Archive for June, 2008

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Recycling and metal working the Kenyan way

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

AfriGadget recently posted an article about metal working in Kenya that looked at how these enterprising workers make tools out of found/discarded objects, e.g., old bike into bellows. Check it out in action:

This interested me because I’m fascinated by iron works, would love to sweat behind a mask and gloves making metal sculpture — gigantic pieces like Louise Bourgeois’ spiders. (Of course the Kenyans in the AfriGadget post are going at it bare-faced and bare-knuckled.)

It also reminded me of my dad in Turkey. Whenever he needs to fix his boat, he drives out into the countryside and visits a man who can make anything you describe to him. It’s also like my character Antigone (shameless novel promotion coming!), who builds robots out of parts she scavenges from recycle shops and junkyards.

Which is why it’s always fun to have heaps of old electronics laying around, ready to be made into the next cool gadget.

LINKS:
- A Defiant Despite (my novel)
- “Re-use in the (unofficial) Kenyan Ironworks Industry” (AfriGadget)
- Louise Bourgeois’ “Spiders” ( NYC, 2001)
- Crouching Spider-Louise Bourgeois (San Francisco, 2008)

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Howard Norman and Noah’s Ark

Friday, June 27th, 2008

In Fond Remembrance of MeI just finished Howard Norman’s In Fond Remembrance of Me about the author’s friendship with fellow translator Helen Tanizaki in the northern Canadian province of Manitoba.

Their story is interwoven with various versions of the Biblical Noah story as translated (by Norman) from the Inuit. These Noah stories describe what happens to the ark and its denizens when the flood carries them north to Canada.

In every version, Noah refuses help from the Inuit villagers (they fear he will starve over the winter); he refuses to let the villagers eat any of the animals on his ship (and he won’t eat them either); and at the end of winter, his ark sinks due to damage from the inevitable ice melt and he heads south on foot, never to be seen again.

Noah’s arrogance (or maybe faith?) is just as unwavering as the villagers’ desire to taste his beasts’ meats.

The combination of these stories with that of Norman and Tanizaki’s friendship seemed odd to me at first—too disparate. But the two ultimately worked together, illustrating Norman’s first experiences as a translator (in contrast to veteran translator Tanizaki) while also setting the memoire firmly inside its geography.

When I first read Howard Norman several years ago, I thought he was a Canadian writer because he described life on Hudson Bay so beautifully (read The Northern Lights). I’ve since learned that Mr. Norman is from the non-Canadian city of Toledo, Ohio. But he’s spent a good deal of time in Canada (see the Ploughshares profile linked below) and brings it to life so vividly it’ll make you want to visit.

A beautiful writer.

LINKS:
- Howard Norman (Powell’s Books)
- “About Howard Norman: A Profile”

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“Revenge of the Nerdette” – Nerdette?

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

Nerd Girls and their solar car

A recent story in Newsweek, “Revenge of the Nerdette,” focused on a team of “knock-out braniacs” – the Nerd Girls – a group of women engineering students at Tufts U.

This is a good thing, right? Women engineers should be in the news. Engineering itself should be in the news so that kids (especially girls) can learn how interesting it is. And what the “Nerd Girls” are doing is interesting: they’re building a solar car.

So then why was this story in the “Culture” section of the mag instead of “Technology”? And did the title really have to add the diminutive “ette” to nerd?

Apparently, it’s still news – cultural news – that women can be smart and pretty AND/OR can be interested as well as talented in the sciences.

Let’s at least make it tech news next time, okay?

Links:
- “Revenge of the Nerdette”
- Nerd Girls Reality Television

Posted in geekcraft, sci-osophy | No Comments »

Create wearable technology with your sewing machine and LilyPad Arduino

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

Turn-signal biking jacket by Leah BuechleyLeah Buechley is a postdoc in computer science at UC-Boulder. Sound boring? No way! Her research focuses on e-textiles and she’s part of a Craft Technology group at the university.

Remember Diana Eng from Season 2 of Project Runway? Leah Buechley’s work is much cooler. In fact, she’s created a kit you can use to make your own interactive fashion — from turn-signal biking jackets to LED tank tops.

Once you know how the electronics work, sew away. Or once you learn how to sew, add the electronics. Wearable tech is the wave of the future, both as decoration and tool. Be on the vanguard.

Links:
- Leah Buechley [UPDATED: this is her new position at MIT]
- LilyPad Arduino
- Diana Eng

Posted in fashion-tech, geekcraft, robots | No Comments »

Polka and a yodeling goldfish in Buffalo

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

yodeling goldfishI was in Buffalo – the second largest city in New York – this past weekend for a surprise party.  About thirty minutes out from my exit off the NYS Thruway, the radio suddenly picked up a station playing polka.  Woo-hoo!  It’s hard not to get excited by the accordion, an instrument with the amazing capability of expelling single keys and chords while working the biceps.

When I was polka-ed out (hard to believe but it can happen), the next station up was broadcasting yodelers.

Uh huh, yodelers.

Some people might jab at the station finder impatiently, anxious to leap away from those Swiss Miss symphonics.  But after the polka, it’s easy to appreciate a little yodeling, which is when I heard “The Yodelling Goldfish” by Joyce Grenfell.

