In the first quarter of 2009, one in every six books sold in the U.S. was written by Stephenie Meyer.
More proof, as if any was needed, that 14-year-old girls run the universe.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
A Little Serra
So between the campus parking and the Festival of Books, we came across a sculpture garden by the UCLA art department. By far the most interesting piece was T.E.U.C.L.A. ("Torqued Ellipse UCLA"),a smaller work by Richard Serra -- and by "small," I mean it was only 18 feet wide and 10 feet tall.
Serra's works frequently deceive the eye and change your perception as you walk around (and inside) them. In the head-on shot above, the piece appears to list to the left, with a straight up-and-down opening in the center. But the photo below shows that in fact the piece is more of an inverted cone, with an extreme curve to the opening.
Audry enters the sculpture. Serra's work is meant to be viewed from all sides -- especially the inside.
Being inside a Serra sculpture is a little disorienting. When we are inside a man-made structure we are used to seeing straight lines, but the walls in a Serra piece are incessantly curving toward and away from you. With no plumb lines to give the eye a vertical reference, the effect can be dizzying.
The soaring curves of these gigantic two-inch thick iron plates manage to be light and heavy at the same time. ( Each plate is fabricated at a ship-building plant.)
Here is a really interesting piece on Serra's work as seen on Google maps, including this particular sculpture.
Serra's works frequently deceive the eye and change your perception as you walk around (and inside) them. In the head-on shot above, the piece appears to list to the left, with a straight up-and-down opening in the center. But the photo below shows that in fact the piece is more of an inverted cone, with an extreme curve to the opening.
Audry enters the sculpture. Serra's work is meant to be viewed from all sides -- especially the inside.
Being inside a Serra sculpture is a little disorienting. When we are inside a man-made structure we are used to seeing straight lines, but the walls in a Serra piece are incessantly curving toward and away from you. With no plumb lines to give the eye a vertical reference, the effect can be dizzying.
The soaring curves of these gigantic two-inch thick iron plates manage to be light and heavy at the same time. ( Each plate is fabricated at a ship-building plant.)
Here is a really interesting piece on Serra's work as seen on Google maps, including this particular sculpture.
L.A. Times Festival of Books
Every year the Times sponsors this shindig on the UCLA campus, packing the grounds with tents containing publishers, booksellers, authors and others. Hadn't been to one since '05, when we went with my sister. Plus my friend Bob Crais was doing a panel, so off we set for Westwood. (As always, click on the images to see a larger view.)
Audry sez: "I think it's that way!"
You would never know the publishing industry was in so much trouble. The place was packed. Seemed like twice as many people as the last time I was here.
Ray is in that tent somewhere...
A row of booths by Royce Hall.
I totally love Taschen Books, so of course I had to stop by their booth. A whole book about colored vinyl and picture discs!! I gotta get me that!
Heading down the majestic steps to the lower portion of the campus revealed even more booths.
Later in the day we caught up with Bob. He was so overwhelmed by the sight of me that he collapsed into my wife's arms.
"Hey -- isn't that Tony Robbins!?"
The story of how I met Bob is kind of interesting, according to my mother. In 1977 I got a gig writing for "Quincy M.E." I never got past story and assumed the project was killed. A couple of years later, I got a call from this guy named Bob, who had just taken over as story-editor of the show. He told me he'd been going through all the old unproduced scripts and came across the script the previous editor had written based on my story, and would I like to see it? (I said, sure -- and was highly gratified to see that it was one of the all-time great stinkers. Serves him right for cutting me off!) Anyway, Bob and I got to talking; turned out we'd both been to the Clarion SF writer's workshop (at different times and places); also turned out we lived about a couple of blocks away from one another. And so a friendship was born. Oddly enough, ten years later, when we both moved out of our respective houses, our new houses were also a couple of blocks away from one another.
Anyway, back to the book festival. Here's Bob during his signing:
And here's Bob before his signing. Way, way before his signing. Like a few decades before his signing. The heck with the Sexiest Writer Alive. Say hello to the most adorable writer alive!
Oh, well. None of us looked cool back in the Seventies. Here he is in action today:
Audry sez: "I think it's that way!"
You would never know the publishing industry was in so much trouble. The place was packed. Seemed like twice as many people as the last time I was here.
Ray is in that tent somewhere...
A row of booths by Royce Hall.
I totally love Taschen Books, so of course I had to stop by their booth. A whole book about colored vinyl and picture discs!! I gotta get me that!
Heading down the majestic steps to the lower portion of the campus revealed even more booths.
Later in the day we caught up with Bob. He was so overwhelmed by the sight of me that he collapsed into my wife's arms.
"Hey -- isn't that Tony Robbins!?"
The story of how I met Bob is kind of interesting, according to my mother. In 1977 I got a gig writing for "Quincy M.E." I never got past story and assumed the project was killed. A couple of years later, I got a call from this guy named Bob, who had just taken over as story-editor of the show. He told me he'd been going through all the old unproduced scripts and came across the script the previous editor had written based on my story, and would I like to see it? (I said, sure -- and was highly gratified to see that it was one of the all-time great stinkers. Serves him right for cutting me off!) Anyway, Bob and I got to talking; turned out we'd both been to the Clarion SF writer's workshop (at different times and places); also turned out we lived about a couple of blocks away from one another. And so a friendship was born. Oddly enough, ten years later, when we both moved out of our respective houses, our new houses were also a couple of blocks away from one another.
