guides to App Land

You can't bump into apps while strolling through the mall, or impulsively pick one up at the grocery cashier's counter.  Not yet anyway.  The whole world of apps is new enough that many of us don't know what we are even looking for anyway, but like discovering a nifty garlic peeler or a more efficient weeding tool, we would consider using a new and possibly better tool if we saw it.  Talking into the phone and having it translate words into text when I'm composing an email or document is an interesting possibility to me.  (Dragon Dictation) Some days I speak with more clarity than I type.  (Can someone find me an app that helps if it's a day when I can't do either?)  Having an app use my geographic coordinate to show me diagrams of the constellations while I look at them in the sky is pretty spectacular. (Stars) I wouldn't have known about either if I hadn't heard from someone who had seen them. Shopping guidance from app users is the ideal way to learn about apps, obviously, so developers and marketers are creating app review sites.  Many are high on the marketing aspect and light on original or practical content.

The app review site I am enjoying the most at the moment is Appolicious.  It has a slight social networking aspect which in this case turns out to be a good thing.  Because people have more identity than just a cryptic web handle, and you can actually read their bio and see a list of the apps that they use, you can have some perspective on their reviews.  If a guy is way into shooter game apps, he probably isn't a good app curator for me.  But, when a marketing professional recommends a list of reliable time management and document conversion apps for the iPad, I'm going to follow up and see if the apps might work for me.  Or when a or photographer breaks down a list of photography iPhone apps, it is a huge help.  I'm discovering a lot of cool things that I didn't expect or even imagine could exist (details on those to come in future reviews of my own, no doubt). Sure, I would like it if Apple's iTunes had more search and category flexibility but until then, or maybe even if it did, Appolicious is turning out to be a great filter for me.  Reviews are typically brief and to the point which keeps the site a simple, quick reference guide to compliment the more in depth information provided by tech journals.  I've already posted a few reviews of my own there which sometimes also link back to ones that I post here. Follow the link above to visit the site and see for yourself.

big sister

I remember like it was right now.  She would take me by the hands and swing me around in the air.  I must have been around 6. We would swing in the flat grassy yard across from their house.  I could swing forever and always asked for more.  She would laugh and fake a hillbilly accent, “Toni, I’m tared. Time to take a break.” She was Marry’s big sister.  And Barry’s and Kelly’s.  Not mine. But she was almost one of mine she was so present.  Eventually, I grew too big for her to swing me.

She complimented me by teasing me for being messy, lazy, lucky or skinny. She bitched up a storm when she needed to. She busted us all when we were too proud, loud or reckless. She liked keeping things clean. She had beautiful hair. She talked about how to be smart. Smart with money. Smart with life. And helped pick up the pieces when you weren’t.  She reminded me of the rules and the strategy while we played cards, instead of just after I lost.

We were never girlfriends. We never went to movies together. Or shared the same friends.  Or called each other up just to say Hi. We never sat together swapping love stories over a glass of wine. She simply walked a path ahead of me. Not for me, just ahead of me. Now as I’m walking I’ll miss looking up and seeing her there.

make something

Last night, I joined friends and colleagues at the Missoula Art Museum to present the MAM Award to Martin Burke.  During my years on the Board of Directors at the museum, I worked alongside Martin while fundraising and building a new addition to the museum.  We started calling him The Reverend for his gift of repeatedly rallying our spirits. When planning events we looked for extra opportunities to have him speak and to woo us.

Several thoughtful speeches and humorous anecdotes were delivered in the cocktail hour celebration.  Fellow artist, Cathryn Mallory and I sat side-by-side, giggling to each other while lifting our glasses to wipe away tears.  It was that kind of love fest. Ten of us delivered a 'Martin Burke Top Ten'.  Always impressed with Martin's dynamic speeches about art and Missoula's arts community, I wrote this as my top ten item:  Martin Burke is a Fountain of Youth to the Arts. An eternal well of hope.  Passionately and eloquently he reminds us all of the depth, meaning and vitality inherent to the arts.  

In Martin's acceptance speech he illustrated my point beautifully once again. If you haven't heard him, you must. Martin is so dynamic I'm tempted to sneak into one of his classes in tax law, of all the crazy things. I couldn't (and wouldn't) try to recount all of his message last night, but one part in particular struck home with me. Talking about community and culture, he praised the resourceful and powerful ability to 'make something out of nothing.'  Speaking to everyone at once, he demonstrated a respect and admiration for art and artists. He got to the heart of it in a way that lets everyone connect.  And in a way that stirs our pride. He just gets it. And he doesn't hesitate to get on his soap box to tell everyone about it.

