 33 sec
Saturn....10 hr 32 min 36 sec
Uranus....17 hr 14 min 23 sec
Neptune...16 hr 6.6 min
Pluto.....6 days 9 hr 17.0 min

And for you people who think you are smarty pants, and say that it's actually 23 hr 56 min 4.1 sec for the length of Earth's day. Well, that's the time it takes earth to rotate, yes (called the Sidereal Period). But if you factor in that the Earth rotates around the sun. And we are counting how long it takes the sun to rise and fall, then that is the Synodic Period or what we know as "Day." (source)

Coolest place on Earth (according to Google Maps)

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:44:08 GMT

Do a search for coolest place on earth in Google Maps and it brings you to Earth, TX. Somehow I don't think Texas is the coolest place on earth. Sorry, Texas. But you are just too hot to be considered cool.

Top six tweets of June 2010: Lincoln, garbage can, sticker library, undies

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:52:44 GMT

Here's my favorite six tweets from June 2010 tweeted from spudart.

Why aren't there more politicians with the last name Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson?Fri Jun 11 00:13:50

Idea: Art students around the world, take a photo of your studio garbage can.Mon Jun 14 19:52:59

A sticker library is an essential item for anyone who likes to have fun.Mon Jun 14 21:58:22

If there was a wikipedia page about you, what would it say?Fri Jun 18 16:13:20

Walking down Michigan Ave (south of the river) looking for places to hold a bouncy ballTue Jun 22 00:30:36

If the shortened version of independent is indie, does that make the shortened version of underground to be undie?Wed Jun 23 22:24:23

Sending snail mail letter instead of hitting like button on Facebook

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:28:20 GMT

I'm gonna start a new project. i was looking at all the stamps i have and how they are unused. so i want to do a mail project. When looking at facebook, instead of liking something on someone's wall, i'm gonna print it out and write my comment on it and mail it to the person. This i will do once a week.

1,000,000 views on my flickr account

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:00:42 GMT

I've reached one million views on all my flickr photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/spudart. Thank you to everyone who has viewed my photos.

Here's my top three most viewed photos:

Chicago's Moving Bridges over the Chicago River
Viewed 41,256 times

The Chicago Slushie
Viewed 34,790 times

Finger tattoos
Viewed 25,926 times

Fight against drunk driving in 1934

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:14:53 GMT

Wow. I often think of the battle against drunk driving to be an effort in the past 20 years. But they were posting ad campaigns even back in the 1930's!

The National Archives in Chicago stores a bajillion-million files and papers on all sorts of stuff. My sister is on staff and they pull out the most interesting items like this one and posts it to their Facebook Fan Page. Join their Fan Page today and see documents pulled out that that have been hidden away for decades.

This image is from a Automobile Safety League of America photo gallery on the National Archives at Chicago Facebook Fan Page. (this particular image was pulled by their intern Gloria. Way to go Gloria!)

A summer solstice tradition

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:25:43 GMT

Celebrate the day with the most sunlight by pulling an all-nighter outside. I accidentally did this a few years ago as I locked myself out of my apartment at 11pm. I didn't want to wake up the building engineer to let me in, so I just walked around a bunch. And then went to the Golden Nugget restaurant down the street until about 7:30am, when it was a more reasonable time for the engineer to let me back in.

I tell ya, there's lots of people that stay up late on the summer solstice night.

New stamps in the Maldre postal store on 14th floor of the Tribune Tower

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:50:48 GMT

In addition to such stamp greats like 50s cars, Yoda, and Hawaii; the Maldre stamp store now has new stamps available.

And there is also measuring scale available to weigh your letters.

Letters:
0 - 1 ounce: $0.44
1.01 - 2 ounces $0.61
2.01 - 3 ounces $0.78
3.01 � 3.5 ounces: $0.95

Large Envelopes:
0 - 1 ounce $0.88
1.01 - 2 ounces $1.05
2.01 - 3 ounces $1.22
3.01 - 4 ounces $1.39

More weight prices at:
http://www.usps.com/prices/first-class-mail-prices.htm
A printout of this page will be available to those weighing envelopes.

For those confused, the Maldre postal store is my desk with a hanging file full of stamps. I welcome anyone in the Tower to come by and purchase some stamps.

Matt Maldre's wish list

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:19:24 GMT

Everyone should have an Amazon wish list.
1. It's handy for yourself to keep track of things you want.
2. It helps keep you from making unneeded spontaneous buys. (When you see an item that interests you, put it on your wish list and see if you still want it 24 hours later)
3. People might buy you stuff.

Below is a widget containing the recent items I've added to my list.

Amazon.com Widgets

(Facebook users, RSS and email subscribers if you can't see the above widget, go to the Matt Maldre's wish list webpage to view)

Live blogging the Chicago Blackhawks parade Stanley Cup celebration

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:16:52 GMT

Over 500,000 people are gathered outside my window at the Tribune Tower for the Blackhawks parade. I will be posting updates on what's happening in the comments section. Please feel free to jump in with your own comments at http://bit.ly/blackhawks-parade

IDEA: the master control panel for friends' news on flickr, facebook, twitter, digg

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:12:25 GMT

People can now sync their flickr photos with their Facebook wall. Anytime you post something to flickr, it'll also post to your Facebook account. Sounds great, right? But what if I already look at people's photos on flickr? Now i'm going to see their photos twice. This is going to get annoying fast. It's much like people who have their tweets auto-post to Google Buzz.

Look, I don't need to see tweets duplicated on Buzz.
I don't need to see flickr photos duplicated on Facebook.

It's nice to distribute your work everywhere. But when the platform doesn't allow me to turn off the double-posting, it's a waste of time. If someone starts posting all their flickr photos automatically to Facebook, I might just have to hide that person.

HERE'S WHAT FACEBOOK NEEDS TO DO: I want the granular option to hide specific sorts of content from specific people. If someone posts their flickr photos to facebook, I want to hide the notifications of just their flickr photos. Flickr has a great interface. I don't need to go through Facebook to look at people's photos.

HERE'S WHAT GOOGLE BUZZ NEEDS TO DO: There should be an option to hide people's tweets. Right now if someone posts their tweets to Buzz I just don't follow the person. But if I could just hide their tweets, I'd happily refollow them.

BIG PICTURE PLAN:
Once we start getting all these granular controls, it's gonna get confusing to keep track of what I'm blocking where. Eventually everything needs to come together into ONE MAIN CONTROL PANEL for ALL the social media services. It would enable me to control what I see across ALL social media.

Instead right now it's just huge data dumps being unloaded on us in all these different platforms. I don't need to see the XKCD comic strip in 10 tumblr accounts and 5 facebook profiles.

Taking notes on paper versus using a laptop

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:59:30 GMT

I work in a company where everyone in meetings takes notes on paper. Whenever I go back to my desk, I have to type the notes for action items on my to-do list. Or for further conversation in email. It would make much more sense to just bring a laptop or netbook to the meeting and type all the notes right there.

Why aren't laptops used more in meetings? Here's some reasons maybe why:

1) Momentum
Paper: Everyone uses paper. It's the thing to use.
Laptops: Since nobody else does it, nobody else does it.

2) Loudness
Paper: Using a pen on paper is quiet. Using a pencil on paper is annoying.
Laptops: The sound of keys tipper-tappering might be considered annoying.

3) Goofing around
Paper: People can see what you are writing. If you are goofing around by doing drawings, at least you are being open about it.
Laptops: With your screen being hidden from others in the meeting, they may think you are surfing the web instead of taking notes.

4) Socialness
Paper: There's something about having your notepad laying flat down for everyone to see what you are writing. It's very communal.
Laptop: The laptop hides what you are typing. it's very secretive. What's he typing? Is it notes? is it a to-do list? Humans have the urge to know what's happening. Laptops block openness, thus human curiosity rises.

That being said. I'm still going to get a netbook. I would be cool to have an iPad, but it is near impossible to type on without looking at the screen the whole time. I figure if i'm going to be taking notes, it's nice to at least look at the person. Hmmm, then again you don't really look at people while jotting notes on paper. Hmmm. Well, the iPad is mad expensive. $499 for the cheapest model. Whereas I can get a Asus 900A Netbook for $139. Yeah, the iPad can do A LOT more. But all i want to do is type my notes on a laptop/netbook in a meeting. That's it.

Here's a photo of the Asus 900A next to a macbook.

(photo from sharonrosas)

What do you think? While in meetings, do you take your notes on paper or on a laptop? Which is the better way of taking notes?

A Chicago Blackhawks logo painting on the WGN window at Tribune Tower

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:29:47 GMT

The Tribune Tower is getting a new tattoo. Performance artist Elliott From painted a Blackhawks logo on the WGN window at the Tribune Tower today. It was a cool live painting performance as Elliott was playing music and splashing paint on the window. A crowd gathered around to watch Elliott in a Blackhawks jersey with a name "ARTBEAT LIVE" climb a ladder to complete this 12-foot tall painting.

It makes me wonder though. This Tribune Tower window has been boarded up for five days. I thought they were just replacing the glass, but then Elliott comes and does a painting on it.

What was the intent behind the board being on the window? Was Tribune fixing the glass, and then realized that it looks ugly, so they put a painting on it? Or was the board put up for the sole intention of Elliott to do a Blackhawks painting?

See other performance painting by of Artbeat Live at www.youtube.com/user/artbeatlive and www.artbeatlive.com.

AT&T has no system for taking customer suggestions to improve their service

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:00:56 GMT

-------------
Trying to help AT&T

Normally I use around 100mb per month with my iPhone. Last month in May, it jumped up to 477mb. I haven't changed the way I used my phone, so I was curious where the extra data came from.

I want to try to manage my data, so I'm not using this extra 300mb per month, so it helps the AT&T system. You'd think AT&T would be interested helping their customers manage their data, especially since they already have a hard time handling the amount of data used on their system now.

-------------
AT&T doesn't let you track your data usage

The AT&T rep, Crystal Brundidge, told me over an online chat, "You currently have the unlimited data plan which is $30 each month. Regardless of how much data you use, the cost is the same. "

I explain to her I want to help AT&T's system by not using as much data. I want to help. She told me, "Features that have unlimited usage are not tracked. Since the data plans for the Iphones are not changing, then your plan will remain the same."

-------------
AT&T doesn't accept suggestions from customers

I asked her where I can submit my suggetion on how to improve the AT&T system. She responds with, "Unfortunately we do not have a suggestion box."

Here's my response, "whoa. That's wacked out. How is at&t to get better if there are not customer requests. That's wack. lol. So AT&T is just a closed up wall with no incoming suggestions? That's a bummer. Where's the innovation? I guess it lies within the walls of AT&T. And they don't want to know what the customer thinks."

She responds with, "I apologize for the inconvenience. Do you have any additional questions that I can assist you with today?"

Bottom line: AT&T doesn't want to know what their customers think.
If anyone from AT&T reads this blog post, please leave a comment below and tell me if I am wrong.

This blog post started when I read abhayshah76's tweet:
AT&T to Charge More to Heavy Users of Data http://bit.ly/cYQdso #NYTimes

Ken Griffey Jr ranking on all-time leaderboards for career stats

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:02:42 GMT

Ken Griffey Jr retired today. He was the biggest deal coming up in 1989 when I was in 8th grade. His '89 Upper Deck was THE card everyone wanted. He lived up to all the hype and then-some (well, only for the first 10 years). Here's to one of the all-time greats.
-- My twin brother's status message on June 2, 2010

Here's where Ken Griffey, Jr ranks all-time on the leaderboards:

  246 Intentional Base on Balls...(4th) 
  630 Home Runs...................(5th) 
 1192 Extra Base Hits.............(6th) 
 5271 Total Bases................(12th)
 1779 Strikeouts.................(12th) 
 1836 RBIs.......................(14th) 
 1994 Runs Created...............(20th) 
 15.6 AB per HR..................(24th) 
  102 Sacrifice Flies............(25th) 
284.8 Power-Speed #..............(27th) 
 7398 Outs Made..................(29th) 
 
 2671 games played...............(31st)
 9801 At Bats....................(31st) 

 1662 Runs Scored................(31st) 
  524 Doubles....................(36th)
 1312 Base on Balls..............(37th) 
 .538 Slugging Percentage........(38th) 
 2781 Hits.......................(46th) 
 .907 On-Base Plus Slugging......(57th) 
  199 Double Plays Grounded Into.(87th) 
   81 Hit by Pitch..............(137th) 
 1589 Singles...................(150th) 
.2838 Batting Average...........(510th)

  142 Assists as CF...............(2nd) 
 5134 Putouts as CF...............(4th) 
   76 Errors Committed as CF......(7th) 
 5606 Putouts as OF...............(9th) 
 2382 Def. Games as OF...........(14th) 
 .986 Fielding % as CF...........(79th)

Top May 2010 tweets; freezer snowballs, golden pennies, physical digg buttons

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:17:20 GMT

Here's my favorite 20 tweets from May 2010 tweeted from spudart, mattmaldre, and fourspudart.

How I miss the AIMbot, SmarterChildThu May 27 21:17:09

Just learned toilet paper is called bathroom tissue (@ Family Dollar) http://4sq.com/ajCj3kMon May 31 23:09:21

What if cars drove by the power of colors. LIke if you would fuel your car on red. Or purple.Thu May 27 15:26:55

I was day-dreaming about the supply & demand of a farm of space elevatorsThu May 27 13:30:09

I'd like to see a last name officially spelled with all caps. It's already part-way done with McDonald and LaSalle. Just go all caps!Wed May 26 19:39:32

@RebelliousBird What if there was a cuteoverlord.com? (Firefox can't find the server at www.cuteoverlord.com)Wed May 26 17:08:30

I like Transformers violence, but not violence violence.Wed May 26 15:38:35

There should be physical digg buttons for stuff in real life.Wed May 26 04:38:37

I'd like to take our geo-location on Earth and place that on Venus and see what their typical temperature range through one day is.Mon May 24 20:25:11

You know it's hot when the temperature is the same number as an FM radio stationMon May 24 17:54:06

Wow. How bold of me. Instead of typing today's date as May 24, 2010; I typed Maldre 24, 2010.Mon May 24 17:23:27

Aww. Thanks! RT @lahp: #ff @spudart because there is no greater source of randomness and joy.Fri May 21 17:29:23

If you leave artwork in a certain area enough times, that place becomes your gallery.Thu May 20 14:55:49

It's fun to type in 999999999999999999999999. I making lots of monkey, i mean money. It's also fun to type in beer... http://bit.ly/cOKLX5Thu May 20 04:18:45

Ewoks lived on the forest moon Endor. Is it even possible to have a forest on a moon?Wed May 19 22:19:21

Someone just outbid me on three different Ewok lego minifig auctions. It would be funny to get upset over ewoks.Tue May 18 15:12:27

If they made pennies out of gold, they would be worth $100 (2.5grams of gold in one penny)Fri May 14 16:12:28

I can't find my box of 100+ bouncy balls.Tue May 11 17:58:39

You guys are all so crazy! Sending a probe to Uranus. There's simply too much gas surrounding Uranus. http://bit.ly/bmxvXGMon May 10 22:10:59

I have snowballs in my freezer made from the snow of winter 2007 #aboutmeMon May 03 21:13:27

Archiving eBay auctions you won

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:54:19 GMT

It would be nice if ebay would archive the auction page of the auctions you win. I've started doing that now. I save both a screenshot PNG and a printable PDF.

The PNG file is so I can see exactly how the page looked like. I use an add-on for Firefox called Pearl Crescent Page Saver Basic. It takes a screenshot of the entire webpage and makes it one image file in the PNG format.

The PDF keeps the text searchable, so if I ever want to easily search my hard drive for the original auction item, the PDF will show up in a contents search. To save the PDF, I go to the print the webpage. But instead of clicking "print" I click "save as PDF."

I know it sounds kinda crazy to save the auction page for the items I win. But it's neat to have the back story of how I aquired these items. It's kinda fun to see how they marketed the item. Plus sometimes there's extra info that I would normally forget. LIke in this ewok animation cel that i bought, I would probably not remember that it's Wicket, Latara, and Teebo featured in this drawing.

Ask other oil companies for help

Sun, 30 May 2010 14:47:27 GMT

Dear US Government, why not ask other oil companies for advice? Here's a list of 188 to start http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_petroleum_companies

Blackhawks helmets wrong size on Art Institute lions

Wed, 26 May 2010 17:48:46 GMT

Someone made some wrong measurements, because the Chicago Blackhawks helmets don't quite fit onto the heads of the lions in front of the Art Institute.

The Art Institute of Chicago posted a very nice photo album online of the helmets being installed. My brother, unlikelymoose made some good observations about the helmets:

I love the civic pride that the Tute displays for great Chicago sports moments. It shows that the Tute is firmly rooted in the city of Chicago.

However, the helmets really don't fit. I suppose that's part of the charm, but just looks awkward to me. What would work so much better is to have custom-fit Hawks jerseys. EVERYONE loves the Blackhawks jerseys (or sweaters as hockey fans call them). It's rather well-known that the Hawks jerseys are the best looking uniforms in all sports. Why not play off that?

Wouldn't it be cool if they did a crocheted Blackhawks turtleneck sweater on the lions?

Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Tue, 25 May 2010 17:10:22 GMT

I just thought this photo from the Star Wars Wikia looked cool.

The Force Push, man. Look out.

Dear yelp, we'd like to have custom labels

Fri, 21 May 2010 17:02:05 GMT

Yelp is a great site to review restaurants, museums, and other destinations. They also allow you to bookmark places, so you can have a handy list of places you'd like to visit (here's my to-do list). As your to-do list grows, it would be great to be able to group items together. But yelp only allows for three labels.

If you'd like to have custom labels on Yelp, please "like" my "Custom labels on Yelp" at getsatisifaction.com:

==============

Custom labels on yelp
It would be great to be able to create your own labels on yelp. Right now when you save a bookmark, there are only three options for labels:
-- To try
-- To review
-- No label

I would like to be able to add my own labels, so I can sort my bookmarks.
A few examples I'd like to make are:
-- To try with girlfriend
-- To try this year

Please Yelp, allow us to make our own labels.
==============

Again, I'd appreciate anyone "liking" this idea on getsatification.com.

How to bury a submarine underground

Thu, 20 May 2010 16:04:37 GMT

Imagine the unique engineering challenges involved in moving the U-505. How do you move a National Historic landmark that weighs as much as three Statues of Liberty and is nearly a city block long? Then, once it is moved, how do you lower it four stories into a new exhibit space?

If you can't see the embedded video above, go to Moving the U505 submarine on msichicago.org.

Here's my live commentary throughout the video:

lol

the submarine slowly moving with all the people running around really fast.
the clouds moving overhead is like the top of the ocean

adjusting the wheels to go up the curb
oh wait. they didn't go up the curb

haha. i like the above head view
LOOK OUT! SUBMARINE ATTACK!
TAKE COVER!

oooh, so they didn't lift it up, they just slide it over onto a elevator sort of thing

YAY! the submarine has now safely landed

What classic movie do you want to see on the 47th ward schedule?

Wed, 19 May 2010 16:55:04 GMT

Planning continues for the 1st Annual 47th Ward Outdoor Film Festival. As they finalize the schedule, they would love to hear from you! What classic movie do you want to see on the schedule?

Here's my list:
-- The Blues Brothers (1980)
-- Star Wars (1977)
-- The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars: Episode V) (1980)
-- Return of the Jedi (Star Wars: Episode VI) (1983)
-- Ghost Busters (1984)
-- The Transformers: The Movie (1986) (note, this is the classic animated version from 86, it would look GREAT on the big screen)

What would be on your list of classic movies? Leave a comment on the 47th Ward Film Fest blog (and make sure to say that spudart sent you).

From #journchat: In hiring process, how important is someone's online presence? What is good/bad?

Tue, 18 May 2010 10:00:27 GMT

The May 17, 2010 #journchat twitter discussion covered such topics as: SEO vs. clever headlines, iPad readers, hiring someone who uses social media, emailing your resume.

Here's my responses to four of the questions.

-----------------------------------------
Q6) Has SEO influenced a headline (or press release, blog post)?
Do you think SEO will "kill off the clever headline"?(link)

Spudart: A clever headline will attract links, thus helping with SEO #journchat

-----------------------------------------
Q7) Do you think tablet devices (e.g. iPad) can change way ppl read online content?
Will "skimmers" become "readers"? #journchat (link)

Spudart: Prediction: The iPad will enable people to interact with books more than ever (once we can share margin notes) Q7 #journchat

Spudart: @tlockemy I really hope the iPad will have margin note sharing soon. (Thanks for the RT!)Q7 #journchat

-----------------------------------------
Q9) In hiring process, how important is someone's online presence?
What is good/bad? #journchat (link)

Spudart: Your online presence is your reflection. Don't swim in muddy waters. Q9 #journchat

Spudart: @PRjeff Peeps think they can hide in muddy waters online, but Google swims in all ponds (thanks for the RT) Q9 #journchat

Spudart: When hiring, i also like to see the person has interests outside of work, and they carry their passion to that Q9 #journchat

Spudart: If it were my choice, I would only hire people who use social media Q9 #journchat

Spudart: RT @GetPushing: We encourage all staff & interns to be involved in at least 1 charity. Giving back = character. Q9 #journchat

-----------------------------------------
Q11) Is the time coming when you can email and link to resume instead of cover letter/resume? #journchat (link)

Spudart: What if you tweeted your cover letter with a link to your resume? (hmm, actually...) Q11 #journchat

-----------------------------------------

Average design salary for entry-level graduates is between 32k-40k

Mon, 17 May 2010 16:49:20 GMT

Someone asked the following question on the Linked N Chicago group.

Fresh Grad Salary Expectations....What are they?

You just graduated college... What are you looking for as far as Salary? Would you turn down a salary of 40K? How do fresh grads determine what they are "worth" or should be starting out at?

I am really curious to hear your answers. Base this off just receiving your bachelors.

Here's my response:

What areas are you looking about?

Coroflot's salary survey covers:
* Architecture
* Design management
* Fashion & apparel design
* Graphic design
* Industrial design
* Interaction design
* Web design
http://www.coroflot.com/designersalary/

There's a chart in their survey that breaks out salaries by years of experience. While they don't cover someone with 0 years experience, they do have 1-3 years covered.
*** The average salary for someone with 1-3 years is just below $40,000. ***
Which seems spot on to me. If I were a grad in the creative field and was offered a job for 40k, I would definitely take it. I know of some places that will pay 30k/year.

AIGA also has a salary survey, although they don't quite break it out into details of levels of experience. They only break out for an entry-level position is for graphic designer.
*** The median salary for an entry-level designer is $35,000 ***
http://www.designsalaries.org/overview.shtml

Any thoughts on how much entry-level designers should be making? Please feel free to leave comments on this quote, or on the Linked N Chicago page (Registration required for the Linked N Chicago page).

Monopolizing the LEGO Ewok minifig market

Fri, 14 May 2010 16:58:36 GMT

There are only five different kinds of ewok LEGO mini-figs. They are sold buy hundreds of dealers on bricklink.com. I'm thinking of buying all the LEGO ewok mini-figs under $10 and start selling them for ten bucks each. People gotta have their ewok mini-figs!

Right now there are 705 ewoks for sale under ten bucks on bricklink.com. It would cost me $5,257.37 to buy them all. (that's an average of $7.45 per ewok).

I'd have to sell 525 ewoks to break even. And if I sold all 705 ewoks, I'd make $1,180. Hmmm. Doesn't seem like it's worth it for all the work.

Looks like the new ewok lego mini-fig currency is not going to happen.

Calling all cool dorks in chicago: Michigan Avenue bridge birthday bash

Thu, 13 May 2010 17:14:43 GMT

You know you are dork when... you and a friend are the only two confirmed guests attending the 90th birthday bash for the Michigan Avenue bridge birthday bash on facebook.

Date: Friday, May 14, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm
Location: 376 N. Michigan Avenue, Riverwalk Level
Come join the fun! RSVP on facebook

Sponsoring the Domingo Ramos page

Tue, 11 May 2010 15:36:14 GMT

I'm thinking about sponsoring the Domingo Ramos webpage on baseball-reference.com for $5 a year. What would my ad say?

I already have an old webpage for Domingo Ramos on spudart.org. I could revamp the webpage to match the ad concept.

Looking back at Domingo Ramos now, we can see that he started the trend of wearing over-sized baseball hats. Maybe the ad could be about Domingo Ramos: Trendsetter.

What is one of your favorite quotes from a song lyric?

Mon, 10 May 2010 16:38:51 GMT

Do you have any favorite lines from a song? Here's one that I really like; from Ani DiFranco's "Little Plastic Castle"

------------
They say goldfish have no memory
I guess their lives are much like mine
And the little plastic castle
Is a surprise every time
------------

Being able to look at the world in a new abstract way is a quality I love to possess. So yes, I'm like a goldfish who is always in awe of the world around my goldfish bowl home. :-)

In the comments below, please share your favorite quotes from song lyrics.

What book you have read that has had the biggest impact on your life and why?

Fri, 07 May 2010 10:00:39 GMT

What a great question! There are multiple areas of my life that I'd like to use to address this question. I have a hard time picking just one book.

Artistically:

Cartooning the Head and Figure
This book heavily influenced me in grade school to draw more. Which helped put me on the path of being an artist.

Trivia-wise:

The Kids World Almanac of Records and Facts: Volume 1
This book is beat up and totally worn. I loved reading the facts about our world. It started my love for facts and trivia.

Relationships:

The Five Love Languages
Totally makes me appreciate how to communicate better and show more love.

Spiritually and overall approach to life:

the Bible.
Hands down. Ok, if we want to get more specific. The Psalms: English Standard Version
It's a small travel version that I always keep in my bag for reading on the train. It's my most marked-up book. Although really, Daniel really rocked me in terms of getting excited for the end times.

Society:

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Just an amazing book that holds much truth about trends. A close one to this is Seth Godin's Tribes. I can't put in the top spot, because I'm currently reading it, and hasn't been time-tested like the Tipping Point for me, which I read eight years ago.

Love of comics:

Casual Poet: the cartoon journals of Todd Webb
Reading his simple and joyful comics really make me happy and inspire me to do more webcomics.

Using your address book to keep track of people you meet and know

Thu, 06 May 2010 10:00:45 GMT

Whenever you add someone to your address book, write down the date and how you met the person. It comes in handy to remember how you know so-and-so.

Anytime you meet people at an event or anything, just pop 'em in your address book, even if you don't have their contact info. The loose contacts you make today might be your next connection down the road. Wow, I sound so marketing-networky saying this, but it's really true.

Even when someone has a new baby, I make an entry in my address book just for that baby. Often I forget the baby names of my coworkers. It's helpful to have their name in my contacts. In the notes field I'll put down "Son of Mary Sue Smith" that way, I can search their record easily.

Put smile emoticons between each letter to really emphasize your instant messages

Wed, 05 May 2010 20:10:14 GMT

Want to give something extra impact that upper case bold letters just won't do? Try putting a smiley face emoticon between each letter. It'll give your instant messages that super-duper-incredible impact you were looking for.

Oh and if you want, you can just copy and paste the following text:
T :) H :) A :) T :) :) I :) S :) :) P :) R :) E :) T :) T :) Y :) :) C :) R :) A :) Z :) Y :) ! :)

Share it with your friends today! They'll love you!

Apple TV on a 42-inch TV makes flickr photos look amazing!

Tue, 04 May 2010 21:29:51 GMT

The Apple Store on Michigan Avenue in chicago has a 42-inch Panasonic display to show off their Apple TV product. Being curious how flickr photos show up on the Apple TV, I pulled up my Chicago HDR set. I stood there for about 15 minutes drooling over how my photos looked. They looked soooooo good.

Seven photos in particular looked fantastic.

I stood there just in awe. For the past couple years I've stopped shooting HDR photos, becuase for me, there wasn't much meaning in them. They were straight-forward shots without much of a concept. I wanted to have more meaning beyond just what they are. But seeing them in a new context, gave me the inspiration to start shooting HDR photos again. One in particular made me wonder, "wow, I shot that?" It was Prudential Two spire and Carbide & Carbon building spire.

Horizontal photos look best on the 42-inch tv. Even though this photo is vertical, it looked very historic on the big screen. I was really stunned.

Other photos didn�t look so good. Seeing them on a huge 42-inch display showed how some photos were blown out. Or too saturated. Or unfocused. We joke around about having a huge screen to do computer work on, but a 42-inch screen would really be helpful in doing photoshop work. It would totally feel like painting on a canvas.

