FAR LIFE IV

Im struggling to figure out where to start with this picture. Ill first mention what really knocks me out of my chair as utterly disgusting. What is with this green roof? Was this roof supposed to be green? Is this tarnished copper? Are there supposed to be slightly yellow sections, like a sick plant? Should I be asking these questions? NO!

Now lets talk about the mansard roof. A mansard roof is a roof with two separate set of slants. In some places they work really well like in certain classic French palaces. I guess MacDonalds killed it.

I argue the whole things projects an alien vibe. I don't mean alien like weird I mean, outer space, other planet aliens. The width to height to length ratio of that roof makes me think of a UFO. I think this is because the roof vaguely resembles a winged bird, but lacks the organic flow of any living organism, only the coloring of a dying plant.

Then there is the whole issue of what is actaully up in that space. What could that massive vent be doing? Its a mysterious thing, like an alien ship.

FAR LIFE Volume 3

Im taking a break from my architecture inking project to talk about these bad desks at FAR. At at least FAR and Allen Hall, a new type of dorm furniture has been implemented. The idea is complete flexability. The furniture can be arranged in about 8 combinations of bed/desk/shelves/cabinets placement. Id say that in general its pretty effective.

There is one huge, aweful, obvious problem with this furniture. When one sits at the desk there is exactly one foot of vertical space before the bash of the shins commences. The shelf is too hight to use as a foot rest, to low to be out of the way, and too small to put anything large on. Nice work on this one

FF 7 Music

I really used to like the Final Fantasy games. The factor which made the games was the music. This song is from Final Fantasy VII, and I just love it. The first song is literally recorded from the video game. The second is an embellished live recording. I hope you like them.

	Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy 7 - Ahead On Our Way
	Found at skreemr.com

	Final Fantasy - Final Fantasy 7 A World of Piano OC ReMix
	Found at skreemr.com

Wire Hog

I remember back in the day, I used Wire Hog. At one point in High School, I tried to convince my friend John to use Wirehog and his response was I want to, but what would my dad think of that "pink pig" randomly showing up in the system tray. So what exactly is Wirehog?

I guess wirehog was the first "facebook app" Officially endorsed by Mark Z. and friends, Wirehog allowed users to share files with their social network. Wirehog was a kind of tag along with facebook. At that time, facebook didn't even have a photo system set up, so wirehog was sort of a big deal. It was actually a really neat concept. I didn't have a facebook, but I was able to use the network through an invite. You could set directories to share and your friends would simply have access to those files. You could access yours and your friends files through a an intuitive web interface, something like you access your email, assuming you don't use outlook. You had complete control of who was accessing your files, and then generally they would return the favor.

Considering this was about four years ago, the coding had some pretty serious quirks. Wirehog was basically always on when your computer was running, so you were effectively running a website. People had anytime access, to files which you shared. It also allowed you to download multiple files through a single click. For example I could download all of my friend's ACDC with a single click, and it would save the files onto my computer as a single zip directory.

It was cool, but it wasn't meant to be. There were obviously huge RIAA issues, considering that it was officially endorsed, and was simply an elite music sharing service. The thing probably could also be fairly easily exploited to access God knows what files, by some annoying hacker.

FAR LIFE Volume 2

Bleak High Rise Concept

Having little understanding of the exact philosophy of the FAR high rise concept, all I can do is speculate about the original design ideas. To be fair, I'm going to try to represent the other side of the high rise philosophy, before I tear it apart.


I might guess that when FAR was built, possibly in the late 60's or early 70's bleak high rise towers were popular. The falling out of fashion of the style is seen very clearly in the life of the Robert Taylor Homes. I think that the idea was to use the building as an object of unification. If every inhabitant was part of a larger higher simple idea, there might be a prevailing sense of community within the place.

I believe that the concept has poorly backfired. Instead of feeling connected through the building people feel marginalized. I used the term simple idea for this exact reason. I think that these simple strong looking structures only serve to diminish spirits. The massive grid facade may serve to make people feel as though they are just another pointless square in a grid.

Sketch

In Respone to "The Quad"


Here it is

FAR LIFE Volume 1

How Far is FAR

This is the first posting in what I anticipate to be a set of entrees detailing life at F-A-R. I'm going to touch on some good points, some bad points, and some misconceptions.

