Helvetica the film is worth watching whether or not your a design geek, or font lover. Yes a movie about a typeface, font, lettering. Simple and to the point, it has moments that show us how any niche has a language of it’s own. Working in wine people often mock the silly tasting notes, that ramble on with adjectives like a verbal diarrhea. This movie has many parallels. At points typeface designers lose me as they spew nonsensical word masses as they attempt to explain an idea, while all those around them nod in agreement. The language is theirs, the ideas are unique to the their profession. It works for them. Wine babble works for me.

Turns out though communication requires us to remember that our world, is not necessarily our clients, consumer, or audiences. Thank you Helvetica the movie for not only rocking the world of a design geek who’s membership has lapsed, but also for reminding me, that all disciplines deserve a unique language, and yet require us to learn to communicate without it too.

I used to draw a lot. If you didn’t know I have an art degree, in sculpture and painting. I really miss a creative outlet like drawing that let’s me play, be myself, or be someone else for a bit. What ever is needed.

So I’ve decided to draw more. Starting a few days ago I started a regiment of forced doodling. Not much has come of it as of yet, but I do have some nice scribbles coming along. Bit by bit I hope to get this bug back in my fingers, where the twitch to sketch won’t quit…then I want to find a rock and some chisels…to work on that other part of my degree.

I used to draw a lot of stuff, here is one silly thing I did for fun. Not a favorite but one of the ones I brought back from the US this last trip. I have a few more that I like better which I will post when I figure out how to get a better scan. Maybe a photo would work better? Click the picture to see it better. Tell me what you think, or don’t. I’m still going to do some drawing.

In the end I wonder what has changed with basically a 5 yr break from it. What will I come up with next? Who knows, we’ll have to see. Here I go.

, originally uploaded by Ryan Opaz.

Hands down one of the best ice photos from this week.

Loved it. Loved it, not only because I love food and grew up watching Julia Childs PBS shows, while my mom folded laundry in the basement. No, I loved it because I had a chance to watch passion acted upon. Topo many of us have a passion we never do anything about. We all may obsess about it. But only a few act upon it. Gary Vaynerchuck’s “Crush It!
” is a book about how to “act upon your passion”. The problem though is that many people will read his book and just say “yeah that’s what I need to do” and go on thinking about it.

I think I have a solution. Do something stupid. Yep. Go out and do something quickly before you have time to think about it and figure out if it was the right thing later. I wouldn’t be in Spain right now if I had thought about it. Gabriella and I bought a ticket because we could, and look, now we live here. Our passion: exploring the world. At this point we’ve traveled throughout Spain and Portugal. Visited London and Norway numerous times, and have been to India. A series of lucky breaks and a lot of hard work has kept this project/dream/experiment alive. But we’re doing it, and we wouldn’t be here still if we had thought about it.

Juila and Julia both did something, whether or not they were sure what they were doing. They figured it out along the way. They had fun. They made their dreams come true. My dreams are still figuring themselves out…but I’ll keep doing what I need to do, and from time to time, I’ll jump feet first into something I know nothing about, just to see what happens.

Enjoy the chickens:

Wizard Smoke from Salazar on Vimeo.

Two things. First is this story below true, and if it is, I have to say it’s pretty cool. Need to head to snopes to figure it out I guess. Second: I received this as a chain email, passed on by my Grandma. And though I don’t expect my Grandma to start self publishing, I do wonder why I still get chain emails from people in a time when self publishing is so easy? Chain emails should go on Tumblr, or a blog, or twitter for that matter….amazing that I still get chain emails from friends and family. Annoying too….though I would like to see stories like the one below on my Grandma’s blog!

ARLINGTON CEMETERY – Jeopardy Question

On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns —- All three missed it –

This is really an awesome sight to watch if you’ve never had the chance, Very fascinating.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not?

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path,he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed?

Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5′ 10′ an d 6′ 2′ tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30.’ Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet.. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.

There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery .. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington , DC , our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, ‘No way, Sir!’ Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

Related articles by Zemanta

• A tragedy unfolds in Germany’s Mosel region (wineanorak.com)