Before I walked away I set the screensaver to show my Chicago HDR photos. ;-) I hope the rest of Chicago enjoys them as much I enjoyed watching them.

Top 10 tweets of April 2010

Mon, 03 May 2010 23:00:04 GMT

These are my top ten favorite tweets from April 2010.

The Grand and not-so-Grand new staircases for the CTA red line station

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:33:11 GMT

What's your choice? Walking up a nice set of granite stairs or up an echoing metal staircase? You couldn't have more a difference between the two new staircases installed in the Grand red line station.

For the commuters from the north side of Chicago that use the Grand station, you have two options. The nice staircase for the riders in the front of the train. Or the prison staircase for the riders of the rear of the train.

Everytime I walk up the metal staircase for the rear riders, I swear I think I'm in prison. The staircase is all metal. When you get a line of people walking up the stairs, you can hear the metal stairs echo with every step. You end up with this prison staircase effect. It's like we are walking to our jobs and chained to our desks. What a way to start the morning!

OR you could walk up the nice granite steps for the front-of-the-train riders. No clombing sound of being in prison. Instead it's nice solid granite. I tell you what, I'll always walk up these stairs. It makes me wonder if the metal stairs are temporary, because they'll eventually install an escalator there. I hope so. Otherwise we'll have half our Grand station commuters continuing to experience their exit out of the station to be not so grand.

Google searches for "puzzles" steadily decline since 2004

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:05:29 GMT

The number of searches on google for puzzles have been steadily declining since 2004. Are people just not interested in simple puzzles anymore? My first thought was maybe people are playing more online games.

But I think the decline in searches for the word "puzzles" is more tied to the decline of searches for sudoku. It blasted onto the scene in 2005, and naturally has calmed down once people figured out what it was.

The secret identity to Kool-Aid Man revealed! He's actually a pitcher of Sangria

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:35:15 GMT

Hey, that's not actually Kool-Aid in the Kool-Aid Man's pitcher. That's actually sangria. Yum!

What is baseball, really? (part 4 of 4: Baseball is also like croquet)3602

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:03:44 GMT

Other than NASCAR, baseball is most like croquet.

Both baseball and croquet has the main objective of the player to go in a circle by reaching certain stations along the way. Baseball you you go in a circle and touch four bases. In croquet you go in a circle by making your ball go through 14 hoops.

Croquet the main point is to hit your ball through the hoops in a certain order. You have something aim for. In baseball you don't hit the ball to a particular spot. You have to hit the ball to avoid the opponent.

----
View other posts from this series:
-- What is baseball, really? (part 1 of 4)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 2 of 4: thoughts on homeruns)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 3 of 4: Baseball is most like NASCAR)

What is baseball, really? (part 3 of 4: Baseball is most like NASCAR)

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:20:35 GMT

Baseball has more in common with NASCAR than another sport.

Both baseball and NASCAR involve getting around a circle as fast as possible. That's really the point of baseball. To run around in a complete circle. I can't think of any other sports besides track and NASCAR that has the main point to be running in a circle. In baseball, they just slow things down a bit by adding the fact that there's a ball involved.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE baseball. It's just fun to think of baseball abstractly.

----
View other posts from this series:
-- What is baseball, really? (part 1 of 4)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 2 of 4: thoughts on homeruns)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 4 of 4: Baseball is also like croquet)

What is baseball, really? (part 2 of 4: thoughts on homeruns)

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:21:46 GMT

The celebrated homerun

As the previous post mentioned, the main point of baseball is one of avoidance. You hit the ball where it escapes your oppoents to you have enough time to run around in a circle. Whereas other sports of like baskeball and football center around getting the ball into a specific place.

But a-ha! You say, what about the homerun? That's putting the ball linto a certain place. True. And perhaps that's part of the reason why our sports coverage on tv loves the home run so much. Every night we see tv replays of homeruns. Do we see tv replays of triples? No. A triple is hitting the ball to such a remote corner of the ballpark, so you can run extra bases. There's a certain psychology behind a triple that tv doesn't like. Hitting the ball into some corner that people don't normally stand in? TV apparently doesn't like to show that.

Instead the glorious homerun. It's the final landing spot for the ball. It's long. It's grand. The ball soars through the air to give the team the runs they need to win.

But really the homerun is the ultimate in avoidance. The ball is hit to a spot where no fielder can possible field it. There's nothing like it in sports. In tennis if you hit the ball into the stands, it's the worst shot ever. In soccer if you hit the ball into the stands, you just incredibly missed the goal.

In baseball the complete point of the homerun is avoidance. The homerun says, "you can't touch this." If it's like if in football, the quarterback decided to score the most points for his time by making the ball as untouchable as possible by chucking the ball beyond the endzone and into the stands.

----
View other posts from this series:
-- What is baseball, really? (part 1 of 4)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 3 of 4: Baseball is most like NASCAR)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 4 of 4: Baseball is also like croquet)

What is baseball, really? (part 1 of 4)

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:53:19 GMT

Baseball is a game of avoidance

The main idea behind baseball is that you hit the ball where the opponent isn't, so you have time to run around in a large circle. All other sports have the goal to get the ball into a specific area to score.
-- Football: carry the ball into a large rectangular field of grass
-- Hockey/Soccer/Water Polo/Lacrosse: shoot the ball into the net
-- Basketball: place the ball through a small metal rim
-- Croquet: hit your ball through metal hoops

In baseball, you don't really hit the ball to any specific area to score. You just kinda try to not hit the other guy.

----
View other posts from this series:
-- What is baseball, really? (part 1 of 4)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 2 of 4: thoughts on homeruns)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 3 of 4: Baseball is most like NASCAR)
-- What is baseball, really? (part 4 of 4: Baseball is also like croquet)

Slogans and taglines for Yspace, the new myspace

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:03:07 GMT

Someone should steal the letter "m" from Myspace to name it Yspace, cuz y would anyone still use yspace?

The top 15 places where my last 1,000 comments have landed

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:24:00 GMT

I've been posting of all my comments on delicious since March 2009. Just today I hit my 1,000th comment. It was on vivagirlco's photo, Rock Hard Gym.

Here's the top 15 places where I have left comments in the past year.
111 comments: spudart.org blog
82 comments: unlikelymoose blog
65 comments: vivagirlco on flickr
61 comments: sparxmind blog
47 comments: srhbth on flickr
25 comments: prettyhandsome on flickr
17 comments: digicat on flickr
14 comments: andertoons blog
13 comments: chicagoist
13 comments: sparx on flickr
12 comments: chi_cowboy on flickr
10 comments: chicagonow
10 comments: thrillarama bog
10 comments: tom's food blog
9 comments: little guys doodles blog
Note, this does not include twitter or facebook.

It's easy
You might think it takes a good amount of time to post these comments to delicious, but it's really easy. Whenever I'm writing a comment, I just copy the text and hit the delicious button in my Firefox toolbar.

Benefits
Why it's good to do this.
1) All my comments are archived. That's kinda nice.
2) My friend's blogs and photos get extra SEO by having the links on delicious.
3) I reserved my name, @mattmaldre on twitter. But I wasn't using that account as my main twitter account. I currently tweet under @spudart. I didn't want @mattmaldre to be released to someone else because I wasn't using it. So now I have my delicious bookmarks hooked up to automatically post to @mattmaldre. It's kinda fun to see how the comments function as tweets.
4) If something is good enough to be commented, then it's also good enough to be bookmarked. Maybe people will find these interesting photos and blog posts on delicious.

IDEA: Take a bouncy ball, attach a note saying, "Have some fun today"

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:30:37 GMT

Leave bouncy balls in public areas for people to have fun. Really push the message across by attaching a note. Here's some ideas what the note could say:

-- Have some fun today --

-- Carry this ball around with you all day --

-- Give this ball to someone --

-- I hope you have a bouncy day --

-- This ball will unlock secret treasures if you bounce it 1,000 times --

If your name starts with D, M, or R; you're a Decepticon

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:00:51 GMT

The most popular letter for any transformer Autobot or Decepticon is one that starts with the letter S.

You know you are an Autobot if your name starts with the letter
-- C
-- F
-- H
-- P

You know you are a Decepticon if your name starts with the letter
-- D
-- M
-- R

What is it with the letters D, M, and R? Do they sound more evil?

Dead End
Deceptitran
Devastator
Dirge
Divebomb
Drag Strip

Megatron
Menasor
Mindwipe
Misfire
Mixmaster
Motormaster

Ramjet
Rampage
Ratbat
Ravage
Razorclaw
Reflector
Rippersnapper
Rumble
Runabout
Runamuck

Thanks to sparxmind for compiling a list of Autobot names and Decepticon names. It inspired this blog post.

Franz Joseph Haydn's Fire: Most popular song in March 2010

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:00:03 GMT

My number one most listened-to song in March 2010 was Franz Joseph Haydn's "Fire." As I tweeted about last month: "Franz Joseph Haydn's 'Fire' could easily be named "Jack it up." Apparently I liked the song enough that it was the song I listened to the most last month.

You can preview it on Amazon Music at http://ow.ly/1hkOI (it's song #9).

Three year twitterversary for @spudart

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:41:10 GMT

Three years ago today I signed up for twitter. My first tweet was very grand:

Signing up for twitter, duh.
-- 4:07 AM Apr 9th, 2007

Here's my eight favorite tweets from the past month:

Vending machines should have anti-gravity pulsors, so you don't have to bend down to get your candy.
-- 1:17 PM Apr 2nd
IDEA: Cute little anchors to keep a teabag from floating
-- 12:30 PM Mar 23rd
IDEA: next time you walk back to your desk from the bathroom, walk backwards.
-- 5:40 PM Mar 22nd
Picking up some Dove chocolate Easter eggs @walgreens which will make good bullets for my chocolate cannon
-- 4:45 PM Mar 20th
I L-O-V-E U-S-I-N-G D-A-S-H-E-S I-N B-E-T-W-E-E-N W-O-R-D-S I-T R-U-L-E-S!, I M-E-A-N L-E-T-T-E-R-S, N-O-T W-O-R-D-S.
-- 9:56 AM Mar 18th
IDEA: Make a video compilation of you knocking on all the different surfaces you encounter on your commute
-- 9:12 AM Mar 17th
What if every time you saw a bus, you'd board for one mile and repeat for ten times?
-- 6:22 PM Mar 15th
I'm thinking of doing an art project where I get a ton of foreign currency and leaving it around the city.
-- 11:36 AM Mar 1st

Three years. That's pretty cool. 2,000 tweets in that time.

Spudart.org is back for Comcast users

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:20:36 GMT

Since March 3, 2010 spudart.org was unreachable for people who use Comcast cable internet. The nice support people at the company that hosts spudart.org found that there was a loop in the DNS setup.

Huh?

Good news is that spudart.org should be available once again for users of Comcast high-speed internet. Thank you and welcome back my comcast peeps.

Play "Beat the Streak" on mlb.com and you could win $20 in 2010

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 04:28:46 GMT

MLB.com has a game called Beat the Streak where you try to put together a hitting streak to beat baseball's legendary record of 56 games. Choose one player every day who you think will get at least one base hit. If your player gets a hit, your streak is extended. If he fails to get a hit, your streak ends and you can start a new one.

Be the first eligible participant to get a hit in 57 straight games and win $3,000,000 in cash.

I'm also doing my own little pool/league and if you win the league, you get $20 via paypal from me!
How to join the Amazing League:
1) Send me a message via the spudart contact form
2) I'll send you an invite to join our private league via mlb.com.
3) You click on the link in the email and join the league.

So far nobody has ever defeated me in Beat the Streak. One year I got an 11-game streak. In 2008 I won with 12 games. In 2009 I won with 13 games. Think you can beat that? If you get the longest streak in the Amazing League, you get $20. It's totally free to join my league. I'm offering the twenty bucks out of my pocket just to make it interesting. One year, we had about 10 people in the league.

The 1908 Chicago Cubs ballpark is still a park

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:00:46 GMT

West Side Grounds where the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908 is still a park. Or at least on Google Maps it looks like a park. It's only a couple blocks from the Polk stop on the CTA pink line. I'm gonna have to swing by there sometime.

What should I do when I go there? Some ideas:

1) Re-enact the Cubs winning the World Series
Dress in period attire and start cheering about the Cubs being world champions.

2) Ask people if they know where to find Joe Tinker
Or if they know where Heinie Zimmerman is.

3) Survey people if Orval Overall was a better pitcher than Three-finger Mordecai Brown
Mordecai Brown: 29-9, 1.47 ERA, 27 complete games, 123 strikeouts (3.5 SO/9)
Orval Orverall: 15-11, 1.92 ERA, 16 complete games, 167 strikeouts (6.7 SO/9)

4) Leave a 1908 pennant in the ground
Mark the turf!

5) Ask people how in the world Joe Tinker got 39 errors in 1908
Tinker is part of the infamous fielding double-play combo that inspired the song lyrics, "Tinker to Evers to Chance." Yet Tinker biffed it 39 times? Yipes. (for the record Evers had 25 errors and Chance with 15).

A few ideas on how to improve London's Orbit public sculpture

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:00:46 GMT

The same artist who did the Chicago Bean (Cloudgate) is designing this super huge sculpture for London and their Olympics in 2012. (via the Guardian)

The structure will officially be called the ArcelorMittal Orbit, after steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the richest man in Europe, who is funding it. It's kinda wacky, right? I like it. But here's how to make it even better.

1. Tree houses
That thing is begging for people to take up residence in it with little tree houses. Or even caccoons.

2. Spider-man visits
They should have Spider-Man come and crawl on that thing 24 hours a day. Oh wait. That's too much. How about once a day spider-man comes and slings some webs?

3. Water slides
This thing looks like a maze of water slides. Why not actually make them into water slides! YEAH!

4. Power-up mushroom boxes
On level five of this stucture, there should hang some boxes with blinking question marks. When someone jumps up and hits their head on the box, a mushroom would come out of the box. Whoever touches the mushroom will then immediately grow to twice their size.

What else can they do to improve this monster sculpture?

Do you think the people on Mercury sent a rover to Venus?

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:11:48 GMT

Did the people on planet Mercury sent a rover to planet Venus yet? We know Venus has sent probes to Earth. We Earthlings sent rovers to Mars. You KNOW Jupiter sent a rover to Saturn. Just look at Jupiter. They are huge! They got rovers roving all over the rovin' place.

But what about the peeps on Mercury?

My iPhone app wish list

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:00:47 GMT

I love how appshopper.com has a wish list feature. It makes me be more wise with my app purchashing decisions. Here's what I have in my wish list now. What apps should I get?

ToonPAINT

$1.99: ToonPAINT allows you to easily create awesome looking cartoon-paintings with yourown photos. Even if you have never drawn or painted before, ToonPAINTsets you up for quick success by providing a...
Things

$9.99: Things is a beautifully focused and amazingly intuitive task manager. Othertodo applications either oversimplify or are too difficult to use.Things instead offers the perfect balance between ease...
Reeder

$2.99: GoogleReader Client. - Syncs with Google Reader - Browse by feed or folders -Manage starred items, notes - Support for shared items and friends'shared items - Mark as unread - Image caching -...
The Muppets Animal Drummer

$1.99: BEATDRUMS WITH ANIMAL! Recipient of the Editor's Choice Award fromChildren's Technology Review "built-in kid appeal...also plenty of funfor older players who enjoy music- and rhythm-centric...
Where's Waldo?� The Fantastic...

$0.99: ****WALDO�is 99� for a limited Time**** **********Join the search!***********----------------------------------------- Reached no.1 overall in: - US- Canada - Australia - Mexico Reached no.1...
iQuarium

$0.99: SALE! 50% OFF! Limited time offer. Get it TODAY! #1 Top Paid Entertainment in23 Countries Top 100 Paid Apps in 40 Countries - Thank You! "A great,easy to play, relaxing game that will keep you...
Frogger

$0.99: ---------------NEW UPDATE -------------- Now featuring achievements! Frogger hasexpanded its leaderboard to include 10 different awards! Try andcollect them all!...
Sonar Ruler

$0.99: Check out our latest app iVideoCamera - it lets any iPhone record videos witheffects for 99�!!! Search for "iVideoCamera" now! Sonar Ruler is awinner in the Best App Ever Awards - "Most innovative...
Handwriting

$0.99: Use your own handwriting to write everything from thank you notes todoodles, to love letters. Then send them by email, post them toFacebook, or to Twitter! Simple and easy to use, your writing...

What in the world is Andre Dawson pimping?

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:53:37 GMT

Andre Dawson is promoting the World Fishing Network. Oh Andre. Andre. Andre. This perplexes me.

How to find who is the most famous person with your first name

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:00:01 GMT

Your first name. It's yours. But it also belongs to millions of other people. Who is the most famous person with your first name? Here's how to find out.

You could just google your name, but then you get a ton of results and it doesn't really tell you who the most famous PERSON is. It tells you the most famous WEBPAGE with your name. You want to know a person with your name, not a webpage. To force Google to search for actual people, add "site:wikipedia.org" into your search. For example, here's how to do the google search for matt: matt site:wikipedia.org.

Here's the results for Matt:

Matt Hardy: Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on their ...

Matt Harding: Matthew "Matt" Harding, (born September 27, 1976) is an American video game designer and Internet celebrity known as Dancing Matt for his viral videos that ...

Matt Groening: Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening (pronounced /ˈɡreɪnɪŋ/ GRAY-ning; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, screenwriter and producer. ...

Matt Mullenweg: Matthew Charles Mullenweg (born January 11, 1984 in Houston, Texas) is an entrepreneur living in San Francisco, California. He is the founding developer of ...

In the comments below, please post who is the most famous person with your first name.

What's your first CD you ever owned?

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:18:11 GMT

The first CD I ever owned is Bobby Brown's "Don't Be Cruel." Classic. What's your first CD you ever owned? Feel free to leave it in the comments below or tweet it with the hashtag #firstcd

Here's the first 14 responses on twitter:

Derndingle Rush 2112
billmalott Boyz II Men: The Remix Collection
thejennyli @the_tiki Depeche Mode Black Celebration
geoffwkeller Beach boys - greatest hits
mattkellypr Green Day -- Dookie
the_tiki Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot
evenflow48 Whitesnake, Whitesnake
alforque @spudart #firstcd was either Imagine: John Lennon or ...But Seriously: Phil Collins. Nearly 20 years ago.
sjdockery @jeweljk "Pieces of You"
AriT93 The Muppet Movie soundtrack
larrywright The Footloose Soundtrack #firstcd (technically, it was a record)
infinitypg Van Halen "5150"
smartkookie #firstcd Gonna Make You Sweat -- C+C Music Factory
ohalchemygirl The Cure "Standing on a Beach"

View all the current responses by searching for #firstcd on twitter.

What not to tweet

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:00:59 GMT

It's the Wednesday after St. Patricks day weekend, and I'm walking down Michigan Avenue to work and I see someone wearing green. I immediately thought, "wow, that person has been wearing that shirt since Saturday!" So I tweeted about how not to wear green after St. Patricks' day,

"Never wear green the week after St. Patricks day, ppl will think you never change your clothes #tip" [link]

And then I come into work and someone was wearing green! Oops! So I tweeted this,

"Never tweet while commuting to work about what ppl shouldn't wear, cuz one of your coworkers will be wearing that when u come in #tip #style" [link]

And then I realized that Wendesday IS St. Patrick's day. No wonder why people were wearing green. I'm such a clueless Protestant boy.

Chicago Moving Bridges defeats finger tattoos for one day

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:00:06 GMT

"Finger tattoos" has been the my most viewed photo every day on flickr. But yesterday "Chicago's Moving Bridges over the Chicago River" finally grabbed the top spot.

Number of views on March 17, 2010:

By the way, as of today, my "Finger tattoos" photo has been viewed 20,030 times and "Chicago's Moving Bridges over the Chicago River" has been viewed 37,598 times. Finger tattoos is catching up!

Do monkeys drink water?

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:08:19 GMT

I was just wondering if monkeys drink water. Because I never saw a monkey drink water, I thought maybe monkeys don't drink water But then a friend happily shared this video with me, Youtube - Monkey Drinking and Playing with Water.

I want to drink water like this monkey.

Note: this video is more fun to watch with the sound turned off.

Chicago 2018 Winter Olympics bid

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:00:12 GMT

2018 Winter Olympics bids were due yesterday. Only three cities put their hat into the ring:
* Munich, Germany
* PyeongChang, South Korea
* Annecy, France

How about Chicago, USA? Next to my apartment building is an empty lot. I volunteer that plot of land for the curling events in Chicago's 2018 Winter Olympics bid.

Pronunciation for anapauō (rest) is not very restful

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:20:57 GMT

It's really cool how blueletterbible.org has audio pronunciations for Greek words. Give a listen to the greek word anapauō (meaning rest). I wish when the guy read anapauō, that he would have said it in a more restful manner. Instead I feel like I'm getting punched in the face.

When Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." I don't think he said "rest" like he was punching someone in the face.

Song lyrics for "Jackin it up"

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:23:55 GMT

There is no song titled "Jackin it up" on iTunes or Amazong MP3. Quick! This song is just waiting to become a top 40 hit.

The jackhammas are a-poundin'
I say
The jackhammas are a-poundin'
outside the Tribune Towerin'

I'm tryin' to git some work done-in
But these jackhammas
these jackhammas

They keep a-poundin'
a-poundin'

A-prrrchh-a-prrrrch-a-pprrchhhprrccch-prrrccch.

Seriously. The Pioneer Court outside the Tribune Tower has some jacked-up tiles and it's all fallin apart. So they've been replacing the tiles in sections. It's only taken them two years so far.

We had peace and silence for a couple months, and then today, the jackhammers came back and are now working on another part of the court. This will take them about three months. So I get jackhammers all day long for three months at work. Hence, I'm trying to spin this into a positive and get into the jackhammering by finding a song titled, "Jackin it up" on itunes or amazon mp3. But alas, there are none.

What comes after letter Z?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:51 GMT

alforque tweeted: WTF is Gen Z?! RT @ChicagoGirl1: There is a Generation Z now? When did this happen? http://bit.ly/ciOPp1

What would come after Generation Z? Is there a letter that comes after Z? In the Greek alphabet, the last letter is Omega. Would that then be Generation Omega?

A yelp post asks, If there was a new letter after "Z", what would it sound like? Here's a couple of their responses:
-- Gillooly
-- Sub-class 'z', 'zed'
-- A Double "Z" like "ZZ" like Double "U" makes a "W"
-- it would be the schwa sound we all learned about in phonics in the 1970s

Rather fitting that this Yelp post about the end of the alphabet has its comments turned off due to the post being older than two months. It's like the question about the endings, hit the end itself.

How would cigarette smoke react in a different atmosphere

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:50:44 GMT

A smoker walks in your direction on the sidewalk. You pass each other by and hold your breath, because of the stinky smoke. 15 feet after the smoker, you are able to breath again because the smoke has dissipated into the air.

I'm thankful that cigarette smoke fades into the outdoor air. What if it hung around like a nasty cloud? Bleh.

Or what if our atmosphere was so heavy that the smoke fell to the ground and made a line on the ground? That would be weird. We'd have contrails of smoke everywhere from smokers walking and smoking.

Tootin like a ballootin

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:58:33 GMT

Next time someone tells you, "I'm tootin like a ballotin," you can respond with, "Yes, I appreciate your flatulence metaphorical reference to a deep decorative rectangular cardboard box with overhanging edges used for packaging chocolate candies."

"How about we get ourselves a ballotin of Godiva chocolates?"

If there's a recycle can next to the garbage can, please use the recycle can

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:35:30 GMT

On the 14th floor of the Tribune Tower there is a gray garbage can in the kitchen area. We throw away so much stuff in the kitchen that can be recycled. To help solve this, a few weeks ago I put a blue recycle bin next to the garbage can.

But nobody uses the recycle bin. It rather baffles me. Today I found a clean paper bag and paper wrappers in the garbage. Normally I will quietly garbage pick the paper and put it into recycling. But the quantity of the paper in the garbage today unsettled me. As i took the paper out I audibly said, "what is this paper doing in the garbage? It can be recycled," hoping that the perpetrators heard me.

Knowing just saying something out loud probably won't do much, I put a couple sticky notes on the garbage cans directing people to the blue recycle bin. Then to be even more specific, the sticky notes listed what little things can be recycled.

here's what the notes said:

PLEASE RECYCLE
use the blue bin
------------------>

tea wrappers,
papers, cardboard,
bags, sugar packets
every little bit helps :)
------------------>

I purposely made the list in all lower case to make it more friendly. I know I'm being passive-aggressive with this. But c'mon people, at least put your paper in the recycle bin that sits right next to the garbage can. Every little bit truly does help.

Hair Dryer Jokes

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:00:11 GMT

A friend of mine is trying to exchange her broken hair dryer. Today she IM'ed me, "whoa, this hair dryer thing is becoming a pain in my arse!" To which I responded with the following hair dryer puns:
-- this whole hair dryer thing BLOWS
-- it's totally DRYING the life out of you
-- this is a HAIR-RAISING experience
-- you are getting totally ripped off and SCALPED

Gray is better than grey

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:47:48 GMT

My twin brother is going to start spelling the word "gray" as "grey." I disagree. I'm just not a fan of the spelling of "grey." Grey eliminates the simplicity of gray. Grey makes gray complicated and stuffy.

Gray is simple. Gray is pure. Gray is honest. Long live gray!

An iPhone leads 20 people off a stuck Metra train in Chicago

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:20:02 GMT

Quiet Metra train
The platform is completely empty at the 103rd street Metra station at 10:17pm on a Tuesday night. As the train arrives, I'm the only one to board the only open car on the train. While looking for an open seat, about 3/4 of the train is sleeping. I think to myself, "This will be a boring ride home"

The only open seat left on the train welcomes me to sit down and join the rest of the sleepers.

There's a problem
The train stops at 87th street and Halsted. The conductor comes onto our part of the car and announces, "we have a problem. There's a broken freight train at 16th street, and we cannot get past it. This train will go back to Blue Island (15 minutes away), you will take shuttle bus to the Metra Electric line at Blue Island and that train will take you back into the city."

Uh. Excuse me?

Go backwards to Blue Island? Blue Island is in the opposite direction of where I came from. It's further away from the city than where I originally boarded.

I ask the conductor when the next Blue Island train is leaving. He didn't even know! How could he not know? We could be waiting there in the cold for two hours!

The conductor said we could also just take the Halsted Street bus which was right where we are. Sounds simple enough, right? But when is the bus coming?

iPhone to the rescue!
I tell people on my car, "hold on, i'm gonna look up when the next bus is coming on CTA bus tracker. I whip out my handy dandy iPhone.

Da-na-na-naaaaaaa!

I pull up all the stops for the number 8 bus route northbound. But there's no stop for 87th Street. How can that be? The conductor said there is the Halsted Street bus. But I'm telling ya, 87th street is not on this list. All the numbered streets stop at 79th street.

How can this be? The conductor said there's a Halsted Street bus.
Answer: The Metra conductor knows nothing about the CTA.

I pull up the CTA system map on my iPhone.

Da-na-na-naaaaaaa!

Certainly enough. The Halsted Street bus only goes as far as the 79th street. We'd have to take the 8A bus to get to the 79th Street station. I pull up the schedule for the 8A bus, and it's not running this late. We'd have to walk 8 blocks to the 79th Street station.

Someone asks how far the red line is. That was simple. I show there's a 87th street stop, so that means it's also 8 blocks to the red line. A few of us opt to get off the train and walk to the red line. As we get off, I announce to people, "We are getting a group to talk to the red line. Anyone who wants to join us, please come."

Adventuring out
We got about 20 people from the train to walk with us. It was quite a slice of Chicago. All races, all ages. We even had a mom with her baby in a stroller.

We walk down the stairs to the ground level and wait for the mom and the baby in the stroller. Once she reached the ground, we start our eight-block trek to the red line. Everyone is very friendly. One fellow told me that his car broke down in Tinley, and the tow truck dropped him off at the Metra station at 159th where he waited two hours for this Metra to come. Can you imagine? Your car breaks down. You get a ride in a tow truck. You wait two hours for the Metra, and then the Metra train flips out. Poor dude. He was in good spirits though.

Thankfully after walking half a block, someone notices the 87th Street bus coming. We all quickly cross the street and wait thirty seconds for the bus to come.

Bus saves us
There we all stand. The adventurers. The ones willing for a fun challenge. All standing in the middle of what feels like nowhere at 10:30pm at night. As the bus driver pulls up, we joke that he must be wondering why in the world all these people are standing at this one bus stop.