Click here to listen.

It’s a tragic story.  Apparently, not everyone appreciates a yodeling goldfish.

Posted in music | 1 Comment »

Dogs — not robot’s best friend

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

Stephanie Kesler's new Pleo robot toy inspects her four-year-old, 100-pound Bouvier, Tyge.I’m not sure this is surprising to anyone: Dogs don’t like robots that zoom around their floor sucking up dirt. They don’t like human-powered vacuum cleaners either. And they don’t like robotic pets, which they see as a threat.

Human beings anthropomorphize robots even though they know bots are machines. So why wouldn’t animals do the same? (Anima-morphize?)

The interesting bit in this story is:

Seeking help, [dog-owner] Mr. Hearn found an online forum dedicated to the hundred-dollar Roomba buzzing with similar stories of pet assailants. Owners were offering advice. Among the most popular: Chastise the vacuum in front of the dog.

And so, with Argos [his dog] looking on, Mr. Hearn shook his finger at his gadget and sternly called it “a bad Roomba.” Argos appeared to be mollified. “After that, he never tried nipping at it again,” says Mr. Hearn.

But what about the Roomba? Was it upset after that wholly unjustified negative reinforcement? Apparently Mr. Hearn didn’t care. Not one bit. Poor robot.

Link:
- “When Dogs and Robots Collide, Somebody Needs a Talking To”

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Making cell phone games a public spectacle

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Jury Hahn in Times Square. Photo: Michael EdwardsSpeaking of cell phones (“What does writer Etgar Keret have to do with bookstores and cell phones?“)… What to do when you’re waiting in line and don’t have a soul to call? Play a game with your wait-mates:

Next time you’re in Times Square, put on your game face. You may be able to challenge the weirdos around you to a videogame on MTV’s big-screen billboard. The controller? Your cell phone.

It’s the latest project from MegaPhone, a mobile gaming company founded by Jury Hahn (above). Looking to connect strangers in public places, Hahn dreamed up the idea of multiplayer cell phone games where people can interact with rivals they’re battling onscreen.

Links:
- “Making cell phone games a public spectacle”
- Jury Hahn (at MegaPhone)

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What does writer Etgar Keret have to do with bookstores and cell phones?

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

The Girl of the Fridge: StoriesI was looking through the bookstore today and happened to see The Girl on the Fridge: Stories by Etgar Keret. The book was faced out on the K shelf and its cover art caught my eye.

This is my most favorite way – browsing the shelves – to discover writers I haven’t heard of. About 15 years ago I discovered Sherman Alexie in a college library and fell in love with his short stories and poetry. (He wasn’t faced out, of course, but I was reading the stacks starting with the As.)

So after reading a few of Keret’s stories – they range from a few hundred words to a few pages long – I started thinking about what it will be like if/when the giant chain-linked brick-and-mortar bookstores go the way of the Caribbean monk seal. Will the independents come back? Or will people rely even more on publicity pushes and the best-seller lists to order their books, sight un-read, online? Does anyone just browse the stacks anymore?

I hope so, but back to Etgar Keret. The Publishers Weekly review on Amazon says “[d]espite an appealing, comic voice, many of these pieces feel insubstantial and leave the reader indifferent.” I disagree strongly, but perhaps that’s because I’m partial to the short short story, am familiar with and appreciate the form’s artistry. Who knows what that reviewer was thinking?

As a side note, Keret’s stories would be perfect for cell phone reading. I’m not comparing his stories to the cell phone novels – actually composed on cell phones – that are the latest fad in Japanese lit. I’m talking about books that are formatted to be read on your handheld device.

For instrux on how to download free books to your device, see the link below.

And be sure to read Keret’s super glue story.

Links:
- Etgar Keret
- Sherman Alexie
- Caribbean monk seal
- “Thumbs Race as Japan’s Best Sellers Go Cellular”
- “Download free books on your PDA or cellphone”

Posted in geekcraft, loose lit | No Comments »

T-Rex tries writing a romance novel

Monday, June 9th, 2008

A few years ago, T-Rex was having a hard time writing his autobiography. Today, he discovers that plot alone is not romantic.

utahraptor, come quick!

P.S. Not sure if “flush” is a joke or a typo in panel 5. Am I picky or just humor impaired?  Ryan fixed it.

Links:
- Dinosaur Comics: “Autobiography still not working out”

Posted in loose lit | 1 Comment »

MoCCA comics festival this weekend

Friday, June 6th, 2008

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is holding its seventh annual festival this weekend – June 7 and 8, 2008 – at 594 Broadway (Suite 401), just below Houston.

Attendance will probably be around 6,000 compared to the over 60,000 at New York’s ComicCon. I’m sure the gigantic cons are fun if you crave teeming hordes and lots of movie and movie-star promotion. But if you don’t like getting dirty looks for holding up the line by having a tiny conversation with the artist or writer, then check this one out.

If you go, be sure to mark your schedule for Rebecca Donner (2:30-3:30pm on Saturday) and Alex Robinson (12:10-1:20pm on Sunday), one of my favorite graphic novelists (loved Box Office Poison, can’t wait for Too Cool to be Forgotten).

Links:
- MoCCA Art Festival 2008
- Rebecca Donner
- Alex Robinson

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