Mathias Brandewinder's blog

Sweet Pea

2009-07-07T17:32:00.001-07:00

The intersection of 18th and Valencia is an inspiring place, it would seem. Since a few days, chunks of poetry have been invading the sidewalk – new ones everyday. You are forgiven, even though it’s too bad it stopped.

More transfers

2009-06-23T16:59:00.001-07:00

I keep experimenting with transferring images to various supports. This week, I have played some with wood, using 2 cigar boxes, which I first sand-papered. The results have been mixed. I expected wood to take the ink imprint better than glass, but this hasn’t been quite that simple.

This was my first attempt. What I learnt is that the technique works best with black ink, with images that have lines, rather than large surfaces, which tend not to stick. For instance, see the the “Cuba” inscription, the map detail, and the eyes.

The other issue I had is that it seems to be harder to completely remove the paper; some white patches remain. I’ll try some different papers - I think the one I use is too porous, so when I rub it off I lose some ink – and also laser printing.

For my second attempt, I took an image with few surfaces, and mostly lines – the Durer rhinoceros. I printed 4 of them – one black, one red, one yellow, and one blue.

As you see, the color is pretty much gone in all cases; only the black ink stayed. On the other hand, while not perfect, the “pure-black” rhino did work pretty well.

Definitely more experimenting to do until I work on my notebook!

Transfer, take 2

2009-06-08T15:23:00.001-07:00

Second attempt at transferring a printout to a solid surface, using the same pattern, but this time on a small piece of jewelry.

The result is much better – I applied a thin coat of caulk this time, which avoided the blobs I had previously. However, the only color which really stuck is black. The other colors got wiped out, especially yellow… I like the “aged” result, though! Next time, I will try out a laser printout, instead of inkjet.

Transfer

2009-06-05T14:39:00.001-07:00

Since I purchased a small Dell notebook, I have been thinking of decorating its cover, which lead me to look into transfer techniques. Yesterday, I did my first test – transferring an image onto glass, using caulk. It’s clearly not perfect (there are big blobs of sealant all over), but it’s a relative success: the image from the inkjet did transfer to the glass. Now I have to work some more on the materials and the technique.

Icicle

2009-06-01T17:53:00.001-07:00

I just poured some water to make ice cubes, put in in the ice compartment, and… what happened there? What the heck is in our water supply?

Seriously, this is weird, though. Unless water is leaking into my fridge, I don’t get it.

Io sono un Fiorentino?

2009-05-30T11:44:00.001-07:00

On our way back from Verona to Firenze, L and I used the services of a Self Bar, a device known in other parts of the world as a Vending Machine. I was a bit surprised when I fed my coins to see a face which is oddly familiar – why would JFK be represented there? Or am I a victim of the same condition which has people seeing famous faces on stale cheese sandwiches?

Bleach

2009-05-29T17:17:00.001-07:00

I have wanted for a while to try to use bleach as paint on fabric; today I noticed that my converse were falling apart, which gave me a good excuse to give it a shot.

The bleach doesn’t immediately corrode the dye, and the delay is a bit tricky to deal with. The other issue, which I expected, is that bleach tends to spread in the fabric, so it’s a bit difficult to keep clean lines.

The issue I had not anticipated is that it corroded the fabric, but also my poor brush, which was balding heavily after a few minutes of this experiment. Time to go plastic.

Inside Out

2009-05-13T08:14:00.001-07:00

We stopped counting fast, but according to people who didn’t, 460 is the number of steps L and I climbed to reach the top of the Firenze Duomo yesterday. It took me a bit to realize that after climbing inside the walls, we were actually walking inside the ceiling – or on top of the inner surface of the ceiling – to finally cross and end on top of the outer ceiling. Tricky!

Mostro Gentile

2009-05-11T06:51:00.001-07:00

In Florence, there is the David – and then there is this little guy, discreetly waiting at the entrance of the Ponte Vecchio.

A man’s camera

2009-05-02T13:26:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you are color-blind and look for good camera deals online. I got a beautiful pink case, too – all assorted with the pink strap. Lovely.

No Vacancy

2009-04-13T23:46:00.001-07:00

They sure are one step ahead of the Old Continent here in America. I was naively looking for Cockroach Traps, but found out that here, they use Motels, with the memorable tag line "Roaches check in -- but they don't check out!"

Car problems

2009-04-07T12:05:00.001-07:00

Wow - I won't complain about my car problems any more... You have to wonder how that happened: how did the driver manage to park? Did this happen when he turned the key?

1984

2009-03-23T20:02:00.001-07:00

On January 24th, 1984, Apple Computer introduced Macintosh, promising that 1984 wouldn't be like "1984". Fast-forward to 2009...

Back to its roots

2009-03-20T16:30:00.001-07:00

I was taking a break outside of Coffee Bar, on Mariposa & Florida, and checked the electric line pole right outside, usually a good source of entertaining flyers. Something felt odd this time, but I couldn't quite figure what - until I realized that someone had covered the pole with the bark of an actual tree... Talk about missing the forest for the tree.