As we board the bus, there are so many confused people how to use the CTA bus. I was kinda suprised that so many people who ride the Metra wouldn't know how the CTA operates. There were people who didn't know how to use CTA cards.

The fun people: bar hitter
Once we get going, it's funny to see how different people react to this situation. I sit in the back of the bus and there's this one dude who wants to use this as an excuse to get people together in a bar and drink.

The fun people: the hockey dancer
Another dude sees a guy with a Blackhawks cap and starts doing hockey moves in the aisle of the bus.

The fun people: BMW guy with a broken car
The guy who had his car busted sat next to me and gave me his card. He works for BMW.

The bus quickly arrives at the red line, and our happy group gets off and walks down to the red line. More confusion with people. Which is kinda funny, because these people just figured out how to pay for the bus, but yet they were still confused with how to pay for the train. Eventually everyone got through the gates and we waited for the train to come.

About 10 minutes later the train comes, and most of us board on the same car. We chit-chatted for a bit. The topic was about gambling and people's favorite gambling boats.

The fun people: Suicide gambling story guy
Then one dude gets all excited talking about how someone committed suicide because this person lost all his money. But he tells the story all excited-like. I turn to the BMW guy and say, "this trip is just getting weirder and weirder by the moment."

The BMW guy was going to get off at Belmont and take the 77 Belmont bus to Damen, but he wasn't sure if the bus was running that late. Bust out the iPhone!

Da-na-na-naaaaaaa!

Yup, sure enough, I was able to reassure him that the bus was still running this late.

The fun people: Paper-bag-booze-drinking gay dude
Then a couple seats in front of me there's a dude drinking booze out of paper bag talking about he just broke up with his male friend and he's all sad, and he's going out to get himself pepped up. I ask him where he's going. He said he's getting off the red line at Belmont to go to Boystown. I say, "ah Halsted. I lived at Halsted and Cornelia." I dunno why I shared this piece of information within this context, because I didn't live there for Boystown. In fact, I didn't even know Boystown was there until I after I signed my lease. But so when I shared this little bit of info, the drinkin-his-sorrows-away guy gives me this stare like he wanted me to come with him. I was like, Uhhhh. So i turned to the BMW dude and said, "I really liked living by Wrigleyville with all the Cubs games."

My stop Fullerton came and I left my friends on the train. It was a fun adventure.

Conclusion
The sleepy Metra train ended up yielding a fun adventure thanks to the help with my iPhone.

Triple Chocolate Chaos energy bars are dying in Chicago

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:58:17 GMT

The following is a letter I sent to the Balance Bar Company:

Greetings dear people of Balance,

I am a fine consumer of your delightful Balance bar products. I enjoy having one before or after a workout. From time to time, I'll have one in the morning at work. They bring great nutrition and sustenance that my body needs. I open the wrapper to each bar with great anticipation of the balance bar tastiness inside.

Imagine opening up a Triple Chocolate Chaos bar and having the hopes and dreams of TRIPLE! CHOCOLATE! CHOAS! The name brings shivers down my spine in thinking of the chocolate being tripled. Of the chocolate being crazy. Of the chocolate being incredible. The anticipation. The wonder. The hopes. The dreams. Of Triple... Chocolate... Chaos.

Now imagine when you open the bar and you see a bar that looks like it has the life squeezed out of it. Literally. All the chocolateness is oozed out of the bar. It's like the bar was a balloon and someone popped it. The entire contents of the bar has decayed its chocolateness outside of its body. It's like someone murdered the happiness of the chocolate bar. It's a murder scene inside my Triple Chocolate Chaos wrapper. There's chocolate guts everywhere. The horror! It truly brings new meaning to the "chaos" in Triple Chocolate Chaos.

The sad thing is that this happens to about 50% of the Triple Chocolate Chaos bars I purchase. As I mentioned before, I am a fine consumer of your energy bars, therefore, I have had many a triple chocolate chaos bar. This is not a one time occurance. There is a product flaw with the Triple Chocolate Chaos bars. Half of them ooze their life out inside the wrapper before they are even opened to the world. Do these bars have a fear of the world? Are they so afraid to be eaten, that they crap their pants all over the inside the wrapper before they are eaten?

I mean seriously. There's something wrong with the Triple Chocolate Chaos bars. To prove my point I took a photo of my Triple Chocolate Chaos bar from this morning. It's posted on my blog at: http://www.spudart.org/blogs/randomthoughts_comments/5160_0_3_0_C/.

The ID for this particular bar is:
* UPC code: 5004998883
* Inket number: 13UUL2010XBP34
* Time of birth: 12:40 (seriously! You put date of birth on your energy bars)

I beg you to please take a look at the photo. It's like the photo of crime scene. Will you please be like Angela Lansbury and solve the mystery behind why these Triple Chocolate Chaos bars are oozing and dying? Something must be done.

Sincerely,
Matt Maldre

The incredibly accurate time machine that jumps into the future

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:37:47 GMT

Let's say you have an event one week from today that you really want to be at. Now you can jump to the future and be at that event!

The only catch. This time machine is kinda slow. To attend an event one week from today, it takes exactly seven days to arrive at the event. But this time machine is very accurate. When you say you want to arrive exactly in one week, it will take you to that exact time.

One of the problems with other time machines is that you end up leaving people you love behind. Or you end up visiting your parallel self in the future. With this super time machine, everyone you know and love comes with you.

Come on aboard, we are moving ahead to the future! Let me know the time and date you want to go to, and i'll enter that into our time machine. That's another cool thing about our time machine. It's able to handle multi-tasking and multiple event destinations.

SRSLY. Enter a time and date of when you want to be. And I'll tell you how long it will take to get there.

Results from people in your social circle

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:00:14 GMT

Google Buzz is fantastic. When you do a regular google search, there's now a special section for "results from people in your social circle." I love it.

Today I did a search for: chicago hot dog; and my friend's blog shows up in this area. I didn't rememberthat he wrote a blog post about chicago hot dogs, so I was happy to see his post.

Results from people in your social circle is fantastic, because now it takes my normal google searches to another level. It gives me results that I truly care about. They are results from things written by my friends and contacts.

Real connections. Real search results.

Thank you email to Quiznos

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:15:17 GMT

Quiznos emailed me a coupon today. I was happy. Thus I emailed Quiznos with my thanks. Here's the email:

==============
My dear quiznos rock star,
Perfect timing. My friend and I were just talking about expanding our lunch horizons. Quiznos should fit the bill. It�s a little bit more of a walk from the Tribune Tower, but this coupon would make it worth it.

Thank you my coupon friend.
==============

It's fun sending fun thank you emails. Oh and btw, don't try printing the above coupon out. It's too small. I don't think they will accept that image. Instead try out this link: http://www.quiznos.com/qmail/201000210/coupon/index.html

I love seeing the Facebook ad for the 2010 Olympic Mascots

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:37:24 GMT

I got so excited when Facebook showed an ad for the 2010 Olympic mascots. Especially since it showcases my favorite mascot, QUATCHI!

When I clicked on the ad, I was totally expecting to go to an Olympic mascot page. Instead they dropped me at the generic BORING Olympic page. If I see an ad for Quatchi, I'm expecting a page about Quatchi. Helloooooooo Olympic dummie heads! (and I can say that, cuz they didn't pick Chicago, but anyways)

Olympic peeps. You did a SUPER INCREDIBLE GRAND job with the mascots. Can we pleeeeeeez have an official Facebook Page for them?

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the fan-created Quatchi Page.

Atari emulator app for the iPhone

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:36:03 GMT

I would love an iPhone Atari 2600 emulator app. Right now an iTunes search for "atari" results in the following games:
-- Centipede
-- Missile Command
-- Super Breakout
-- Atari Football
-- Backyard Hockey
-- Backyard Baseball
-- Backyard Soccer

Step it up, Atari! We want more games on the iPhone.

You can recycle empty sugar packets

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:26:49 GMT

Sitting in the garbage can at work was a cardboard package for tea. I exclaimed, "What! This can be recycled!" and fished it out of the garbage. Continuing to make my tea, I almost threw out my empty sugar packet when I realized that also can be recycled!

Please! Recycle your empty sugar packets.

Here's other recycling posts from spudart.org:

lal is the new lol

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:53:18 GMT

With Apple naming their new tablet the iPad, it makes me think someone is saying iPod with a Chicago accent. In honor of the spirit of replacing the "o" with an "a," I present to you the new lol...

lal is the new way to say lol.

I have no idea what the "a" in lal stands for, but I like how "lal" sounds. Oh i wanna lal all day long!

An eHarmony customer rep told me if I lied, I would get more matches

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:38:57 GMT

If I drink once a week I'll get more matches on eHarmony. That's what a customer rep told me on the phone when I wanted to cancel my subscription. Here's the story.

I was on eHarmony for four months. An email arrives in my inbox saying that my subscription has auto-renewed. What?! I don't remember auto-renewing at all. I looked to see if I got any warning emails about the auto-renewal. I did not. I called up eHarmony's toll-free customer service number at 1-800-673-3548.

A very nice eHarmony rep answered and I explained to her that my account auto-renewed, and this was news to me and I didn't want to auto-renew. Given their shocking auto-renewal procedure here, I figure this would be a common problem that people call about. And if you just ask them to not auto-renew, they will revoke the charge.

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING.
The rep said, "I'm looking at your profile right now and I see you have answered the question of how often do you drink set to a few times a year. The majority of the users on eHarmony have this preference set to once a week. If you change your drinking preference from a few times a year to once a week, you'll get more matches."

Being rather surprised by this piece of advice, I told her, "Thank you for that insight and your advice. But I would want to stay honest and not put down that i drink once a week. To say that on my profile would be dishonest, and i thought eharmony was about getting honest matches. I would just like to cancel my account please since I do not wish to auto-renew."

In her nice voice she told me that in the signup process that eHarmony boldly states that when I sign up, I'm set to auto-renewal, and that I would have to stay with that.

I do not remember the site telling me that when I signed up.

I told her that as I was honest before with telling her that i don't want to change my drinking preference to get more matches, I will be honest here and say I do not recall the bold message that i auto-renew, because when i signed up for four months, I had in my mind clearly set that I was going to try this just for four months and I was not going to renew again.

I went on my soapbox a bit and continued, "if eHarmony was holding to the honesty that they clearly promote themselves as, they would send a notification email a day before or a week before your account renews. I'm looking at my email now, and I don't see any such email. I believe you if you say the message is bold at the signup process. I honestly don't recall it. If I saw it, I would have turned that off.

And more, "If eHarmony wants to be truly honest, they would notify people a day or a week before they just auto-renew someone for three months."

She then gave me a discount and charged me for one month. She said that if I wish I could continue using the service for one more month.

To which I replied, "Thank you for the discount. As I've come here with the honest intention of not wanting to auto-renew or use the service anymore right now, I am sticking with that intention. It's nice that you offer me to continue to use the service. But I want to be true to what I'm saying and not use the service anymore for the moment."

She honored that and said she would send me a customer feedback. To which I told her that she was very nice given the parameters she had to work in. And that how she handled the situation was very professional and nice.

Now granted, I didn't tell her this, but I don't think eHarmony's policy of telling people to lie on their profile to get more matches is professional. It's clearly dishonest. It's a clear contradiction to what their brand is. But at least the customer rep was nice in delivering the dishonsety to me.

More cars than drivers in the USA

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:20:59 GMT

The United States now has 246 million registered motor vehicles and 209 million licensed drivers--nearly 5 vehicles for every 4 drivers. (from alternet.org)

How are there more cars than drivers? I don't know anyone who owns two cars. I know of families of two that own two cars. But I don't know anyone that owns more cars than drivers.

Most-read spudart.org posts made in 2009

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:06:34 GMT

The number in parenthesis is the number of hits the post got in 2009.

Oprah group dance on Michigan Avenue has inspiration in previous YouTube viral video
(42,302)
I shot a video of this performance and put it up on Youtube. It got 2.5 million views. To get that many clicks, I used some social media optimization and youtube keyword strategy. With 2.5 million views, it's no surprise that the accompanying blog post would be my number one most-viewed item in 2009.

The world's best Facebook status messages (8,505)
I got a ton of google searches for facebook status messages in July.

FUN: Look up your initials on urbandictionary.com (3,801)
Oddly, I got zero google traffic for searches containing the words urban dictionary. This must have just gotten some good linkage.

QUESTION: If you got a tattoo, what would you get and where would you put it? (3,506)
The photo in this post is my 4th most viewed photo on flickr. It's crazy. I just drew on my fingers and the photo has 16,000 views now. What really drives it is that Google images has this image ranked like fifth for a search on finger tattoos.

IDEA: Facebook app of most common friends (3,110)
People love googling facebook stuff!

World's largest working cell phone gets pranked (3,075)
This is a funny story, I'm glad it made the most-viewed in 2009.

The 10 funniest balloon boy jokes on twitter (2,464)
Oh boy. I kinda regret making this post.

My run-in with Ronnie Woo Woo at the Tribune Tower (1,751)
Another funny story in the top ten! Yay!

How to save the Michigan Avenue Borders bookstore (1,609)
This one gets Borders workers all fired out. Kinda reminiscent of the 140+ comments on the Campaign for a Papa Johns in Chicago

Philly-style pizza mystery (1,398)
A mystery is always good.

Do animal abuse books and movies increase searches for vegetarian recipes?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:06:57 GMT

Fast Food Nation, Food Inc, In Defense of Food, End of Overeating. After reading these books and seeing these movies, many people become vegetarians. Can we see the signals on a larger cultural scale?

[New note: I need to put more of my opinion in this post. I was being way too... scientific with the following graphs. The way this post came about was I heard a couple people today who said they both recently started being vegetarian and that these books/movies were an influence. We joked about how maybe Google Trends would show a connection between these books and movies and vegetarian searches. I'm disappointed that Google trends doesn't show the connection.]

Surprisingly it looks like there wasn't much impact from Fast Food Nation on vegetarian searches. But searches for vegetarian recipes did increase after Food Inc. But is that only because the trend for vegetarian is just growing larger in the past year?

Here's a look at the search trends for Fast Food Nation, Food Inc, and vegetarian. Not much corelation here.

Not much bump for "In Defense of Food"

Nothing really happening for "End of Overeating"

Conclusion:
According to Google Trends we can't really see much corelation in vegetarian searches with the release of books and movies about the horrors of our meat industry. But even though you don't see it in Google, perhaps this isn't the right test. Perhaps the volume of searches for vegetarian dishes may be such a high volume by existing vegetarians, that any new vegetarians may not show in the increase. (maybe?)

These books and films do a great service creating awareness to what evils happen in our food industry. I myself am a quasi-vegetarian. I eat meat occasionally, but try to keep it at a minimum. I was hoping that these animal abuse books would show an uptick in people's adoption of caring for our animals.

How to kill a spider with just your eyes

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:10:34 GMT

Want to know how to have death-ray vision on spiders? No more squishing the spiders with kleenex. Now you can simply eliminate the spider by looking at it. I will tell you how I was able to achieve this feat in 2010.

I'm sitting at my desk in the Tribune Tower being a productive happy employee, when all of the sudden a spider appears on my window sill. It was a decent sized spider and it took me quite by surprise. We always see spiders on the OUTSIDE of our windows. Never on the inside.

I intently stare at the spider wondering what to do. I don't want to kill it, because that's mean. I don't want to really just leave it there, cuz he looked like he could cause some serious damage.

So I stared at it.

Then the spider started to walk around like he was drunk. He was tripping all over his legs. Falling on his back. Getting back up walking a few more steps only to fall on his back again.

I continue staring intently at the spider.

He trips again and this time he doesn't get back up. Instead he pulls all his legs together towards his body, rolls on his back into a little ball.

I killed the spider by my own eyes! And I didn't even have to squish it!

Being so excited by this ability, I do what anyone else would do with this newfound superpower, I get up and exclaim to all my workers, "I have the death ray vision! to kill spiders!" Everyone was in shock. People hid behind their desks. Well, not really. But I wasn't exactly staring at anyone for fear of well... I like my coworkers a lot. I can't use death-ray vision on them.

I come back to my desk and... and! The spider was gone! What the! Do I have vaporizing power as well?

R2-D2 translator

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:35:39 GMT

R2D2 recently tweeted this, "*doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot DEET!*"

What does he mean?

~([-_-])~

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:00:36 GMT

What do you think this emoticon is?
~([-_-])~

(props to Noel for tweeting his creation. That's how i found it)

Why do you never see the recycle guys and the garbage men together at the same time?

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:27:23 GMT

I just have to share this genius question and brilliant responses from facebook:

It's 2010, Happy New Millennium!

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:27:55 GMT

You might be thinking, "the new millennium was in 2000, this is 2010." But! The millennium is still pretty new. 10 years old. Considering that a millennium is 1000 years long, ten years is a drop in the bucket.

2010 is a good time to go back and review the newness of the millennium. What are our plans for the year 3000? Do not lose focus on the year 3000.

Sarcastic pessimists confuse me

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:00:23 GMT

At the risk of sounding elitist, I'm gonna bear down and say some things that crossed my mind as I read Rex W. Huppke's article in the Chicago Tribune, "A new year is no time to change feelings about resolutions."

Is this Chicago Tribune column a humor column? I hope so. Because otherwise I feel quite sad for the writer Rex W. Huppke as he says, "I don't do much self-improving."

It's good he's expressing honesty, because we all get stuck in ruts. But it's also good to pick yourself up and do something. Then again maybe he's just joking around. But many people mask their ruts with sarcastic pessimism. It's something I have a hard time telling if they are just joking around or if they are serious or what.

What do you think of this column?

2009 Manger in an alley

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:34:16 GMT

I put a web address on my 2009 Christmas card. View the micro-site dedicated to this photo series at: www.spudart.org/manger-in-an-alley

How to stay warm in CTA bus shelters

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:39:36 GMT

Waiting for the bus in the winter can get quite cold in Chicago. Thankfully we now have these bus shelters that help block the wind. In fact, when it gets really cold you can try standing by the illuminated ad to warm up.

Although I don't think the lights behind the ad are really warm. Do fluorescents get warm? Not really.

And then when you get really cold, a good mind distraction technique is to pretend whatever is in the ad is real. In this case we have a giant bottle of beer. While I'm standing waiting for the bus, I like to pretend to pick up the bottle of beer. Or try to tip it over. Pop the cap off. Rotate the bottle. Good times.

Jesus with mustard and ketchup

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:38:18 GMT

Taking a break at Tina's Hot Dog Place on Montrose, I had a nativity in my hand freshly purchased for the second round of "Manger in an Alley" photos.

I couldn't resist photographing it on the table next to the ketchup and mustard. That's one of things about this photo series, that I was concerned about. Would my series be interpreted as being too disrepectful? Some people might have a problem with having the nativity on the dumpster. But really. Look at Christ's birth. It's very disturbing. God of the universe born. He doesn't come born to royalty. He's born to poor parents. He's not born in Jerusalem where all the high people are, but in lowly Bethlehem. Essentially Jesus was born in an alley.

So a nativity next to mustard and ketchup? I like to think of that as Christ as reaching out to the everyday person.

Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Luke 15:1-2)

---
More stories and personal interpretations will be featured on a special webpage. This photo will be included on that webpage. To be notified when these stories are released, you can:
* Subscribe via email at: spudart.org/emailupdates or
* Subscribe via twitter to the Spudart Headlines at: twitter.com/spudartlines

For now you can see Round 1 and Round 2 of the 2009 Manger in an alley.

Google Fast Flip is like a mashup of portals, webpages, and Google Reader

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:41:48 GMT

The Chicago Tribune and other top content providers are participating in Google's new online reader, the Google Fast Flip. Take a look at http://fastflip.googlelabs.com.

Here's my review:

I was leery as I read bout Fast Flip on Google's blog. But my first impression upon looking through the actual interface I REALLY REALLY like the idea. Why? Because it combines two different ways I personally read my regular websites. Here�s how I view websites:

1) Browser toolbar
I have folders in browser�s toolbar. One for each day of the week. So on Tuesday, I do a "open all in tabs" and it launches all my websites into separate tabs in one window. There might be like 25 websites. I let the websites load and then I simply browse through the websites tab by tab. There is no waiting for stuff to load. I just simply read and close tabs.

2) Google Reader
One thing about using method #1 is that I�m loading the same websites every day. Many of the sites don�t refresh their content every week, so I�m wasting my time closing a tab for a site that doesn�t update. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Google Reader. I�m absolutely convinced that EVERY PERSON who uses the internet to read content should use Google Reader. Seriously. It�s simply the best way to read content online. AND it syncs with the iPhone.
With Google Reader, when I look at an article, it automatically marks it as read, so I don�t have to look at it again. If I want to review the article later, I can either tag it or mark a star on it. I can organize the websites into folders.

Google Reader is just fantastic. I really don�t understand why more people don�t use it.

The only thing that stinks about Google Reader is that since it pulls content via RSS feeds. #1, the site has to have an RSS feed to read it in Google Reader. #2, since it�s an RSS feed, it�s JUST the articles. Which can be good. No distractions. But there�s something about reading an article on the actual website, with the branding. With the comments. With the other elements in a site that might point me to interesting things.

Here comes in Fast Flip.
It�s like Google Reader in a way, because it presents content on an article by article basis. And it allows you to see the article in the website format. It�s kinda like a merging of both my website reading methods. For those reasons, I love the idea.

The question is, would +I+ personally use it?
I don�t know. I love my Reader. I love my folders in my toolbar. The article thing. Is it clunky? Can I customize the websites I want to see? I don�t think I can tell it to put in my brother�s blog. They give preset categories. That I don�t like. I want +MY+ stuff. The Stuff +I�m+ interested in. So in a way, they take away a HUGE reason why I love Google Reader�being able to customize the experience to exactly my liking. What we are left with on Fast Flip is kinda like a 90s/early-00s style portal pages. Here�s a bunch of content. Let me dump all this content on you.

Summary:
I�m torn. I like the idea of merging a Google Reader-esque idea with the original webpage design. I don�t like the lack of customization of what I can view.

A live animal version of the Scoozie plush toy

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:30:28 GMT

(if you cannot view the above video, you can view it on my flickr account, "Talking ferret scoozie stuffed animal plush.")

Sometime during the late 90s, I bought this plush ferret from a grocery store. He has a voice box inside so when you squeeze him he can say nine amazing ferret phrases:

� "hehe-hooo"
� "schoozme"
� "rrrraaawwwwrrrr"
� "woooah... waaa... CHOO"
� "grrrooogrroooo"
� "ehehEH"
� "emmmmmm-MUAH hehe"
� "EH-OH WUKO-WUKO-WUKO-WIKKY-WIKKY-wikky"
� "eeeehhhhWAAAAAAA i wuhwuhWUH"

But now, there is a live animal version of my beloved speaking plush toy.

Roosevelt, originally uploaded by Sweet Pea Cattery.

I wonder if you squeeze him, if he'll make nine different sounds.

EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:13:20 GMT

For greater impact, instead of saying "!!!" use "EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT"

The "!!!" is way too short. But look at long and impactful spelling it out in words is. Man, that's just HUGE and forces you to take notice. Copywriters and ad writers worldwide, please take notice.

(ok, i just tweeted this and I don't tweet and blog the same things at the same time, but this is so golden, it's worth posting in both places. That's right! The blog posts on spudart.org and the spudart tweets are different. I don't repeat content. So subscribe NOW to the spudart tweets EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT)--with a sprinkle of BOLD BOLD BOLD.

Make a phrase into one word

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:09:48 GMT

Take a phrase like, "Whoa! Momma mia!" and make it into one word by deleting the spaces. You now have: "Whoamommamia!"

More trustworthy, Monday or Tuesday?

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:00:18 GMT

"Monday monday, can't trust that day" goes the song lyrics. But I trust Mondays more than Tuesdays. Tuesdays try to sneak in all sneaky-like. Mondays are pretty up-front with being a Monday. When Monday comes, Monday says, "YO, IT'S MONDAY GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OUTTA BED." But Tuesday is a little more sly. Tuesday doesn't even talk.

4 Reasons why Renegade Craft Fair is a great holiday show

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:00:35 GMT

Every Christmas season, Chicago's greatest hipster crafters get together and sell their ironic, cool, stylish wares. Here's a few reasons why Renegade puts on a great holiday show.

1. Great location
The Pulaski Park Fieldhouse is worth the trip alone. Both the first and second floor is open, allowing you to explore around the building.

2. Lots of vendors
The place was packed with vendors. Three rooms on the first floor. Three rooms on the second floor.

3. Packed with people
Ok, so at first it was a little frustrating having the main room being so crowded, you couldn't look at the vendors' stuff. But the rest of the rooms were a little more light. Actually, maybe it got a little more light on the crowds as I was there. I got there at about 3pm, and left about 5:15pm. So maybe a better time in the future would be to go at like 4pm. But still, it's so much fun when there's a bunch of people there. That's part of the fun seeing who's there and shopping. Seeing people's reactions.

4. Good wares
Normally I don't buy much at shows. I love to shop and I tend to be kinda frugal and shop around. But this year I bought three prints! I couldn't believe it. Normally when I see artwork, I just think, "oh i can make that at home. I'm not gonna bother buying it."

But I just fell in love with Clinton Portis' art prints (I bought all three). The textures and the drawing are taken to another level. I was very happy to only support this artist, and to also have his work to hang up as inspiration for my own work.

Hmmm, overall... I've been going to renegade every year since 2004 (yes! i'm bragging. haha!) and you'll find the typical stuff--screenprinted band posters, felt plush, ironic greeting cards, baby bibs with cartoon characters, etc. Which are all good. I like all those things. But it would be nice to see a little more variety.

However, there was one husband-wife artist team who did some interesting conceptualesque sort of work. Here's a couple neat examples from Sarah Belknap and Joseph Belknap's etsy shop: big forest painting (pattern) and glacier tree magnet. They were selling these mini cinder blocks made from wax. They were calling them Joseph Beuys blocks. And they were selling them for one dollar each! ONE BUCK!

So that's why the Renegade was cool.

Pulaski Park Fieldhouse is a wonder

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:02 GMT

A few blocks east of Chicago's hipster neighborhood lies the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse. The Renegade Craft Fair holiday show has been held in this wonderful building the past couple years. It's so much fun exploring all the rooms.

Imagine when it was built in 1912-1914, all the people the neighborhood got together and planned how this building was going to house all these community groups and activities. They would say things like, "ok, this really high-peaked room, that's where we'll have the barrel league come together and so they can talk about their barrels." and "oh, this main room with the stage, that's where we'll have our neighborhood trombone contests."

The place is a Chicago landmark! HOORAY! So now it will never get torn down. That makes me so happy. (well, "never" relatively, of course). From the Chicago landmarks page:

------------
"One of Chicago's most distinctive park buildings, this fieldhouse was designed to resemble a Central- or Eastern-European public hall and is noteworthy for its fine brickwork, half-timbering, and picturesque tower. It exemplifies the early 20th-century effort to create neighborhood parks filled with organized activities and programs for working-class Chicagoans."
------------

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 1.2345679 � 10-to-the-16th

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:00:20 GMT

Type an equation into Google's searchbar, and it will do the math for you. Sometimes I like to type in goofy equations like, "111,111,111 x 111,111,111" The result is rather striking.

Does anyone have any cool one-line math equations to put into Google?

Super-cool tech community in a cabin: Video interview with Leo Laporte of TWiT

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:00:45 GMT

Check out this super-cool hi-tech community in a cabin. Leo Laporte talks about:
* Keeping our open internet
* Net neutrality
* Starting your own business
* Bootstrapping
* Niche marketing
* Broadcasting
* Podcasts

If you like ANY of those topics, you'll like this video interview eGuiders did with TWiT's Leo Laporte.
(If you can't see the video player below, go to: http://bit.ly/techcabin

If you liked this video, please tweet this:
I like this super-cool tech community in a cabin http://bit.ly/techcabin RT:@spudart.

Make someone's name insane

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:00:09 GMT

Insert person's name into the word insane to call them insane.

spudart + insane = inspudane
matt + insane = inmattane

Dude, you are so inmoosane!

The key command to create lightning in your text

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:50:22 GMT

Would you like the ability to include some lightning bolts in your txts? Could your tweets use some extra magnificent flash? I would love to have a lightning bolt character. And you know what? Unicode has a lightning bolt! Here it is:

That's no lightning bolt! That's a confused arrow! What is unicode trying to pull over on us?

(A big thanks to Vera for discovering this. She was the genius who wanted to find a lightning bolt character. And she is the genius for finding it, but discovering that it's a lost arrow. Thank you Vera-the-Genius!)

