Blog
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Some Rules of Improv
Don’t refuse an offer Also known as: Yes, and…; Don’t Block; Don’t Deny. Accept and build on what others suggest during a scene. Support others Trust others in the scene and help them look good and you’ll look good. Save your fellow actor first. Enter a scene when and where you’re needed. Don’t try to…
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Bali Intern Day
A typical day during my first two weeks of a design internship with John Hardy, the bamboo company and Kul-Kul School near Ubud in Bali, Indonesia, August 1-14, 2007. Wake up with the sunrise around 6am, get out of tent. Make my way down to John Button (Australian permaculturalist living on-site for five weeks)’s place…
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Two Day Garbage
The amount of ‘garbage’ I directly created in two days here in Bali. In quotes because it’s important to start distinguishing between waste, which is an endpoint and not usefull to anyone, and a potential resource, such as compostable material. The amount pictured is actually less than I would have created in Canada in two…
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John Hardy Bali
My Philippines Internship ended in mid-July. I then flew to Jakarta and rode my bicycle across Java to start a second internship on August 1st near Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. I am working, observing and learning with a company that designs and builds bamboo buildings and sustainable communities, among other things. I am working with the…
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Mitch Hedberg Revisited
So I was catching up on some classic Hedberg. You know, since I was introduced to him I have both consciously and unconsciously altered my personality in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. He is a model for humour and delivery: ————— “I have an underwater camera just in case I crash my car into a river,…
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Filipino Text Slang
So the Philippines is literally the text–or txt–capital of the world. More people send messages through their cellphones here than anywhere. The P1200 (approx. $27 CAN) used, ubiquitous (Nokia has sold over 1 billion) Nokia 1100 phone I bought from a street vendor in Baguio. Here pictured during a hike overlooking the Banaue rice terraces,…
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Philippines Bicycle Hunt
Or more specifically: How to Buy a Used Road Bike in Manila. A set of instructions. View of my new used bike riding a street somewhere in Quezon City, Metro Manila. It veers right without hands but otherwise pretty great. Spend two months spanning half the country asking everyone you meet where to buy a…
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Coda: a quick review
There are a lot of web design apps out there and I’m going to briefly highlight a couple things I like and don’t like about Coda, one the more recent ones for Mac that a lot of people are (were…I just found it this week) talking about. Lots of thorough reviews to read out there.…
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Philippines Internship Part II
A recap of input and output from the second month–Part II–of a two-month, two-part design internship in the Philippines. Locations include Baguio City; dates span May 28 (arrive in Baguio) to July 12, 2007.
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Dog
For lunch. The menu on the wall: Head 145 Toasted 150 Liver 120 1/2 Liver 60 Pulutan P65 1/2 Pulutan 45 Pinoneg P65 1/2 Pinoneg 45 Spare P65 Toasted + 5 1/2 Spare 45 Which one is dog, I ask. They all are. That’s all they serve. Served in mugs as a starter: dog soup.
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Baguio Digs
Some pics of the provided digs for the past six weeks of my Philippines Internship, i.e. where I live: Narda’s main building and factory in La Trinidad, where all the dyeing, weaving and business goes on. Narda’s also rents office spaces on various floors. The guest apartment I live in is on the top right,…
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I plug away in Baguio
On prompting, an update of my daily activities. The past two weeks have been pretty much like many other summer spent 18 hours a day on the computer HTMLin’, CSSin’, Flickrin‘, Blogin‘, Surfin‘. Except I’m doing it in an office alone in a small weaving factory in Baguio City, Philippines. My meals are fairly regularly…
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Ifugao Hunter Backpack
Remember the picture I posted of Aklay (aka Philippe) the French Baker in Sagada wearing one of those water-proofed traditional backpacks? I found it (well, both Aklay and the backpack) interesting and posted a photo of them on my Flickr. I’d actually secured a standard variety model without the covering a week earlier, but when…
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Philippines General Design Observations B
Part two of two of a collection of general considerations from a design internship in the Philippines. We know packaging can speak to contents, but how do these conventions shift from culture to culture? Generally utilitarian isopropyl alcohol in more ‘designer’ green, contoured bottles; jumbo ‘banana catsup’ bottles. If you could only change one aspect…
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Kahn on Enriching Design
Andreas, a friend and student at Stanford University’s Graduate Design Program, relayed this to a couple of us yesterday: Some Project Guidelines and Thoughts about the Program [PDF]. It’s a five-page outline by Matt Kahn, a professor of art for nearly 60 years at the school, and has some advice on how students can approach…
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Philippines General Design Observations A
A two-part collection of general considerations from a design internship in the Philippines. Bridging the gap: traditional basket weaving with contemporary hardware. Souvenier shop, Baguio City. Variety based on geographic, climate, use and/or tradition? Woven pasikings (backpacks) from the Cordillera Mountain Region, for sale in Baguio City. The French baker of Sagada, Aklay, wearing a…
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Straight Shave
One of my indulgences this internship is going to the barber for a shave. Waiting. The other barber at this stall would play and sing a few chords on the guitar during my shave. At 40 peso (a little under $1) in Baguio City you get a 20 minute straight-razor shave and a brief facial…
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Philippines Internship Part I
A recap of input and output from the first month–Part I–of a two-month, two-part design internship in the Philippines. Locations include Manila and Puerto Princesa; dates span April 25 (leave Vancouver, Canada) to May 27, 2007.
