The Alchemist

This is really cool. It’s a (physical) map with 3 distinct layers that you can view independently or in various combinations. It’s rather like those novelty cards that you can view 2 different pictures from different angles, but it takes it to a new level:

One design rule that White insisted on was that the layers shouldn’t abruptly turn “on” and “off” like a traditional blinky card. Instead, he wanted the layers to fade in and out of view as the map was tilted. This would let viewers study the subway layer but also see an image of the street grid or the neighborhood map.

Tonight we’re having professional archival pictures done of the show, but I don’t know if we’ll have access to any of those. However, here are some amateur pics for your enjoyment…

http://johnmills.net/yankees/show1/index.htm

http://johnmills.net/yankees/show2/index.htm

5:45am is far too early to get up and go on stage to sing. Still, this morning that’s exactly what I and the rest of the ballplayers in Damn Yankees did. (What we won’t do for our art!)

Fox 59, our local Fox affiliate did a live remote at the Civic Theatre where they interviewed some of the cast and showing us “rehearsing” our numbers. Despite being bleary-eyed, we rose to the occasion and sang passingly well. The best part, though, was when I sang my line:

Blonde… and stacked… and absolutely bare…

At which point Sara Snow, the Fox reporter, (and yup, she’s blonde!) suddenly cut away, commenting that it was “too much for our daytime audience.” Too funny! Well, you gotta love live TV!

Anyway, it was a fun little diversion even though it involved spending about 2 hours at the theatre for less than 5 minutes of air time. That’s television for you…

Like many people, I’m extremely disturbed by the reaction of both the Florida and United States leadership to the Terri Schiavo story. So, let me proactively be very clear for you that might think you know better (e.g. the Bush family, the U. S. Congress, Bill Frist, the Religious Right, etc.):

Do not (again: Do not!) attempt to force me to remain in an indefinite persistent vegetative state like you’ve done to poor Terri Schiavo. Mere respiration is not sufficient reason to force me to go on “living.” For the love of all that is reasonable if I somehow reach this state, please have mercy on me and let me pass on.

I can only hope that if this horrible condition did occur to me that by that time our culture will have advanced enough to allow medical euthanasia to end my life quickly and cleanly. Sigh. Ok, that’s doubtful… So, if all that can be done is to allow me to fade away in the absence of a feeding tube, then so be it.

As for Terri, may she rest in peace.

Heh. Well, I’ve come a long way since high school! I can’t even imagine how much of a loser I would have been back then!

My evergreen sister, Naomi, just sent me this little tidbit from The Green Guide:

GREEN THE iPOD, APPLE!

Apple, the company, claims to be committed to reducing the environmental impact of the products they create, but are they? What about the iPod which was designed with an expensive-to-replace toxic-laden battery? Did the company not consider what the 4.5 million current iPod owners might do when the batteries started to die (which happens in under three years of regular use)? Most are going to be thrown out, since Apple charges a hefty fee to iPod owners to have the batteries replaced. That’s why The Green Guide has launched the “Fix it, Apple” campaign and is encouraging everyone to join in sending Steve Jobs emails and phone messages to say “Fix it, Apple, and make iPods green”. Please help by sending a message, and getting your friends to send a message as well.

Easy, Quick & Effective: http://www.thegreenguide.com/ia/ipod.mhtml

Well, I love my iPod… but there is always room for improvement. How about it, Apple?

Last weekend we opened Damn Yankees to a sold-out crowd for all performances! The show really came together and has turned out wonderful. But you don’t have to take my word for it. We also got a great review from the Indianapolis Star:

From the show’s opening cry of “Play Ball,” the production’s 32-member cast mounted a play that was just that — a ball — and delivered a performance worthy of a pennant, if not a shot at the World Series.

Go Senators!

From Ain’t It Cool News:

He also led us through the section of the building where the animators actually work. Here’s where the Wonka factory comparison felt strongest. Instead of cubicles, each of the animators has a customized space…

A lot of the animators decided early on that they didn’t want cubicles, so instead, Pixar found these groovy little cottages that they bought for them. Walking through the animation department is like walking through a neighborhood for dwarves. Lots of little houses laid out along “streets,” each one with an address on the door.

Ah… now that is quite a work space! We’ve started working on our space at Moongate Technologies and it’s going to be cool, too (although I’m afraid our build out budget isn’t quite on par with Pixar)! Nevertheless, we’re creative people and we’ve got some great ideas for our space! And I’ll be sure to post our results here when we’re done!

The wait is over. I got the call. Forever Plaid is not in my future. I’m not sure how I feel other than exhausted right now, though, so I’ll leave the soul searching for another time…

Google offers homage to my favorite OS: OS X. Run your mouse over the icons and be sure to check out the poem at the bottom of the page. Gotta love it!

Update: Google apparently doesn’t love OS X quite as much as I thought. The page has been taken down. A mirror, however, is up that shows what was once there.