Words

Stupid Is

2012-02-20T21:01:59Z

People often say it is important to respect each others beliefs. Nobody is right, and nobody is wrong. Let's all just get along. Coexist and whatnot.

I am all for coexisting, but this idea that nobody is right and that all beliefs are equal is clearly untrue. Some beliefs are more true than others, and while I think you should have the right to believe whatever you like, that sure as shit doesn't mean I need to respect it. I can criticize you, and you can criticize me.
If you take that right away, you open the
door to the worst kind of idiocy.

...Like conservative republicans such as Rick Santorum:

“Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s OK; contraception is OK. It’s not OK. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

“We’re the ones who stand for science and technology and using the resources we have to make sure we have a quality of life in this country and maintain a good and stable environment.”

“Is anyone saying same-sex couples can’t love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?”

“I think the Democrats are actually worried [Obama] may go to Indonesia and bow to more Muslims.”

The level of blatant hypocrisy and outright ignorance we allow into our politics is disgusting. No matter where one stands politically, I can't imagine how you could justify thinking as primitive and fragmented as this. But here we are.

PIPA and SOPA: Stuff You Should Already Know

2012-01-18T23:34:51Z

If I had more than a dozen unique viewers in a given day, I might consider going dark. That is not the case, so I will just post this video. If you don't get what all the fuss is about, it should clear things up a bit.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Manipulation and Propaganda

2012-01-02T20:35:12Z

I work in an industry where manipulation is mandatory. You must coerce people to share a desired perspective. It can be done artfully with good intentions, or maliciously with the intent to mislead.

People usually tell me that advertising has no affect on them. They believe they are too smart to buy into any of it. These are the same people who have dozens of favored brands which they hold in high regard and even use to define themselves. Some of the associations are based on truth, but many are based on a fiction that has been made believable. Regrettably, once a lie is believed with passion it is very difficult to extinguish and sometimes even becomes true over time.

Reality and our perception of reality are very separate things. Words and ideas can be twisted to our will, the truth altered until it is fiction. We have the ability to draw lines where none truly exists and to polarize ideas that needn’t be dualistic.

When we look back throughout history we find humor and horror in the naivety of many ancient ideas. We mock the nonsense and propaganda of past generations while bathing in that of our own.

Questioning the status quo has never been popular. The inquisitive will often meet with a bitter resistance. You will hear words like Tradition, Honor and Heritage. In the United States this rules our politics. Buzz words and lofty promises evoke more emotion than a realistic, logical approach. If you want to learn more about marketing, look no further than the upcoming election.

One day I would like to live in a world that encourages people to develop their own opinions and to value science over mythology.

We Americans are fortunate to have freedom of speech but if we are not careful, those rights will slip from our grasp. They will become ideas we say we believe in, but which no longer truly exist. We will grip our hands tighter around the idea, without realizing there is nothing there. It will become just one more lie we belive in.

"By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise." - Adolf Hitler

What's Going On

2011-12-04T16:42:30Z

It has been a tough couple weeks, but we are just about to laucn the new corporate website I have been working on. It is a big step up from what we had, with a pretty powerful CMS built on Drupal. There is still a lot of general up-leveling of the content to do, but it is exciting to have the bulk of it out there.

I realize I still have the Periphery book to print and share, but I am still waiting to gather up enough cash to get a few copies printed. There will definitely be some color correction that has to happen after the first printing. I hope to do that in early January, with the holidays out of the way.

Aside from that, I have two weeks off for the holidays so I will definitely be doing some photography and design. There should be some new work coming soon! I almost promise that.

Tim Minchin

2011-10-11T22:17:03Z

I was lucky enough to see Tim Minchin live last Sunday, at the Boulder Theater. I had already heard most of his music before, so I was expecting the show to be okay but nothing special. It actually turned out to be great. Aside from being a damn good musician, Tim is also hilarious. The brief interludes between his songs were filled with laughter. I also appreciate any musician who has his audio levels set so that you can actually understand the lyrics.

Anyway, if you haven't heard of him, check out this beat poem which will give you an idea of what he's about. The graphics for this video are fantastic as well!

Periphery: Beauty In the Ignored

2011-09-18T17:13:54Z

I've been working on a book of photography for a couple months I am calling Periphery. It is a compilation of photos I have taken in alleys and down back roads, of places more often ignored.

Right now I have more than 100 pages layed out. The prints will each be about a foot wide, so it will be cool to see a lot of these photos as large prints for the first time. Once I do a a few prints and get the colors and contrast right, I will look into taking orders from people.

Hawking on Religion

2011-08-14T19:07:09Z

From Discovery's Curiousity: The Questions of Life. Since I don't pay for television I didn't even know this show existed, but I'm glad to see something interesting and educational on Discovery again. I was getting sick of Swamp People, Deadliest Catch and all the other programming they were picking up. I'll have to check this out when its on DVD.

Bill O’Reily is Bullshit Incarnate

2011-07-26T21:20:18Z

I would agree that the killer was probably not motivated by his religious beliefs, but saying that the fact that he did something terrible means he is not a true Christian is the "No True Scotsman" fallacy stark naked in your living room. As usual, he aims to blame everything on the "liberal" media... Apparently all liberals hate Christianity, which I was not aware of. I guess that is good news for the atheist crowd.

As for Fox News in general... We look back with disbelief at the methods of propanda used by the Nazis and communists, completely unaware of it here and now. We don't notice how our entire country is entrenched in a rabid dogma of nationalism. We feel just in taking vicious action against nations we deem hostile and we feel righteous enough to view people of other nations as lesser beings. Our nation is riddled with the greatest fools of our generation, but we call them patriots and politicians.

Two for One Special

2011-07-13T01:02:59Z

PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins in conversation. There is also another video on youtube with a Q&A if you are interested.

Back from Chicago

2011-07-08T01:50:38Z

I have been up to quite a bit lately and finally have time to write a post.

How Conference 2011

I love that the city has parks and the river walk right alongside the downtown. It makes for a great walk that you can’t compare to anything we have in Denver. There is so much more to see within the city.

The HOW Conference was good. There were a lot of great speakers who touched on in-house design departments and working with marketing teams, which definitely applies to my position at Rally. Unfortunately, the conference was bookended with pseudo-scientific bullshit.

The opening keynote was an improv group that did no improvisation… although I guess what they presented did seem mostly made up. It started out with some basic facts about the importance of good posture and maintaining eye contact when speaking to people. That is super-fucking-boring, but at least it isn’t bullshit. Unfortunately, the presentation eventually devolved into a mantra about sending your energy throughout the room with your breath and whatnot. I haven’t heard that kind silliness since I attended a Scientology ceremony for an anthropology class. Nonetheless, damn near everyone was on their feet and participating in the psychic energy casting.

At the end they had Sally Hogshead do a presentation which included some amusing anecdotes and her very unscientific, very short quiz that tells you what type of designer you are. (Apparently some people need to be told everything) Of course no matter what result you get on the quiz, it can be spun positively. The whole thing is about as interesting as a horoscope or a fortune cookie to me.

I would have thought graphic design was a more skeptical field where these hollow sentiments would meet scrutiny. I suppose we can all easily fall victim to this stuff, especially when it reinforces things we want to believe. When I think about how many designers are devoutly religious (Or worshipers at the alter of Mac) it all seems less surprising.

The rest of the conference was great and the local cuisine is awesome. I will be adding some photos to the gallery over the next few days, but don’t expect anything touristy!