What are you most passionate about?

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:05:42 GMT

Online personals have some interesting questions, especially eHarmony. They have 13 questions, and I've been meaning to share some of my responses, cuz there are some thought-provoking questions. I've posted the question What are the THREE things for which you are MOST thankful? Now here's another one:

What are you most passionate about?

Here's my answer:

================
I love to learn. (Reading books, going to museums, checking out new places, reading websites and blogs, playing new sports and games, attending architecture and art lectures. I'm curious. Curious about you. What do you like to learn about? I like picking up new interests and I'd like to learn more about you.)

I love encouraging other people, helping others is a passion.

I love God. All that He gives us is just so amazing.
================

What would your answer be?

Musical cars, measuring days, M&M's, etymology, and hot coals (My 5 favorite tweets from Oct/Nov 2009)

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:13:13 GMT

My top five favorite tweets I made in October and November 2009 via @spudart:

For one week I'd like each car on CTA trains to play a different genre of music. Just to see if people pick a particular car to sit in.
Sun Nov 29 16:32:40

I open Psalms up to a random page, the first verse I read is "what is the measure of my days" Rather fitting that today is my bday
Fri Nov 20 18:27:15

I want to pay for stuff with peanut M&M's
Mon Nov 16 08:18:04

I'd like to explore the etymology of the words enjoy and appreciate
Thu Oct 15 14:33:24

When I walk down the hallway at work with no shoes on, sometimes I like to pretend I'm walking on a bed of hot coals.
Tue Oct 06 20:39:35

If you like these tweets, read more @spudart on twitter.

Review of Chicago's DIY Trunk Show

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:00:55 GMT

Fun crafts! By cool hip people! The DIY Trunk show was held on November 21, 2009 in the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse. It was a nice show with good variety from lots of vendors. The location is in a great old multi-roomed building. Although the Renegade Craft Fair has their December show there, and it's much larger, filling up the second floor of rooms. The DIY was just on the first floor. But still, a good show.

The organizers sent out a survey asking people for feedback. The last question was a fun one to fill out. Here's my response:

Please provide any suggestions that you might have to help us make the DIY Trunk Show better:

I like cookies a lot. Like, a lot a lot. Um. Another venue would be nice to differentiate yourself from Renegade.

More monsters. More plants. More candy. More flashy lights. More trunks. Where are the trunks? Booze. Was there booze? Did I miss it? More music. Flowers. Somersaults. Ok. I now i'm getting off path. Somersaults. I mean, really. That's just silly. Somersaults. Sheesh. What we really need is... more cartwheels!

I did really like how you listed the vendor websites on your website. That was cool. I liked being able to browse through and see who was gonna be there. Oh this is spudart of spudart.org, btw. I like to stand by my comments and suggestions. HI!!! :)

Oh and luchador stuff. I would like to see more luchador merchandise. Seriously! I bought a crocheted luchador at Renegade and I love it very much. Luchadors rooooock!

I hope they implement some of my changes. Which ones do you think would be a good idea?

I like good people and happy art in Chicago.

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:50:35 GMT

PaperGirl had a nice post about her twitter usage, so I'm making one too. I've been tweeting for almost two years now as @spudart. My tweets tend to be about fun ideas and interesting observations. My most-used word is Chicago. So many fun things happening in Chicago, especially when I work at the Tribune Tower. Tribune is my 3rd most used word.

I also like to tweet about things I like. Hence, "like" appears as my second most-frequent word. I like Chicago.

"Good" ranks in at #4. I like good things in Chicago.
"People" at #4. I like good people in Chicago.
"Happy" at #7. I like good happy people in Chicago.
"Art" at #8. I like good people and happy art in Chicago.

Here's my frequency list:
118 CHICAGO
115 LIKE
48 TRIBUNE
47 GOOD
42 PEOPLE
37 TOWER
35 HAPPY
31 ART
31 TIME
31 IPHONE
30 LOVE
29 CTA
26 BUS
26 TEA
26 CHOCOLATE
24 FUN
24 WALGREENS
24 FUNNY
24 BACK
24 GREAT
23 TRAIN
23 COOL
23 PAPER
23 LOOKING
23 YEAR
I'm so happy that my most-used words are such fun words.

I used tweetake.com to download the complete archive of my tweets. Then the word counter gave me the numbers. Thanks guys!

Do you think the sentence should be:
I like happy people and good art in Chicago.
instead of
I like good people and happy art in Chicago.

How to cut a pizza in a fun way

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:13:26 GMT

One of the fun things about frozen pizzas is that you get to slice it in any way you choose. Want pie slices? No prob. Squares are your thing? Totally.

But the coolest thing of all is to do wacky cuts. Pictured above is a half of a pizza that I was planning on saving (so I don't eat the entire thing myself). But then I thought it would be fun to just cut out the center and eat the exact middle of the pizza. Then that looked like a sunset. I cut out some sun rays. I tell ya, eating a pizza sun ray is just really cool. Now looking back at this pizza, it looks like a rabbit.

Other fun cuts to do are:
* The spiral cut
* The totally random mis-shape cuts
* The wave
* The extremely thin long rectangle slices
* A regular pie cut, but instead of the epicenter being in the middle, move the epicenter to a point on the circumference

What are some fun cuts you have done or are thinking of doing?

Thanksgiving day has a new name: "Thank You Day"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:39:29 GMT

This year I'm going to call Thanksgiving to be "Thank You Day." The term thanksgiving often loses its meaning, because we don't think about word actually is: Thanks giving.

We are to give thanks. One method is to thank other people by simply saying, "thank you."

I realized this in a response I was writing to friend who wished me a happy thanksgiving in an email and I responded with the following:

Thanks for the thanksgiving wishes. Oh look! The thanking is already started. Thank you for starting the thank yous for the thank you day! I hope you have a happy thank you day as well.

Thank you for reading this post. And thank you to Lyle for inspiring this blog post.

I have a weird diet: Pineapple wine and Jalapeno-stuffed olives

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:31:17 GMT

My tummy hurts today. What could it be? Here's what I had today:

* Boing! Tamarind juice (I don't even know what a tamarind is)
* Jalapeno-stuffed olives
* Almond-stuffed olives
* Nutrition digestive health mix
* Coca-Cola from a glass bottle
* Silk chocolate soy milk
* Pineapple wine
* Cholesterol tea
* Chai tea
* Some weird european cookies
* Halva with pistachios (mediterranean sesame fudge--which isn't fudge at all, it's more like gritty dough mushed into a brick)
* Zone double chocolate energy bar
* Honey Bunches of Oats cereal

I have a weird diet. I ate all these things today. Which of these is making my tummy mad?

I like deep lakes and rivers

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:22:53 GMT

(polar bear cannonball anyone?)

The fact that rivers and lakes have a bottom oddly unsettles me. Is that strange? I want to be able to safely cannonball into the Chicago River from the Michigan Avenue bridge.

Third grade. Family trip to Canada. When my dad would drop the anchor in the lake for us to fish. I found it odd that the anchor would thud so close to our boat below. How can the lake be only nine feet deep? It's so wide. Would sort of bipedal creature living below reach up and grab our boat? That happens in Canada, y'know.

The same fear holds true for the Chicago River. The average depth of the Chicago River is ten feet. Does that bother anyone? I find it unsettling. I want that sucker deep. Like Lake Michigan, it averages a 279 foot depth. Ahhh, nice deep lake. I can safely cannonball into Lake Michigan.

Chicago giving more parking tickets: Good!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:32 GMT

I don't understand why people complain about the city giving more parking tickets. You park illegally, you get a ticket. Pretty simple.

That was something I tweeted recently. I got some interesting reactions:

aaa: @spudart I think the problem is how nit picky they become: almost vulture over meters.
supah: @spudart they're complaining about getting caught!
bearfanabs: @spudart because there are some loose interpretations of the laws and the burden to prove your innocence lies on you.

I feel rather strongly about that people should not be upset about getting a parking ticket, and especially a ticket by a camera if they go through a red light. It makes me think why I feel so strongly about this. I use the argument that it's the law and if people break it they should be fined. It makes sense.

But I'm not a big rules guy. I much more believe in grace and love.

Maybe I get riled up about people complaining about parking tickets, because I don't own a car. If you don't own a family and you live in the city, having a car is a luxury. Yes, there are exceptions, like those who have jobs in the burbs where there is no Metra. But for the most part, I think people way overuse their cars. It's simply a luxury item in my mind--for those who live in Chicago. If the city needs more money, then go ahead and fine more people for breaking the law. After all, if you park at a meter and don't pay, you are breaking the law.

Am I being a jerk for thinking this? Maybe. I should be more nice. But really. The laws are pretty simple. There are certain exceptions where the meter is broken. Most times people like to think that they are innocent, just because we like to think we are right. "By golly, I've always parked at this spot before and never got a ticket. And now that I got one, this isn't right." We get stuck in our mindsets about our behavior. But really, it's wrong.

Hmmm, there are some spiritual applications to this too. Maybe I do need to show more grace in this area.

Chicago Cubs Championship coins from 1907 and 1908

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:00:06 GMT

An eBay seller is trying to sell some "Chicago Cub Half Dollars from 1907 and 1908." Only thing is that they are not Chicago Cub Half Dollars. They are merely normal half dollars from 1907 and 1908--the years the Cubs won the World Series.

I sent a question to the seller, chicagosportsandmoresanto:

=================
The image on these coins look like a woman, and not a cub. Is this a cub dressed up as a woman? If so the cub is doing a good job with the costume, it totally looks like a woman. Wait. Why would a cub dress up as a woman? Wouldn't the cub dress up as a baseball player?
=================

I'm not sure that I'll get a response, since I didn't ask a direct question. But c'mon, someone had to say something to this seller.

Time shouts for joy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:04:21 GMT

After making the last blog post, "A humidifier with water fills my heart with joy," I was thinking that maybe it was too cheesey. But then the next day I across these verses in Psalms 65.

It's cool how even the hills have joy. The meadows and valleys shout and sing together with joy. Even "the going out of morning and evening" shout for joy. Even time itself shouts with joy. Which is interesting for a couple reasons:

1) Time can sing.
At first it sounds like such an abstract concept--time singing. But any song has time in it. In fact, you can't have song without time.

2) Time praises God.
Creation vs. Evolution. Creation is the mastermind by God's design. All things are thought out, all the animals. All the different plants. All carefully designed by one master supermind.

With evolution, every thing is made by accident. Over time things get deformed and accidentally changes into something else. Which sounds rather crazy--that we'd get human intelligence by accident. The only way evolutionists can explain this is by tacking on billions and billions of years. "Of course anything can happen over a billion years." People who believe in evolution worship time, not God. Time is their god.

It's amazing here that even time praises God. Time bows down to God. Time loves God. Time shouts for joy to God. The very thing that evolutionists believe in--time--is something that worships God. For that matter, the hills and the mountains sing for joy to God as well.

A humidifier with water fills my heart with joy

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:22 GMT

First sentence:
-- I'm happy in the morning when my humidifier still has water inside the tank.

It's funny how if the above sentence has slightly different meaning if the phrase "i'm happy" gets moved elsewhere in the sentence.

Second sentence:
-- In the morning it makes me happy when my humidifier still has water inside the tank.

The first sentence describes a situation that just makes me happy overall. It's a joy to see the humidifier with water. The second sentence starts to lean towards that yes, I'm happy when there's water, but it implies if there's no water, then I'm not happy. It's very subtle. But the voice is kinda there.

This is what I thought about yesterday morning when I was thinking about my humidifier makes me happy. I was phrasing it my mind and thought about how these two sentences are a little different.

Extra rooms discovered in your apartment

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:28:39 GMT

Do you ever dream that you discovered a new rooom in your house/apartment? I mean sleeping-dream about it. Sometimes I'll dream that there was this room all along in my apartment that I never knew about. I get so excited about how there's a new room. Yet it's also perplexing that I never knew the room was there.

The other night I took it up a notch and dreamed there was a whole lecture hall in my apartment building. (I'm in a 30-unit courtyard building). How cool would that be to have a lecture hall in your building?! You could have all sorts of clubs meet there. Or have a regular schedule of interesting people come and talk. That would rock.

H1N1: the secret agent of flus

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:49:15 GMT

I was at home sick all last week with some sort of flu. The doctor didn't know if it was the seasonal flu or the swine flu. He thought I had the seasonal flu, but H1N1 is so similar to seasonal flu in the symptoms, I could have possibly had H1N1. Who knows?

H1N1 is like the mystery flu! That's why H1N1 doesn't want to be simply called swine flu. That's too simpleton for this mystery flu. It wants a more secret agent sort of name like H1N1.

I had the secret agent flu last week. Only secret agents can get it. I am a secret agent. (by the way, I got my secret agent spy button from Joseph Conrad.)

My tissues go into the biohazard trash can

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:12:40 GMT

What did the doctor say to me on Monday regarding my potential H1N1 flu? Here's how it went down. My normal doctor couldn't see me for another couple days, and i wanted to know if I had H1N1 now. It's Monday and I got work to do. Am I deadly contagious? I set up an appointment to see another doctor I haven't met. I go over to the doctor's office to get my answer.

Maybe he'll be nice
I'm sitting in the super tiny room examining the cute cell poster on the corner wall. The poster is clearly drawn by a child for a science fair project, but it's also signed with the same name as this doctor. It's probably a poster he made when he was in grade school! That's neat. Maybe this doctor will be really nice.

The examination in the doorway
The doctor opens the door but stands in the doorway as he asks me several questions. "Have you been coughing and sneezing today? Do you have a fever today?" Both of which I answer, "no, not today." Still standing in the doorway he looks perplexed and says, "We have these blue charts on the door to warn us when someone might have a virus, I'm going to go wear a mask and come in an examine you. This is only for precaution." I told him, "Oh yeah, that's cool, masks are fun. If you have any extra, I'll wear one too--for double safety." I totally thought the doctor was going to do the full examination with him standing in the hallway with the door cracked open.

The mask
The doc comes back wearing a mask, but none for me. I think he left too soon to hear me say that I wanted one. He fully enters the room this time and sits in a chair in the opposite corner of the room. His mask looks like it's perfectly sealed onto his face. His eyes look very worried.

Seriously. I'm starting to think that I'm in an episode of 24, and I have the world's most deadly virus and I'm going to die in 24 hours--even though I feel fine, this doc is starting to creep me out a bit. We run down the normal list of symptoms. Then asks me to take off my shirt and he'll take my blood pressure. He does the standard leaving the room (to make the patient not feel like he's in a strip show), but honestly I think he left so he could get a breather from an oxygen tank.

Turning his face away everytime I speak
I sit on the paper couch shirtless, and am getting a bit cold (the chills are one of the symptoms). The doc finally returns after a while. I think he covered his entire body in anti-virus cream. As he's taking my blood pressure he has to get in closer, I start to tell some story and every time I speak he turns his head away! I mean, I understand he doesn't want to catch it, but it just seemed so socially unusual.

The biohazard trash can
As he's feeling my lungs as I deeply breath, I have to cough. He quickly hands me a tissue and I cough out a little loogie. He asks to see it, which is REALLY COOL. The fact that a someone--especially a doctor--wants to see my loogie. I dunno. It's neat. After quickly glancing at it, he determined, "Oh, that looks ok." Then I go to throw it away in the standard garbage can. OH NO! He told me to throw it away in the BIO-HAZARD MATERIAL TRASH CAN. I get a huge laugh out of this. Whoa! My tissues are so deadly contaminated, they have to go into a BIO HAZARD trash can. I gotta get me one of these! As I laugh, the doctor turns away his face.

Rivers flowing of hand sanitizer
Then he gets out the hand sanitizer. As much as I make fun of the doctor's attention to catching the virus, he is truly doing a fantastic job. His role is to make sure this thing doesn't spread. To that end, he's fulfilling his role perfectly. It was just funny how it seemed extreme to me. Even with the the hand sanitizer. When he pumps it out into my hands, he pumped out SOOOOO MUCH. I mean SRSLY. I know I'm a guy, so I don't use lotion all that much, but he really put so much sanitizer out, I could have done my hands and all of my arms! But hey, the man is being gracious. Very very gracious.

The diagnosis
At the end of it all, he gives the diagnosis. He says I probably have the seasonal flu. All the symptoms point to that. But the H1N1 virus often acts like the seasonal flu, so I might have that too. He tells if I live by myself or with anyone. I tell him I live alone. He said that I should avoid all human contact at least through Wednesday. If I did live with someone, I think he would have told me those people would have to live elsewhere for the time.

The virus is contagious from 12 hours before the symptoms show up and up to 7 days after the first symptoms. So for me that's Wednesday night. Today is Wednesday, so hopefully by tonight I'll be over the contagious period.

I get to skip checking out
The doctor departs, and so I go to check out at the desk. But nobody comes. I stand there for a few minutes wondering if I should be checking out if I'm so highly deadly super contagious, and maybe that's why nobody is coming to the desk. Eventually the doctor walks by--without a mask, how strange to see his mouth--and says nicely, "Matt, you can just go home." So I did. And I would try to keep a 28-foot distance between me and and people on the way home. (That's four arm-lengths, I walked around imagining four people with their arms out-stretched and tried to keep that distance).

The tricky part was the L ride home. I picked the car that had no babies and no elderly people. Thankfully the car was pretty empty.

Now where is my biohazard trash can?

The spooky stolen bike mystery on Halloween in Chicago

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:50 GMT

The following is what I submitted for the "Incident Description" field on chicago.stolenbike.org. They ask, "Describe in your own words what you think happened to your bike. Please include any important or unusual details that make your situation unique."

Was my thief in a halloween costume? Or perhaps a Halloween ghost?

I locked my bike in front of Chicago's second largest library figuring it would be safe with the constant car traffic and people that always sit in front of the library chilling out. Across the street in Welles Park is a group of older gentlemen who play bocce ball every weekend.

When I left Sulzer library and saw my bike missing, the couple people sitting outside said they didn't steal it. Then I saw my lock sitting on the ground. Cut. Either with a bolt cutter or a hacksaw.

Also, this happened on Halloween. In this neighborhood, all the kids do their trick or treating on Lincoln Avenue, so there were even more people walking around.

How can someone steal a bicycle with all these witnesses? My only guess is some sort of Halloween ghost. All in all this is shaping up to be like a game of Clue.
-- We know the location. The LIBRARY.
-- We know the weapon. The BOLTCUTTERS (or hacksaw).
-- We do not know the CRIMINAL. Who could have seen this? The pedestrians. The trick or treaters. The auto drivers. The library loungers. The bocce ball players.

This is a Halloween mystery that will haunt me for ages.

I tried to write this in a humourous way, because while it is a serious thing, it's also a rather funny story about how all these different things come together on Halloween. Who knows? Maybe the fact that it's funny might garner it more attention. The more eyeballs, the more likely the changes of the mystery being solved.

However, I do kinda regret saying that this mystery will haunt me. Because I do feel at peace with it. It's important to me that I am at peace with it, because:
A) It's just a material possession
B) Justice is in God's hands, not mine. I trust God.
C) I hope that someone else will be able to use and enjoy my bike

My bike is stolen and it's okay

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:22 GMT

It's Halloween. I'm at home feeling sick. Laying around was only making me feel more sick and I really wanted to be able to volunteer at the mens' shelter tonight, so I take a bike ride to get some fresh air. The ride through Winnemac Park was just beautiful with the autumn leaves.

I ride over to the nearby Sulzer Library to get some photo books as I'm thinking about reviving my photography by shooting again with my DSLR. I lock up my bike in front of the busy library. A couple hours later I come out and my bike is gone! I'm shocked. Plus I'm already a little dizzy and confused from feeling sick (side point: H1N1? Eep).

I look up and down the block, but I totally remember locking my bike to the bike rack. I tell one of the guys sitting in front of the library that my bike got stolen. He said, "I didn't steal it." Yeah, no duh. You are sitting here with no bicycle. Sheesh.

But then... then... there was my bike lock laying on the ground by the bike rack. Cut. They left the bike lock behind? What balls. In a way i was actually grateful, because it gave me real final evidence that my bike was stolen. It actually felt better to have that lock in my hand. Before i had nothing. At least now I have this final closure.

Then here's where a couple interesting things come into play.

A nice older biker guy pulls up to lock his bike among all the other bikes there, and i warn him. At this point I just really need to let out what happened. This fellow listens to me and is very understanding. He also lost a bike a couple years ago. He shares with me how it's hard to lose a bicycle, even if it wasn't worth that much. We talk for a bit and I thank him very much for helping me, that he was a Godsend. Literally. I often find when I'm in the dumps, that there's someone that comes along either a stranger or someone I know that brightens my day. Little did I know I would be getting both in this situation.

I walk (not bike) home. I thank God that at least this happened within walking distance of my apartment (just about five blocks). I'm getting hungry, for some odd reason I feel like Subway. There's all these nice food places on Lincoln Avenue, but I choose Subway. I walk in, get my meatball sub, and as I'm about to leave, who's outside the door? A friend I haven't seen in over a year! My friend who lived above me for six years.

It was really nice running into him. We eat our lunch together and he was also very consoling about my bike loss, and he also agreed with me that this is a good lesson to not hold onto things too tightly.

All-in-all with this bike loss, I'm happy God brought in two people right away to help me. Tomorrow is a blog post about my submission to chicago.stolenbike.org.

Every 8 years comes extremely bad design on the web

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:00:08 GMT

First Geocities. Eight years later MySpace. What will come next? I'm guessing around 2012 we'll have another attack of extremely poor design online.

But you still have to hand it to Geocities and MySpace. Despite their total ignorance of design, they did innovate new ways to publish on the web. Come 2012, we'll have another wave of web publishing innovation. Perhaps holograms or something. And they'll be continuous animation holograms of construction workers digging and sparkles. Lots and lots of sparkles. Holographic sparkles. I can't wait.

Etymology app for the iPhone

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:00:25 GMT

Etymology. There's no app for that.

Dear iPhone developers,
Please give the world an app for etymology.

Much love,
matt

Verizon is giving away Droid phones via the claw machine on Michigan Avenue in Chicago

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:10:02 GMT

(that is not me in the photo, but that is my bluetooth headset I won)

I won! I won!

Here�s how it happened.

Pre-game
I�m sitting at work in the Tribune Tower. Outside my window at 11am, I could hear a microphone with a guy talking, "Ok let�s start!" Verizon set up a claw machine in Pioneer Court outside the Tribune Tower. They are giving away phones!

A few hours pass, I go to lunch and walk by the setup and snapped this photo. I didn�t bother getting in line at the time.

I�m coming back to work from lunch with a meatball sandwich in one hand, and the Muppet Show comic book in the other. The line looked quite short and the game goes by pretty fast, so I figured what the heck. I�ll play just for the experience of it.

Each person gets two tries to aim the claw to pick up a round ball. This looks very easy as the round ball fits perfectly within the claw�s grips. It�s not like the tricky methods that all other claw games use. The heavy toy. The awkwardly sized toy. The toys jammed all together, so you can�t pick it up.

No.

These are just loose, light simple round plastic balls. In fact, they look like Pokemon balls. That made me giggle. Especially since when you successfully drop a ball into the bucket, the mohawk-wearing Verizon MC takes the ball out and hands it to a woman on the side. She then cracks open the Pokemon ball to pull out a piece of paper that tells you what you win. Super simple. Especially since I�m a claw game MASTER. (It's true, I've blogged about the claw game several times)

Standing in line
When I get in line, I look up at the Wrigley Building�s clock saying 2:00pm. I try to study what the best method is for securing a ball. But the goofy security guards standing there kinda blocked the view. The line moved really fast. I saw one of my coworkers in line and he was playing with his iPhone. I told him, "dude, you can�t be playing with that in line. This is verizon, man!"

While in line I was thinking about having the mohawk dude with the microphone yell out, "SHOUT-OUT TO 14TH FLOOR TRIBUNE TOWER!" When that short 15 minute wait was up, I was so excited to play the game, I dropped my meatball sandwich and Muppets comic book on the ground by the game and grabbed the joystick.

Playing the game
Ok, strategy time. Which ball? Following standard claw game strategy, you go for one on the top and close to the bucket. I eyed a nice ball over the wall, as the claw moved, it had a laser pointer. I yelled out "A LASER POINTER, NO WAY! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" Seriously. I do these things.

As I move the claw to the wall, and think, "WHAT AM I DOING? THIS IS THE WALL? YOU DON�T PICK UP A BALL BY THE GLASS." Thankfully the claw was multi-directional. That is you don�t get just two movements and that�s it. You can move it around as much as you want. I slide the claw over to another ball closer to the bucket and press the red button. The claw drops.

The claw squeezes.

The claw doesn�t pick up a ball. NO! What?!

I couldn�t believe it.

Thankfully each contestant gets two tries. I become more determined. A steely glaze comes across my eyes. I dance in front of the machine looking for the perfect ball. I hop over to the side of the machine in search of the perfect ball. I found it. Right by the bucket.

I say, "I�m getting that ball right there. Oh yeah."

The laser gets aimed right on top of the ball. Dead center. This is a winner. I drop the claw. A nervous chill covers my entire body as the claw is slightly off center. I exclaim, "ut oh. It�s a little off center."

The claw GRABS the ball. YES! YES! YES! But now the deadly carry-over. The claw carries the ball over. The machine is shaking. My heart is pounding. DON�T DROP THE BALL!

The claw finishes its trip over to the bucket and releases the ball. I WON! I WON! I turn to the crowd and yell, I win! I win! I think people are thinking I�m crazy, cuz nobody else was doing that.

As I bend down to pick up my meatball sandwich and Muppets comic book, the machine starts spitting out fog smoke, RIGHT WHERE MY SANDWICH IS SITTING. Literally. It was really crazy. It was like the machine was trying to cook my sandwich.

I walk over to the girl on the side to find out what I won. I was just happy enough to have gotten the ball. I didn�t really care what was inside the ball. She opens up the ball and says, "it�s a bluetooth." That�s cool! I yell out BLUETOOOOOOOOTH!

Post-game analysis
Oh man that was fun. They handed me my bluetooth, which funny enough, doesn�t work with my iPhone. But I�m happy, cuz I�m sure someone will be able to use it. Yeah, I could sell it on eBay, but meh. It came to me free, so I�ll be happy to give it to someone.

So now when I hear the mohawk guy outside my window, yell out, "We have a new winner! Another phone," I�m very happy. A couple times I have yelled out at work, "A new phone winner!" Now I�m trying to convince my coworkers to play the game. It�s so much fun, everyone should play!

Conversation starter about styrofoam

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:00:22 GMT

Yesterday we talked about how the word Styrofoam has origins in trees. I've put screenshots styrofoam's etymology on my iPhone, so it can be a conversation starter whenever someone is drinking out of a death cup.

Please feel free to put these screenshots on your phone and start a styrofoam discussion.

The word Styrofoam has origins in trees

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:58:40 GMT

What does styrofoam mean?
Styro. You'd think that's made up, right? Styrofoam is a trademark name by Dow Chemical Co. in 1950. It's based from the word polystyrene. (see polystyrene)

What does polystyrene mean?
Etymonline.com says:
1927, so called because it is a polymer of styrene (see styrene).

What does styrene mean?
In 1885, they thought it would be cool to name this hydrocarbon as Styrene, because the resin from Styrax trees have a little bit of this chemical. (see styrax)

Where does styrax come from?
It's greek for "shaft of a lance."

Next time you see someone killing our environment by using a styrofoam cup, you can let them know that the word styrofoam is based on the resin from styrax trees, but the styrofoam doesn't actually come from that resin. Instead it comes from the lovely petroleum industry.

By drinking from these cups, you actually are fullfulling the origin of the word styrax--and that's jabbing a shaft of a lance into your heart and into our planet.

If one thurses on Thursday, does one fry on Friday?

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:26:01 GMT

Days of the week as verbs.

Person 1: How are you?
Person 2: I'm frying. You?
Person 1: Yeah, it is very hot in this elevator. Tomorrow I'll be satting.
Person 2: Sweet, I love to relax and sat. On Sunday I'll be sunning.
Person 1: You know what's nice after a good sun? This Monday, I'm gonna be monning.
Person 2: Monning? Wow. That's a little TMI. Last Tuesday I did some tuesing.
Person 1: Tuessing. That's funny. This wednesday, i'm declaring my official love for coffee and wedding myself to a cup.
Person 2: Wow. I'm really thursy for a cup of coffee.

The 10 funniest balloon boy jokes on twitter

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:32:39 GMT

Twitter has some funny quips about balloon boy, you can read the best ones selected at twitter.com/balloonboytweet.

