My life is pretty untitled anyway

WANT THIS

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:25:28 -0500

WANT THIS

extrafirmhold: Red dust storm over Sydney. Jeeth Chritht.

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:39:39 -0500

extrafirmhold:

Red dust storm over Sydney. Jeeth Chritht.

thewarindrew: i will FOREVER love Carrie Fisher: Weight AND...

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:52:31 -0500

thewarindrew:

i will FOREVER love Carrie Fisher:

Weight AND Wisdom!

I thought that I’d forgotten one of the things I was thinking of writing about, but now I remember………at least I think I do…… One thing is that I foolishly Googled myself last nite—–because the Enquirer has been trying to get me to confirm some asinine thing I said as a bad joke AGES ago, & I wanted to see if had shown up somewhere—- which it hadn’t—– until now, when I stupidly call attention to this non event here——- ANYWAY—–in the process of searching, I found that someone had posted that I USED to be hot, but that now I looked like Elton John. As much as I attempted to place myself above the reach of this observation……

I must admit that…..yup……. This ended up hurting my feelings—–all 7 of them.

You see, I was hot when most people are hot—- in my fucking 20’s & part of my 30’s……THEN, in an effort to imitate humans, I had a child &, to further maintain my life like disguise, I took medications for about 9 thousand years, &, despite all my efforts, I continued to get older & older——inadvertently, I assure you———-I tried to arrest my development physically as WELL as emotionally, but unfortunately without as much success. I also must confess that I ate food. I’m sorry….. I realize that I promised never to eat anything but lettuce & sun flower seeds, but tragically, I was unable to keep my promise.

Yes, I realize…..I KNOW that I vowed to exercise for 3 hours a day—-aerobics, pilates AND yoga, but alas, I admit with a large quota of shame, that I failed to fulfill this other important commitment.

NO, I shouldn’t look as if 30 years have passed. I understand completely if you can’t find it in your heart to forgive me for looking like 3 decades have passed…….Of COURSE you should mock & belittle me for being so large!! What else could you POSSIBLY do?????!? I’ve let you down by treating my body as though it were just some giant sad sack that I use to haul my personality around. You have every right to compare me to Yoda or Elton or Kirstie…….I’ve brought it on myself.

But here’s this thing that I found myself wondering………what the fuck do YOU look like??!

I know i don’t really have the right to ask……I’m a public figure——Ive made an unspoken contract to keep that figure slim…….but still, I find myself wondering…….See, I think the folks that insult & mock celebrities who DARE to pack on ten pounds or—–God forbid——MORE than ten!…..I would think it only fair that they post a photo of themselves along with their poisonous observations! And you know what else would be SUPER cool??? Their IQ! ALL the numbers! An approximate count of Weight AND wisdom!

And as a teeny aside—–my show on Broadway is not about my appearance. Oh sure, I’m killing myself trying to lose weight before I open so I won’t offend any theater goers eyes while attempting to entertain them via their ears…… But just in case I don’t achieve my goal of keeping my promise to look 25 & instead manage to remind you of bulbous slugs or gay, iconic musicians……..

I’d like to take this opportunity to offer this quasi poignant explanation & to say to those of you I’ve visually offended…… from the bottom of my heart encased in fat——-

BLOW MY BIG BOVINE tiny dancer COCK!

We now return to our regular programing……

XxOoCf

shakira in her spread for Vanity Fair, September...

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:25:22 -0500

shakira in her spread for Vanity Fair, September 2009…looking amazing.

absurdlakefront: bandwagonpete: thewarindrew: Nice project...

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:39:29 -0500

absurdlakefront:

bandwagonpete:

thewarindrew:

Nice project here designed by Nathalia Ponomareva from Russia. These tea bags created by the principles of origami.

tea lovers are about to nerd out on us y’all. haha

hot

… I really want this. I want it badly.

WANT

AND I LOVE THIS SHOW. So glad I started watching it!

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:33:03 -0500

AND I LOVE THIS SHOW.

