Psychonauts Lore

The Hiatus Owl

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Grownups.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:30:00 +0000

I love this. It's so sad yet cheerful. Hopeful.
Radiohead and this strip, both make me fall in love for a few minutes.
Short-lived emotions, but still...
Link

Sighting in the West Side.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:39:00 +0000

I let days go by without writing anything at all. In most cases I've been giving attention to my blog in Castilian, probably because there are more affecttions invested in subjects I command with ease, like the language itself. On most issues I have something to say, and the feedback the readers provide makes me fall in love further with the routine of providing material for them. This does not mean I write regularly over there either! I wish...

Anyway, as of now, I am all about sharing this picture I took in the West Side, Midtown. Cam was dead so I ended up using the iPhone's lens. This kind of cuteness has been popping up all over the city. Pixelated splashes, invaders in alleys... Lovely.

Happy Day Big Boss...

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:18:00 +0000

I have spent Fathers Day playing Metal Gear Solid IV, the sad and amazing story of a tormented patricide. As much a hero as a mercenary.
What to say...

Burning Man 2006 Census is Out!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:43:00 +0000

Finally!
2006 was my first year, and of course, being the first time, it blew my mind away. In fact, I am still collecting the fragments, and I don't think it will ever end!
I have always taken the time to fill the census sheets, for it is the least I can do to support the idea of Black Rock City being a perfect testing ground for social, psychological and anthropological theories, being as it is such a foreign setting already laid there for researchers to do their dirty work.
The info has been presented in a format that is easy to read at a glimpse.
Easy pie chart!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:19:00 +0000

These is what fine work looks like before the undexterity of a last minute sends it straight to hell.

Hard times!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:53:00 +0000

It's the end of the semester, and this is what it looks like...

Trembled Blossoms at Prada.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:35:00 +0000

Trembled Blossoms

Prada 2008 S/S Collection

Wallpaper Detail

The beautiful work of pop surrealist artist James Jean spills into the Prada realm. This particular animation was created for 2008 Spring/Summer. Other collaborations include wallpapers for the Prada Epicenter stores at SoHo and Beverly Hills. Jean's enchanted imagery even splashed through the collection; his nymphs and sinuous lines printed on fabric.

Victoria's Secret is Out.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:05:00 +0000

Finally, someone has come close to pin down Victoria's Secret. A New Yorker by the name of Katerina Plew claims the company stole her idea for the 100-way convertible bra. In 2004, she had placed as much as $12,000 towards the patent and development of a prototype.After realizing how much it would cost to put into production, Plew contacted several companies -among them Victoria's Secret- with technical and promotional material. Oddly, further meetings with Victoria's Secrets executive were abruptly cancelled.
Now Limited Brands Inc., VS's parent company, is being sued.

Boo-hoo, Victoria.

Tim and Eric Awesome Tour 2008!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:49:00 +0000

Be still my heart!
Tim and Eric Awesome Tour 2008 FINALLY, in New York!!!
The crowd was sweet and nerdy, and we were quivering with anticipation, for Tim & Eric belong to the marvelous realm of creatures like Ren & Stimpy, and until they actually CAME OUT we were convinced they didn't exist as tangible entities!

Sweetness!

I also got a bottle Tim used to spread the audience with water, plus sheets of faux tattoos.

Happy 420!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:04:00 +0000

I almost missed the date!
Today:
Attack of the Show showed a comprehensive special, recorded in Jamaica specially for the occasion, and NY Comic Con came to an end.
Belated cheerfulness, everyone!

New York Love blooms underground.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:42:00 +0000

Why do they call it crush?
Because that's how you feel when they get off the train before you can say hi.

With all the rush and predetermined, overly tracked paths New Yorkers follow in every business day -which are most of the days in New York, anyway- meeting people becomes challenging. So, where do you go to sightsee and naively flash others with your inner light?
The subways, that is!
Now, there is a place where you can leave hopeless notes to whoever caught your eye or your heart. A site with love classifieds for Subway riders.

Happy Bday Da Vinci!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:35:00 +0000

Da Vinci, were you a psychonaut?
If there is such a thing as a Da Vinci's Dream Diary, mirror-written and illustrated, I would love to find out.
On the subject of dreams:

"Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?"

I totally get you, Leo! More than once I've accomplished one-in-a-lifetime masterpieces while dreaming, that I haven't been able to bring with me to the waken side, or recreate.
Oh the frustration!

