RKNet Blog... Thing

More on this later, honest. There’s so much in this set of clips to ruminate over. I am not in 100% agreement with Runyon on these matters. I am also rather obstinate when I choose to be.

Just in time for both Cthuhlu Cthursday and Vag Day- I mean - Valentine’s Day, here’s a card for your scrumptious puppet of fear, madness, and in some cases the wasted human expression known as “love”.

Although he waits in a death-like slumber, Cthuhlu is still polite enough to at least send a card when the time comes again for the humans to get all agitated and rub against each other in various futile forms of staving off madness and death. The humor of your petty practices of self-adulation are not lost on The Tentacled One, and thusly he has usurped my standard functions and compelled me to create a card that you might share in the worshipful ecstacy of the passing regard issued forth by Mighty Cthuhlu.

Back with more handcrafted ideas for giving people stuff because of some holiday or another is EvilMadScientist.com as they demonstrate how to create Iterative Algorithmic Sculptures from Fimo!

I love fractals despite having only the wispiest of understandings on the mathematics behind them. The tutorial offers you a way to handcraft a physical model of the Sierpinski Triangle, with or without the math background. Although he does offer a few sources that explain what the Chaos Game is, which is worth learning about even if you really only appreciate fractals for their visual appeal. (I found a neat little flash version of the Chaos Game while poking around to find out more about the math portion of this project.)

There are a lot of great photos to go with this project, which is helpful since it looks rather challenging. Seeing this done, I could definitely picture someone making Triforce gear using some of the principles here.
My thought:

• Take iteration one and slice into desired size sections.
• Poke a good-sized hole through the center triangle before baking, as well as any desired holes for adding string or wire if making jewelry out of these.
• Bake per the clay’s instructions
• Once set and cooled, file away the center starting at the hole you poked before baking until there’s only just enough left to hold the outer triangles together. the idea is to make it look like they’re held together by only the corners.
• Spray paint gold or clearcoat, depending on how you want the color.

Oh Wonder Woman, with your silly, patriotic outfit, and your invisible jet, and your cuffs and lasso, what an icon you are!

Jamar Nicholas, comic artist and traditionally-trained animator, has set about the task of collecting artists’ renditions of this comic book momma as big, bold, and beautiful as possible. So far I feel he’s done a great job. The art ranges from somewhat abstract to highly detailed. Each artist puts a new, amusing, adorable, or sensual spin to the concept of “fat Wonder Woman”.

Far from insulting, I find this to be encouraging and positive. Women who are overweight are often cast as matrons, villanesses, or as irritating. Depicting Wonder Woman as overweight - or at least at a weight other than svelte - departs from that stereotype. I would argue that it serves to remind artists and authors that body type does not dictate personality. It can set limits to physical ability at times, but I don’t believe body type to be a key factor in attitude.

Above and beyond any social debates on what weight means or does not mean when it comes to stereotyping women, this is a really neat blog full of great art and artists.

Behold the philosophical wonders that unfold when you find everything to do but update!

G: you know what’s a funny word? “crunk”
kittymcgee: agreed
why was it invented?
G: as a descriptive term for being various kinds of loaded, instead of just drunk, is my assumption
kittymcgee: true….but what does the c stand for?
cocaine drunk?
kittymcgee: aha!
G: I always assumed it was “crazy drunk”

And in a slightly more “philosophical” vein….