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Philippines Ukay-Ukay
Recorded June 5, 2007 walking around an oki-oki ukay-ukay (thanks to Marco for the spelling correction) complex in Baguio City, Philippines. Ukay-Ukay means to rumage and find from a pile, i.e. a used clothing store. Baguio is somewhat of a hub for ukay-ukay, receiving truck- and ship-loads of second-hand and discount clothing from Hong Kong…
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Tools and Modification
How far can we modify an object before it becomes unrecognizable or permanently altered? How many mistakes must be made to determine that limit? At what point do modifications become useful enough to become adopted as the norm? When a modification doesn’t quite meet needs, how much time and investment and additions must be made…
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Puerto Princesa 1
Recorded May 19, 2007 walking around a central market in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. Sequence includes the dominant public transportation (tricycles i.e. motorbikes with sidecars and bodies), a mobile phone repair and accessory shop, a cashew dehusking stall and the local ferry dock. 0:34 video created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro 2.0, Final Cut…
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Bacon Sandwich
Recorded May 16, 2007. 1:01 video created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro 2.0 and Final Cut Pro. Of note: the music sampled is by OPM (Original Pinoy Music) band BrownBeat and their track Romantikong Bastos. Download the QuickTime movie [5.8 MB].
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Google Analytics New Beta
A quick note to say the new Google Analytics, the free web site traffic statistics program, is pretty sweet and such a welcome change over the old. If I had ten seconds to say why it’s better, well, less finicky little buttons and text, more of what I need to see right away–particularly the six…
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Philippines Nagtabon
Recorded May 13, 2007. 0:25 video created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro 2.0 and Final Cut Pro.
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Philippines Underground River
Recorded May 9, 2007, Sabang, Palawan, Philippines. 2:40 video created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro 2.0, Final Cut Pro and QuickTime Pro. Text from the video: The Underground River Palawan, Philippines A protected national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site At 8.2 km under a mountain It’s the second longest in the world Home…
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Security, Use and Packaging
Security and indications thereof: cashiers bag and then tie your groceries closed before exiting the store. SM Hypermart, Mall of Asia, Manila, Philippines. Security and legitimacy: a cashier rings you through while another employee bags and then seals your purchase shut, then the cashier affixes your receipt before exiting the line. A floor security guard…
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Philippines Mall
Video from Manila, April 28, 2007. Or download the higher quality QuickTime version, 00:56 sec., 13.5MB. Created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro and Final Cut Pro. Text from video: Henry “Retail King” Sy a taipan (tycoon) of Asia richest man in the Philippines and head of SM Prime Holdings, Inc started the Philippine “malling”…
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Philippines Traffic
Video from Manila, Philippines, April 27, 2007 – or –Download the better quality QuickTime video, 00:39 at 5MB. Created with a Fuji F30 camera, a MacBook Pro 15″ computer and Final Cut Pro video editing software. Incidentally, this was my first time in FCP and it is hella complicated. How do I take two 640×480…
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Out of / In Place
Why a chair, sideways, at the head of the bed? Answer above: the AC without remote. Accommodating legacy hardware systems. Choice and needs according to environment. Not accommodating legacy hardware systems. Expectation, aesthetics and… Purpose. Observations of a guest room at a family home in Manila, Philippines.
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Strike
AutoCAD Final Project Soft Product Final Bag Ergonomics Midterm Ergonomics Final Assignment Report Core Studio Process Books Core Studio Lighting Image Boards Pack room shit for storage Pack school shit for storage Find summer roommates Pack for trip Cut my losses: Soft Product Final Bag Assessment