My wife and I attended the Harold Balazs art exhibit opening this past Saturday at the MAC. It was a real treat, and I highly recommend seeing this exhibit.

When we arrived, Harold was just introduced and began to make a few remarks. Apparently, the microphone wasn’t working, and we did our best to hear his words of wisdom. A fixture in Spokane’s art community, Harold is one of the most renowned artists of the Pacific Northwest. He always seems to be humbled by the fact that so many people enjoy the “stuff” he makes (he prefers not to call his work “art”). Harold is always honest, funny, and smart. He’s the guy you want to have around your campfire.

In the early 1960s he came up with his signature phrase “transcend the bullshit.”  It may well describe his philosophy about life. Every time I see a piece created by Harold, a single word always comes to mind: whimsy. Thanks, Harold, for making serious art so approachable and fun.

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Following up on yesterday’s post (scroll down), here’s an application that uses a super-secret algorithm to determine, from a writing sample, whether you’re male or female.

I tried to stump it, but to no avail. The Gender Genie correctly guessed “male” with every sample I entered. Clearly, then, I’m all man. It’s scientific.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: the writing life  |  comments(1)

There are some questionable choices in this list of the most important works of architecture created since 1980 – on purely aesthetic grounds, anyway. But then, 52 experts can’t be wrong, can they?

BONUS! Click on the link to see a pop-up ad featuring Angelina Jolie looking even more fetching than usual!

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

So. LeBron James has decided to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Apparently, this is a huge deal. Who knew?

There seems to be an inordinately large number of people donning sackcloth and ashes—as if James’ decision actually meant something other than an NBA superstar’s self-interest. And it’s not just fans and sportswriters. Politicians are even involved.

The best part of the whole affair is the open letter posted on the  Cavaliers’ website by majority owner Dan Gilbert. Ignore, if you can, Gilbert’s egregious abuse of quotation marks, the four-period ellipses that evidently serve as terminal punctuation, the confusion surrounding the use of hyphens. No, no—take a look instead at the font. Is it…could it be…?

Yes! It’s Comic Sans!

Now you know he’s serious.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

Excerpted from an article by William A. Fetter entitled “Computer Graphics at Boeing,” Print magazine, November/December 1966:

“My conviction about the possible change in some creative processes brought about by the computer is that speculation in this matter is valuable so long as it is coupled with a conscious effort to shape the technology toward meeting basic human goals—including human creativity. I feel it is not completely a question of what the computer will do to us, but a determination of what we will best have the computer do for us.”

This entire issue of Print (still a relevant design publication today) was dedicated to “The Designer and the Computer.” Here’s the opening line from the editors: “What will the effect of the new computer technology be on graphic design? On the designer himself? On the total design environment?”

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: the design life  |  make a comment

Speaking of bad writing, it seems the winners of the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest have been announced. Named for Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, the man behind “It was a dark and stormy night,” the contest challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.

This year’s grand prize winner is Seattle’s Molly Ringle, who penned the following:

For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity’s affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss—a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity’s mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world’s thirstiest gerbil.

A brief history of the contest, as well as contributions from winners and runners-up in categories like adventure and purple prose, can be found here.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: the writing life  |  make a comment

Some of you will be receiving via mail the latest edition of PROOF! magazine, a biannual publication that, in each issue, focuses on a uniquely creative individual—and also showcases Johnston Printing’s capabilities.

AMD is responsible for subject selection, writing, design, and photo art direction. PROOF! 03 features wonderful images by Chad Ramsey and Jennifer Raudebaugh. If you would like to receive your free copy of this issue, or to sign up for future magazines, visit proof.johnstonprinting.com

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: random thoughts  |  make a comment

To those who read the last word and say, “Hey, I can do that”—and  then wonder what’s to stop them from reaping untold riches by putting some words together and selling them on the open market—I point to scientist and scholar Charles Murray.

He’s way smarter than I am, writes way better than I do, and, frankly, he’s a lot better looking. Yet the New York Times pays him only $75 for an 800-word opinion piece.

Criminy.

posted by: Aaron Bragg  |  category: the writing life  |  comments(2)