Ideas Worth Spreading

Just wanted to share this with you. The kinetic sculptures of Theo Jansen



Blending the line between art and engineering, this Dutch visual artist creates “life” in the form of “animals” that walk the beach in the Netherlands. If you would like to see more of his work, as well as other amazing technological breakthroughs, check out the POP and TED links on the right.

Air Jelly

I may as well use this to store all the awesome stuff I find.
Here's another addition.

Festo AirJelly flies through the air with the greatest of ease.
Can't explain it...but can't stop staring



And since I just want to share more beautiful things, (especially those that make advertising look good) do check this out.



And if you ever think we make fools of ourselves trying to ompress the opposite sex...watch these

a bud for you, and you, and me...

An LA Times Article. It is all true....Those lucky bastards :)
So, when should we move?

Great News Everyone!

Ah! The Penguins

And now,
American News at its best

spinach power

Presentation is key and consumers are gullible is what I learned again at the market this weekend.
I love going to the Soulard market on the weekends, they have everything- fruit, meat, vegetables, kittens, banjos, hats, chicks, ducks, cheese, soap, spices and pretty much anything you can think of dead or alive.
Among other vegetables, I was on a quest for fresh spinach. To my surprise, the expedition was a bit problematical. All the fresh spinach I found was very large, sold with roots and unappealing. I was searching for fresh, hopefully local and organic, cute clean, baby spinach. The only baby spinach I found was served in those Dole plastic bags and was definitely not local and probably not organic.
Finally, after searching through dozens of stands, I was ready to leave, I broke down and decided to buy two of those Dole spinach bags. After all they were only $1 each. I get the bags, and right as I am about to walk out…there is it! Cute, little, baby spinach, clean, and in open, plastic bags, right next to me. Local, fresh, probably organic, and probably and even better deal.
I go back to the girl I bought the Dole spinach from (the stands were right next to each other), I apologize and explain that I would really like to return this, if that’s ok and get the other, farmer spinach.
She was totally fine with it, smiled and took back the bags. She said:
“So would you still like two bags? They are the same price and amount”
“Really?”- I said, -“ Great, yeah I guess I’ll take two of those bags, sorry about the inconvenience, I have been looking for this spinach for a while you know. So hard to find!”
She says:
“No problem!...You know they are the same thing; we just open the Dole bags and put them into grocery bags to sell over there. People love it!”

Yes. Wow. Great. Considering I am in advertising, this is priceless and absolutely hilarious. Especially since I 100% fell for it.

I got the Dole Spinach bags.

Conclusion: presentation is everything and we are all suckers for it.

of aloe and fundraising

last Saturday I went to the cinco de mayo celebration downtown. It was fun- margaritas at noon, yummy tamales, salsa, and giant hats. All the ingredients necessary for a good time.

There were also plenty of those fun park activities that I am no too fond of. Things like paying $5 to try and get some toy frog thing to hit something and win a $2 shitty toy, or darts and stuff….just not my cup of tea. The rides can be fun though.

Anyway, as we were browsing and checking out all the fun stuff, I saw something I have been seeking out for while some time, a possession necessary in every household, and overall a most wonderful item – an Aloe Plant. Aloe Vera plants are great! You can use it to treat cuts, burns, skin allergies, to smooth out skin, and even to preserve food. You nourish the plant, and it nourishes you. Anyway, so there it is! A perfect little aloe vera plant that I can already picture living happily in my room. I walk up to the lady that is the only obstacle between the plant and me and ask her how much it is. She tells me with a huge smile on her face, that the plant is part of the fund raiser and tells me that to win it I must pay to have a chance to draw a “lucky” popsicle stick from this sand filled flower box. It was something like 5 tried for $1 and 50 for $10.

I excuse myself and tell her that I am not interested in the game, but would love to buy the plant from her right now. She stubborn wench continues to insist, with that ever plastered grin on her face, that I really should participate in the fundraiser, and that picking out the popsicles is the only way I can get a chance to have the plant.
While we are talking, I start pulling out the popsicle sticks, and having pulled 10 or so realize that there may not be a “lucky” one in there, and that there is no way she will convince me to partake in this bogus activity.

No matter what I offered ($20- clearly over value) she would not budge and started getting angry, which, I thought was hilarious. I just don’t get it. Assuming there was in fact a lucky stuck in that pot, I could have definitely gotten to it for $10 (there were no more than 50 in there), and she could have clearly made much more money from my purchase, than she would from me playing the stupid game. But no, it was the “fun-factor principle” or something.

I told her that if this is a fun raiser, and she is trying to raise funds, selling me an overpriced plant is the best way to do it…after 10 minutes I talked them into selling it to me for $20 and agreed to come back later….i never did though, and got a perfectly good aloe plant from a nearby nursery fun by a very nice drunk man, who sold the plant for $2.50 and it came with a free snail...

Screw die-hard fundraisers.

Seasons

It is spring in St. Louis. And the weather, as always is schizophrenic, and unable to make up its mind. Thus, as any other indecisive schizophrenic, it is constantly discussed.

So, let’s do it. Lets discuss the weather in St. Louis. Specifically I want to address winter. Fiona (my beloved roommate) and I often disagree on our weather and location preferences. She picks her residence based on whether or not she can wear flip-flops. I, prefer seasons and change. I also happen to enjoy snow, blame it on my heritage if you like. However, here I am completely misunderstood when I say I like winter and snow. Everyone hates winter here. I don’t blame you, I hate winter here too. It is not even a real winter. It is jus there to annoy you.