Curse

2009-02-04T09:46:00.001-08:00

This is what you would see if you were to go on my terrace right now:

I haven't fallen prey to claustrophobia or exhibitionism - this is one of the side effects of a long series of small misadventures. 3 weeks ago, my car broke down. 2 weeks ago, my toilets started to leak profusely. This week, my phone stopped working. None of these is particularly dramatic, but they have been spicing up my schedule which was already hectic because of work... Every week, I hope I can resume a normal week, now that everything that can break down is broken, and realize that there is always something else that can break down. I wonder if I offended some minor demon - if you know of any reasonably priced exorcist, drop me a line.

Oh, and the reason the toilet is on my terrace is that the plumber, after performing his magic, didn't deem worth his time to get rid of the broken one, and left it there. I have no idea what I will do with it; I am kind of getting used to it, it is definitely an original addition to the random assortment of seats that is already there.

A la tienne, Claude

2009-01-14T19:04:00.001-08:00

The recent passing away of Claude Berri had an unexpected side-effect for me: I realized that the soundtrack of the Stella Artois commercials which has been annoying me on a regular basis in movie theaters (it's actually not that bad - just long, and the rustic/nostalgic thing kind of irks me) was actually the score of Manon des Sources. The Eureka moment came while I was listening to the obituary on the BBC, and heard this strangely familiar music, which I quickly associated with beer. Like it or not, advertisement is powerful.

Something unusual

2009-01-14T18:48:00.001-08:00

L and I went to a Chinese restaurant yesterday, and the Oriental Wisdom of fortune cookies had some strange advice:

My car has been beeping at me all day long, and decided to spill oil at a rate such that I had to return to the mechanic for a refill, only one day after having the oil changed. That's unusual, but I really didn't do it, technically. Maybe I'll go to bed early?

Imaginary numbers

2009-01-10T01:24:00.001-08:00

Urban Friday

2009-01-04T17:51:00.001-08:00

I knew there were pirates in my neighborhood, but now I found this on Mission. Savages, too?

Dearborn Koi pond

2008-12-31T19:47:00.001-08:00

Seen on Dearborn and 18th street, in San Francisco.

Holiday tree, revolutionary gifts

2008-12-25T15:39:00.001-08:00

Continuing a now one-year old tradition of Holiday Trees, I decided to rotate, and give another vegetable its time in the Holiday spotlight. A while back, I found this little amorphous tree discarded outside of Ace Hardware.

It turned out to do a magnificent festive tree, once decorated with some shiny things.

L and I had a nice dinner with heathen friends, and discovered an unexpected revolutionary streak in Santa, who had brought in his bag a most remarkable gift for the 18th-centurist: a Marie-Antoinette Action Figure, complete with "ejector head action!", and "removable wig and dress!".

Bruce, Gunshots

2008-12-18T21:55:00.001-08:00

L and I just went to watch "My name is Bruce"; the man himself was at the Guild Theater to present the movie yesterday, but the place was sold out, and we couldn't get in. We got some signed posters today, though (w00t!).

As I came back home, I fist noticed a large gathering of police vehicles, followed by a Western showdown-like series of gunshots; apparently, it was some sort of an experimentation for an automatic gunshot-alert system. Maybe the same system they have on the other side of the Bay, in Oakland?

George Dantzig was here

2008-12-08T00:15:00.001-08:00

Last Friday, I had the pleasure to attend Brad's Ph.D. dissertation defense ("Stochastic Modeling and Optimization in Baseball"), which went well, and brings him one step closer to becoming Doctor Null.

I stayed a bit after the deliberations were over, and noticed this cool memorabilia item in the back of the room. As far as memorabilia go, it is extremely impractical, and yet, what could be more fitting for an old-school researcher? The whole trip to Stanford made me strangely nostalgic, and this chalkboard reminded me how in awe I was that George Dantzig could be seen in this very building.

Chevron BS

2008-11-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

This poster for Chevron is all over the place in San Francisco, and every time I see it it just annoys me. "I will leave the car at home more" - why would Chevron want anyone to keep their car home? That's how they make their money. It's like the meatpacking industry sponsoring vegetarianism.
I am all for corporations trying to do good and improve their image along the way, but there needs to be a minimum of credibility for this to work. And while we all have our responsibility in keeping the environment clean, I don't see Chevron taking much responsibility here. This is as exploitative as it gets. Next time I don't keep my car home, I don't think I'll refill at Chevron.

Boats?

2008-11-11T18:44:00.000-08:00

This week-end, L and I drove across the bay to pay an afternoon visit to Sausalito. Why? Well, why not. Once we established that Sausalito had a pet shop, we had to check that out, but not before going through the marina, which hosts some truly weird things, like this Taj Mahal replica, or this mutant floating log cabin.