Brace yourself for a next level 80’s Star Wars lightsaber duel between Clare Grant, Rileah Vanderbilt and Alison Haislip.
Sexy Lightsaber Duel
•May 4, 2014 • Leave a CommentStar Wars Featurette: The Birth of the Lightsaber
•May 4, 2014 • Leave a CommentStar Wars creator George Lucas, actor Mark Hamill, and sound designer Ben Burtt discuss the conceptual and technical aspects of the most famous movie weapon of all time, the lightsaber.
It’s “Free Comic Book Day!”
•May 3, 2014 • Leave a Comment
Here’s a list of the comics HEROES FOR SALE (582 K’ Rd) will be giving away:
* 2 Free comics to any one who comes into the store, or 6 to anyone in costume.
TRANSCENDENCE–Fiction [review…ish]
•May 2, 2014 • Leave a Comment
Caught a screening of TRANSCENDENCE with a friend tonight and we both thought it was good. I avoid movie reviews and critics until after I’ve seen a thing, and I’m surprised by how many people don’t like it. The dialogue is nothing scientific and didn’t really engage my curiosity, but it moves the story along. And unbeknownst to most of the critics, the [Spoiler Alert] nano-water could be loosely based on the hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario called “Grey Goo.” Grey Goo was originally described by mathematician John von Neumann (1903~1957) but given its name by molecular nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation.
TRANSCENDENCE aside; Grey Goo is the idea that a self-replicating nano-machine could duplicate itself non-stop, multiplying exponentially in mass as they consume all of Earth’s resources, thus giving it the appearance of grey goo — An expanding mass of uncontrollable nano-machines! Think, Benderama:
Those things on STARGATE and the Borg would also suffice. TRANSCENDENCE may be seen by some to be a farfetched Hollywood flop, but I suspect it will stand the test of time the closer we get to nanotechnology and quantum computing. Indeed, “People fear what they don’t understand” — Or just heavily dislike. I’m sure there’s a lot that had to be toned down in order for this film just to get made, but nevertheless, there are some neat ideas explored here; it’s just a matter of time before real-life emerging technologies ascertain the probability of TRANSCENDENCE. Great work Wally Pfister. My friend noticed a few sub-textual biblical references as well which would be interesting to discuss. Some other time perhaps. I’m parched.
Vic Mensa’s New Single “Down On My Luck” [♬]
•May 1, 2014 • Leave a Comment(Who called it? That’s right!)
GAME OF THRONES Philosophies
•April 29, 2014 • Leave a CommentMove over Arnold Schwarzenegger, there is a new king of quotable quotes in the realm of memorable fiction:
Damn fine dialogue! The best-of really…And then there’s this:
But not nearly as bad as this guy:
XD
Infomercial Struggles Compilation
•April 26, 2014 • Leave a Comment*Sigh* …Such a tragic depiction of the human race:
These “Doing It Wrong” segments from infomercials are just so bad!
Fluttering Both Ways: Thanks to a Genetic Anomaly These Butterflies Have Male and Female Wings
•April 25, 2014 • Leave a CommentBilateral gynandromorphism is a condition where an animal or insect contains both male and female characteristics. This is caused when the sex chromosomes fail to separate during mitosis/fertilization.
Although it is one of natures rarest phenomena with only 0.01 per cent of hatching butterflies being born as gynandromorph, this condition is visually striking and can be easily spotted in most butterflies by the perfect division between the two halves of the body:
(Above) The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.
I was wondering how other creatures of the same genus react to these unique anomalies. The butterfly above unfortunately died shortly after the photo was taken because it didn’t have a long enough proboscis. For the ones that live long enough however; my guess would be that pheromones play a role in determining attraction on a non-visual level. But I’m no expert. For more info on gynandromorpism, checkout sciencesnaps.com
★ THE ☆ WISHING ☆ TREE ★
•April 24, 2014 • Leave a Comment
My university assignment asked for students to take a poem from the “Mauri Ola” anthology of pacific poetry, and take it to as many people outside of the classroom as possible. I chose Tagi Qolouvaki’s “Tell Me a Story“ and identified that its core is about reclaiming a cultural identity. I thought to myself; how could I get people to identify with an identity, even if they weren’t aware they were doing so? Hence, Te Wishing Tree.
I conceptualized this ‘desire to be identified’ in the form of an interactive installation. The reason why Tagi in her poem chose to identify with the story of burying umbilical cord in the land, is because she saw value in that story. Generations of storytellers before her imbued it with value. The same way people along the beach freely chose to write their inner well wishes on a random piece of artwork, is because they saw value in doing so. People admired and read and the more words that the tree accumulated the more passersby felt the urge to interact with it. This odd, poetic, art, kinetic, social experiment had such a snowball effect, I wasn’t anticipating it would intrigue and delight people as well as it did. I think I proved my point well.
I’m pretty confident I will pass this assignment, but for my own closure, I’d like to share with you my critical analysis of this event — Words on the Wishing Tree are wholly life affirming — People are inherently good. I personally believe we all have a duality within us; at once we want to go about our business our own way because we are unique, and at the same time we want to belong and be apart of something greater than ourselves. We want to be apart of something that confirms and expresses to the world how good and unique we truly are. Thank you all for giving this fallen branch value and a reason for others to identify with it and thus, with you. Now, pat yourself on the back with me 😀
“Tell Me a Story” by Tagi Qolouvaki
•April 22, 2014 • Leave a CommentThank you for contributing your encouraging words, dreams and desires to the Wishing Tree. It is assured that if you affirm your beliefs habitually, they will come true 😀 This interactive installation was part of my Pacific Literature assignment at the University of Auckland (ENG204).
Thank you all for your curiosity — explanation & photos coming soon. This poem by Tagi Qolouvaki is about cultural identity and is the inspiration behind the Wishing Tree:
“Tell Me a Story”
by Tagi Qolouvaki
He vows I am planted beneath the Frangipani
Promises I am seed beneath the Bua.
He has his father’s tongue,
Owns his mother’s languages.
They sing honeyed songs together.
He has even tamed the palangi one –
It rides his tongue
And he is fertile with story.
Deftly, he weaves tales
Like the finest mats
Constructs memories
Tapa-tapestries
Stained in soil and
Coloured with song.
We store them, Cultural currency for the next birth
Death and wedding.
We carry them
To make us
Real.
He is a teller of tall tales, Talanoa
But what are stories if not lies
Though sweet as vakalolo
Cleaved to our fingers
Floating our souls
In the fat of coconut?
What are memories if not construction:
The storyteller as tattooist
Marking
And not marking
Brown skin.
And They say
If your pito-pito is unplanted
You will wander
They say
If it is unplanted
Home will elude you
Well mine is buried in story
Planted in a tall tale
And I wander
Yes,
And home is a story
Home is a story where the Frangipani flowers.
Qolouvaki, Tagi. “Tell Me a Story.”Mauri ola: Contemporary Polynesia Poems in English: WHETU MOANA II. Eds. Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, Robert Sullivan. New Zealand: Auckland University Press, 2010. 185-186. Print.
🎭 