So, first Im going to talk about one of the more promising points of FAR: the distance misconception. You've probably heard someone describe FAR as way out there or, or as having an ironic name. The truth is Far is not far. Using a pixel counter, and a digital map image, and birds' flight technique, I determined that the length from FAR to the middle of the quad is approximately 40 yards more than the length from the middle of the six pack to the middle of the quad. Thats basically nothing.

My theory for this misconception is the fact that there are a bunch of strange buildings between FAR and the quad. People are unfamiliar with the area so it seems like a trip to FAR involves a quest through the boonies.

In some sense, this is true. I find Turner Hall almost an eye soar, and most people aren't very familiar with the green houses. More importantly there isn't much of a unifying street or path through that particular sprawl of ag. buildings.

In conclusion, FAR may seem to be far but the distance isn't the issue as much as the strange and aging land of agriculture college sprawl.

CRCE Card swiping station

Every time when I go into CRCE I look at the computer after they swipe my card and here is what I see.
-Ugly goofy ID picture, followed by a list of things which have a green ok/cleared identification next to them. Thats a lie, only the first one is green.

What could this list possibly mean? It reminds me a lot of a linux boot



Evidently my local host isn't up to par? Compared to this jovial little boot up, my system would probably crash and burn in a matter of seconds..

but seriously.. what is this Maybe I'm too fat or creepy for campus rec, that one [ok] is my last string of hope before a complete fall onto the black list. much like the Arar Post.

Camille Claudel

Just watched this French movie called Camille Claudel. Its about a girl who is a talented sculptor. The context is France around 1900.

That was a very interesting time to be in France. Art became very popular and appreciated by the general public.

The movie was really too complicated to talk much about because it was a combination of an art story and a love story. Both art and love encompass so much that it was difficult to follow both developments. As is the case with a lot of foreign films the pacing was difficult. 2/3 through it felt like the movie should have been over. After that point it became confusing and difficult to follow because the plot felt pointless, hence the feeling that the movie should have ended.

The plot was that this really talented girl works under this famous sculptor, falls in love with him, does not receive a coherent answer as to his feelings for her, surpasses him in talent, and goes insane. It would seem that he was the wrong man to fall in love with though, because his career was based around constantly sculpting nudes.

At times, I felt that I could relate to the poor girl, having such strong feelings and just not knowing what to do. In the end she ends up smashing dozens of sculptures and literally going insane. All things considered, I think she had more wring with her than just a broken heart.

Ken is Awesome

The other day he owned me at Time Splitters. The weapons and level were of his choosing, but in the fifth, my ass went down. Pride was fucking with me

Restrictions

Have you ever thought about how restrictions effect your life? The word definitely has a negative connotation to it. Should it? We live in a free country where we can do anything we want to.

The fact is, in most cases we restrict ourselves.

Sometimes its a very active thought process. Damn, I better not eat that cake, holy shit, I need to get to bed, wtf what is she doing, I would never do that.

Often times its not. We like to eat dinner at 6. Going to sleep after 12 feels late. We seldom talk to people we don't know, and we don't like to raise our voices.

For many many people, this passive restrictive thought process keeps them going. Why change a routine if it has always worked?

For other people always working isn't good enough. Change provides satisfaction.

In any case, sometimes I like to stop and think about all of the things I do and why I am doing them. If I can't produce some logical reason.. maybe I shouldn't be doing them.

Still, I like my routines and my restrictions sometimes. They can be comforting. They give a sense a place and belonging. But its never good to get too comfy..
in the long run change is good I guess or just whatever makes you happy

Lock those wheels

Typically when you buy a nicer bicycle it'll come with quick release wheels. What this means is that the wheel can easily be removed from the frame of the bike by the simple throw of a level and a couple of turns. This is great for when you have a flat tire and you don't have any wrenches handy to get your wheel off with. This sucks when you are worried about getting your wheels taken.

The most common solution I see to this problem is simply wrapping a cord around both wheels, working in unison with a heavier lock, or D-lock. Frankly, this whole procedure seems like too much work just to ride a nicer bicycle around. Putting one lock on my bike is annoying enough.

The other day I found the perfect solution. My friend Jason showed me how you can get locking skewers. He actually uses a special key just to take his wheels off. The thing is though, the whole rig costs about $60, roughly the price of a new wheel. So I got to thinking, what If you could just get a skewer which would bolt onto the frame, just like any old crappy k-mart bike.

A-ha nashbar sells them for less then $10!
Hello hybrid on Campus!