So glad I started watching it!

twoseconds: tnkcmndr: slowtumb: lesmy: bizarrelyneutral:...

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:53:59 -0500

twoseconds:

tnkcmndr: slowtumb: lesmy: bizarrelyneutral: delchizzle) (via designboom)

ooooo

deliberatepace: Slow dancing in a burning room.Smoke from the...

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:40:14 -0500

deliberatepace:

Slow dancing in a burning room.
Smoke from the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 31, 2009.
More here.

F***

thewarindrew: From window to balcony at the push of a button!...

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:39:10 -0500

thewarindrew:

From window to balcony at the push of a button!

need this.

thewarindrew: (hahahahaha) bahahahaha part. 2

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:57:50 -0500

thewarindrew:

(hahahahaha)

bahahahaha part. 2

thewarindrew: AMAZING! :)

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:55:47 -0500

thewarindrew:

AMAZING!

Promo for new Bollywood film: Blue Kylie Minogue could become a...

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:14:40 -0500

Promo for new Bollywood film: Blue

Kylie Minogue could become a Bollywood regular after a hit performance in her first Indian film.

The Australian singer reportedly impressed Indian directors with her Bollywood moves after only three days of rehearsals for the film Blue.

The pop singer said she was thrilled to work with India’s double Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman, after recording one of his songs for the move. She met Rahman at the Baftas in London last month where she presented him with an award for Slumdog Millionaire.

The movie is about a sunken treasure ship and is said to have been inspired by the Hollywood production “The Deep”.

Although little is known about the plot, Minogue will reportedly appear in the film playing herself, acting one scene with action hero Akshay Kumar and performing a set-piece song-and-dance routine.

Speaking to reporters, Minogue said she had been overwhelmed by the response she received in India.

“My over riding memory of India is the warmth and professionalism of the people I dealt with whilst making Blue,” she said.

“I arrived here as a stranger but I left considering myself as family.”

“I don’t feel that I’m necessarily at the forefront of a Hollywood-Bollywood crossover because I don’t consider myself Hollywood.

“But I do think this could be the start of something. The fact that I’m here shows it could be the start of something.”

Kumar, who last year starred in a music video with Snoop Dogg said he felt Slumdog Millionaire had “opened many doors for not only India, but for our own film industry”.

He added: “Only weeks ago Kylie was on stage honouring our Rahman at the Bafta Awards, now she’s performing a song composed by the very same man.

“And I’ve heard Kylie moves as sweet as she sings, so it’s back to the rehearsal room for me!”

Minogue is just one of the first Western stars to appear in a Bollywood film - later this year Sylvester Stallone will become the first major American star to appear in a Bollywood film, titled Incredible Love. The move is also rumoured to feature Arnold Schwarzenegger. It will also be the first time an Indian production is shot at Hollywood’s Universal Studios.

Snow Leopard Combines Minor Improvements, Major Future-Proofing

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:00:00 -0500

As the name implies, Snow Leopard appears to add just a little dash of flavor to Apple’s previous operating system, Leopard. But OS X 10.6, as it’s officially known, is paws-down the best Mac OS yet, and it costs a dirt-cheap $30 for those who are already running Leopard.

It also adds significant new features that don’t make much of a difference today, but will in the year to come, as both software developers and hardware manufacturers catch up.

The question, therefore, is not whether to upgrade, but when?

From our testing, Snow Leopard indeed delivers on its promises of speedier performance and superior memory management, which in turn results in longer battery life. Thinking ahead, the OS focuses on maximizing the power of future systems armed with multiple processor cores, and its 64-bit addressing will support massive amounts of memory. With that said, the benefits combined with the OS’s low price tag make Snow Leopard definitely worth buying — but there’s no rush, even if you own one of the latest Macs.

Before Snow Leopard’s Aug. 28 launch, Wired.com gave you an early glimpse at the OS. We highlighted performance boosts, minor tweaks to the user interface and subtle improvements to smaller tools. Today, we take a deeper dive into the OS, where we discovered some more welcome changes along with a few annoying issues.