Anyway, back to the book festival. Here's Bob during his signing:
And here's Bob before his signing. Way, way before his signing. Like a few decades before his signing. The heck with the Sexiest Writer Alive. Say hello to the most adorable writer alive!
Oh, well. None of us looked cool back in the Seventies. Here he is in action today:
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Cubism Is Off to War!
During World War I, German naval artillery used rangefinders with a dual-image convergence system: when the two half-images were aligned, the target ship was in proper range of the ship's gun. The Royal Navy struggled to create a method of thwarting the accuracy of these rangefinders, and the solution came from a most unlikely source: British painter Norman Wilkinson who devised a unique form of camouflage which drew upon the principles of modern art -- specifically Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism. Dazzle camouflage, as it came to be known, used bold, eccentric angles and bright colors to fool the German gunners' eyes and make it impossible for them to correctly align the two images in their rangefinders.
That's right: the Royal Navy decided to fight the German naval menace by slathering modern art all over their warships.
Wilkinson's techniques were adopted by the British, U.S., French and Canadian navies, and thousand of Allied ships sailed under dazzle camouflage throughout the war, each with its own unique visual scheme. Dazzle camouflage was created by a battery of abstract artists, including Vorticist Edward Wadsworth.
But it didn't end with WWI. The U.S. navy continued to sail dazzle ships through the second World War as well. So return with us to a time when the dazzle ships ruled the waves, and the Allies had the most utterly awesome-looking navy in the universe.
Dazzle ships under way!
The French warship Gloire:
USS Leviathan, 1918:
No color photos of dazzle ships exist, but we do have artists' renderings of some original designs:
A dazzling WWI aircraft carrier:
Another camouflage design:
HMS Empress of Russia:
Modern art comes full circle: a Futurist painting of dazzle ships in drydock:
Don't you wish we had color photos of these things? The RMS Mauretania:
And lastly, the incredible design on the USS Charles S. Sperry, in 1944. (Be sure to click on it to see a larger version):
Oh, by the way, Dazzle Ships is also the name of a great album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
That's right: the Royal Navy decided to fight the German naval menace by slathering modern art all over their warships.
Wilkinson's techniques were adopted by the British, U.S., French and Canadian navies, and thousand of Allied ships sailed under dazzle camouflage throughout the war, each with its own unique visual scheme. Dazzle camouflage was created by a battery of abstract artists, including Vorticist Edward Wadsworth.
But it didn't end with WWI. The U.S. navy continued to sail dazzle ships through the second World War as well. So return with us to a time when the dazzle ships ruled the waves, and the Allies had the most utterly awesome-looking navy in the universe.
Dazzle ships under way!
The French warship Gloire:
USS Leviathan, 1918:
No color photos of dazzle ships exist, but we do have artists' renderings of some original designs:
A dazzling WWI aircraft carrier:
Another camouflage design:
HMS Empress of Russia:
Modern art comes full circle: a Futurist painting of dazzle ships in drydock:
Don't you wish we had color photos of these things? The RMS Mauretania:
And lastly, the incredible design on the USS Charles S. Sperry, in 1944. (Be sure to click on it to see a larger version):
Oh, by the way, Dazzle Ships is also the name of a great album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
Things I Never Thought I'd Hear a Fox News Anchor Say.
No, not the "F" word. The part about torture being wrong.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Mea Culpa! No, really. I mean it. Honestly.
The Democratic party has made it easy to apologize to Rush Limbaugh.
Shut up, already.
"I want to see you get better," [Judge] McDermott told Frasure.
"You want to arm wrestle?" was Frasure's reply before being led from the courtroom by bailiffs.
Read the whole story here.
"You want to arm wrestle?" was Frasure's reply before being led from the courtroom by bailiffs.
Read the whole story here.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sense O' Wonder
Zowie! Check out these images from the Hubble! (Click to enlarge.)
Two mighty spacefleets clashing? No, it's the Ant Nebula.
The Sombrero Galaxy:
The Cat's Eye Nebula:
The Glowing Eyes. (I'm convinced this is where Cthulhu comes from.)
And of course, the Eye of Sauron, unblinking, eternally evil...
Two mighty spacefleets clashing? No, it's the Ant Nebula.
The Sombrero Galaxy:
The Cat's Eye Nebula:
The Glowing Eyes. (I'm convinced this is where Cthulhu comes from.)
And of course, the Eye of Sauron, unblinking, eternally evil...
Friday, April 17, 2009
For my sister Juliet...
...probably the only person reading this blog who -- well, probably the only person reading this blog, but even more probably the only person reading this blog who will get the following. It's a Tweet I somehow ran across this morning (dear God don't ask me how) by Curt Smith, who is half of the band Tears for Fears.
Here's the link, if you must.
Here's the link, if you must.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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