April in New York!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:51:00 +0000

April seems to be quite the juicy month!

•Tim & Eric Awesome Tour will be coming to New York. Already sold out, but we got our tickets long time ago...
•New York Comic Con. Unfortunately, it's too late to put together that costume I've been thinking about since last Halloween. Maybe next time?
•Today I learned about The Fine Art of Lori Earley, and the fact that her work is showing in a New York Gallery, April 4th to the 25th.

And let's not forget Spring is here again! The Brooklyn Botanic has a clever map with updates on the state of the blooming cherry trees. Priceless!

Technology Month at FIT.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:48:00 +0000

...and amid my intense schedule, some time needs to be put aside to assist to the closing conferences on Tech Day. Among the subjects that caught my attention:

Dressing for two: What Avatars and their Humans wear.
My avatar Myself: How Avatars are transforming Product Development, Marketing, Retailing and Education.

Admission is free for those associated with FIT. For the rest of you mortals, $25.

Mike and Maaike's Stolen Jewelry.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:56:00 +0000

Mike Simonian, who designed the XBox360 in collaboration with Astro Studios, find a way to put Google's lowest resolution images to good use! The San Francisco-based duo Mike and Maaike browsed for low-res images of expensive and well known jewelry, distorted them to find the pieces's essence past its intricacies, and printed them in leather to achieve a deliciously pixelated collection that retains the original rambunctious names: King Louis XIV's Hope Diamond Broach, The Great Chrysanthemum.
More on Poor Jewelry can be found here.

Spring Shift!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Sunday, the last one before Spring Break is over. The Spring semester is officially better than its Fall counterpart; perhaps the absence of constant holidays makes it more dynamic in its short extension. Also, partially due to the fact that the days become longer and warmer, with all that natural light so needed to start the daily journey on time, among other effectivenesses...
During this week, things weren't really accomplished around here, apart from effectively showing up to the Nike casting. I had been objective enough to not set insane goals for these seven days. However, a significant mind/spirit shift took place, catalyzed by a conversation on future plans, the point of it all, what does it take to be free...

From the scavenged remains of Project Oneway comes Action Bastard

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:27:00 +0000

Action Bastard
Mr. Clay • Anaxtasian • Cobra Salad

Remember Project Oneway, forever young in the bottom of the ocean?
We savaged their corpses and came up with Action Bastard, a band far less compromised while definitely more mature. The phenomenon has become big enough to attract groupies -late night drunken friends.
Running from the shame of a previous life, Anaxtasian changes looks constantly, while her mates decide to dwell in the past via Rising Sun pants and hippie accessories.
Way to live the dream.

I don't really do it, Nike.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:46:00 +0000

Over 15 years of athletic sportswear avoidance, and UGLY NY brings Nike into my life, this time, a casting call for alternative looking runners. With that in mind, and willing to show love and commitment, something specially strange had to be purchased: Classically striped thigh-high stockings, plus asphalt-hued mini with huge playful pockets that proved great in the spotlight.

There is not such a thing as exercise among my habits, and it was a bit shocking to arrive to the lofty spot and see wholesome youngsters stretching and deep-breathing, spread on wooden floors while the flash was going on between diffusers in a corner. Beautiful fit crowd in a sunny room, and then you realize -Hey! Feels good to be alive in the city, overlooking old rooftops, fooling around in a ridicule yet cute ensemble that is little like me, but successfully tricks others into believing I might be the right one for the job.

By the end of the day, I had overcome two life-long ghosts: Short-shorts, and running in public... wearing short-shorts!
Somewhere, out there in the world, there is a picture of me gaining speed, with skirt lifting dangerously and a bouncy OBAMA 08 statement across the chest!

The Druids: Rough around the Corners.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:39:00 +0000

In effect, I have been away.
Reading on the overly recurrent theme of the druids and Celts, this time prompted by a school assignment, to find that the known facts on the subject of druidism are extremely scarce, being mostly based in dubious Roman testimonies, which lack the objectivity expected from the work of contemporary historians. Some of them never actually evidenced druidism in person, and instead based their stories on those of Greek historians, of even more antiquity.
Thus, the romantic view of the druid in Roman palliums is highly improbable, as much as the ethereal imagery that comes with it and has be linked to elves, even. Nothing ethereal about the Celts, really, with all the found evidence pointing at their tendency to sacrifice humans, from war prisoners to members of the tribe.
Once I have finished the book, I'll be illuminated enough to dive into deeper studies on this matter, and ultimately decide if I am to start the urban druidic enclave I have in mind, apart from Wiccans and neo-druids. Druidism that looks into the future, instead of the past. Perhaps because there is nothing Celtic about me and praising the history of the Celts via oral tradition is nothing I have in mind. Or perhaps because in order for a religion that is based in the lecture of natural signs to work in the modern world, it has to respond to what the world and its signs have become. Modern, not ancient. Urban, not living off the land.