An Easy Upgrade Process

Upgrading Mac OS X has never been difficult, and with Snow Leopard it’s even easier. On our unibody MacBook Pro (with a Core 2 Duo processor), all we had to do was insert the disc and double-click the “Install Mac OS X” icon.

Here’s something you probably didn’t know: Before booting into the setup process, the installer downloads any necessary software updates. That’s pretty nifty and should help guard against buggy upgrades.

Our test system showed no problems in general usability after upgrading, but there were some applications that became incompatible. For example, MediaLink, a third-party application that wirelessly streams video from the Mac onto a PlayStation 3, launched but no longer worked properly. That means the developer didn’t test the app to ensure Snow Leopard compatibility; with luck, future versions will be compatible. Apple has said Snow Leopard would detect incompatible apps and move them to a folder labeled “Incompatible Software.” But we found that three of our third-party apps, including MediaLink, were incompatible with Snow Leopard, yet the OS provided no notification. (If you’re curious about whether all your third-party software is compatible, we suggest you check the Snow Leopard compatibility list on WikiDot.)

For the most part, however, the install process was smooth. Despite Apple’s claim that Snow Leopard is “an upgrade for Leopard users,” we were even able to complete the upgrade on a MacBook running Mac OS X Tiger (10.4). Much to our surprise, it ran fine.

A Slight Performance Boost

Yep, Snow Leopard is faster, but not in the most obvious way. In everyday use, you’ll notice only minor speed boosts when performing tasks such as shutting down, starting up, waking up from sleep, opening Finder windows, reconnecting to Wi-Fi and so on. We’re talking about a difference of a few seconds — nothing huge.

More processor-intensive tasks also showed little improvement: Exporting an iMovie video was roughly the same, taking two minutes; zipping a folder stuffed with high-density JPGs was about 20 seconds faster in Snow Leopard, taking 4 minutes and 10 seconds in Snow Leopard; importing images to iPhoto was only about 10 seconds faster, taking one minute.

The most significant performance boost was seen when making a Time Machine backup: 30 minutes in Snow Leopard versus 45 minutes in Leopard to backup 60 GB of data via a FireWire 800 connection. (To be precise, 57 GB of data in Snow Leopard because the OS saves some space thanks to fewer included printer drivers and compressing some code). Averaging all our tests, Snow Leopard showed an overall improvement of 9 percent when pitted against Leopard.

We even saw a subtle difference after installing Snow Leopard on a three-year-old, 32-bit MacBook. Overall, it ran snappier with multiple windows and browser tabs open. Launching applications or importing tracks from a CD in iTunes? Barely a difference.

You’re probably asking, “Then why should I care?” Because this is a forward-thinking OS souped-up for newer and later machines running newer software. The biggest improvement you’ll see in today’s computers has to do with memory management. That’s because a 64-bit application can juggle much more memory than a 32-bit one, better exploiting your RAM. Example: Say you have 4 GB of RAM, and you’re editing a ton of photos. Snow Leopard isn’t going to make opening and editing a single photo faster, but the entire experience of editing multiple photos will be snappier because the OS knows how to handle more RAM.

Here’s the problem: iPhoto ‘09, Apple’s photo-editing app, is written in 32-bit and thus won’t take full advantage of better 64-bit addressing. Same deal with iMovie ‘09. We’re sure updates are coming soon, but this is why we say there’s no rush to upgrade: We might as well give the software landscape a little bit of time to catch up. Here, we have an OS capable of incredible acceleration, but we’re waiting for consumer software that can push the gas pedal hard enough.

Looking ahead in terms of hardware, Snow Leopard incorporates two potentially performance-enhancing technologies called Grand Central Dispatch and Open CL. Grand Central Dispatch will matter most for software developers: It enables applications to make use of the multicore processors in modern machines without having to write complex management code. A developer doesn’t have to know the complexities of parallel processing; he can just point his software at GCD and let it take care of dividing tasks up into simultaneously executed slices. The upshot: In the near future, when you’ve got a four-, eight- or 16-core processor, it can use all of those cores to make your software run faster.