St. Peter's Seminary

As far as I'm concerned, this place is the king of creepy forgotten buildings. Located in Scotland, this building was once used as a seminary. Today it stands as an awesome tribute to, and symbol of the controversial subject of modernist architecture.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/stpeters/pool/show/

rathergood

This website is so goofy. It involves loads of strange videos and songs generally involving childish themes, with an occasional heavier undertone. I have some bias toward it since my friends and I used to watch it in high school.

here are a couple of my favoritessss

http://www.rathergood.com/blode/
http://www.rathergood.com/giantbee/

Cliff, Christian on the Quad

Has anyone seen this man? Apparently his name is Cliff, and he has been standing on the quad lately debating Christianity. I stopped to watch the debate yesterday, and it seemed like he was having a pretty logical debate. A lot of times, I have noticed that religious discussions can get very clouded, but he seemed to be doing a good job of keeping with the facts. Im really tired and don't feel like writing very well. Please leave a comment I want to know if anyone is reading this, and if anyone has seen him or has an opinion.

Commodification and the Misunderstanding of Quiet Souls

Have you ever thought about the fact that every time you read a textbook you are dealing with false information? Well not exactly, but the fact that something has been converted into writing, in many cases means that it already has been somehow distorted from its original meaning.

For example I might say. I like to go to the library. What I might actually be asserting is a complex set of values and emotions. Maybe I feel as though I study best at the library but I’m not so sure. In actuality, when I had my last math test I found myself needing a lot of help with certain concepts and I couldn't find it there, but perhaps I should be more independent in my learning style. So I’m going to the library.

So your comment of "I like to the library" is sort of a simplification, and is what a lot of theorists refer to as commodification. You have converted or approximated your ideas into a simple statement or commodity- Tied off the loose ends.

But sometimes those loose ends can be important, and often times people who don't speak readily just don't want to oversimplify things. So next time you feel as though you are being too quiet, or maybe someone else is just to shy, maybe they are just trying to be accurate.

One of my Biggest FEARS

Hello there,

The last couple of my posts have just dealt with news and reviews so Im going to touch on a subject a little more personal.

I am terrified of syringes. The idea of injections simply freaks me out. I know that getting shots is part of life, and so I get them, but I get butterflies every time.

I distinctly remember my last encounter with an injection. Last year at the beginning of the year I went to get a meningitis vaccination. Either before or after the vaccination, the woman administering it asked me how I was doing and I said I didn't love shots. She gave me a juice box. After that I believe I was even more scared. I felt like the juice box was some sort of an emergency device. Maybe I looked more scared than I was. Maybe even I was more scared than I had myself convinced.

In any case I don't much care for shots.
I think what really freaks me out is this internal pressure issue. I mean when you blow up a balloon too much it explodes. If you put too many chemicals in me, maybe Ill explode. Thats my only explanation because mosquitoes don't bother me like that. I also hate needle scene in movies like Pulp Fiction ughhhhhhh.

Solar Decathlon

Over the summer, a team of architects, engineers and industrial and interior designers constructed the UIUC Solar Decathlon House. You can read all about it here, or you can stick around for my lovely description. The solar decathlon is an annual contest in washington DC where modular housing units are judged on environmental standards and usability criteria. Our entry was the only entry which did not need a crane to set up. Our three units, which comprise the house can be wheeled, come attached and can be raised and lowered with hydrolics.

I had the chance to see the house before it was shipped off on a flatbed truck to dc, and it looked pretty slick.

Good Luck Guys!

West Urbana Ranks Highly

APA, the American Planning Association, a national group of Urban Planners recently ranked West Urbana, among one of the top 10 great neighborhoods in America. .. awesome


http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/neighborhoods/westurbana.htm

So Hot Right Now

A song I heard is so beautiful.. soo hott

DO it

n00B runners and l337 runners

I really enjoy working out at CRCE, do it almost everyday, and see a lot of different people running. There is one mistake every new or inexperienced runner makes so don't do IT!

People tend to exert their upper body too much. lol

People will
-Pump their fists
-Swing their arms
-Twist their torsos'
-Bob their heads
-Shake their hands
-CLENCH their fists
-Punch their friends

ok ok you get the picture
:)

Night at Olympia Park

A cool song I had heard along time ago that I just heard again as i was listening to some unintentional stuff
Its called night at olympia park. You can go ahead and download it and not feel bad because its free legal music. Its not a song you actively listen to, its ambient like Brian Eno. The title is so fitting

this is for the mp3
http://aufgang.org/audio/testrauschen_night.mp3

this is their site
http://www.testrauschen.com/