Thanks a million Martin for being such an amazing and generous force in this town.  You are our hero.

make haste slowly

My head has been in and out of my studio, even if I physically sit in it ever day.  We moved to this house over a year ago and left behind what had been and felt like my studio. I was in it longer than any other studio and I seriously possessed it. I made some of my biggest leaps and discoveries in it.  It looked like this........

Jack, when not under foot, would lay right outside the side door.

Me editing bay was right next to my work bench.

The bench, perpetually a place of work in progress, was always covered in bits of drawings, assemblages and stuff.

I made things there.

I spread out and tested installation arrangements and presentation.

Occasionally, I cleaned it up for parties.

The best was a disco.

Food was in the house and the studio served exclusively as the dance floor.

Work and play mixed fluidly.

There was enough space for more than one of us to work in there at the same time.

Enough space to run movie projections, make transfers or just watch.

At it's peak one summer, the entrance looked like this (decorated extra special for a garden party).  With the arbor, working outside was a pleasure - especially doing wet work like hand felt-making or paper-making.

I have made a few portraits over the years, and I consider all of my work to be personal, but here, I made my first openly and decidedly autobiographical body of work, titled, 'make haste slowly'. It dealt with family and nostalgia.

We set up tables with holes in them, lenses taped to foam core and cardboard everywhere, to play with pitch distances.

Eventually we had a video projection running where I wanted it - on the lens of a pair of glasses. (You can see finished images of this piece in the slide show below.)

Slide show of 'make haste slowly' installation.

Now, that particular body of work is packed in boxes in my basement. I still have the editing bay. Jack has been gone awhile. A tiny work bench is at my side. New drawings are tucked around me. More installations in the works.  Finally, I feel like I'm owning my new little studio. 

Ringing in My Head

I have a thing for timers.  They help me get things done. Not just things in the kitchen but everything.  When I am operating at full capacity juggling deadlines,  timers help keep me on track.  

I first used them in the studio to discipline my production schedule fifteen years ago.  My internal sense of time is very, um, well, loose.  I get absorbed in repetitive labor like hand-stitching bits of paper or teasing wool.  Now that most of my work is on the computer, editing video clips or 'drawing' virtually, I still get lost. Making marks, pixelating and re-arranging.  So once again, in an effort to keep myself on track, I am setting off bells.  

I set a timer when I start a task so that one, I get a truer sense of how long that kind of work really takes me and two, to make sure I move on to the next thing sooner rather than later.  

Okay, I'll admit it.  Timers are irresistible objects. I like looking at them.  I like winding them. I use a few at a time. A lot of noises - beeps and alarms - really bug me, but bells on timers are different.   They've become a familiar tune for order amidst chaos. 

When I saw the Gourmet Egg Timer iPhone App  made by Scott Marsden, I was curious if I would like how the timer 'works' compared to physical ones.  Would the bell be as effective? Give me the same push? Would I miss the quality of physically handling a timer as an object?  

So I tested it. And I went ahead and made some eggs while I was at it.

 

I found a video demo of the app on a blog in Kazakhstan that shows the app's user interface of an egg in water. The video has a strumming harp-like loop (that is an example of the kind of noise that bugs me) but  the video still does a basic job of showing you the app in motion.  When you tip your iPhone (or Touch), the water level and egg move accordingly.  The water bubbles and makes sounds like it's boiling.  And also through sound, time ticks away just like a wind-up.

The Gourmet Egg Timer doesn't try to be a game and compete for adolescent hearts.  It just works.  When it opens, you set the size of your egg and the GPS determines your altitude to refine the cooking time.  When the timer starts, you can further choose your boiled egg preference from soft to hard.  

As a design, the simplicity of the imagery matches the function beautifully.  

By taking advantage of the device's tilt action capability, the app reinvents the timer in a new format and yet still satisfies as an object. It feels comfortable to handle. You feel the invitation to 'play' a little with the water but no pressure to totally lose yourself with or like a zombie.  I set it and go back to work until the alarm goes off.  

This app, as simple as it sounds, does just what it needs to do and does it beautifully. For me,  that is plenty and a welcome addition to my collection.

  

1967 spoof of James Bond films

A great cast fills this fun movie complete with 1960s psychedelic spinning rooms, groovy cars and silly spy gadgets.

If you enjoy the trailer,




you can watch the whole movie on YouTube courtesy of MGM.