And then there’s Open CL, which gets some extra mileage out of the graphics processing unit on your graphics card. Ordinarily, the GPU is used only for rendering graphics, which makes a big difference in Quake 4 but matters less in Excel. With OpenCL, the GPU can be utilized for more mundane computing tasks, like number crunching, converting file formats, compressing data and the like.

Changes in Interface and Usability

In our first look, we mentioned some minor changes to the user interface that we liked. For example, clicking a Dock icon and holding it down will show only the windows of the selected app using Exposé, Apple’s screen-management tool. That’s a welcome change.

Also, there’s a tweak to Stacks, a feature in the Dock that lets folders expand into a vertical box showing what’s inside them. We were never very fond of Stacks, because it’s little more than a fancy shortcut to see a folder window. But with Snow Leopard, Stacks has been improved so you can navigate up and down within each stacked folder, whereas before you only had an annoyingly static view of the box. We still don’t find Stacks very useful, but if you’re a fan, it’s a little better now.

Something longtime Mac users will appreciate is is called Smart Eject, an enhancement that’s part of the new-and-improved Finder. In previous versions of OS X, you could give the OS the command to eject a thumb drive or external drive, only to be greeted with a nagging warning when you physically removed the device. That problem is no more. Smart Eject ensures the eject signal is immediately sent to your device, and you can pull it out of your USB port right away.

Of course there are some uglier spots of Snow Leopard’s design: Exposé has been tweaked so when you trigger the show-all-windows function, all the windows are arranged in straight rows, regardless of their true size (see screenshot above). That looks neater, but in terms of usability it was easier to select and click your desired window in the older, Leopard way, when Exposé scaled down these windows based on size and scattered them intuitively. The new Exposé looks better, but it requires a lot more finger work to navigate among your windows.

As for QuickTime X, whose new features we liked (audio and video recording along with screencasting), we have some nits to pick with the interface. The stealthy, charcoal window polished with a silver gradient looks cool, but it doesn’t match the rest of the operating system’s gray, white and blue color scheme. It doesn’t look like it should be a native Apple application, even though it is.

For owners of MacBooks featuring multitouch trackpads (i.e., unibody MacBooks), there’s something funky going on with four-finger gestures. Swiping upward with four fingers is supposed to trigger the show-desktop function in Exposé; swiping down should show all windows. The behavior of this feature is erratic: By instinct, you’ll probably swipe back up after swiping down to return to your normal view, but doing so will only repeat the action and put you back in Exposé mode. You have to instead remove your hand entirely, which is completely awkward and unintuitive. This disturbs the otherwise intimate experience of using a MacBook.

When to Upgrade

If you upgrade to Snow Leopard today, it’s not going to change your life. The improvements are invisible and not yet exploited by most of today’s software. However, we’re excited to see the impact that this OS will eventually have on Mac computing. With Snow Leopard, Apple gives its tagline of a “next-generation” operating system a new meaning: It’s truly next-generation, because the software industry needs to catch up.

However, Snow Leopard is just a $30 upgrade, so do put it on your shopping list. If you’re worried about compatibility issues, wait a little longer so software developers can update their applications. Otherwise, install it now, enjoy the minor improvements, and look forward to the real performance benefits further down the line.

WIRED Easy, breezy setup. Snappier overall performance with smarter multitasking abilities. Grand Central prepares us for super-powerful computers with multicore processors and tons of RAM (aka the World of Tomorrow). Nearly cheaper than a case of PBR.

TIRED Many apps, even Apple’s iMovie and iPhoto, are not yet written in 64-bit. Annoying homogeneity to the “view all windows” view in Exposé. Quirky multitouch gesture behavior for MacBooks will make you feel like a chimpanzee trying to figure out calculus.