Here's my ten favorite jokes about balloon boy, Falcon Heene:

Is Balloon Boy the new King Of Pop?
The Balloon itself was cool though. Kind of made me hungry for Jiffy Pop popcorn.
Good news...Balloon Boy will be guest hosting Raw the week after next!
The Balloon boy story would be way cooler if he was over inflated like the blueberry girl from Willy Wonka
wish I went on a balloon ride today too... which is code for, wish I had hidden in the attic all day
Yo Balloon Boy...Imma let you finish, but Anne Frank had one of the best attic hiding spots of all time!
Balloon Boy hoax about as good as Terrell Owens trade rumors to Bears, just didn't have quite as much hot air.
Predicted Post headline: "Balloon Boy Gets Grounded"
Balloon Boy : World Champion, Hide-and-Seek 2009!
Now assembling my Halloween costume: Cardboard box? Check. Foil balloon? Check. Toy news helicopter? CHECK.

Over 40 more funny balloon boy tweets at twitter.com/balloonboytweet

Suggestions to Metra: blog links and conductor hats

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:57:36 GMT

The Metra train system in Chicago has a new website. It's pretty nice. They have individual pages for each station with a little bit of info on each station.

I wanted to take their idea a bit further and bring some community into their pages. Here's an email I sent to Metra:

=============
Dear Metra,
I love the new Metra site. I really like the new pages for each station. You know what would be really interesting? If you linked to riders blogs that use that station.

For instance. the Ravenswood station on the UP-N is my station. When you add my link, please point the URL to www.spudart.org. I love the Ravenswood station. To have my blog link on there would be an honor. I'm sure many of the other riders who use that station would think so as well.
=============

Oh and then I sent another email to them (using a different email address to disguise myself):

=============
Does your new site sell conductor hats? I'd like to have one. Thank you.
=============

Odd. I haven't heard responses from either message.

What are the THREE things for which you are MOST thankful?

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:51:48 GMT

eHarmony has 13 interesting questions for their online profiles. They are interesting not only for these profiles, but for conversation questions in general for everyone. I'm making these questions into a series of blog posts on spudart.org where I'll share my answer and ask people what their answer would be.

What are the three things for which you are most thankful?
Here's my answer:
1. God's grace given to everyone.
2. The inspiring personalities of the people in my life.
3. The ability for humans to perceive, create, and share.

I'm never a huge fan of questions that make you answer things like, "MOST." That's so definitive and... daunting. Are these the three things that I'm truly the most thankful for? I don't really know, but they are up there. However, this is a very interesting question. I guess if you phrased it, "What are three things you are thankful for?", then people would put stuff like, "oh i'm thankful for chocolate and coffee. The "MOST" part does make you think a bit.

What would your answers be?

2,500 different artists

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:25:18 GMT

Since joining last.fm a couple years ago, I've listened to 2,500 different artists. Cool! (That's out 12,687 plays). I highly recommend last.fm. It's free. You can type in artist or a tag, and it will play related music. It's a great way to discover music. Plus you get super cool stats about what you listen to the most. (It syncs up with your iTunes). If you join, please let me know. I would like to friend you on last.fm. (I'm user spudart)

My 2,500th artist played is Lee Morgan. I found him by playing the Miles Davis radio. Below is a screenshot from part of Lee Morgan's last.fm page.

Button recommendations for my Converse-style shoes

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:23:54 GMT

These shoes need a cool little one-inch button. Please recommend a URL to an image that would be cool for a button for my shoes. I have a button maker, so I can take any image off the web and make it into a button.

I will take all suggestions (within reason) and make a button out of it and wear it on my shoes. I'll take a photo and post it online.

What's your idea? In the comments please leave a link to an online image that I can use.

Happy 10/10/09--a near perfect 10 day

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:49:31 GMT

I feel like we are in the wrong year. Today is 10/10/09. Although it is rather comforting that we aren't living THE perfect 10 day. We have some wiggle room for imperfection.

By the way, this is my 2,000th blog post. I was gonna take a photo of 2,000 pennies (much like when I photographed 1,500 pennies), but I'll save the 2,000 penny photo for another post. I'm getting back into the rhythm of posting every weekday. Spudart.org is back!

The vast sum of God's many thoughts

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:18:03 GMT

I've been sitting on writing blog post #1,999 for the past week. I wanted to write something introspective about my blog. The timing was pretty funny, because my church (Park Community Church) is doing a series called Pursue. Last week's study a relevant verse came along from Psalm 139:17-18 about counting thoughts.

I'll let you read straight from the my notes in the bible study below. If this image is too small, there's a larger one on my flickr.

My notes continue onto the next page with some things I would like to do more with my blog. You can also see a larger version of the image below.

Spudart blog is 8 years old today

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:11:30 GMT

Eight years ago today I wrote my first blog post, titled "Long live long tables." Since then I have written 1,998 blog posts (including this one), and have had 17,939 comments. Wow. All over eight years.

I bought 14 robot drawings for $1.19, plus $0.50 shipping

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:17:44 GMT

Etsy seller robotcamp was selling 14 drawings of robots for the low low price of $1.19. How can anyone resist? Apparently the 91 people who viewed that auction could resist. I, however, could not resist.

Here's a screenshot of the order form:

( side note: Shout-out to Tom for subscribing to my RSS feed. If you subscribe to my RSS feed in Google Reader, let me know and I'll feature YOU in a shout-out like this one.)

Overheard in a Tribune elevator

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:00:32 GMT

While waiting to board an elevator in the Tribune Tower, a fella was walking out and saying to the people around him, "I like to read the WHOLE paper, but y'know, you can't get that feeling with the web."

As an employee of Tribune Company, let me say that I don't know who this person is walking out the elevator. For all I know he could have been a visitor. In fact, he looked a little lost upon exiting the elevator. His words are not representative for Tribune. But they do bring up an interesting point.

He makes a good point that, yes, it is nice to flip through the newspaper as a package. Yes, it is a nice feeling to have completed looking through a whole newspaper. BUT. BUT. You can get that same feeling with subscribing to a website's RSS feed and reading that on Google Reader. You have a set package of stories you can flip through. It's a nice feeling to have that story counter on Google Reader go down to zero and complete browsing through the stories for that moment.

I tell you. Google Reader is still an immensely under-used product with the general public.

Wish your co-workers a Happy weekstart

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:21:52 GMT

"Have a good weekend!" Co-workers wish each other this all the time. How about when you get back to work? I'm gonna start saying "Happy weekstart!"

Win trophies by playing MLB's Beat the Streak

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:22:26 GMT

Not only can you win $1,000,000 if you pick a player for 56 consecutive days that gets a hit, but you also get virtual trophies. MLB.com has a trophy room for your accomplishments in Beat the Streak. I won trophies for getting over 100 hits this season, for getting a 10+ streak, and for hitting over .300 in one month. Oh yeah.

These trophies are soooo cool, I printed them out and hung them up at work. Mr. T loves 'em. There's still time left in the season to beat my longest streak of 10 games and win twenty bucks! More information at Play "Beat the Streak" on mlb.com and you could win $20 in 2009.

The six things I could never do without

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:45:57 GMT

Okcupid asks for "The six things I could never do without." Here's my first draft at this list:
Observations, words, people, paper, grace, sleep

What's yours?

Be an Origami McGyver: A sheet of paper can solve any of your problems

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:27:55 GMT

Got a load of blueberries you need to carry? Whip out a sheet of paper and make an origami box. Be an Origami McGyver and tranform that stack of paper into whatever you need at the moment. Need a garbage bin? +wah-tish+ Instant garbage bin.

Forgot your anniversary? Don't worry. Create some origami flowers. A mugger asking for all the money in your wallet? Hand it to him--ninja star style right in the juglar.

Loud neighbors in the alley? Teach them a lesson with a legion of origami water bombs. Need an X-wing fighter? The Death Star never stood a chance against your mad origami skillz.

Subaru Legacy 2010 loves gas

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:51:05 GMT

Put your hand on the love-o-meter and see if you love the 2010 Subaru Legacy.

This car is parked in Chicago's Pioneer Court outside the Tribune Tower. It's rather odd that the love-o-meter sensor is right by the gas tank. It's sort of like putting your hand on the car to pledge your allegiance to gas.

Fun story about 09/09/09 at 9:09am

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:09:46 GMT

Chapter 1:
It's 09/09/09! I wanted to get a receipt from Dunkin Donuts with the timestamp of 9:09am, but I wake up too late to get to the downtown Dunkin Donuts in time. Instead I figure it would be fun to txt my number-lovin buddy, Tom.

While riding the red line CTA train I compose a txt message at 9:07am and wait for the clock to tick to 9:09am.

THEN just before I hit "send," a message comes from Tom wishing me a happy 09:09 09/09/09. We are such number dorks. Can you believe we both sent each other a txt message at the same time about this? Funny.

Chapter 2:
Another interesting twist to this story is that about 15 minutes before it turned 9:09am, I was thinking it would be fun to tell whomever I was sitting next to on the train that it's 9:09am.

I step onto the train at 9:03am and survey the open seats to see who would be a good recipient of such information. There is only one seat open next to this fellow in a suit. I believe he is from India, perhaps? A quick glance at the book he is reading looks like a law book. He seems kinda serious. Underlining parts in the book. Well, maybe he'd like a break in his study when the 9:09am hits.

I was getting nervous about telling him about 9:09am. Will I tell him? I want to, but ohhhh.

As I sit there waiting to send the txt, and then Tom's txt comes in. I laugh. He looks over. Perfect lead-in. I tell my law-reading train neighbor that it's 9:09 on 09/09/09 and how I'm about to send my friend a txt about it, and then he sends me one. He found it humorous. He continues reading his book, and I get out mine.

I glance over at his book and it's some book about Buddhism and law. Ohhh, so it wasn't some lawyer book. Interesting, because the book I was reading was "Way of Wisdom" (a Christian book by James MacDonald). Side-by-side on the train is a guy reading a Christian book and a guy reading a Buddhist book. That was neat.

Oprah group dance on Michigan Avenue has inspiration in previous YouTube viral video

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:08:10 GMT

The crowd at the Oprah taping in Chicago did a special dance to the Black-Eyed Peas live performance of the song, "I Gotta Feeling."

Here's my video of the choreographed dance recorded from the Tribune Tower's 14th floor.

As the crowd was doing this dance to "It's gonna be", it struck me how similar it is to video that went viral a few months ago, "Sasquatch music festival 2009 - Guy starts dance party." In this video one guy is dancing and then eventually a few people join, then the whole crowd joins. I love this video for its spontaneity and fun. Makes you wonder if the choreographers found inspiration in this video and applied the same idea to their dance.

Youtube user awayaday recorded a video that gives insight into the complexity of the choreography behind the dance at the Oprah show.

"There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them." ~Vicki Baum
(for more dance quotes check out QUOTES: dance-dance-a-dancey-dance-dance!)

A funny Art Institute flickr photo

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:00:19 GMT

My brother and I have commented so much on a particular photo on the Art Institute's flickr account, that it is now their #1 most popular photo.

I encourage you to leave a fun comment on this photo of people in skinny jeans standing around the free candy pile of artwork by F�lix Gonz�lez-Torres.

FUN IDEA: Throw candy at your coworkers

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:01:13 GMT

I often throw crumble up paper and throw snowballs at my coworkers. Next time I will use Fun Size Snickers.

The best 63 worm art and photos

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00:20 GMT

A friend of mine is ordering a pound of worms for a worm bin. A pound of worms are available in the mail! Worms traveling through the mail. It�s like they are worming their way through. What a delight!

Also the idea of a POUND of worms is interesting. We normally don�t think of worms having any weight. They are just worms. Worms are worms. They don�t weight anything, right? But a pound of them! A pound of wiggly jiggling swerming dirt-loving joy.

I like worms. Here are 36 photos, illustrations, drawings, artwork of worms from flickr:

And 27 worm illustrations from threadless.com:

Airborne, self-preservation, socks, snowballs, foggy (my 5 favorite tweets in August 2009)

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:00:59 GMT

My top five favorite tweets I made in August 2009 with @spudart:

Wanna see something really exciting? Put an Airborne tablet into near-boiling water.
August 27

RT @jburno "The sin of self-preservation is keeping us from intimacy in our families and our churches" - @jrkerr in @parkchurch
1:36 PM Aug 25

I hereby declare that for the rest of my life I will never buy normal socks ever again.
6:37 PM Aug 14

I just realized that crumbled-up paper makes good snowballs in summer. Office snowball fight!
5:23 PM Aug 5

@VivaSpyGirl GREAT IDEA! Drawing on foggy frozen-food doors! This'll continue the foggy series from the bus http://tr.im/foggy
12:31 PM Aug 4th

If you like these tweets, read more @spudart on twitter.

This is such a pretty plant

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:58:28 GMT

Isn't it pretty? (not my plant, this is a photo on wikipedia)

We need more mens' colors for reusable bags

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:16:12 GMT

Reusable bags are great. No wasted plastic. Reusable bags last. They have a little bit of style. BUT. As a man, I have a hard time finding reusable bags with a color that is not girly. There's lots of reds, blues, oranges, yellows, purples, magentas, violets. C'mon.

You might ask, what about black? Black looks like a garbage bag. Hello. I don't want to walk around public with a garbage bag.

I like a simple green (environmental color!) or a medium gray. chicobag offers a nice moss green--although it's a little bit satiny. But I own about six and I use them ALL the time.

And now resuable bags offers their ACME bag in charcoal gray. I'm gonna give that a shot.

How much cholesterol is in the KFC Double Down Sandwich?

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:54:53 GMT

KFC has a new sandwich where instead of bread for the buns, it has chicken patties:

A fried chicken patty
2 slices of cheese
2 slices of bacon
and another fried chicken patty.

Curious about the nutrition is for this monster, I went onto the KFC website. But as of August 25, 2009; the nutrition info for the Doubledown Sandwich not listed on their website. The most recent update to their nutrition guide is labeled from April 2009: "kfc_nutrition_april09.pdf." Shouldn't it be illegal for a restaurant with over X-number locations to not list the nutrition of all their food? How can KFC can put out a sandwich without making available the facts that will inform people how dangerous it can be?

The Huffington Post reports:

The Vancouver Sun has done an independent calorie analysis for the "Double Down" and has concluded the "sandwich" likely has 1228 calories.

But if our figures hold true, and KFC won't confirm they don't, the Double Down is more caloriffic than the Wendy's Triple with Everything and Cheese (1700 mg sodium, 960 calories, 26 gms of fat), the Burger King Stacker Quad (1770 sodium, 1020 calories, 69 gms of fat), and compares closely to the fat, salt and calorie totals of three McDonalds Big Macs put together (3060 sodium, 1620 calories, 87 gms fat).

Thank goodness for newspapers getting the facts. What will we do without our newspapers? SRSLY. THREE BIG MACS? Wow. I wonder how much cholesterol it has. I sent KFC an email.

The many plazas of Millennium Park in Chicago

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:47:15 GMT

Meet at the Plaza in Millennium Park. Where is "the plaza?" Millennium Park is home to the following plaza with the following names:
��AT&T Plaza
��Ameritech Plaza
� SBC Plaza
� McCormick Tribune Plaza
� Plaza at Park Grill
� Park Grill Plaza
and Daley Bicentennial Plaza across the street.

Which of these is "The Plaza?"
Answer: It's "The Plaza at Park Grill."
Yup.

Here's a diagram explaining all the plazas in Millennium Park.

Next time I go to Millennium Park, I'm gonna bring some chalk with me and create Maldre Plaza. Location to be determined. Perhaps I'll blog about it. Stay tuned.

Grapes and grape tomatoes do not go together

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:16:04 GMT

Grapes. Grape tomatoes. They should go together, right? Both are cute sizes. Both are great to pop in your mouth. One is sweet, the other acidic. Both are pretty colors.

I just ate some grapes and followed it with a few grape tomatoes. Now my stomach is mad. WARNING: Do NOT eat grapes with grape tomatoes.

Two Powermac G3 Towers combined into a supercomputer

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:05:59 GMT

My brother owns a blue and white PowerMac G3. I own the same computer. This model is basically useless now. Mine sits in my closet. Erik's sits in his basement (which is basically a big closet).

It would be great if we could combine these two computers together to form a supercomputer. Kinda like how the Constructicons merge together to form Devastator. In all reality, it would really end up more like Bruticus Maximus.

August book selections from Museum of Contemporary Art

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:00:09 GMT

Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art has a fantastic selection in their book store. Going to their bookstore is just as fun as seeing their galleries. Here's six books that stood out on my recent visit.

Amazon.com Widgets

For those who can't view the above Amazon widget, here's the list of books:

What if we talked in only two-letter words?

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:00:14 GMT

yikesmoose: eh?
spudart: nm
spudart: what if we spoke in all two letter words?
spudart: wh if we sp in al tw le wo

Faceback, Facebank, Facebark... oh wait FaceBOOK

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:16:50 GMT

Here's a funny domain swiping technique. I was wondering if faceback.com was taken (a play on facebook). But it is. What about other domains where you take the second word and keep the first and last letter?

Available:
facebask.com
facebaulk.com

The ones that are taken, sadly nobody is doing anything interesting with them:
facebeck.com: Redirects to domain name reservation site.
faceberk.com: Redirects to facebook.com
faceback.com: Nothing
facebalk.com: Nothing
faceball.com: Nothing
facebank.com: Really nothing. Blank screen.
facebark.com: Nothing
facebask.com: Nothing

Who's gonna take facebask.com and do something with it?

An INTJ changes into an INFP... maybe

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:50:19 GMT

UPDATE: Several people have found the Facebook version of the Myers-Briggs test to be inaccurate. Please read the following with a grain of salt. If you want to take a REAL Myers-Briggs test, head over to www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp. I've taken many Myers-Briggs tests, and I found this one to be the most accurate.
===================================

Me a INFP? No way. The Myers-Briggs Personality Test on Facebook is trying to claim I'm an INFP. (I took another test this week that also said I'm an INFP). The past four years I've taken many of these Myer-Briggs personality tests and have always come up with INTJ. Here's the details of INTJ:

INTJ Strengths
* Not threatened by conflict or criticism
* Usually self-confident
* Take their relationships and commitments seriously
* Generally extremely intelligent and capable
* Able to leave a relationship which should be ended, although they may dwell on it in their minds for awhile afterwards
* Interested in "optimizing" their relationships
* Good listeners

INTJ Weaknesses
* Not naturally in tune with others feelings; may be insensitive at times
* May tend to respond to conflict with logic and reason, rather than the desired emotional support
* Not naturally good at expressing feelings and affections
* Tendency to believe that they're always right
* Tendency to be unwilling or unable to accept blame
* Their constant quest to improve everything may be taxing on relationships
* Tend to hold back part of themselves

And now Facebook is telling me I'm an INFP. The bullet points on INFP from personalitypage.com:

INFP Strengths
* Warmly concerned and caring towards others
* Sensitive and perceptive about what others are feeling
* Loyal and committed - they want lifelong relationships
* Deep capacity for love and caring
* Driven to meet other's needs
* Strive for "win-win" situations
* Nurturing, supportive and encouraging
* Likely to recognize and appreciate other's need for space
* Able to express themselves well
* Flexible and diverse

INFP Weaknesses
* May tend to be shy and reserved
* Don't like to have their "space" invaded
* Extreme dislike of conflict
* Extreme dislike of criticism
* Strong need to receive praise and positive affirmation
* May react very emotionally to stressful situations
* Have difficulty leaving a bad relationship
* Have difficulty scolding or punishing others
* Tend to be reserved about expressing their feelings
* Perfectionistic tendancies may cause them to not give themselves enough credit
* Tendency to blame themselves for problems, and hold everything on their own shoulders

Interesting that twice this week tests have claimed I'm an INFP. Well, if it's true, I guess that's good, cuz it shows that I'm growing as a person. Not that INFP is better, but it's good have some indications of change within yourself. INTJ tends to be a rather cold personality type, whereas INFP is more friendly. I still see myself as an INTJ, but I've always thought I was a more positive and friendly INTJ.

If you take the Myers-Briggs Personality Test on Facebook, please let me know what results you get.

Full moon? Nope. The full sun is makes me crazy.

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:52:16 GMT

The full moon makes people crazy? But what about when the moon isn't out yet? The sun is out now. That's what makes people crazy during the day. The full sun. Wait. The sun is full all the time? Oh crap. We're screwed.

Where the word "THOUSANDS" originated

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:11:10 GMT

Without looking at the dictionary, I think the origin of the word "thousands" is when someone said, "Thou give me as many cookies as there are grains of sand." Eventually it got shortened down to thousands.

Willis Tower: The new Slip-n-Slide Central

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:54:33 GMT

I'd really like a four-mile long Slip-n-Slide to work. However Chicago has no hills to create Slip-n-Slides, so let's leverage the height of the great Chicago skyscrapers. All Slip-n-Slides can start from the Sears Tower (oops I mean, Willis Tower). The Slip-n-Slides will fan out to all different sections of the city. The farthest distances would start from the very top floor of the tower. And shorter distances would start from floors beneath. That would make Willis Tower the central hub of Slip-n-Slide mass transit in Chicago.

I am excited that this Monday has uttered such sheer brilliance.

Spudart in social media

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:33:14 GMT

A new social media bar appears on spudart.org featuring many of the social media places that I participate in.

Please feel free to connect with me via any of these social media:

NEW WORD: alongwhile

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:56:16 GMT

alongwhile

def: When awhile takes a long while
example: I have some instant iced tea stuff in my drawer. I haven't used it in alongwhile.

this isn't in urbandictionary.com yet, but don't worry, it will be soon. I just submitted it. Hopefully, it won't take alongwhile.

I just spilled water all over my laptop!

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:49:18 GMT

Water spills all over the keyboard on my laptop at work. YEEEEEP!

What's the best thing to do when you spill water on your laptop? Thankfully one of my coworkers told me to turn off the computer, take out the battery, and unplug it. Let it sit overnight and dry out.

It may be tempting to turn the computer back on to see if it works. But patience is the rule here. I came back into work the next day and saw the above photo. It looked like my computer was some sort of bug that turned upside down and died. (Memories of my poor pet frog in 8th grade...)

But this computer didn't die. It's alive! Phew. In fact, maybe it might start growing some plants from the keys now that it has some water.

Water pipe construction crew has great timing

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:07:19 GMT

Funny thing happened this morning. There's a sign on the main door to my apartment building saying that the water today would be turned off today from 8am to 4pm.

I was all ready for work, except I didn't put anything in my hair yet. I looked over at my clock and it said 8:10am. Just for kicks I tried turning on the water, sure enough, it actually turned on. Smirking to myself, "ha! isn't that funny how things don't actually work on a tight schedule."

I went ahead and put some gel on my hands to put into my hair. I go to wash my hands and the water is turned off! It was 8:12am. What timing! Thankfully, I had a couple bottles of water next to me just in case. But still. How about that? 8:10am water on. 8:12am water off. Haha.

IDEA: Use a frame to make anything into art

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:09:47 GMT

Hang up frames on various things in the public, and call it art. A crack on the wall in a train station. A tree trunk in Pioneer Court. All art. Print out captions with title and your name. Post the caption next to the frame.

Leave some frames laying around, encouraging people to put the frame on something they find, making it art.

Thanks to Kathryn Born for writing, "Response to Response" on artslant.com which provided the inspiration for this idea.

"The paperclip slipped onto paper is not art. Hang it on a spot on a white wall in the Whitney, then it's art. All art needs a frame, no matter how conceptual - it requires a boundary declaring the limits of the artwork. Without a frame, it's not art."

NEW WORD: OTR

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:38:12 GMT

photo courtesy dancoulter via creative commons license

I just submitted a new definition to urbandictionary.com for OTR:

Over Thecounter Robot. When someone starts a chat with you and it says, "Encrypted OTR chat initiated." It doesn't really mean "off the record." It means "Over Thecounter Robot," because Gregor the Xtreme is now encrypting the chat for you with his great power and abilities to confound others. He has the ability to speak Navaho Indian. And he thus translates your chat to Navaho-ese. It goes something like this. You say, "hi, how are you?" Gregor translates that to "Hi-o, how-o are-o you-o?" and thus confuses and Russians listening in.

When the entry is approved and published on the urbandictionary.com, I will post a comment in the comments on spudart.org

IDEA: One poetry line a day from a twitter account

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:19:23 GMT

A friend recently posted on her facebook status, "Goodnight moon... please children, scootch closer." That's really neat. I like thoughtful, short, simple poetic quotes.

It would be cool if there was a twitter account that posted just one interesting poetic quote a day. A quick search didn't yield anything. Closest thing I found was @aworldclasspoet tweets a couple times a day with twitter poems under the hashtag #twitpoem. Although I have to admit, I don't like the slashes in his tweets to indicate line breaks. It forces a structure onto twitter that is kinda awkward.

A nice simple thoughtful poetic tweet once a day would be refreshing. If you find anything like this, please leave a link in the comments.

Do you really want to use a double question mark??

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:11:03 GMT

Need to spice up your question? Try using two question marks back-to-back. Papergirl covers the double question mark issue with her blog post "Questionable Punctuation." She totally hits the nail on the head with the tone differences between using one question mark versus two. Really. Read the blog post.

The thing I have to contribute is what happens when you use nine question marks? Oh, you can read the comments on that blog post to find out.

IDEA: How to decide what to have for lunch

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:00:40 GMT

I often wonder what I should have for lunch. Sometimes I ask people what they had and then I'll have the same thing.

There should be a website where you can look up what people are having for lunch today, and use that as inspiration for what you have for lunch. And you could look up people in your area, so the timing is closer and the food is more in season with your location.

Oh wait. twitter search can do that. Do a search for: near:chicago within:15mi lunch. But it would be cool if there was a tool where you could see what the most popular words are for this search.

It would work like this.
1. Go to website for "What should I have for lunch?"
2. Enter your city.
3. It gives you the most popular words for the past 24 hours with tweets that are about lunch. With results like:
--Pizza (6)
--Hot dog (4)
--Subway (2)
--Taco Bell (1)
4. I'm sure things like Pizza would be near the top every day. To mix things up, this website would have a "Spin the wheel" with a pie chart wheel containing all the options. The options with more results like pizza (6) would have a larger spot on the wheel. How fun would that be?!
5. Then there could be an easy link to tweet the results. Something like "What should I have for lunch told me to have a hot dog today!"

Autograph collection of regular people

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:29:09 GMT

If I was a celebrity and people asked for my autograph, I'd give it and always ask the person for their autograph too. Wouldn't that be fun to make a collection of people's autographs? I think so.

IDEA: Topps master baseball card set for every single player ever

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:52:32 GMT

The first year card for a baseball player tends to be his most valuable. But you have barely any stats on that card. What's the fun in that? Oh yay. One season of stats. That says barely anything. But the last year card of a player. Now THAT has the entire career stats of a player. That is cool.

Collecting cards in 5th grade I appreciated getting the cards of veterans, because you can see all these stats. Forget rookie cards, last-year cards should be most valuable.

Oh now here's an idea. Topps should release one master set of every single player who ever played baseball. There would be one major release of this set. And then every year Topps issues an update to the set with the retired players. Imagine that. When a player who is a clear future Hall of Famer retires, that will be his one ULTIMATE card with ALL his stats. Everyone will debate what photo best encapsulates the player's persona and career. Just like the debates over which hat does a Hall of Famer wear on his plaque, you'd have that for every single player who ever played. Everyone loves a good debate. Topps could even build on that debate and make a community website where people can leave comments about the player and his ULTIMATE career card.

That's the name of it. The career card.

Ask MLB.com to sell buttons for the "Final Vote" All-Star Game

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:00:30 GMT

.

I encourage everyone to write MLB.com customer service:

There's a graphic on the homepage of mlb.com for the All-Star Game Final Vote. It features buttons of 10 final players on the voting card. The graphics on these buttons are fantastic. You should sell these buttons. I bet people would love to collect them as they are an interesting part of baseball history.

Getting a receipt with the timestamp 12:34:56 07/08/09 for 123456789 day

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:08:32 GMT

Happy 123456789 day! In honor of this great day, I tried to get a receipt with this historic timestamp. Here's the adventure tweeted live at @spudart on twitter

10:17:58 07/08/09
I'm gonna buy a donut at Dunkin Donuts today and try to time it so my receipt says 04:05:06 07/08/09. Their receipts do include seconds.