You see, in my opinion, St. Louis winter can’t be enjoyable because it is much like going camping with heels on. You are unprepared and thus unable to enjoy an otherwise delightful experience. In Russia for example we know the winter will be cold and long. We are geared up, we have fur, real winter boots and other winter clothes. Prepared, we can enjoy the outside and embrace the beauty of winter.

Here, on the other hand, you barely have snow, and it usually doesn’t get THAT cold. So, you end up wearing your t-shirt, shirt, maybe a sweater or hoodie, or a light jacket that is perfect for fall, NOT winter.

You are freezing the whole time, hating every moment of it and counting days till spring comes. You are not prepared.

So. If you are going camping be prepared, and don’t wine about it.

All Hail The Potato!

I must admit that this was news to me as well, but am extremely excited to let you know that this wonderful year of 2008 has officially been declared Year of Potato by the United Nations.

If you don't believe me, see for yourself: International Year of Potato

And I honestly had no idea about the fascinating history of this rather ordinary food. Apparently, potatoes were first cultivated in South America about 7000 years ago. However the potatoes didn't even make their way to Europe until 1570. Even after that it took another 200 years for the people to actually consider consuming it. Before that potatoes were thought to cause sickness and be only fit for kettle. They were even called "devil's apples"However starvation in the mid 1700's pretty much forced people to realize just how awesome potatoes really are. They are cheap, easy to grow, extremely nutritious, and overall cool. People were fed, happy and started multiplying like crazy. Especially the Irish :) In fact the Irish got a bit too much into potato fueled lifestyle and seriously suffered when the crops failed and 1 million people died due to famine.

With time of course, we figured out how to maintain a healthy balanced diet, and are pretty much "set". As for myself...I know about potatoes. Russians produce the most in the world and eat A LOT of potatoes and drink even more potato water. However Belorussians have us beat- at leas as far as consumption goes.

Anyway, now, the potato is so common, plentiful and pervasive in the Western diet that it is taken for granted though has only been with us for a few hundred years. Alas! human nature, we get used to good things fast!

key matters

I keep feeling like my blog should be about something. A theme.
Most of the good ones seem to be just that. A sort of monologue forum. But I just can’t decide on one theme. Just want to write what I think.

Just so you know, I recently finished my first two web projects:
www.danielheggarty.com
www.tsunamistl.com

I know, they are simple and not that impressive, but they are new, they are hand programmed, and are a start.
It feels really good actually, seeing result of your work , right there…almost instant gratification. And be sure, there are more and better things to come.

What else?

I am going to Belize soon. In a little under a month. Going alone and looking forward to all the adventures.

Also, did you know that the keyboard you are working on now, pretty much sucks, and was pretty much created in 1873 to slow your typing down? And there is a better version of it called Dvorak that allows for better more efficient, easier typing technique? That’s right, the QWERTY (look at your Q and love right) keyboard was designed this way so that while typing on an typewriter you would not go too fast and keys would not stick together. And though the Dvorak was introduced in 1932, people did not switch their habits...who wants to relearn right?

Dvorak is an alternative to Qwerty. It is a keyboard layout designed to minimize movement, and make typing as easy and painless as possible. The idea behind it is to have the most commonly typed keys under the fingers, and make it as easy as possible to type common words and combinations of letters. To give an impressions of just how big a difference this makes, consider that the average Dvorak typist's fingers will travel about one mile in a day of typing. A Qwerty typist's will travel anything from 16 to 20 miles. Try to consider, for a moment, the effect that must have on your fingers.

You can actually chance your PC to Dvorak and can order a Dvorak keyboard layout on your computer, but no one really does it.

Anyway, this was new information to me, so I thought I’d let you know.

Well, anyway, now that you know your keyboard is inefficient, I can go to sleep happy☺

Monopoly TV

I was talking to my roommate about hitchhiking the other day.
It was one of the main modes of transportation for her throughout the travels in south America. I commented that is was a rather dangerous endeavor, but she just said that over there it is much more common and is not really so risky.

True. Back home, whenever I needed a ride, I would merely raise by arm a the traffic, and instead of a taxi, a passer by would stop and bargain with me about the price of the lift. It is also not completely uncommon to catch free rides like that. Now, do bad things happen?...sometimes, yes. But they also do with fake taxi cabs in new york and other places. So why is it perceived to be so dangerous here? People are afraid of each other, unable to trust. Here you are taught that is an uncommon, dangerous activity, so even if you see someone hitchhiking, you probably won’t pick them up. Who will>? Some creep maybe>? Seems to be a self fulfilling cycle.

Then again, statistically, thanks to the media, the US population does have a rather extreme view of reality. Based on several surveys most people here overestimate the dangers of the outside world...and no wonder why.

Ah, media, our cherished drug, the backbone of social order. Funny that though I am often appalled by it, I am still a Marketing major. Ads, consumer behavior, shopping patters...you are observed and studied constantly. And even when you are not, you keep craving the fabricated reality.

In an average US household, there are 2.55 people and 2.73 TV sets. An average TV set is ON 8 hours and 11 minutes a day. (Economist) That’s over 112 days a year, and over 50 years amounts to 15. 15 years. The most accepted and beloved drug, that has made it into every home. One that switches off your brain after 30 seconds, while you are exposed to thousands and thousands of commercial messages, partially fabricated news, and all the other crap…like “reality tv”…I just get a kick out of that phrase. Choose one, right?

And all this, run by just 6 consolidated corporations. Media monopoly galore.
Everything is engineered and is on for a reason. This is a business and an industry, that manufactures wants and desires. So is this in fact is what you want and desire?...

…keep the brain ON