Manufacturer: Apple
Price: $30 upgrade - $170 full version

Release Date:

Chicago's 2016 Olympics bid threatens Gropius landmark...among many other things

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:52:00 -0500

Courtesy City of Chicago

Hoping to be selected as the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the City of Chicago is actively planning for new facilities to accommodate the games. Those plans currently threaten a complex of post-World War II buildings on Chicago’s lakefront, the Michael Reese Hospital Campus, largely planned and co-designed by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. While the city would like to see the entire 37-acre site with its 29 buildings razed to make way for a new Olympic Village for athletes, some preservationist groups want to save the entire campus. With demolition partially underway, time is running out on a full-scale rescue plan, giving rise to alternative proposals that seek to partially preserve the site.

The city’s proposed Olympic Village is to contain 21 new high-rise structures roughly 12 stories high. Critics of the plan oppose the wholesale razing of the site and recommend instead an alternative approach that would preserve some of the complex’s buildings. Two such plans that emerged last week, one by the advocacy group Landmarks Illinois and another by Chicago architects DeStefano Partners, aim to do just that.

The Landmarks Illinois plan calls for preserving seven of the site’s 29 buildings, eight of which are attributed to the Bauhaus master while the DeStafano plan preserves just one. While the DeStefano plan is light on preservation, both offer a far better planning approach to the site than the city’s village plan, which has been likened to the urban housing projects of the 1960s with its slab like structures lined up like dominos in rhythmic march. By comparison, the alternative proposals create lively streets, save buildings and offer a diversity of uses- important attributes if the project is to become a vibrant community beyond the Olympics.

Chicago’s 2016 officials have met with the teams behind both proposals but have declined to comment on the status of its plans. At least alternate plans are emerging and the city is still listening.

Sharon McHugh
US Correspondent

National Library, Bjarke Ingles Group - Copenhagen

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:49:35 -0500

From WAN:

Copenhagen architects beat Foster and Hadid with ‘modern and rational’ library

Invited as one of five pre-selected architect led teams, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) was awarded first prize in an open international design competition which included 19 entrants amongst others Lord Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid.

The new National Library, named after the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, encompasses an estimated 33,000 sq m. The winning proposal was chosen by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan K. Masimov together with Astana’s akim I.Tasmagambetov and a council of architects. The design was hailed as being both modern and rational and anchored in a classical vocabulary of traditional libraries.

“The design of the National Library combines four universal archetypes across space and time into a new national symbol: the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt are merged into the form of a Moebius strip. The clarity of the circle, the courtyard of the rotunda, the gateway of the arch and the soft silhouette of the yurt are combined to create a new national monument appearing local and universal, contemporary and timeless, unique and archetypal at the same time,” said Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner on the Astana National Library 2009

The win marks a significant achievement for the firm which is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in top-end architecture. BIG’s architectural achievements came to the fore with their Mountain Dwellings housing project in Copenhagen which won several awards for its ingenuity and since then the firm have raised the stakes competing with Foster, Nouvel and others for the Slussen regeneration, narrowly missing a win to Foster.

The design of the National Library will be a very significant project not just for the firm but for Kazakhastan and is hoped to become an icon for a country which has sadly become synonymous with the antics of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character who hailed from its lands. The new National Library in Astana, Kazakhstan’s new capital since 1997, shall not only accumulate history but also provide a foundation for new futures for the nation and its new capital. It will serve as an intellectual, multifunctional and cultural center, with a primary goal of reflecting the establishment and development of a sovereign Kazakhstan, its political history, and the Head of the State’s activities and role in the development of the country.

An archive of books, films, magazines and other media is organized as a circular loop of knowledge, surrounded by light and air on both sides. On the periphery a 360 degree panorama of Astana - at the heart of the building a contemplative courtyard domed by the heavenly light blue of the celestial vault. A series of public programs will simultaneously wrap the library on the outside as well as the inside, above as well as below. Like a Möbius strip, the public programs move seamlessly from the inside to the outside and from ground to the sky providing spectacular views of the surrounding landscape and growing city skyline.

“The envelope of The National Library transcends the traditional architectural categories such as wall and roof. Like a yurt the wall becomes the roof, which becomes floor, which becomes the wall again,” said Thomas Christoffersen, Project Leader on the National Library.