Completed Tesselation Pieces

 E-readers contributing to the death of books.

Freedom for Iran (at this point, their "freedom" is limited).

Oops.

Totally freaked out and forgot that the tesselations were due THURSDAY instead of today. WELL. At least I can try to make them look better. (feels like an idiot, having stayed up so late to work on them last night and having to force herself out of bed this morning to come to class).

Tesselations

These took way longer than I would have hoped. Can you tell which one I worked hardest on? :X

Silhouettes.

Tesselations

I wasn't sure if we had to start working on the tesselations as they relate to our topic, so I just did general practice of the techniques. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Still-Life Commentaries

15 Silhouettes.

15 out of 40 silhouettes. These 15 silhouettes have different objects/scenes drawn in the silhouettes.

 Jellyfish >> Guy with piercings and dreads

Fedora >> Guy reading a book 

 Lamp >> Vacuum cleaner

 Bomb >> Pomegranate

 Banana >> Eagle

 Bleeding heart >> Monkey in a tree with bananas

 Bird of paradise >> Fairy

 Hummingbird >> Ballerina

 Swan >> Guy laying in a hammock

 Key >> Samurai with sword

 Rook chess piece >> Lighthouse

 King chess piece >> 

The pope appearing to the crowd (they do this in Vatican City all the time).

Knight chess piece >> Snake and snake charmer 

Bishop chess piece >> Circus seal balancing a ball on his nose (not a fan of this one) 

High-heeled boot >> Pirate (one of my personal favorites)

Post 6/6: Tokyopop going bankrupt

I heard from a friend last week that Tokyopop is going bankrupt. Tokyopop is a manga publishing company that played a big role in the manga revolution in the U.S. Tokyopop introduced many popular manga series, such as Sailor Moon, Chobits, and Love Hina in the "unflipped" (meaning that the book reads from right to left) format for the first time. It is one of the most well-known companies that publishes manga here in the U.S., but they have announced recently that they are shutting down their U.S. operations as of May 31st. Their German office will stay open to handle publishing rights and their film division will continue.

I know next to nothing about the closing of their U.S. office, but in a way I am not surprised. I have been sort of disappointed with the selection of manga recently, whether from Tokyopop or another publishing company. Tokyopop is responsible for many of the mainstream popular series, yet many of those series to me are becoming pretty boring. There was a time when I was interested in all of these mainstream plots, such as characters with big swords and magical powers, but I'm getting a little tired of all that. I have lost a lot of faith in manga because of this, and there have been very few mangas that I have seen that pique my interest and seem to contain a unique plot. However, I heard from someone else that the main cause of this bankruptcy is because of Tokyopop taking the rights from the creators of these series. I haven't found anything about that yet though.

http://www.comicsbeat.com/2011/04/15/end-of-an-era-tokyopop-shutting-down/
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/19869.html
http://manga.about.com/b/2011/04/16/tokyopop-to-close-its-u-s-manga-publishing-offices.htm

Post 5/6: Outflix Film Festival

The Outflix Film Festival, the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center's international film festival, will take place from Friday, September 9th to Thursday, September 15th at Malco's Ridgeway Four theater. Movies, which all deal with the topic of LGBT issues, includes a wide variety of films from documentaries to feature-length comedies and everything in between. Those interested in purchasing tickets can choose from several different options:

1 Feature Ticket: $9.00
3 Feature Tickets: $24.00
7 Feature Tickets: $45.00
All Festival Pass: $75.00

One film of particular interest to me is Circumstance, an Iranian film about two girls living in Iran that fall in love. My mom is Iranian and I am very much in touch with my Iranian culture. I don't know of many Iranian movies, but am interested in expanding my horizons and finding some to watch. I am also surprised at how the creation of this film was possible. Homosexuality is an act punishable by death in Iran, and if this movie was indeed filmed in Tehran (which is where it takes place), then it must have been quite risky. Either way, I am very excited to see this film, and perhaps others that the festival has to offer.

http://www.livefrommemphis.com/memphiscalendar/details/5906-circumstance-outflix-saturday-films
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/sep/6/outflix-brings-glbt-issues-to-screen/
http://www.outflixfestival.org/

Post 4/6: Bookstores dying and the growing popularity of e-readers

An e-reader is a handheld device in which books can be purchased, stored, and read. Amazon's device, the Kindle, as well as Barnes and Noble's nook, Apple's iPad, and many other e-readers, have been growing in popularity recently. People like how easily many books can be stored and read on one device, rather than packing around many bulky physical copies of books. Because of this, one begs the question (rather, questions), are e-readers going to change the way we read books? Will the traditional paperback soon become a thing of the past? Are bookstores across the country dying? It certainly seems that way. Amazon's Kindle is growing in popularity, and seems to be the most preferred e-reader out there. Amazon states that for ever 10 physical books they sell, they also sell 6 e-books.