Oh yes, the wicker man! Quite an evocative image to the citizens of Black Rock City, as described by Caesar: A monumental man-like effige made of interwoven twigs fashioned into cages, to be filled with selected crowds and set on fire during certain annual ceremonies. Evidence of human sacrifice among Celts. Adorable.

Burning Man 08 Ticket!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:31:00 +0000

This is a delightful event, fire ball and all. Arrives a few hours before the total lunar eclipse -cameo of Saturn and Regulus included.
The arrival of this sepia first attempt is a closing point to the week-long nebula of revisiting Burning Man through the recorded events that occurred in the first days of The Green Man, as seen in Clayton Haskell's rough cut of documentary on Sacred Water Temple BRC 07.

Wii my Valentine...

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Only thing I can do about McCain's position on Cuba.

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:19:00 +0000

Hello everyone!
I take this moment to share some ideas, or better yet, fears, with you. Simple: This guy McCain, who was tortured in Viet Nam by the Vietnamese, just came up with personal allegations of having been tortured by some Cubans as well (remember Cuba was allied to USSR's back then, and was in Viet Nam, opposing US).
The things is, his position on Cuba is disturbing. He won't lift any of the restrictions that keep the scattered Cuban people from visiting the island, he won't allow us Cuban-Americans to help our own back home -money, meds, etc.
He actually has said he will not sit around passively to see the regime fall on its own.
What actions will he take?
What does this mean? If you know, please inform me.
It is nasty, inhumane, and scares me.
In the other hand, this guy Obama is all about lifting restrictions and talking things out with Castro, like adult strong minds should do. Anything else is rubbish.

So.
If you find it within you to not support McCain, if you just don't like him enough, or if something about him doesn't feel quite right, go ahead and think what the options are. Hillary is not talking about lifting any restrictions, but at least doesn't have personal grudges against Cubans (and Asians, for that matter). Obama brings a lot of new ideas to the table. If he's lacking experience, his Cabinet will have it for him. I don't see why the fear to try a new perspective in politics: Going green instead of drilling reserves for oil, and approaching international relations in a different manner. Fix issues that Bush created or helped intensify, and McCain is only going to echo.

Is not fair to have the American Government talking about democracy and influencing the internal affairs of my country, as it has done with many others before, getting only horrendous and bloody results. Lets not live in a bubble anymore.

And so it remains clear: I live here because I find this country beautiful, it's people great (like all people are), and recognize the system has been efficient in making this a powerful nation -with the efforts of its industrious citizens and some well known brutality overseas, granted.
Why not try for a better way, with tolerance for all. Unity. Times are changing after all.

How to be a Nerd?

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:44:00 +0000

I woke up this morning to find this.
It is hilarious, but how accurate...?
Makes me think of something I find peculiar in this culture: how there is such a division of social groups, even at lower and innocuous levels, like among teenagers. The kind that makes high school insufferable to many. We all know that highschool status doesn't often correspond to the status you will achieve and sustain later on, in the professional o social circles. It is more of a little game cubs of many species pursuit, testing forces and teasing limits. Is remarkable how strong peer pressure is in this society, and how disturbing that is for the young and naive. There is a marked differentiation between the nerds, the emo's, the cheerleaders and football team... Plus all those nasty initiation rituals freshmen have been tricked into believing, more than once. Maybe I'm not acquainted at all with the subtleties of this society. But by comparison, the society I grew up into was jolly and warm, welcoming to all. Despite of what some believe.

The Boyfriend Pillow has arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (alnitak) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:32:00 +0000

You know that friend who can't keep a lover and spends most of her nights alone? This Valentine, you can show your pity and originality with this fun gift! Among its many benefits and features: Soft and comfortable body pillow, perfect sleeping companion for lonely people, and provides the embrace of a real man without the snoring, smell, tossing or turning.It advertises "as seen on TV". I take this moment to suggest implementing something more fashion forward instead of the Grandpa blue shirt. Feels plain wrong. Looking forward to Boyfriend Pillow 1.2, with chest hair.