11:23:41 07/08/09
Oh wait. First I'm gonna try to get a Dunkin Donuts receipt at 12:34:56 7/8/09, then i'll try elsewhere for 04:05:06

12:29:44 07/08/09
Last minute change in receipt adventure--realized Michigan ave dunkin donuts will be crowded with slow tourists. Goin 2 trump tower DD

12:33:05 07/08/09
It's 12:30 and I'm waiting outside trump tower dunkin donuts for it to be 12:34 http://yfrog.com/7gt5uj

12:36:39 07/08/09
Asked cashier what time their register says. It's nine minutes slow. She finds this quest funny, I have a new ally in this adventure

12:38:22 07/08/09
I'm finding it odd that I'm tweeting about a time that has now passed which I'm still waiting to happen.

12:40:21 07/08/09
Suspiciously looking at anyone walking by, hoping they don't ruin the timing of this quest. DO NOT ENTER THIS DUNKIN DONUTS! eep.

12:43:27 07/08/09
Holding my breath, here we go!

12:44:27 07/08/09
Cashier was great! She waited and watched the time on her register with me. Final result...

12:47:30 07/08/09
12:34:42 7/8/09 so close! :) http://yfrog.com/0v7jlj

1:19:06 07/08/09
Oh, btw. Dunkin Donuts was intentional, because the round chocolate donut is the zero in the number sequence. ;)

4:38:49 07/08/09
Tried to get a 04:05:06 07/08/09 receipt, but discovered McDonalds uses Army time with no seconds. I got 16:01 07/09/09 :-

4:52:04 07/08/09
Oh crud. Just realized that people are using the hashtag #123456789 for the sequential number day. Me too! Look at my live-tweets today!

How different generations react to Michael Jackson's death

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:00:08 GMT

It's interesting to hear some younger people complain about hearing so much about Michael Jackson the past few weeks. (to be fair, I also hear it from older people too, but bear with me for a second). I don't mind the Michael Jackson stuff. Then again, I don't really turn on the TV all that much. But anyways.

It's interesting to see how the different generations react. I grew up with the Michael Jackson of Thriller. I remember in third grade doing the moonwalk. And then you have all the other Michael Jackson after that, which I pretty much ignored.

The younger generation really only knows the stuff AFTER what made him so huge. Granted, they can listen to his older music, but they grew up with the Michael Jackson who hung babies out windows and was accused (over a long period of time) of molesting children. Yes, he wasn't convicted, so we try to overlook those charges. But still. That's image of Michael Jackson they grew up with.

The older generation of 40+ REALLY miss him, because they grew up with him as the image of a cute little kid. Then they saw him hit it HUGE with Thriller and such. They basically knew him and saw him grow for 20-plus years.

Those who get weary of all the Jackson praise, just have some patience, and give the man his due (just don't go out worshiping the man though--which it seems some have done). Maybe some people have little patience for all this coverage, because of his strange image he's had the past 15 years. But we are all strange in our own ways (some more than others), but just remember to always give love.

Do the Chicago Cubs deserve an All-Star?

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:41:12 GMT

Even as a big Cubs fan, I'm glad only one Cub made it to the All-Star team. I'd even be happy having no Cubs on the team this year. If your team sucks, you don't deserve to have an All-Star. Ted Lilly is the Cubs All-Star this year. He's not even really an All-Star. He's a Half-Star.

Major League Baseball should eliminate the rule that every team should have a player on the All-Star team. Here's a question I'd like people to answer: Do you know someone that would be upset that his/her team does not have a player on the All-Star team?

What are the odds of finding a four-leaf clover?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:49:58 GMT

A few years ago I was walking up the sidewalk to my parents' house, and there was one clover growing out of a sidewalk crack. That one clover just happened to be a four-leaf clover! Since then I always look at batches of four-leaf clovers trying to find one. I haven't found one since then.

George J. Kaminski single-handedly collected 72,927 four-leaf clovers from the fields within prison grounds in Pennsylvania, USA.

So finding one shouldn't be too hard, right? The odds are 10,000 to 1. Wow. 10,000 is such a hard number to understand. Here's some other odds that are around 10,000:

11,500 to 1: Odds of bowling a 300 game
11,500 to 1: Odds of winning an Academy Award
11,000 to 1: Odds of a person in the military winning the Medal of Honor
10,000 to 1: Odds of finding a four-leaf clover on first try
5,000 to 1: Odds of getting a hole in one
5,000 to 1: Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years

Hard drive price history: price drop coming soon

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:39:33 GMT

Every time a new capacity hard drive comes out, the prices drop. In January 2008 a 1 TB drive was introduced, prices drop. In August 2008 1.5 TB drives came out, prices went down. When 2 TB drives got their introduction in January 2009, prices plummeted.

Around every six months, prices drop. But things have been quiet lately since the 2TB premiere in January six months ago. It seems like prices should be lowered again. Is a 2.5 TB hard drive coming?

The graph above shows the median price on NexTag.com. I took several sample drives from each category of 500GB, 750GB, 1TB, and 1.5TB. To make compare apples to apples, I kept the standards of 3.5-inch internal hard drive, interface is SATA 3.0Gb/s, and there had to be at least 10 sellers for the drive throughout the price history. Lines above show the MEDIAN price. I was tempted to use the lower price graph from nextag, because that's what we all really buy at anyways. But the median seemed better to show trends in the industry. According to this graph 1 TB drives are going for around $100. While on newegg.com, you can really get a 1 terabyte drive for $75. (just so you know).

Here's the drives used in the graph:
500 GB

750 GB

1 TB

1.5 TB

2 TB

Seagate Technology ST32000542AS 2TB Hard Drive (not enough price history, so not shown in chart)

17 Crazy Crayon names that are official core colors

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:00:46 GMT

Fuzzy Wuzzy, Outer Space, and Bittersweet are just a few of the standard Crayola crayon colors released over the years. These 133 names are considered to be a "core color" by Crayola. Hard to believe that Razzmatazz is considered a core color. But it is! What a wonderful world Crayola has colored for us.

From the official list of 133 standard Crayola colors, here the 17 that stand out as being more wacky.

Color	Hex Code	Issued	Notes
Atomic Tangerine	#FFA474	1972	What makes this Atomic?
Banana Mania	#FAE7B5	1998	This color has a slight red-tinge to it. Maybe it's an embarrassed banana
Beaver	#9F8170	1998	The only Crayola color named for an animal
Bittersweet	#FD7C6E	1949	This is the color of something that is Bittersweet
Cornflower	#9ACEEB	1949	Is cornflower this color?
Dandelion	#FDDB6D	1990	Are dandelions this color?
Fuzzy Wuzzy	#CC6666	1998	Fuzzy Wuzzy?
Jazzberry Jam	#CA3767	2003	Is this the color of Jazz?
Laser Lemon	#FEFE22	1972	Renamed from "Chartreuse" in 1990. Interesting that yellow would be a laser color. Have you ever seen a laser beam that's yellow?
Mauvelous	#EF98AA	1993	Because mauv is just a marvelous color
Outer Space	#414A4C	1998	Wow. Outer space has a color?
Purple Pizzazz	#FF00CC	1990	Crayola likes names with many Zzzzs in them.
Razzle Dazzle Rose	#FF48D0	1990	Four Zs!
Razzmatazz	#E3256B	1993	Four Zs again!
Unmellow Yellow	#FFFF66	1990	Describing a color by what it is not. Very philosophical
Wild Blue Yonder	#A2ADD0	2003	Heh
Wisteria	#CDA4DE	1993	Wisteria? What is wisteria?

After writing this post, I found that Crayola has special coloring pages explaining each of their 50 most popular colors. Wisteria has its own page. It explains:

Wisteria is a plant that grows as a vine. It grows light purple flowers in the spring or early summer. Some wisteria plants can be 25 feet tall. The color wisteria is a peaceful color. It makes people feel better and helps them to be calm, sometimes even sleepy. Calmly color this wisteria flower with a Wisteria crayon.

The Tribune Tower Walgreens cookie run adventure (tweeted live)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:00:14 GMT

Here's a funny story that happened to me yesterday. I live tweeted a cookie run to Walgreens.

Making a cookie run to the walgreens.

Chips Ahoy cookies are 4 boxes for $5. #walgreens #deal

Okay, so I bought FOUR boxes of cookies. I'll walk up the 14 flights of stairs at Tribune Tower to make up for it.

Security guard at Tribune Tower denies cookie offer. Oh well. More for the peeps on 14. Now it's stair climbing time!

At floor 7. This is much harder than I thought. Half way there!

Floor 14, I'm so happy to see you! +huffing and puffing+

Can you beat 3 minutes 14 seconds for 14 flights of stairs? It's very possible. I wasn't going fast at all.

In my desperation for water, I sit down at my desk with a full bottle and spill it all over! Classic! Thankfully none on my laptop.

Water is cleaned up. 14 flights of stairs are climbed. I finally sit down to enjoy some tasty cookie goodness! Mmmmm mmmmm

Guess what? The cookies are STALE. Shudda known. Typically when Walgreens has food on mega-sale, there tends to be something wrong.

The world's best Facebook status messages

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:00:28 GMT

Here's a growing collection of the funniest Facebook status messages I have seen. Feel free to add to this list by leaving a comment with hilarious facebook status messages you have read.

---
Erik M. Transformers 2 comes out Wednesday. Too bad Michael Jackson didn't live long enough to see tformers2. He would have loved it. So sad.

---
Erik M. I just opened the memory card slot on the company digital camera and seriously thought, "oh no I just spoiled the film".

---
Juan D. WHY RANDY JACKSON!!! WHY!!! A FRICKEN HEART ATTACK!!! HE WAS GETTING SO HEALTHY!!! ITS NOT FAIR!!! WE LOVE YOU RANDY JACKSON FROM T.V'S AMERIAN IDOL!!!!!

---
Marco B. My dog must've been on an Old Style and White Castle bender earlier in the week, judging by the little gifts she keeps leaving in the yard and the basement.

(and classic comment) Matt Maldre at 9:12pm June 27
I ate a bunch of Post� grape-nuts yessterday and I know what you mean.

---
Erik M. my brother started to collect Roy Smalley, Jr baseball cards (he found a great deal on an autographed card...50 cents or sumthin'). He couldn't figure out why he felt intrinsic value for this player. Then I figured out that his son, Roy Smalley III is on the lengendary R.B.I. Baseball game. So he started to subconsciously collect baseball cards because a player's son was on a video game from the 1980s.

---

WARNING: After copying a ton of files on a Mac, your computer will run slow

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:00:43 GMT

I copied 161gb of files from one external USB drive to another. The process took three hours. I figured that once it was done copying, my computer should behave normally, right?

No.

The computer actually went slower AFTER the copying was done. I opened the "Activity Monitor" (found in Hard Drive > Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor) and it told me that an application called "mdworker" was using around 40% of my CPU power. WHOA!

Someone on insanelymac.com explained, "It is the new and improved Meta Data importer. Don't worry, after some time you'll see its CPU usage drop. It kicks in when there's any kind of file activity, especially documents."

June 25: National Handshake Day

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:24:03 GMT

I want to go around and shake people's hand at work and say, "Congratulations, today is National Handshake Day." Actually what would be more fun is to go around with a hand buzzer and do that.

A selected sampling of factoids on handshaking from wikipedia:

In some Oriental countries (like Turkey or the Arabic-speaking Middle East), handshakes aren't as 'strong' as in America and Europe. Consequently a grip which is too firm will be considered as rude.
Especially firm handshakes are sometimes called "Manshakes"
President Theodore Roosevelt, who set the world record with 8,513 handshakes at a White House reception on January 1, 1907. (i'm not bothering to mention the Atlantic City Mayor who broke the record in 1977).

Other handshake stuff:

Wikihow wrote an article about how to be a jerk and manipulate people with your handshake, "How to Have a Persuasive Handshake."
Batman and Superman shaking hands

What does popcorn, tully monsters, and fluorite have in common?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:00:33 GMT

What do the following 15 items have in common?
* Eastern Tiger Salamander
* Northern Cardinal
* Monarch Butterfly
* Square dance
* Bluegill
* Violet flower
* Popcorn
* Gold Rush Apple
* Tully Monster
* Big Bluestem
* White-tailed deer
* Fluorite
* Painted Turtle
* Drummer silty clay loam
* White oak

These are all OFFICIAL symbols of Illinois. What fun and odd conglomeration of things. I'm sure there's meaning behind each of these choices, but it's funny that together they should really say Illlinois, but I'm not sure I'd look at this list and say, "Wow! That's Illinois"

It would be fun to have a game where there are 50 lists like this, and you have to try to match them up with each state. I'd play that game on Facebook.

Lessons learned from sending invites to my entire address book

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:17:29 GMT

You just accidentally sent invites to EVERYONE in your address book to a book cataloging service. What do you do?
1) Laugh it off. "People get these every day."
2) Freak out and immediately send an email to everyone in your address book apologizing?
3) Freak out and ignore it.
4) Send an email to only the business contacts in your address book explaining your error.

What I did:
Yesterday I did a little bit of 2 and 3. I freaked out and posted an apology on twitter, facebook, and my blog on spudart.org. There's a level of freaking out, because my address book is a collection of EVERYONE I've ever met and have their email address. This includes anyone I meet in business and anyone I meet online. If you added me as a contact on flickr, I add you in my address book. If I meet someone through a personal, I add that person in my address book. I want to make sure that if someone tries to email me, the spam blockers don't block your email. Plus, I just like to have one central location where I have everyone I know. Networking is very important, and I've learned it's essential to have a complete address book of people that I get in touch with for helping each other.

When I send out a willy nilly accidental email like this, there's an element of losing control that is very unsettling, because I just did something I didn't mean to do. The flip side is that it's still a nice email. No harm done. And that's what I realize now. (I should note that it was not goodreads fault. I clicked on a button I should not have clicked on in their site. Goodreads does NOT do "contact scraping")

The result:
What then resulted from my online posts is people were disappointed that I was disingenuous with my invite. "Oh you didn't really want to be my friend." Which I'm sure is said in a joking manner. But there is some sort of truth behind that. In all reality, YES, I would love to be your friend. I just don't send invites out to my ENTIRE address book. But really, people don't care if your whole address book got sent an email, especially if it was for a service that is legit. Now if it was a spam site, then yes, I would probably email my entire address book telling them to ignore it. But goodreads.com is a nice site. I ended up with 16 new friends on goodreads.

What I should have done: (maybe)
Part of me wonders if I should have just emailed the business contacts to explain. But instead I went the passive way and posted a message online. Of course the business people don't see those messages online, but my friends do see them. It's my friends that should see it as completely normal for me to add them as a friend on goodreads.com. But I posted those messages online, because I want to at least try to be up front with people and let them know what I was thinking. I don't like to pretend or be fakey. Plus, I'm very willing to admit when I make an error. So, hence posting a messages to let people know a bit of the history behind the invite.

Once I saw all the people add me as a friend, I was really happy. Now I have 16 new friends on goodreads, and that's TOTALLY cool. I welcome Alice, Clorissa, Crissy, Cyndi, Erik, Frederic, Heidi, Jason, John, Julia, Pd, Steve, Tammy, Tracy, Wendy, Yoshinari as my new friends on goodreads.com!

The ultimate result:
Let's share some good books!

Oops: email sent out about goodreads.com to my entire address book

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:08:36 GMT

if you got a goodreads invite from me, you can ignore it. That was a total mistake on my part. I thought I was adding friends that were on goodreads already. I didn't mean to send it out to my entire address book. I accidentally clicked on a link to send it to my whole address book. This is not goodreads.com's fault, it's mine.

I'm actually not even a huge fan of goodreads.com, I much prefer librarything.com. Here's a comparison review of the two services.

But yeah... oops. I thought I was adding a couple people that were on the service. But then there was an alert that came up on goodreads saying, "message sent to 515 people." WHAT!? I'm very sorry for this. At least it's not leading to a spam site. Goodreads is legit.

If you do choose to join, I'd love to be your friend on goodreads.

Summer Solstice = Walk to home from work day

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:37:12 GMT

Take advantage of the day with the most sunlight, Summer Solstice on June 21.

Some suggestions:
Pull an all-nighter: I once did this when I locked myself out of my apartment on Summer Solstice a couple years ago. It was around midnight, so I felt bad calling my sister or my landlord who have the keys. I walked down to the 24-hour Golden Nugget and hung out until 7pm. It was interesting walking around and seeing all the activity going on late at night. Other people must have been celebrating the night as well.

Walk home from work: Now this I can see being a National Holiday. Can you imagine a day where nobody drives to work. Nobody takes the train. Nobody bikes. Just everyone walking. Wow! I live 6.8 miles from work. That's totally doable. Maybe I'll do a photo sequence of my walk. Yay! New traditions!

NEW WORD: amehzing

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:45:47 GMT

amehzing

Definition:
Combination of "meh" and "amazing." The situation where one person finds something amazing and the other person finds it meh. In order to come to a conclusion about the situation, both parties can agree to call it amehzing.

Usage:
Person 1: Dude, Star Wars is so amazing!
Person 2: meh
Person 3: I think you mean "meh" as in "amehzing"

Satisfied.

The 3,033 States of America

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:03:33 GMT

Let's delete all the 50 states and use counties instead. We could have 3,033 states. Here's what the map would look like. (take a look at the full hi-res version)

There would be a problem that many of the states have the same last name. Washington is used 31 times. What would we do there? Put a number after it? Washington1, Washington2? How about a descriptor. Coolest Washington. Super Lame Washington. Or they could just rename those counties... i mean, states. There are 24 President's names that are not being used. I'll even offer up my last name for one of the 3,033 states. Welcome to the state of Maldre. I'll even make the highway signs to welcome people to my state.

What would the United States flag look like with 3,033 stars?

Washington is most popular name for American counties

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:14:05 GMT

The U.S. Census Bureau offers free pdf map downloads. Fantastic!
I downloaded the county map with the intention of making the county lines thicker than the state lines just to see what would happen if instead of states, we had counties.

Imagine that. Instead of 50 states, we could have 3,000 states.

But the free pdf map from the U.S. Census Bureau didn't allow me to open it up in Illustrator. Password protected. Lame!

But the pdf did allow me to copy all the text and run it through a frequency program. The most popular county name is Washington.

The word "Saint" is also used a lot. But ignoring saint for a moment and focusing on the names. The most popular president names used by counties are Washington, Jefferson, Franklin (oops not a president), Jackson, Lincoln.

WHOA. Jackson outranked Lincoln! You go Andrew!

Here's the top 30 most-used words in county names:

Unique words:2029 Total words:3569
Freq. Word
31 WASHINGTON
29 SAINT
28 JEFFERSON
25 FRANKLIN
24 JACKSON
23 LINCOLN
21 SAN
20 MADISON
18 UNION
18 CLAY
18 MONTGOMERY
18 LAKE
17 MONROE
17 MARION
16 WAYNE
15 CARROLL
15 GRANT
14 WARREN
14 GREENE
12 JOHNSON
12 MARSHALL
12 DOUGLAS
12 LAWRENCE
12 POLK
11 CALHOUN
11 LEE
11 SCOTT
11 FAYETTE
11 CLARK
11 MORGAN
11 ADAMS

Why is it called nose singular? It should be noses

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:18:54 GMT

We have two holes in the front of our head filled with goop. They are for seeing. These holes with goop are called eyes.

We have two holes in the side of our head for hearing. They are called ears.

We have two holes for smelling, but they are called nose (singular). If eyes are plural and ears are plural, nose should be plural too. From now on i'm calling my nose to be noses. I smell the roses with my noses.

Half Letter Press selling booklets about art in Chicago

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:20:08 GMT

Based in Chicago Half Letter Press publishes and distributes booklets about collaborative and experimental artwork. I recently discovered their shop at halfletterpress.com and ordered a bunch of books--for cheap!

Here's the message I wrote in part of my online order:

=================
I'm so excited about my order. I did a search on Chicago and then sorted by price. What a great deal on these fun booklets! btw, i found out about you through AREA Chicago. I was asking them if I could buy some of their issues and they said that soon they will be available on your site. So i went to see what your site was about, and it's very cool! You have a very happy customer! Sincerely, matt maldre of spudart.org
=================

My order:

Why The Exhibit Was Canceled: $2.00
This booklet presents actual 'behind the scenes' correspondence between an artist and a curator (both made anonymous) as they attempt to negotiate the details of the artist's upcoming exhibition. The institution raises late concerns about the artist's work a month before the show is to open. The artist is asked to change his work and make unusual concessions so that the institution can cover its ass and this leads to the artist canceling the show.

This booklet salvages a difficult experience and makes public the kind of internal dialog between artists and institutions that is extremely hard to access. A booklet that has been much loved, debated and discussed by teachers, students and arts administrators. So heavily read and downloaded that it has surely been seen by more people than would have attended the exhibit had it not been canceled!

Drawn Out: $2.00
This booklet (#19)accompanied the exhibition Drawn Out and documents some of the work from the show. A drawn out project is one that persists with little regard for those who stopped paying attention ages ago. For the people who were in this show, there is always something more to be said, always another idea to share, always another angle to consider, always another example to archive, and always another question to ask. But to draw something out is not only to prolong it, but to induce a person to speak freely.

Speaking freely is the critical component that binds all of the work in this show. Included in Drawn Out were over 40 anonymous street flyers by "The Ancient Order Guy," soap products and labels by Dr. Bronner's, collected booklets of letters to corporations by Rich Mackin, blueprint drawings by Krista Peel and Tim Donahue, 200 drawings and doodles left behind by hotel guests from the collection of Chris Ritter, and over 200 public stickers by graffiti artist Shy Girl.

Business Replies: $1.50
This booklet culls together various strategies for using business reply cards to minimize junk mail, entertain yourself at a boring job, creatively protest the very companies that over produce these things, and more. This is booklet #18. Still a relevant way to address this problem after all these years!

11 People 16 Spaces / How-To Guerilla Art: $4.50
Temporary Services booklet #73, This double-booklet was made in a two-day workshop with students from Columbia College in Chicago. 11 People 16 Spaces shows a variety of configurations of people bodily occupying urban spaces.

How to Guerilla Art presents 16 pages of illustrated tactics for presenting art and ideas in publicly trafficked space.

Public Phenomena - Informal Modifications of Shared Spaces: $4.75
Booklet #68. This booklet was our first publication focusing on documentation of Public Phenomena. It includes 44 color photos, none of which were repeated in our later book, that go right to the edge of the page.

For our later book we wrote: "From roadside memorials to makeshift barriers, people consistently alter shared common spaces to suit their needs, or let both man-made and natural aberrations run wild. The result is a new kind of public space � with creative and inspiring moments that push past the original planned design of cities." All of these photos were taken in Chicago and the Midwest. The themes this time around are: roadside memorials, parking place savers, block club signs, homemade basketball hoops, and an anomalous image of a truck rebuilt inside a tree. The variety of photos of the myriad amusing ways that Chicagoans block off space for their car in the winter after a snowstorm is particularly rich in this booklet.

This publication was created in conjunction with the project "Construction Site" that we executed in Los Angeles at the invitation of Outpost for Contemporary Art. These are the very last copies of this popular booklet that we have to sell so don't delay if you want one!

Fireworks can improve your text-version resume

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:48:45 GMT

Matt�s resume tip #34: Spice up the text version of your resume on Careerbuilder with some FIREWORKS:
.�: * :�.
Everyone loves fireworks. Tell me someone who does not like fireworks. Therefore, you should put fireworks into your text-version of your resume. Employers will JUMP at the chance to interview you.

C�mon fireworks ASCII art. Who can resist?

.�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�.
matt
.�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�. .�: * :�.

P.S. Using ASCII art fireworks in the signature of your email is like the fireworks grand finale. Everyone will ooo and aahh.

For sale: A penny from every currency around the world

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:17:20 GMT

I'd love to have a penny from every currency on planet Earth. I'd pay $10 for that. Someone should sell a collection that has every possible type of current penny. That would just be so cool.

If someone sells the world penny collection, they could have people subscribe and get the collection every year. That would be fun. I'd totally fork over ten bucks every year to get the worldwide penny collection.

It would be a great way to introduce a person like me into collecting coins. Personally, I wouldn�t really care if they are uncirculated, in fact, I�d rather have them be circulated, so it would make it cheaper for me to buy the collection.

How to unsubscribe from newsletters

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:00:29 GMT

Last year I subscribed to all the U.S. presidential candidates to see what types of email I would get. Now I am unsubscribing. Here's my message to Ron Paul.

==========================
To: Congressman_Ron_Paul_eswaq_lnabpp@cp20.com

Your unsubscribe link is broken. Please fix and drop me off this list faster than a water balloon dropped off a building.

Thank you,
Matt Maldre
mmaldre@******.com
==========================

Tracking postal spammers

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:20:53 GMT

Whenever I sign up to get something in the mail for free, I like make up a middle name that is related to the product. For instance, Oscar Meyer is giving away coupons for free hot dogs. I used the name "Matt Hotdiggity Maldre" to register.

And then it's fun getting mail addressed to the goofy middle name.

Another trick is to eliminate the space between the middle name and the first name. When i signed up for the free hot dogs, I should have used "Matthotdiggity Maldre." I've found that sometimes people delete the middle name.

72 cool LEGO creations of steampunk, tanks, robots, hardsuits and vehicles

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:00:20 GMT

A selection of photos from various flickr groups on LEGO steampunk, tanks, and war. Some of these creations are just so COOOOOOOOL.

Scrabulous is back! (with the new name of Lexulous)

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:00:08 GMT

Oh the days of Scrabulous. Playing the super-duper fun game of Scrabble online. See what fun words my friends would come up with. Oh yes.

After IMing my brother about how I miss Scrabulous, I did a google search for it, just outta kicks. The first result was the wikipedia entry for Scrabulous. And lo and behold! SCRABULOUS IS BACK!!!! It's now called Lexulous. Who knew!? I didn't! How did this slip by? What happened? Wasn't Hasbro's undies all tied up in a knot?

The Wikipedia entry explains that the Indian high court ruled that they were allowed to make the game as long as they don't call it a name close to Scrabble. So they just renamed it Lexulous. On September 27, 2008 www.lexulous.com was launched with all the previous stats! In fact on January 1, 2009, Lexulous was back on facebook! Crazy!

Oh so what about Hasbro? They withdrew their lawsuit on December 20, 2008. Hahaha. SWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEET.

AND THERE'S A LEXULOUS IPHONE APP. Yeah, it's $3.99. But i'll drop that for LEXULOUS ANYDAY! Oh and the here's the link to the Lexulous on facebook: apps.facebook.com/lexulous. Come challenge me!

i think i burnt my water

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:03:56 GMT

i think i burnt my water
for my tea

it tastes burnt
like all the oxygen is missing

i'm drinking pure hydrogen
this tea tastes extra hydrogeny

75% of Chicago says CTA service is worse than last year

Sat, 30 May 2009 10:00:50 GMT

The "right or wrong" on Fox Chicago news a couple nights ago was:
"I agree with the survey saying CTA service has improved"

25% say right
75% say wrong

This just in: 75% of Chicagoans are idiots. How in the freaking world can someone say it�s worse? We have a better brown line. We have CTA bus tracker. People just like to complain. My official response on the Fox Chicago bulletin boards

================
Subject: Three words

CTA bus tracker.

I love it.

It's the best.
================

Tony Gwynn versus Cal Ripken

Fri, 29 May 2009 06:00:15 GMT

My brother makes a strong (and correct) argument that Tony Gwynn is better than Cal Ripken. There's some cardinals fan bloke commenting on that post saying Gwynn was hopped on steriods for a few years. Which is a complete joke. I made a chart to prove Gwynn's batting was not out of the ordinary. And to show that Tony Gwynn is better than Cal Ripken.

I think the chart speaks for itself:

TV show with the name "First Season"

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:24:53 GMT

I'd like to see a tv show named "First Season." Whenever someone says they are watching the first season of another television show, it'll be promo for the tv show named "First Season." It'll be great.

"I'm watching the first season of '24.'"
"You mean 'First Season?'"
"Of 24, yes."
"The 24th show of 'First Season?'"
"Wait. What?"

Then when "First Season goes into it's third season, people will say, "I'm watching the third season of 'First Season.'" Or maybe they could just change the name of the show every year, so the third season of "First Season" will be called "Third Season."

The world's best two-line poem ever

Wed, 27 May 2009 06:02:23 GMT

A fun two-line poem:

=============
no delete
co plete
=============

yes! It rhymes and it forces you to complete the poem in your mind. You have to add the m. See! The m, it's missing, but your mind adds it. See! Yeah *sits here happy*

An obvious secret to hot chocolate

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:14:11 GMT

Whenever I would have hot chocolate at work in my big mug, it always tasted bad. Was it the black mug sucking out the heat? Not really. Was it the Swiss Miss brand? Not really. Was it because I was filling the big mug up to the top with water. YOU BETCHA.