I, for one, take this as terrible news. I love to read, and I love books, but I would refuse to use an e-reader. The only time I ever considered trying it was when I received one for Christmas. I was in disbelief, but figured, "it's the thought that counts. Who knows, maybe I'll give it a try." I took it back to the store several days later. I love the feel of an actual book. I love being able to look at my bookshelf and see what all I have collected throughout my life. I love the smell of a new book, and the variety of copies that exist of a book when I walk into a bookstore. I usually tend to choose the books that don't have the footnotes or the obnoxious introductions by erudite scholars trying to pick the book apart (I can do that part myself, thanks). When asked in my senior year of high school, "Do you think that books will become a thing of the past?" I said no. I felt that there were plenty of people that loved the same things I love about books that would ensure the longevity of physical books. Now I am disappointed to see the Barnes and Noble near my dorm closed, upset to hear that the Borders a little further away is closing, and fearing for the Barnes and Noble in my home town that is so close to my house. Over the summer break, I walked into a Walden Books in one of the malls back home, and saw that the store was closing. It was one of the only stores in that mall that I enjoyed, and suddenly the threat e-readers placed on actual books became real to me. Books have endured for centuries. I refuse to see them go away.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8353305/E-readers-growing-in-popularity-as-publishers-predict-the-year-of-the-e-book.html
http://www.mndaily.com/2010/02/11/popularity-e-readers-rise
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/why-your-bookstore-is-going-out-of-business.aspx

I hate this so much...

Post 3/6: Freedom in Iran

In Iran, the Islamic government has many controls on the things that the citizens of Iran do. Two years ago, an election for president was held in Iran, and many people saw a contradiction in who they voted for, and who is currently president. While many people in Iran voted for one person, the "results" claimed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected. Frustrated with a rigged election, many Iranians took to the streets in protest.

My mother and her family are from Iran, and I am very much in touch with my Iranian culture. I hope that the fight doesn't stop and that people in Iran don't give up protesting for the rights that they deserve.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/protest-songs-resound-iranian-car-windows
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jun/04/neda-agha-soltan-iran
http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/5402

Post 2/6: Gay rights

Not only in the U.S., but throughout the world, gay rights is a touchy subject. As of now, many gays and lesbians are fighting for the right of same-sex marriage. As of now, only several states in the U.S. either allow gay marriage or at least recognize it. They are fighting not only for the right to get married, but also for the other rights that come with marriage. To be able to do every citizen's deeds, such as pay taxes (which some same-sex couples would like to do together, but are unable to because they are not recognized as a couple), is just one of the rights being fought for. Others include being able to visit their loved ones in the hospital.

My opinion is that if the U.S. is a country founded on the idea that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights," then we should practice what we preach. Our country is a melting pot, and to exclude one group from a certain pool of rights would be a great injustice. Some believe it's a sin to be gay, some think that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, that being gay is some temptation of the devil, but gay marriage is nothing new. Many kings and rulers of the past had same-sex sexual partners. Even today, gay marriage is a part of some cultures' way of life, and it is considered normal.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/08/31/libertarians-view-gay-marriage/ (written by John Stossel? THAT MAN. Go him!)
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/01/3876269/gay-marriage-fight-headed-for.html
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/31/new-gay-military-magazine-headed-for-base-newsstands/?intcmp=related

Post 1/6: Australian collar-bomb suspect arrested

Douglas Peters was arrested in Oldham County, just outside Louisville, Kentucky in August. Peters is a 50-year-old Australian investment banker who was accused of attaching a fake bomb to a teenage girl's neck. This was an extortion plot once worked for a company with ties to the victim's family.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/16/national/main20093034.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/04/501364/main20087975.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/16/national/main20092934.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

To me, the story was quite bizarre and I found it interesting (mainly because I'm from Louisville, Kentucky, and my house is quite close to the line between my county and Oldham County). I also wasn't sure if collar bombs were just a fictional piece of technology or if they have actually been used before. Either way, this one was fake and was only used to manipulate the victim and her family.

 Douglas Peters

 Madeleine Pulver, the victim