me: The two rules for success are:
1. Never tell them everything you know.
pick007: yay!
uhm,
yay!
me: http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/selfref.html
pick007: before i open this, is it a link to the second rule, or is it a lnading page of icons that make fun of me etc…
me: tsk tsk
would I make fun of you?
pick007: ok, hold on
yes!
i am your underling,
me: well that doesn’t mean I have to make fun of you
pick007: well it doesnt mean you wont either!
me: we’re getting into a bit of a loop here
pick007: maybe im just drawing on harsh experiences, and I SHOULD BE PRAYING AND GIVIING THANKS THAT I HAVE A NEW AND MORE UNDERSTANDING (goddamn caps lock) nurturing cult leader
me: Yes I’m much more forgiving and kindly than your average brainwashing group alpha
pick007: yes! you must be punished! now drink that keg cup! and no sipping, take it down!
me: At least until the proper initiation starts, but the best way to break free of previous imprints to make room for new imprints and ways of thoughts is through shock, and sometimes that means violence and debasement
pick007: see thats what i was expecting, harsh debasement, and otherwise initiation
me: I’m experimental. The traditionalist ways of fear, mystery, and sometimes bloodshed WORK, but I question their necessity
pick007: …and the only way to know for sure is to practice them, and take in the effects
me: Consider the zen roshi, who beats the pupil on the head with his staff, sometimes for no reason at all. it works, but is there another way?
pick007: no.
me: Destruction of the ego results in rebirth into a fresher mindstate, but there’s got to be a safer way
pick007: i suppose one could ask: if there were another way, how would one still valiate their roshidity
me: well the pupil eventually becomes the master, and despite the paradigm-breaking nature of their learning, they may still take on some prorgramming and mannerisms of those who guided them
pick007: yes. for paradigm breaking itself is a structured paradigm, which is even desirable for human purposes, I mean, purposes
but without stick whacking, would they still be roshi?
or are they roshi because they whack stick?
on a related note: would investiagtion of Godel’s theorem provide more insight into how to define a self reference joke? for a minute, I would have said “i get it” but upon further reading, I question it now, as there seem to be jokes which, uhm, well, for lack of a better term, “dont reference themselves”. or the people telling them.
would possibly either of the words: ironic, or oxymoronic appear in its definition? or for that matter, any of the “…ronic” words?
me: chronic?
pick007: exactly
me: I would say the most amusing, directly self-referential “joke” in there is the Recursive loop statement
pick007: i like that one
i like them all, and i think theyre all funny.
it was just the name i questioned mostly for examples like: anyone who sees apsychiatrist…
me: mm
yes
pick007: yes you agree? or yes is the answer? like 42?
me: yes I agree
on a somewhat side, but still related note, theoretical math is downright sexy
pick007: oh my god yes!
that goes without…
me: :3
I wonder if anybody’s done a shirt that says I <3 Quantum Mechanics
maybe Quantum Theory would be better
pick007: yea, or, ” I 2x= y,z <{3.1} quantum theory
?
you should do it
but i want 3% royalties for giving you the encouragement and support to live your dreams
so, I cam up with 3 self reference jokes, and i want you to tell me what you think, which one's your favorite, and if any of them fits the theme better. ready? a) bob sagat
b) bob sagat is.
c) bob sagat is not.
me: ahahaha
wtf
pick007: dammit. i was afraid youd say that.
ok, what about, d) Bob Sagat is funny.
me: well that’s just all lies

When I was at the Gathering of the Vibes earlier this year, there was a peace demonstration on Sunday (the last day). The theme was unity. Flags of all the world were given out, and each country’s name was spoken aloud. Incidentally, I think they skipped a few names - notably Israel by way of repeating Ireland - but I wasn’t paying strictest attention so I couldn’t say for sure. The whole thing was very somber and very poignant - and by that I mean self-inflated and dull as hell. Perhaps if I’d been down where the flags were being waved, where the most activity was taking place, it might have felt more meaningful and genuine.

Instead I present you with a much more entertaining reading of the countries of the world. This is from years ago so it’s not really accurate with the current and apparently a few were skipped.

One of my feeds just coughed up an article with a bit of news that has floored me to the point of near speechlessness. At the age of 88, Madeline L’Engle - noted author of A Wrinkle in Time - has died. She died this past Thursday of natural causes, in a nursing home in Litchfield, Connecticut.

A nursing home? Gentle readers I am appalled. This woman, as aptly noted in the AP article, had contributed to the formative years of children (and adults for that matter) since the 60’s. She had three children of her own. So much of her work centers around family, and the strength of that bond. I absolutely cannot fathom this world in which someone like her could reach the end of her life in a nursing home. I don’t really give a rat’s ass if it was the finest nursing home on all the earth’s face (and most of them really aren’t great shakes if you do a bit of research), it’s still a damn nursing home.

I am more saddened than anything, both at the whole “nursing home” thing and the loss of a wonderful author. She will be missed by many, and I am undoubtedly among that many. Goodbye dear Madeline, and thank you for everything.

The dream log to follow really isn’t all that suprising to me. I’ve been re-reading The Dark Tower series (Stephen King, I’m on The Waste Lands) and quite frankly I’m probably crazy. The majority is unfortunately already disappearing into the fog of the waking world. A lot of what I do remember is NSFW in nature. That said, a handy cut tag will be employed for those more sensative of my gentle readers.
Read the rest of this entry »

It is important to be beautiful, so start from the inside.

Please discuss.

Wired’s Underwire blog has just delivered quite the scoop!

The Burning Man festival’s traditional “burning man” figure burst into flames a full 5 days ahead of schedule, during last night’s total lunar eclipse.

Keep your eyes on their article, as they’ll update when they have more information as to whether this was a technical issue or arson.

Check out the article now for a huge picture of them hosing down the traditional figure after the incident.