It may seem obvious, but too much water for hot chocolate WATERS IT DOWN. Yeah. Duh. I always thought this mug was a pretty normal size. Sure it's a little bigger, but it's not THAT big. This time around I put in half the amount of water. Wow! It tastes SO much better.

Obvious? Yes. But tasty? OOH YEAH!

Website addresses to adapt all caps and exclamation point features

Fri, 22 May 2009 19:33:19 GMT

It's so much fun to type the website address as ALL CAPS into a browser. I'm going to TWITTER.COM. By typing it in ALL CAPS it tells my browser that I'm totally serious about going to twitter. Give me the TWITTER! Then if a URL has exclamation points after it, the website should have fireworks and be SUPER exciting.

However, Firefox cannot handle exclamation points after a website address. Twitter.com!!! gets you a very non-exciting error.

Step it up firefox! I want an add-on that will "enhance" a website when it has exclamation points after it. Whatever the enhancement is, I leave it up to the developers. Just let me give you one suggestion. Godzilla.

My picks for the Pilcrow Lit Fest in Chicago

Thu, 21 May 2009 16:52:27 GMT

Pilcrow Lit Fest has a lot going on this Saturday May 23.
Matilda�s: 3101 N. Sheffield and Trader Todd�s: 3216 N. Sheffield, Chicago

There�s a ton of free panels and workshops.
http://pilcrowlitfest.com/panels.html

For every time slot there are three different workshops. Here�s the ones I�ll be attending on Saturday:
10am: How to promote your work
11am: Social Media
12pm: Publisher�s Role in Community
1pm: Design Panel or 1pm: Teaching Artists Panel (I can�t decide yet on this time slot)
2pm: Life, Technology, Society
3pm: What makes good reading great
4pm: State of the small press
5pm: Event coverage, niche blogging, and technical writing

These are just my picks, check out the full list (with descriptions) at: http://pilcrowlitfest.com/panels.html

Dumb acronyms

Wed, 20 May 2009 10:00:01 GMT

According to acronymfinder.com there are only three acyronyms for D.U.M.B.
� Duke University Marching Band
��Deep Underground Military Base
��Disasters Usually Motivate Backups

Shouldn't there be more?

There's only two for S.T.U.P.I.D.
� Smart Talented Unique Person in Demand (via acronymfinder)
� Simply the Ultimate Planets Interface Door (via acronymattic)

Notes from SND Chicago 2009 at Tribune Tower

Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:54 GMT

Here are my notes from the Society of News Design meetup on May 16, 2009. (Pictured above is Theresa Carter, Audarshia Townsend, Whet Moser, Brad Flora, and Jeff Daugherty on the Social Media Roundtable)

------------------------
Matt Mansfield (president of SND)
Rev. 2.0 and the road ahead

Long traditional narrative not popular anymore.
Need to get things more like data manipulation on everyblock.com
But "Story forms are important as ever before"

Context matters: as people get more mobile where they are is more important.

Audience experiences count as much as content loyality they have with you.

30% of traffic on news sites comes through the homepage.
Homepage like USAToday.com is good. Short headlines. Focused main story. But the page is suuuuuuuuper long.
A more brief design is better, like the mockup at http://www.brasstacksdesign.com/wilson/index.htm

Print design is about control. Web design is about behavior. (photo)

TO DO:
� Visit revenuetwopointzero.com
� Visit twitter.com/rev2oh

------------------------
Jonathon Berlin (Chicago Tribune Subject Associate Editor, Arts & Graphics)
Remaking the Chicago Tribune

TO DO:
� Visit themash.com
� Look up open records help desk on Chicagotribune.com

------------------------
Colonel Tribune
Social Media Roundtable hosted by Daniel Honigman (photo)

Jeff Daugherty @chitowndaily
Brad Flora @bradflora
Whet Moser @whet
Audarshia Townsend @audarshia
Theresa Carter @thelocaltourist

Regarding writing policies: "Are you more worried about being sued or more worried about being relevant." --Jeff Daugherty

Jeff Daugherty says that age of new innovative aggregation is over. Then in response to that Brad Flora (Mr. Aggregator of windycitizen.com) says he would love more local niche sites :) yes!

Brad Flora says its hard to get local advertisers to buy ads in newsletters rather than website. [SIDE THOUGHT: Perhaps ad buyers need to be at events like this, so they can be educated of the value.]

TO DO:
� Visit twitter accounts of people on panel.

------------------------
Adrian Holovaty
Everyblock

News is anything that's new. New-s. Even yelp reviews are news.

Everyblock's grant runs out in about 40 days. They are looking for investment or acquisition to keep running.

Listening to Adrian Holovaty of everyblock.com makes me wonder if I can get blogs can submit their local content to his site.

TO DO:
� Check out everyblock crimes on a route
� Check out wrecking demolitions on everyblock.com
� Subscribe to Lawrence Avenue live feed
� Download Everyblock iphone app
� Look up coupons on everyblock
� Email everyblock asking about geo standards for blog posts
� Visit chicagotribune.com/block
� Visit suntimes.com/yourblock

------------------------
Jim Coudal
Coudal Partners

Instead of reporting to clients, they make clients.

Coudal says their website coudal.com is good indicator if they will get along with a client. If the client says they saw their site and didn't quite get it, then chances are they probably won't get along. [i find that to be true as well]

There is no portfolio on their site. Coudal quotes Kevin, "If I'm at the bar with a girl, I don't talk about my previous girlfriends."

Runs ad network called "the deck."
There are three seats in advertising. Reader. Publisher. Advertiser. Online screwed ads up, because they left out the reader. They put in all these garbage ads all over without taking concern if the reader would enjoy these ads. So the Deck was born.

The Deck runs only one ad per page. The Deck has only 40 premium design/creative sites. They only have so many spots for ads. Ads are prescreened for quality and relevance. They only serve ads readers would like.

No demographics. No ad reporting. No CPM. No dashboard for publisher. No dashboard for advertiser. When they add a new publisher a starting payment is negotiated. Then three months later they look and renegotiate. That's it. There's no other change to the price. It doesn't matter after that how much traffic the site sends. The publisher gets paid one flat rate.

Advertisers pay one flat insertion rate. $7200 for one slot.

Renewal rate for publishers is 75%.

TO DO:
� Look at layer tennis from Coudal Partners
� Check Twitterific iphone app (Coudal loves it)
� Visit decknetwork.net
� Visit fffound.com

----------------
Bill Adee & Tracy Schmidt
Meet Chicago Now

Chicagotribune.com gets 100 million page views a month. 10 million unique visitors a month.
(Bill80 corrected me in his tweet.)

40% of their audience is Chicago. Their advertisers want more of their audience to be from Chicago--creating the need for chicagonow.com. It's for chicago eyeballs. 80 local bloggers will be part of it. Right now there are 30 to 40 bloggers.

Mockup of Chicago Now. (http://yfrog.com/14fxjj)

Calorie counts on McDonalds menu boards: I'll have the 540 please

Mon, 18 May 2009 15:18:53 GMT

Any restaurant chain with more than twenty stores might be required to show the calories counts on their menu boards. Of course the restaurant industry opposes this. But isn't it time for people to own up and know what they are eating?

Instead of asking for the a "number 1" (Big Mac), people could now say, "I'll have a 540, please."

Air quotes with fingers

Thu, 14 May 2009 15:14:20 GMT

People who use air quotes with their fingers have "issues." Now picture me saying that and raising my hands and making the hand gesture for quotations. The number of air quote pumps is directly related to the number of syllables in the word. "Issues" has two syllables, therefore gets two air quote pumps.

I dare you to try this as an "experiment" at your desk while you read. The word "experiment" has four syllables, therefore it gets four air quote pumps.

The meaning of joy

Wed, 13 May 2009 15:52:29 GMT

The word "enjoy" is a really neat word. What do you enjoy? (I keep a running list of over 500 things that I enjoy).

Take a look at etymology of the word "enjoy"
en: to cause a person to be in.
joy: equiv. to gaud- (base of gaudēre to be glad)

Enjoy means to cause a person to be in a state of gladness. NEAT!

It's really interesting to look at what the prefix "en-" on dictionary.com:

a prefix occurring originally in loanwords from French and productive in English on this model, forming verbs with the general sense "to cause (a person or thing) to be in" the place, condition, or state named by the stem;

more specifically, "to confine in or place on" (enshrine; enthrone; entomb); "to cause to be in" (enslave; entrust; enrich; encourage; endear);

"to restrict" in the manner named by the stem, typically with the additional sense "on all sides, completely" (enwind; encircle; enclose; entwine).

This prefix is also attached to verbs in order to make them transitive, or to give them a transitive marker if they are already transitive (enkindle; enliven; enshield; enface).

Thoughts on happiness

Tue, 12 May 2009 16:13:00 GMT

"Our happiness is completely and utterly interwined with other people: family and friends and neighbors and the woman you hardly notice who cleans your office. Happiness is not a noun or a verb. It�s a conjunction. Connective tissue."
--Eric Weiner, "The Geography of Bliss"

That is a very insightful quote. This happiness thing is such an elusive thing that so many pursue. I've always kinda ignored happiness specifically and focused on growth. Which is rather funny, cuz by ignoring happiness as a goal, i think i actually get more happy. It's kinda like the tighter you hold onto something, the more it slips through your fingers.

I find it helps to think about the things that are around happiness, that create it. Things like being thankful are the concrete steps to happiness.

And now the insightful from this quote functions in a similar way. Happiness isn't this end-goal. It's not a noun or a verb. It's a conjunction. Connecting.

Muppets Theme Song Remixes

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:00:25 GMT

If you want to hear one of the strangest remixes ever, take a listen to the "Muppets Theme Remix" by DJ E Motion.

There are over 30 results on amazon for "muppets theme." Most are fairly straightforward. Like the original theme song.

And there are some amazingly odd versions:
��Quartet version by Quattrottave: will make you scream, "OH NO NO NO NO!"
� The Muppet Theme (for toy ocarinas): extremely strange
��The Ensemble Dreiklang Berlin does an incredible wind instrumental version.

Are you a dork when you say you are a dork?

Thu, 07 May 2009 10:00:25 GMT

lahp on twitter said: "We've already had a discussion about Klingon cloaking devices this ayem. Yep. We're dorks."

When you say that you are a dork, doesn't that diminishes your dorkness? Dorks don't admit to being dorks.

Or can you safely call yourself a dork and still be one?

IDEA: send pencil rubbings as postcards for postcrossing

Wed, 06 May 2009 10:00:30 GMT

Postcrossing.com is a site where you can sign up to send and receive postcards from across the world. (It is #14 on my list of 14 things that inspired me in 2008.) Most people send postcards of photos of their local area. I've been sending postcards of photos of Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid.

Wouldn't it be cool to send a pencil rubbing? Yeah! This would combine two loves of mine. Postcrossing and pencil rubbings! You can't really do a pencil rubbing with thick postcard paper, so I'll have to use thinner paper for the rubbing and spray mount it onto some postcard stock. And I'll spray fix the graphite so it doesn't smear through the mail.

I�m also thinking about doing a dual-card where half the card is the pencil rubbing, the other half is a photo of the building.

Don't sacrifice your personality for the love

Tue, 05 May 2009 10:00:06 GMT

A shocking 92% agreed with this statement: "Don't sacrifice your personality for the love" That's scary. What times we live in that people are putting themselves and not others first in life.

----------------------------
Here's how i wrote for my comment:
Disagree.
Love is all about sacrifice. Love is you before me. One must be adaptive to have a loving relationship. Putting your personality ahead of loving is like putting yourself at a higher priority than someone else. Love is putting others higher than yourself. Please do not bown down to the cult of your own personality. Instead please learn how to love and adapt yourself to love.

----------------------------
Do you agree or disagree? Don't sacrifice your personality for the love.
Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Play "Beat the Streak" on mlb.com and you could win $20 in 2009

Mon, 04 May 2009 10:00:48 GMT

MLB.com has a game called Beat the Streak where you try to put together a hitting streak to beat baseball's legendary record of 56 games. Choose one player every day who you think will get at least one base hit. If your player gets a hit, your streak is extended. If he fails to get a hit, your streak ends and you can start a new one.

Be the first eligible participant to get a hit in 57 straight games and win $1,000,000 in cash.

I'm also doing my own little pool/league and if you win the league, you get $20 via paypal from me!
How to join the Amazing League:
1) Send me a message via the spudart contact form
2) I'll send you an invite to join our private league via mlb.com.
3) You click on the link in the email and join the league.

So far nobody has ever defeated me in Beat the Streak. One year I got an 11-game streak. Last year I won with 12 games. Think you can beat that? If you get the longest streak in the Amazing League, you get $20. It's totally free to join my league. I'm offering the twenty bucks out of my pocket just to make it interesting. One year, we had about 10 people in the league.

What am I looking for?

Fri, 01 May 2009 10:00:07 GMT

You are looking for this webpage. And hopefully you did a search on Google and found this page. Here is what you are looking for:


Call to God	What is your treasure?	Art Authentication

Are you following me on twitter?

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:00:51 GMT

I'm spudart on twitter.

Here are the following people that I'm following, but are not following me.
http://friendorfollow.com/spudart/following/

If you appear on this list, then hop on over to http://twitter.com/spudart and follow me. Maybe it was just an oversight that I wasn't on your follow list. :)

Cuz sometimes somethings just gotta be in all caps

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:00:52 GMT

When I intially saw these super cool gloves on etsy a few months ago, they were sold out. The wondeful etsy seller Xmittens made s'more and posted 'em on etsy.

When I saw the gloves got reposted, I bought them faster than a fat kid eatin cookies outta the oven. Not PC, i know, but THESE ARE SUPER COOL GLOVES! ANYTHING GOES! AND NOW WE BRING ON THE ALL CAPS PARADE. WOOOOOOO-YAAAAAAAA!

I got so excited that I started typing super geekd out talk in the "message to the seller" section--IN ALL CAPS. Cuz sometimes in life you just gotta go all out in ALL CAPS STYLE.

Quest to climb a tree

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:00:39 GMT

After reading "Why Climb a Tree?," I'm on a quest to find a tree to climb.

A year ago I was walking around my neighborhood trying to find a tree to climb. I didn't find any climbable trees in my area. Isn't that strange?

At Illinois Wesleyan University there is a tree behind the art building that was perfect to climb. Its branches provided the perfect place to sit. I need a tree like this.

Just out of curiousity, does anyone have a tree they like to climb? (now or a tree from your past)

KFC grilled chicken is "healthier" because the serving size is smaller

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:00:35 GMT

We should be suspicious about KFC's new grilled chicken being all healthy. McDonalds grilled chicken has MORE cholesterol than their crispy chicken. So much for thinking grilled is healthier.

I took this same skeptism to KFC's grilled chicken. Much to my surprise, my first glance at the nutrition revealed that grilled is indeed healthier than crispy in all categories: Calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbs were all lower. Actually first I had to do some reoganizing on the KFC nutrition chart (pdf), because they didn't put all the thighs together to make it easy to compare.

Upon closer inspection, you'll see that the grilled chicken serving size is almost HALF of the crispy chicken. Well, no duh, when you half the size of the thing, of course you'll get less cholesterol. Goodness. Can you imagine if they served a regular size of grilled chicken? It would be a cholesterol bomb!

Preinstalled AIMbots: Gossip, Live Greene, Moviefone, My TV Bud, Prof Gilzot, SportsFanStan, USA Today

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:00:45 GMT

Seven aimbots are standing ready and welcome when you create a new AIM account. It's a little bizzare to sign onto your new instant message account and you see:
��Gossip, Gossip, Gossip 24-7
� Live Greene
� Moviefone
� My TV Bud
� Prof Gilzot needs some test ideas...
� SportsFanStan
� USA Today

Oddly enough google only has one results for: Gossip, Live Greene, Moviefone, My TV Bud, Prof Gilzot, SportsFanStan, USA Today. I was kinda hoping someone blogged about all these bots together.

Do you think these bots get together and have a poker night? Madness.

Paper towel conservation

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:00:55 GMT

"Always rip a paper towel in half before using."
--Matt Maldre, 2009

Much of paper towels go unused. After using a paper towel, unfold it and see how much was actually used. In my case it's often around one-third. I love the Select-a-Size towels. I like to rip the towel in half before using. And that doesn't mean you can toss out the other half if it doesn't get used. At work I have a food drawer that I stash unused napkins and half-towels.

Enjoy and discount: funny words to say over and over

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:00:23 GMT

You know what's a funny word to say over and over? Enjoy.

Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.

The "joy" part of "enjoy" i get. What you enjoy brings you joy. But the "en" part? According to the Online Etymology Dictionary "en" means to make.

enjoy
c.1380, from O.Fr. enjoir "to give joy, rejoice," from en- "make" + joir "enjoy," from L. gaudere "rejoice"; Sense of "have the use or benefit of" first recorded c.1430. Replaced O.E. brucan.

And speaking of funny words to say, here's another one. Discount.

Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount. Discount.

discount
1622, alteration of Fr. d�compte, from O.Fr. descont, from desconter "count out" (13c.), from des- "away" + conter "to count".

Discount literally means "to count away."

Brilliant idea on how to sell Cubs tickets on Craigslist

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:00:49 GMT

How do you quickly sell tickets on Craigslist? Offer a discount for something the buyer must do during the event. Put the discount in the title.

I had four cubs tickets I needed to unload for a game this week. There are so many Cubs tickets on Craigslist, I was afraid of not having my ad stand out. To help move the tickets, I offered a special DISCOUNT. Oh yeah. Who doesn't love a good discount? To get $10 off, the buyer just needs to record a scorecard and take a photo of it for me. To get $20 off, they give me the actual scorecard.

I don't think the guys who bought my tickets will keep a scorecard. They were on vacation and seemed like they were not huge baseball fans.

A screenshot of the craigslist ad. NOTE: THE TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD
.
NOTE: THE TICKETS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE. THEY ARE SOLD.

First three things you think of the number 35

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:17:46 GMT

While walking by NBC Tower there was sign for "Channel 5 souvenirs" but someone put a "3" in front of the "5" to make a 35. Why would someone do that? What is the significance of 35? The first thing that popped into my mind was the 35th street red line stop for U.S. Cellular Field. That made me wonder what other things people thought of for the number 35.

I asked people on facebook and AIM, "What is the first three things that pop in your mind when i say this: 35"

Of the 75 answers,
--19 are age related.
--6 are about jersey numbers
--4 cost-related
--2 for miles per hour
--2 for balloons (?!)
That means the other 35 or so are pretty unique answers.

--------------------------
Andy M:
1. the age my wife will be this month.
2. Football Jersey
3. Strange question
--------------------------
Lisa S
1. seconds
2. 135
3. 8
--------------------------
Steve T
1. jersey number
2. age
3. divisible by 7
--------------------------
Noel M
1. neal anderson
2. middle age
3. degrees
--------------------------
Erin V
1. age
2. hubands birthday (about to be thirty next month
3. mid thirties .... about to cross to 40....blah blah
--------------------------
Erik M
1. frank thomas
2. I'm almost 35.
3. uh. uh. balloons?
--------------------------
Branden M
1. OLD!
2. oddly.. cheeseburgers
--------------------------
me
1. 35th street CTA station
2. middle of 30s
3. 435 N. Michigan Ave (Tribune Tower)
--------------------------
Andre A
1. 5x7
2. age.
3. then speed limit.
My first thought was "42 is the meaning of life", though.
--------------------------
Kelly O
1. Nucleon number: 35
2. Lollapalooza # of bands: 35
3. Prime (both in # & age): 35
--------------------------
Karen R
1. middle age
2. halfway to forty
3. what I paid for a pair of capris the other day
--------------------------
Leslie C
1. miles per hour
--------------------------
Eliana B
1. Age
2. mid-life
3. cents
--------------------------
Winona P
1. Me in 6 months
2. I would like to have that many peanut M&Ms
3. What type of song would They Might Be Giants write about that number?
--------------------------
Tamima F
1. "tamima you should be married by then. otherwise, it's over" - an aunt.
--------------------------
Tom K
1. four years ago...
--------------------------
Abhay S
1. How old you will be in November.
--------------------------
Kelly K
1. Seconds
--------------------------
Doug P
1. The minimum age requirement for President of the United States as defined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution
2. My next birthday
3. That the question should rather be stated "What are the first three things ..."
--------------------------
Elizabeth N
1. age
2. inches of height for a child
3. miles per hour
--------------------------
Renee M
1. balloons
2. hours
3. weeks...??? i don't know what's more strange, your question or my answers? :)
--------------------------
Tim C
1. Someone's age
2. jersey number
3. price.
--------------------------
Kelly H
1. the football jersey number of one of my friends in high school
2. how old I will be in four years
3. the number 8
--------------------------
Tanya C
1. Birthday
2. A good dinner out
3. The number of peanut butter m&m's I ate for a snack today!
--------------------------
Priya K
1. my age.
2. no, wait, my husband's age. I'm only 34!
3. a couple of years ago the director of my department turned 35 and she got all stressed about how old she was, but I don't think 35's old at all! OK, that's interesting, all 3 of my thoughts were about the age I'm going to turn this year. Maybe I'm thinking about that too much.
--------------------------
Miriam N
1. pieces of orbitz gum in the new package!
--------------------------

Feel free to answer the question, "What is the first three things that pop in your mind when i say this: 35" (use the comments below)

Japan's Prime Minister Addresses Olympic VIPs

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:36:43 GMT

You have to admit, it's impressive that the Japan Prime Minister showed up in person to show support for Toyko's bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Chicago just got a video recording of Obama. Granted that video recording was very nice, but Obama finished his presentation with the no-longer-used Chicago Olympic bid tagline, stir the soul. Ouch. So not only does he not show up in person, but he uses an old video. Ah well, he's a busy man.

Popcorn should be banned in offices

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:32:39 GMT

I work in a popcorn zone at work. It's called the south side of the 14th floor Tribune Tower.

Oh burnt popcorn how thee smell
Here comes the cloud, ring the bell, ring the bell!
It's burnt popcorn, I surely can tell
The scent is overwhelming, I'm not feeling well
This sort of behavior needs to be dispel
How I'd love to bid office popcorn farewell

Does anyone else work at a place where their coworkers love burnt popcorn?

NEW WORD: super-fragglistic!

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:45:11 GMT

super-fragglistic

definition:
1. Adjective. (to describe something that is really good).
2. Interjection. (used to express delight or happiness).

example:
as in, "Wow! This is super-fragglistic coffee!"

etymology:
Fraggle Rock. Because Fraggle Rock rules. You know it.

Best last place team in baseball

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:00:10 GMT

Baseball fantasy leagues can be too much work. My brother and I have our own league every year--just the two of us. We get all the best players. It's fun. But this year we are mixing it up.

No players. Just one team.
Instead of picking players, we each pick a team. One team. We track the number of points that team gets.

Only the last place team
The teams we can select from are the last place teams. MLB has six divisions, so there are six teams to pick from.

Once a month
We select our team once a month. Whatever six teams are currently in last place, that's the grouping we get to pick from. For the start of the season we started with the last place teams from 2008. Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals.

This blog post will serve as the place where we comment about our teams progress. I was thinking of making it a new twitter account for this, but that would be hard to see who posts what. This is easier.

2009 Guide to Chicago Movies in the Park

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:30:27 GMT

Every Tuesday after sunset in 2009 from July 14 to August 25, Chicago will show free movies on a 50-foot by 34-foot screen in Chicago's downtown Grant Park at 100 S. Lake Shore Drive. (It's south of Millennium Park, and north of the Art Institute).

The 2009 Movies in the Park lineup:
July 14, 2009 @ 8:58 pm: Sunset Boulevard (1950)
July 21, 2009 @ 8:52 pm: Duck Soup (1933)
July 28, 2009 @ 8:45 pm: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1950)
August 4, 2009 @ 8:37 pm: Born Yesterday (1950)
August 11, 2009 @ 8:27 pm: Psycho (1960)
August 18, 2009 @ 8:17 pm: Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
August 25, 2009 @ 8:05 pm: Tootsie (1982)

What to bring:
� Blanket to lay on or chairs to sit upon.
� Blanket to wrap up in. It may get quite chilly at night!
� Munchies to delight the tastebuds
� Plastic alligators to protect your spot
� Drinks, but no alcohol. No booze in Chicago's parks, man.
� Items to pass the time: card games, book.
� Umbrellas (Films will be shown in rainy weather as long as lightning, strong winds or other severe conditions are not present.)

When to go:
� People start staking out their spots early As soon you get off work at 5pm. GO! Expect about 9,000 people to show up.

Where to sit:
� Just like a traditional theatre, don't sit too close to the front. Try for center.
� Watch out for dog poopies
� Sit behind people who have a blanket down and ask if they will be getting chairs later. Don't sit down with blank grass in front of you. People with chairs might arrive and block your view.
� If you bring chairs with you, try to sit in front of people with chairs. It's just common courtesy. Sit in front of people with a blanket and they will get pissed off at you.

Do you have anything to add to this list?
Any fun experiences to share? Please leave them in the comments below.

------
Chicago Outdoor Film Festival-Grant Park
Butler Field, Grant Park
100 S. Lake Shore Drive

Grab a blanket, pack a picnic and spend Tuesday nights watching classic movies for free under the stars. Cyclists can take advantage of free bike valet parking at the northwest corner of Lake Shore Drive and Monroe Street.
Phone: 312-744-3315
Price: Free.

(in case you're wondering, here's the list of movies played at previous Movies in the Park in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.)

What day is it?

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:00:46 GMT

I find it funny when people at work are sitting at their computers and ask what the day is. Um. It's on your computer. It's nice and all they are being friendly and socialable by asking another human. But really. It's on your computer. If someone tells you the day, they might be wrong. Computer is not wrong.

(My INTJ personality is really shining bright here.)

"We the People" is not in the Declaration of Independence

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:00:45 GMT

A search for "declaration of independence" on a stock photo site shutterstock.com results in many images that are not the Declaration of Independence. Sure it looks like the Declaration of Independence, but it does not start with "We the People."

"We the People" is on the U.S. Constitution, not the Declaration of Independence.

Here's an image to clarify:

Just remember. "We the People" is U.S. Constitution. We are Americans. Let's at least get it straight about these basic founding documents. We all have our freedom due to these documents. Our entire government is based on these documents.

Happy created day!

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:03:55 GMT

Today, April 8th is the 98th day of the year.

The 98th word of the Declaration of Independence is: CREATED. As in "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Happy created day!

Oh by the way, the 98th sentence of the U.S. Constitution is: "Amendment 7 In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. "

So uh, happy trial by jury day? yay.

Hot Wheels in Shelbyville, Indiana (YouTube Video)

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:01:20 GMT

I have a backlog of videos to post to YouTube. About once a week, I'll post a new video. Here's one showing the big collection of Hot Wheels cars available at a Shelbyville, Indiana flea market. The end of the video got cut off due to my batteries croaking. But you get the idea. It's a nice sizable selection of Hot Wheels.

Happy Skepticism Day!

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:51:35 GMT

They need to rename April Fools day to be "Skepticism Day." Post office to release Simpsons stamps. Yeah, right. http://tr.im/simpsonstamps

Six-word Bible Verses on Twitter

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:00:17 GMT

I have trouble memorizing long verses, but when they are six words long, it's much easier. Not only is six words shorter, but you can break them up into a structure of 3x3. Or 2x2x2. They are handy little phrases just to think about walking down the street or with various empty times during the day.

I've been meaning to make a website or blog or something with them. Then it hit me. With twitter, it's the perfect medium. Twitter is short and quick. These verses are short and quick. People like reading their Twitter daily. Once a day, I could send out a verse.

I set up a twitter account called sixwordverses for daily tweets for phrases in the Bible that are six words long.

There a couple other tools that are handy to create these tweets. I have four sites bookmarked in one folder on Firefox. Every week or so, I launch all four sites at once by doing a "open all in tabs" for these four bookmarks:

1) Google docs. I keep a running draft document of verses to post. (This is where I also write my spudart.org posts, so it's nice to stay within the same platform).

2) hootsuite.com enables me to schedule a group of tweets to automatically post to a future date.

3) bit.ly for the URL shortening. Not sure if i'm staying with them. Sure, they have URL tracking. But I want all the stats on one page. Right now I have to click on each URL to see the info.

