Outside Reading: Hog iPC

Recently, I have learning lighting and some intelligent lighting design. So I decided to read and do some research on the lighting board I use. I read the overview of the product, and the specifications etc. Each board has its own built in software, and the Hog iPC is the first to be able to run Wholehog 2 & 3. Previous models could only run the software it came installed with. The use of touch screens enables the user to quickly locate a cue or page. This becomes handy when you have to find a cue quickly during a live performance, so insterad of missing the cue, you can find it in style. Also included is a trackball mouse built in. A newer addition to lighting modules is use of writeable CD-ROM drives and USB connectors. Although this wasn't really an article, I thought it would be appropriate because lighting has now become a fairly significant aspect of my life.

http://www.highend.com/products/controllers/HogiPC_console.asp

Class Activity

In the class activity were we all had many traits, and were forced to throw them away, I ended up with the trait of "computer savvy". I kept this one until the end because technology is growing very quickly, and it is a growing business area. Along with providing a job, if the government was legitimately corrupt, and I had no money to support myself or family, I would use those computer skills to help either wire money to myself, lead a team in a heist, or hack into the governments security and missile computers, and use it as persuasion to fix the government.

In the class activity people chose many different things, but some people ended up with traits that realistically they wouldn't be left with. Just because they value this thing doesn't mean its what nature/the world is going to hold onto it. In some cases it may be their most valued trait, but the least useful. The activity conveyed a good message, but obviously one can't get accurate results without going through the situation that was presented to us in class.

Radio

This is one of my favorite scene from the movie Radio

"Well, l had a talk with Radio this morning. l told him, in not so many words, that we might be looking at some changes. lt didn't take long to see the more l talked... ...the more he didn't understand me. We got a lot of that going on around. When l was playing, l had a coach... ...he used to tell me to keep my priorities straight. He'd say, ''Son, you figure out what's important. You push everything else aside.'' l love football. l love everything about it. l love Friday nights when you look for a win... ...and Saturday morning when you found one. But that's not what's important right now. We got ourselves a young man we're not thinking about. The same young man who could hardly talk when we first met him... ...and now he's making announcements over the loudspeaker. Same young man who got himself a football letter last fall... ...but never wears it, because he can't afford a jacket. Now we're asking him to leave.

-Harold, we are not asking-

--The man's not done, Frank.

l know some of you don't know or don't care... ...about all that Radio's learned over these past few months. Well, the truth is... ...we're not the ones who've been teaching Radio. Radio's the one been teaching us. The way he treats us all the time... ...is the way we wish we treated each other even part of the time. l know something's gotta happen here. l know some changes gotta be made. And l know l can't let what happened last season happen again. So l've decided to step down as head football coach. See what you've done, Frank. l'd like to keep teaching, if that's all right. l'll keep an eye on Radio, make sure he stays out of trouble. And l'd like to spend more time... ...with a few other folks l've neglected over the years... ...while l still have a chance to. Much as l love this game, it's not half as important as setting that right."

Script from,

http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/r/radio-script-transcript.html

Hey!

Quick Read: Listening Is An Act of Love

As many of you may know, Jason and I have many things in common. We have decided to do our quick read together, lucky you! Our book is actually a collection of stories, as told by those who experienced them. It all started out as a group called StoryCorps. Like many other "trends" or "fads" it started out small. StoryCorps started out as a simple oral history project. People would call in or come to their studio, telling their story. A person would bring a Friend, who would interview them (asking them key questions for the story)as they told their story, whether sad, funny, or aggravating. After a while, StoryCorps became so popular, they traveled around with a booth, encouraging people to tel their stories. The story we are reading was told at a booth in Salem, Oregon. Titled:

"PAUL MORTIMER, 49, and SHAWN FOX, 39, interview each other"



Since the this is a collection of stories, the man who edited the book, Dave Isay, chose to keep it simple, and title it with the names of the story tellers. Our story is fairly graphic, but we choose it because it shows an aspect of American life that goes unnoticed or uncared about. We both have laughed and cried reading the stories of the fortunate, and some of the not so fortunate. Hope you enjoy!


Paul died of a drug overdose on November 11, 2005. Less than a month after the interview was recorded.


click Here for the StoryCorp site, featuring our story.

Eyes checked, 20/20!

Outside Reading: Our Vanishing Night

For a long time, I have been left in awe from the night sky with all of its stars. While I was reading the National Geographic magazine, a picture caught my eye. The picture was of a natural rock bridge, with the midnight sky showing off all of its millions of stars. The first few pages of the article Our Vanishing Night had pictures of various night skies. Right after the picture of the beautiful night sky as mentioned above, there was a picture of Chicago in the middle of the night. With all of its lights illuminating the cloud and fog filled sky, it made me really appreciate the small amount of stars we have in Minnesota. The author, Verlyn Klinkenborg, talks about how we have changed ourselves, and brought this lack of nature upon ourselves. Klinkenborg writes, "If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, we would go in darkness happily, the midnight would as visible to us as it is the the vast number of nocturnal species on this planet." This quote reminded me of something I learned about the human eye way back in elementary school. When dark your pupils grow smaller to let more light in, and when bright, they grow smaller to let less light in. If you are in the dark, then suddenly turn the lights on your eyes take a good 2 or 3 seconds to fully adjust to the light. This relates to the quote because the author is saying we have been living in light so much our eyes are used to it, and if we started living in the dark again, eventually our eyes would adjust. I found this interesting because of all the cool pictures along with my fascination with astronomy.