4) studylight.org for the Scripture references. I like the idea that someone can click on the link and then be able to easily read the whole chapter for context, or even click on some of the commentaries for that verse. In high school I was always so impressed by how much the Bible is able to cross-reference itself. It's truly a true book of God. I like to think that someone else might come to realize that as well as he/she goes through studylight.org.

Go ahead and check it out. Sixwordverses on twitter. Please follow me. :)

IDEA: Twitter translator to shorten text that is too long

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:00:37 GMT

On twitter, you are limited to 140 characters per tweet. If your message is too long, there should be a site where you can paste in your text and it will shorten the text down by changing "to" to "2" "and" to "&" "one" to "1" and so on. Then if it's still not short enough, it'll take out some of the vowels.

161 characters: (21 too long)
I don't know about you, but it would be great to have a service to make my long messages be under 140 characters. When I'm writing I use lots of words and words.

136 characters (4 under)
I dunno bout u, but it'd be gr8 2 have a service 2 make my long mssges b under 140 characters. When Im writn I use lots of words & words

My letter to matthewpaul.com

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:59 GMT

I like how the Millennium Park logo treats the MP letters. My name is Matthew Paul Maldre. I greatly appreciate the MP treatment. That got me curious who has matthewpaul.com.

He's a great web designer. I sent him the following email:

===============
hey Matthew Paul. I'm also a Matthew Paul. Only my "Paul" is my middle name. I was just looking to see who had Matthewpaul.com. I'm glad you bring honor to the name of Matthew Paul!

Rock on.
Matthew Paul
===============

Matthew Pauls rule. Yes, we do. I feel bad for the Erik Justins of the world. I mean, erikjustin.com is an alright site. But not as nice as matthewpaul.com.

Does anyone have a site with your first and middle name? If so, what do you think of it? (leave your thoughts in the comments below, thanks).

How to bring innovation to the World Baseball Classic

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:00:39 GMT

Samurais! Cigars! Electric guitars! Here's a way to spice up the international baseball tournament we know as the World Baseball Classic.

Have players wear uniforms designed according to the warrior outfit of their native country. The warrior outfit will be determined by the first result of a Google image search for COUNTRY NAME and WARRIOR.

Take the championship game, Korea vs. Japan.
Google gives this as the first results for Korean Warrior:

How freakin cool would that be to have SAMURAI warriors with big huge blades?...Playing baseball!

Japanese Warrior:

This Japanese samurai would totally annihilate the Korean one.

How about the Venezeula and USA who lost in the semi-finals?
Google gives this as the first results for Venezuelan Warrior:

Wow. Venezuela would have their players running around dressed as cigars. I wonder how they would do against the weiners in Miwaukee's sausage race.

USA Warrior:

And then TEAM USA would be a bunch of power rock electric guitars. HOW COOL IS THAT? Baw-wowwow-waaaaah!

A few other noteworthy uniforms would are Chinese Taipei:

Dude, a guy in a Judo outfit kicking the crap out of like, twenty guys!

But Team Netherlands takes the cake for their Netherlandian Warrior:

Dude, it's a freakin' cannon. Talk about total destruction. What batter can hit a ball shot out of a cannon?

Bud Selig, I ask you please, implement native warrior uniforms in the 2012 World Baseball Classic.

The gnome behind Google Docs likes to worry

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:00:18 GMT

Is it just me or does it seem lately that Google docs goes BONKERS on the auto-save? It auto-saves after every sentence. And seemingly every 30 seconds. And I can't type while it auto-saves.

It's like Google docs is very worrisome. "mustsave--mustsave--mustsave"

"Oh no! Let me save that again!"

*two seconds later* "Ooooh. you typed another character! I better save that for you!"

Okay, Google docs, It's very nice of you to be considerate and save for me. I appreciate it. But can you lay off on the saving? k. Thanks.

If America was smaller would it make it easier for people to move away?

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:00:34 GMT

When America messes up so much that people get tired of living here, we'll joke about moving to Canada. But really. Canada?
A) It's so far away.
B) It's Canada.

But what if we lived in Europe. Couldn't you just move to another country much easier? There's countries all crammed together. The proximity of countries is kinda like our states here. But do people in Europe do that? Do people in the Czech Republic grow weary of V�clav Klaus that they move to Poland?

Nine fun books I found this week

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:00:27 GMT

I love the book store in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. They have such a great selection of books. I found nine books that I want. Yes, NINE. Here they are:

Amazon.com Widgets

Usually when I'm shopping, I'll find a book--MAYBE two books--that I add to my wish list. But here are NINE books that are just SUPER DUPER GREAT.

(If you are viewing this post on facebook or in an RSS feed, and you can't see the super cool carousel widget above, then visit the blog post at www.spudart.org/blogs/randomthoughts_comments/4926_0_3_0_C/).

My top six most-clicked links on twitter

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:08:02 GMT

I've posted 22 tr.im URLs on twitter (I'm user spudart). What gets the most clicks? Drama and iphones!

41 clicks
It's kinda funny that the Chicago trolley service is ELIMINATED! http://tr.im/chicagotrolly
Note: People love drama. Oh no! Service ELIMINATED! Maybe I should do ALL-CAP tweets more often.

37 clicks
@RebelliousBird did my video convince you to get an iphone? http://tr.im/iphonevspaper
Note: iPhones. People love 'em.

34 clicks
One of the best pre-president Obama photos ever: http://tr.im/greenobama

30 clicks
Chicago is No. 3 among cities worldwide in the number of people who use Twitter http://tr.im/chicago3

28 clicks
The notification feed on flickr for new images of "godzilla" and "plush" gives few updates, but this one is neat: http://tr.im/plush

18 clicks
Read the full story about the world's largest cell phone getting pranked at http://tr.im/worldslargestcellphone

WHITEBOARD GAMES: Guess the first 70-degree day in Chicago

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:07:07 GMT

Play a fun game at work on your whiteboard. Have people guess what the first 70-degree day will be in your city. We started this competition about a month ago. Guess what today is? THE FIRST 70 DEGREE DAY IN CHICAGO!

Guess who had the closest guess?

:-) I am one dollar richer. After winning the dollar bill, I wrote the following on it:

We are currently looking for a new whiteboard game. If anyone has any suggestions, please suggest it in the comments. Let me say this, we are not doing a NCAA bracket. Sawwy.

FUN: Look up your initials on urbandictionary.com

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:00:56 GMT

According to urbandictionary.com, the 2nd definion for my initials MPM is "Common typo for lol. Most of the time it happens when you don't look at the keyboard or when you are typing really fast :p"

Let's all take in a good laugh. Look up your initials on urbandictionary.com and leave the definition in the comments. But if it's dirty, I don't really want to hear it. Then again, I wonder if the first definition for MPM is dirty. hm.

My letter to AIGA (the national graphic designer organization)

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:00:03 GMT

AIGA is a great resource for graphic designers. But the annual membership fee is $315. Ouch. $315 a year. I recently wrote a letter to the AIGA asking if they have considered lowering their annual fee. This isn't an exciting email (as I will often spice up my inquiry emails). I just wanted to post this online for the public to see.

========================
With these harder economic times, I wonder if it has been discussed at AIGA to lower membership costs. I was a member from 2000-2005 as my workplace paid for the membership. As budgets got cut, our membership was eliminated from the budget. AIGA truly is a great resource. But I personally have a hard time justifying the $315 annual fee. Just as a comparison, I am a member of the Chicago Artists Coalition as their membership fees are more reasonable: http://caconline.org/register.asp?destination=membership

Thank you, Matt Maldre
========================

QUESTION FOR TWITTER: Is there a setting for receiving only @replies on my phone?

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:00:41 GMT

It would be nice to have a setting on Twitter to get only @replies sent as a text message to my phone. Getting tweets from all my friends would be crazy. But getting just the @replies would be really nice.

Twitter's help page states the following:

Is there a setting for receiving only @replies on my phone?
Nope. But if we get enough feature requests, we may just add it for you. Send us one!

I would love for people to flood Twitter with requests to be able to get only @replies as text messages. Here's what I recommend putting in the request box on Twitter's request page at twitter.zendesk.com/requests/portal/new:

==============
I would like a setting for receiving only @replies on my phone. I see your help page says it's not possible, but if you get enough requests, you'll add it. Here I am requesting it. Please add a setting for receiving only @replies on my phone. Thank you.
==============

Sears Tower is moved to Navy Pier (and being renamed to Willis Tower)

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:00:04 GMT

Photo courtesy josephp via creative commons license

Wow. They moved the entire Sears Tower over to Navy Pier. And they built a huge dome over it. A few questions:
1) How did they get the Sears Tower to fit inside Navy Pier?
2) If there is a dome over the Sears Tower, then isn't the dome America's tallest building?
3) What are they doing with the land left over from where the Sears Tower used to be?

If I may make a suggestion for question 3. They could fill the entire empty lot with a unique collection of all the mini souvenir statuettes of the Sears Tower. Each one would be different, and it would fill the entire lot with different interpretations of the beloved Sears Tower (now located in Navy Pier).

UPDATE: They are now renaming Sears Tower to be Willis Tower. Whoat!? First they move it to Navy Pier, now they are renaming it?

World's largest working cell phone gets pranked

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:51:54 GMT

Outside Tribune Tower in Chicago today is a promotion by Cricket Wireless and Samsung. I know this because I work on the 14th floor of the Tribune Tower and all I hear today is the guy on the loud speaker, "Come everyone make a call on the WORLD'S LARGEST working cell phone brought to you by Cricket Wireless and Samsung."

"WHO WHO wants to be a part of HISTORY? Who wants to step up and make the next call? Come on and make a text message with the WORLD'S LARGEST cell phone." After hearing this about a HUNDRED times at work, we joked around how it would be funny to go down there and send a text from this phone; then we'd have the phone number of the WORLD'S LARGEST cell phone. But certainly they would have that phone number blocked or restricted, right? Of course they would. Of coooooourse they would...

I thought it would just be fun to go down and at least participate in this promo and have my coworkers hear me using the WORLD'S LARGEST cell phone. We can hear everything that is going on anyways, might as well have them hear me doing it.

After a short elevator ride down, I arrive outside at our court. There's only one person in line ahead of me and he's playing Wii bowling on the phone. He's got a Wii controller in his hand and he throws a strike! FREE TSHIRT! I ask one of the cricket girls if the has a bowling app. She said, "no, only the world's largest phone can do that."

The Wii bowler gets his tshirt and i'm next up. The announcer dude asks me, "What's YOUR name!?"

"Matt. and I would like to text my buddy from the world's largest cell phone."

"We have MATT here and he's gonna text his buddy!"

One of the cool things is that the actual buttons on the phone work. And they are HUGE. I literally have to walk across the stage as I punch in his phone number. Then I punch in the text.. "Hey, Im on da wrlds bggst fon" Then they had me hit this big red button and BOOM! it's sent. They hand me a free shirt. And i'm happy to have the experience.

But here's where the story gets funny.

I go back up to work all happy having been a part of cell phone history. Upon arriving back at work, my friend says, "Matt, where were you? I called the phone back!"

I can't believe he CALLED the phone back!

My buddy explains, "they were rather surprised, and kinda said off the phone, 'I didn't know we were taking incoming calls.'" Through bursts of laughter he continues, "Yeah, I asked for Matt and they said you weren't there anymore. So I just kinda hung up after that."

I still can't believe he called the phone back. Granted, we joked about it before me going down there. That's funny that I wasn't there. They were looking for me. Actually, in retrospect that would have been cool to have been called back by the world's largest cell phone.

There you have it. I am now in possession of the phone number to the WORLD'S LARGEST cell phone. What should I do with it? I'm tempted to txt them. "Hey, turn down the volume on your phone, your neighbors can hear it."

Watch a video of the phone being made:

Mountain Dew Monkey on flickr

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:00:57 GMT

"Mountain Dew Monkey" recently added me as a contact on flickr. What a great name! Can you imagine a monkey drinking Mountain Dew!?

A short selection of Filet-o-fish videos

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:00:02 GMT

Give me back that filet-o-fish.
Give me that fish!
Give me back that filet o fish.
Give me that fish!
What if it were you hanging up on this wall?
If it were you in that sandwich you wouldn't be laughing at all.

The McDonalds commericial taking over the nation.

Take a look at the URL that McDonalds is promoting:
filetofish.com

It's supposed to read:
filet o fish .com

But it looks like:
filet of ish .com
Mmmm nothing tastes better at McDonalds than some ish. Lemme get some good ish.

Or better yet it looks like:
file to fish .com
Really! I can get my fishing license at file to fish.com?

I love that commericial so much, here are some more filet-o-fish vides on YouTube:

Some teenagers react the commericial in front of a cashier at McDonalds. It's pretty hilarious.

Patting burgers.
Something tells me this girl is patting this burger a little too much.

How to say "filet-o-fish"

Filet-o-fish challenge
Eat 10 filet-o-fish sandwiches in 7 minutes.

Comcast Customer Support on Twitter

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:00:06 GMT

It's great that Comcast's Customer Support are on Twitter. They respond right away to your problems and guide you in the right direction. However, in the middle of helping you, the support team is also twittering to each other about going out to drink. Here we have the Comcast Director of Digital Care as "Comcastcares" telling "ComcastBonnie," "Or are you stopping for a Beer? It is the kickoff of Philly Beer Week."

So just keep in mind the next time you call Comcast, that they are actually making beer plans while helping you.

How to save the Michigan Avenue Borders bookstore

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:30:36 GMT

The following is a letter I sent to the Borders corporation and to the Borders bookstore on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, which right now is planning on closing shop in January 2010.

Greetings people of Borders. I heard recently that you are planning on closing the Borders bookstore at 830 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL‎ in January 2010. Here's how to save your location and increase your sales.

I'll give you the solution right up front:�
Add more cashiers so customers do not choose to abandon their books and leave.�

The situation:�
We all know that Borders is losing customers to people who buy books from the internet. But when you buy books from the internet, you have to wait for it be shipped. The Borders bookstore on Michigan Avenue in Chicago is extremely popular. There is always a line to purchase.�

Borders Unique Selling Proposition:�
What makes Borders unique is being able to buy the book RIGHT NOW.�

The problem:�
When a customer has to wait in line to buy the book, they will simply leave and purchase it online. Don't make your customers wait. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I thought of buying a book at Borders, but then changed my mind when I saw that line.�

It's a real problem:�
It's a real thing. It happens all the time. Let me ask you, how many unshelved books are there by around the register area. I bet if you ask the employees of the Michigan Avenue store that there are a ton of unshelved books around the first floor. Customers are abadoning their purchases, because of any wait in line they have to withstand.�

Don't block your biggest feature:�
You are creating a roadblock to your customers completing their purchase. You are blocking the your PRIMARY feature that you offer to customers. Books RIGHT NOW.�

Lines are not popular at Borders:�
Why would you kill your most popular reason why people purchase books from you? Perhaps you have adopted the Apple strategy. You allow people to stand in line, because it makes your products seem popular. "Just look at that line! Everyone is purchasing! Let me join in!" It works for Apple, because people are willing to sacrifice some time waiting in line for a high-priced item. Plus many people do not feel comfortable buying a high-priced item online.�But when it comes to buying a book, people do feel comfortable buying the item online. And they won't wait in line to buy a low-priced book.�

There is no reason to let people wait in line. Add more cashiers.�In our day and age, people don't want to wait. You have a huge advantage over the internet. Yet, you neglect this advantage. Add more cashiers.�

Waiting five minutes is longer than five days:�
You might think that a 5-day wait for shipping online is certainly shorter than a 5-minute wait in line at a Borders bookstore. But the difference is in the mind of the customer. The customer wants to be in control. The customer is comfortable with choosing to do 5-day shipping, because that is his choice. Waiting in line is not the customer's choice.�

Your challenge:�
Let me challenge you. Add more cashiers so there is never a wait in line. Your goal is to never a have anyone waiting in line. Call it the "Zero person line" or "No waiting policy." Let the public know that you are changing your position on waiting at Borders. Embed in the public's mind that Borders is THE place where you can buy a book NOW and never have to wait. See what happens to your sales in one month.

If you were do to this experiment, let your employees in on the strategy. Right now I bet they are demoralized by the fact the store will close in January 2010. But if you express to them the opportunity that the store might remain open if this experiment works and sales increases, then they will be extremely happy to hop on a register to�eliminate�any wait for a customer.

Your sales will increase. I have never in the entire life of this location ever walked right up to a cashier with no line. This is unprecedented in the history of this location. It's experiment that will prove to work. Your sales will increase for this store. Let it happen.�

Sincerely,
Matt Maldre

It seems so simple, it's ridiculous.

What do you do when you explode a bag of chips in public?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:06:51 GMT

(Above photo: The chips after they were picked up off the ground)

Let's say you are sitting in one of the world's greatest public spaces on one of the area's first warm days of the year. Everyone is sitting outside having a good time. Enjoying the good weather, enjoying the people walking by.

You just came back from the grocery store with some stuff to nibble on for lunch and snackage. You decide to sit down outside the Tribune Tower and join all the people enjoying the fine day on Michigan Avenue.

You take out a bag of crackers and procede to try to open it. The bag is being stubborn and won't open. You take the bag from the other end and are determined to get to the delicious cheddar crackers inside. The bag won't give easily. You decide to amp it up and REALLY pull on the sides of the bag to get it open.

The bag EXPLODES. Chips go flying all over the ground. These are BRIGHT ORANGE round chips. They are really loud sitting on the ground. Almost the entire contents of the bag are on the ground.

Now what do you do?
A) Pick up the chips and throw them away.
B) Leave the chips on the ground.

Here's what I did.
I sat there in shock. It was quite amazed at the amount of chips on the ground. I was thinking about leaving them there. But it was such a mess. I don't want to leave my beautiful court in a mess. Plus, I don't want to feed the pigeons. Pigeons are already overfed by tourists. We don't need anymore crapbirds leaving their crap all over.

So I started to pick up the chips. A couple innocent bystanders said to me nicely, "Oh just leave them for the pigeons." To which I replied, "Oh, I don't want to feed the pigeons." Note, I withheld my rant from these observers.

I emptied the grapes from their little bag into my grocery bag and used that grape bag to hold the liberated chips. But now what do i do? Do I sit there and ignore my embarrassment and try to enjoy a little lunch? Yes, I swallowed my pride and ate some grapes. After telling this story to my co-workers they responded in horror that I would use my same fingers that picked up dirty chips to eat grapes. Oops. Let's stack on more embarrassment. Ha!

All in all, I find it a funny story now. I managed to even snap a little photo of the reclaimed chips before they were tossed away. I really wish I took a photo of the chips on the ground. It was quite a sight.

What would you do if you exploded a bunch of chips in front of a bunch of people?

Has the U.S. government ever caused a recession?

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:54:15 GMT

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
This is a great video that explains all this economy stuff.

On a side note, in Chicago's Pioneer was an Obama spending protest (photos). While I'm cautiously concerned about how this money is spent, I still support it. It's funny how people worship the market and think that the free market will solve all our problems. Uh hello. The market is what got us in this messed up place. Although one can argue it was the low-low interest rates set by the feds that started it. But it was the free market that got so entirely greedy. Giving out mortgages to reliable people wasn't enough. They had to give out sub-prime mortgages to people who couldn't pay it back. All because lenders and banks were making money hand-over-fist with mortgages.

That brings me to my point. The free market is what created this recession. When was the last time the government caused a recession? Is there ever such an example in American history? I'm a non-economic mind trying to wrap my brain around all this.

Happy Square Root Day! 03-03-09

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:26:39 GMT

Today is a square root day! 3 x 3 = 9.
03/03/09

I hope your day is full of square roots. And may your happiness be exponentially multiplied

Roadtrip questions brochure

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:12:43 GMT

At rest areas on highways, I'm leaving these brochures for people to pick up. I'm hoping they will spur good conversation between friends and families on our highways. Here's a few preliminary photos of the brochure as I'm designing it at work. It's just a total quickie project with really no design. I just wanted to nail this out and just start planting to see what it's like. Fancypants design can come later.

Download the version 2 PDF of the Roadside Questions brochure.

The cover:

The inside:

Download the version 2 PDF of the Roadside Questions brochure.

Images of me placing them into rest-stops will be posted soon. Stay tuned!

Hawaii gets a new name

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:22:58 GMT

Hawaii is so cool, they should change the last two "i"s in "Hawaii" to exclamation points. HAWA!! or Hawa!!

My 5,000th bookmark on delicious.com

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:00:22 GMT

Delicious.com is a great online bookmarking service. Use it to bookmark all the cool sites you find, and then in the future when you are trying to remember the name of a site, BADDA-BING BADDA-BANG! You can find it easily.

You might say, "oh well, i can bookmark them in browser." Yeeeeeeah. Well. Do you want a bloated 5,000 bookmarks in your browser? I sure don't. And if they are in your browser, then you have to plop the site into one folder. With Delicious, you can assign as many tags as you want to a site. It makes it so easy to find sites you've bookmarked.

It's ridiculously great.

I also use it to bookmark all the interesting things that I print out online. I assign them with a tag of print. You can take a gander at www.delicious.com/spudart/print.

But for now, I celebrate my FIVE THOUSANDTH bookmark. And it's a dandy too. The "How are you doing today?" project. Just as an example of how delicious tags work. I tagged this site with:
* question (30)
* chicago (562)
* art (116)
* podcast (25)
* goodidea (67)
(The numbers in parenthesis are the number of bookmarks I have under that tag.)

And for those who like to have a backup of your bookmarks, Delicious lets you export your bookmarks for safe keeping. Aaaaand. There's a Delicious extension for Firefox to make bookmarking super easy from your browser.

The world needs better designed paperclip boxes

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:03:34 GMT

Just look at how this paperclip box gets totally destroyed in my drawer. I'd love a cute paperclip box. Etsy? Help!

What's more fun on a camping trip? Rifles, skunk infilration, mice born in your clothes, or...

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:00:23 GMT

A bucket list going around on facebook has a line item "Have you ever shot a gun?" My brother and I both checked "yes" to it. Which caused curiousity among our friends, "When did you shoot a gun?!"
Matt: erik and i fired guns as cub scouts when we did some camping trip. There was a rifle range. It was fun.
Erik: Matt Maldre is correct. We fired rifles when we were 10 years old. It was the most fun part of camping trip and the entire camping trip was a lot of fun.

I am shocked that Erik declared shooting rifles to be the most fun part of the trip.

What do you think would be more fun on a camping trip when you are 10 years old?
A) Shooting rifles.
B) A skunk walking into your tent while you are sleeping with the blankets covering your head. And then the skunk jumping on top of your head.
C) Baby mice born inside your luggage.
D) Walking out into an area that had quicksand.
E) The outhouse running out of toilet paper and using leaves from the forest to wipe your butt.
F) Catching frogs by a lagoon.
G) Being completely creeped out by horror stories told by campfire.

empty chocolate

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 02:51:27 GMT

When the only chocolate in my apartment is the empty chocolate-covered raisins bag in the garbage, it's time for me to get some chocolate. I'm staring at the empty bag with hopes of chocolate in my head.

I really like working in one of the world's best public squares ever.

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:26:52 GMT

Pioneer court in Chicago on Michigan Avenue has been called one of the world's best public squares in existence. Surrounded by great architecture on the south with 333 North Michigan Avenue and the London Insurance Building, on the north with the magnificent Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower; I'm glad I work right next to this court and walk by it every day. There's many great photo opportunities. Here's some of my shots:

What impact will the stimulus bill have on mass transit?

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:00:04 GMT

Budgeted for highways and transit in the stimulus bill:
� $27.5 billion: US highways
� $8 billion: high speed transit
� $6.8 billion: city transit (source: prorebulica.org)
I'd rather see the highway and transit numbers flipped. We don't need more roads and highways. We need more trains and buses.

Just how far can $6.8 billion go for city transit?
Let's take a look at the 2009 Chicago Transit Authority Budget Recommendations:
��$723 million/year: operating budget from public funding
��$600 milliion/year: capital improvement program
��$1.36 billion/year: unfunded capital improvements that are needed.
That's about $2.7 billion/year to run a public transit system in Chicago (both operations and capital funding).

Obama's stimulus package calls for $6.8 billion for the whole country. THE WHOLE COUNTRY. That's 50 states. How much would Illinois get? If it's divided evenly amoung the states, Illinois accounts for about 4% of the USA population. That's $272 million from the stimulus to be for Illinois' transit.

Summary
Illinois' share stimulus' budget for transit would only cover 14% of ONE YEAR for CTA's capital improvements. I wish they put more money in the stimulus for city transit. Everyone could use it. Just wait when gas prices go back up again.

Rutherford B. Hayes: 10th worst president ever

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:00:23 GMT

C-SPAN asked 65 presidential historians to rank the former 42 former occupants of the White House on ten attributes of leadership. My favorite leader--the croquet president--ended up being the 10th worst president ever. Hey, at least George W Bush is sixth worst ever.

I'm gonna cc you

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:00:15 GMT

When you read "cc" what do you think of? (other than carbon copy).

I like to think it says "cool cool," as in, "I'm gonna cool cool you"

The mysterious cut on Matt's head

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:00:45 GMT

Matt is wondering how the mysterious cut got on the top of his head. Brain growing too big? Aliens inserting special chip? That was a status update on my facebook profile last year.

======================================
The responses were funny, so I saved them:

Tom S: ow! Are you ok!?

Elizabeth J: I am convinced it is Aliens!!

Mark A: Maybe your brain IS an alien!

KellyK: Dun dun dun...your brains getting too big it wants out!

Tom K: Matt? Can you hear me? You are now under my control.

Cathie K: It's that your brain wants out to share itself with other people!

Tamima F: maybe you were dreaming of something so amazing it leaped out of your head. a concept such as this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWvBbqpD2Y8

======================================
Matt Maldre: (my responses)

@Tom: Yeah, i'm ok. Just strange how it appeared!

@Elizabeth: I like how you capitalize Aliens.

@Mark: Whoa if my brain is an alien, then... that's insane!

@Kelly: lol, it wants to run around and play!

@Tom: *roger* *roger* you are logged in, what is your first prompt?

@Cathie: Yes! Brain wants as many ways as possible to share, even if ... Read Moreit means breaking through my skull! Makes me wonder if when my nose runs, if that's actually my brain escaping. Whenver I blow my nose on the train, I can tell strangers th

@Tamima: Oh deeear! I was totally expecting something else! It sounds like those gents are trying to squeeze something else out of their hands!

six buses in one day

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:00:19 GMT

Yesterday I rode six different buses, so I thought it would be fun to shoot one photo for each bus.

To church:
--49 Western southbound
--66 Chicago eastbound

To my sister's:
--8 Halsted northbound
--22 Clarck northbound

To my apartment:
--22 Clark northbound
--81 Lawrence westbound

Is love in the air? The light is gleeming. A hot babe enters the 49 Western bus. The light shines in the interested man's eyes.

Do you think this guy on the 66 Chicago bus ever forgets where he's from? CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO. what? Where do you live? CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO.

The 8 Halsted bus. Yup.

YEEEE-HAW. A cowboy rides the 22 bus like it's a buckin' bronco. That 22, it's a flippin ride. Hold on tight!

I miss the cowboy on the 22 northbound bus. The southbound 22 has no cowboy. Makes me want to sing "where did all the cowboys go"

The 81 Lawrence bus literally had four people run up to the bus at different stops. I was one of the four. CTA bustracker on my iphone said that it was gonna be a very close transfer. Close indeed! After getting off the 22, the 81 was sitting kitty-korner on the other side of the intersection--of lawrence and clark! No small intersection indeed.

I zigged and zagged.

The 81 waited.

And it also waited for three other people at three other stops.

I didn't get a picture of the people running.

Instead I photographed the bald head. His head so smooth, if you tried to run across it, you would certainly slip.

QUESTION: If you got a tattoo, what would you get and where would you put it?

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:00:28 GMT

My first answer is: None. and the location is nowhere.

Actually my answer is: a doodle, inked onto the inside of my hand from a pen. Stays for less than one day. The doodle would be a smiley face. Actually, typically on the tip a finger. Sometimes multiple fingers.

So they can dance

and talk.

Music sounds so much better when it's recommended by someone you know

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:00:26 GMT

A friend over at Rule29 recommended Chris Botti a jazz musician (reference: Something New For Your Music Radar). I'm digging on Chris Botti now. It's funny how when someone recommends music to you, it sounds much better than it just being buried among all the other options out there. I like jazz music. I like trumpets. But normally Chris Botti would just be another jazz trumpet player. But since Rule29 recommended it, I'm actually going to buy one of his albums and truly enjoy listening to it. Give Chris Botti a shot on last.fm.