Quarter-century, DAAP style

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear DAAPster,
Happy Birthday to...

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz........

(note time)

Full Steam Ahead

Days since last blog entry: 13
Days since last social outing: 6
Days since last shower: 2

Yes, the third and final installment of the DAAP Summer Experience is upon us, and it's proving to be the most rigorous term to date. Space class includes a laminated wood sculpture and a bristol board model of a perforated box sculpture to rival that of Steven Holl. Drawing takes a turn towards the figural in a series of portraiture projects, including two scull studies, notebook pages full of facial features, a self portrait, and a masterwork copy thrown in for good measure. (I'll be tackling an oversized portrait of Michaelangelo's "David") Finally, digital class has shifted into high gear, requiring an organic object (such as a Tiger Lily) be modeled and rendered in Cinema4D. Heads down, pencils and Dremel tool in hand...on your mark, get set, go!

Days till birthday: 5
Days till final reviews: 6
Days till NYC vacation: 8

Bored? Try these!

Now that reviews are done, the great DAAP grants us 3 days of rest. I don't know about you all, but without gouache and pastel, I don't know what to do with myself. Thank goodness for the Internet! What better way to spend a lazy saturday then to accelerate myopia and stare endlessly at the tiny pixels of the screen. Here are some of my favorite wastes of time:

What classic movie diva are you?
I recently learned that my inner classic movie diva is: Bette Davis. How about that? I think I'd look damn good with that eyepatch. Come to think of it, I think Bette Davis was my grandmother...

Friendster As if your life weren't virtual enough...here's a way to digitally map out your social scene. Link yourself to your friends, who are linked to their own friends, who have friends of their own...follow the chain of acquaintences to your heart's content and see how many degrees of separation lie between you and Kevin Bacon. Or someone who claims to be Kevin Bacon... Or some guy named Kevin who likes Bacon... I like bacon...

Is it GAY, or EUROTRASH? Everyone's favorite gaydar game! This is a blast from the past, kiddies, and I'm pulling it out of the closet just for you! (ooh, pun) I used to LOL at this zine back in my wonder years of high school, and wish that someday I could be witty, bitchy, and brilliant...in other words, TOTALLY GAY. If you have not yet discovered, worshipped, and emulated the brilliance of the short-lived and long-missed BlairMag Webzine, then subtract 5 pink points from your queer quotient.

New Music from Seal and Rufus

Dude, this is cool. Click on the banner above and you will get your own personal Seal jukebox to enjoy all his hits from the past, music videos, as well as a few tracks from his upcoming album "Waiting for You." The title track is pretty catchy, and his new typography gets my "futuristic 90's" award, hands down.

Also of note is the upcoming album "Want One" from the ever-dreamy crooner Rufus Wainwright. You can catch a preview of the first track at his website. Listen carefully, do you hear it? ...Yes, the underlying score is a sampling from Maurice Ravel's "Bolero." Classical Music 101, anyone?

Summer 2/3rd Reviews

Did everybody make it? After a gruelling week of final projects and additional projects and superfluous projects, today finally arrived - Summer Review 2 of 3. While the juries debate final marks, judge for yourself with another online slideshow of my work from the past three weeks.

Tony Melson on David Letterman!

Last night, my old Yale roommate and very good friend Tony Melson appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. Tony performed a musical number with the cast of "Camp," an independent film which debuted at Sundance this year and is now showing in select cities. Since I watch TV on my laptop these days, I managed to take a few digital still shots of the show. Congratulations Tony!

gather 'round kiddies...its time for
Know Your Dining Hall Staff

You know 'em, you love 'em. They serve up cinci chili with one hand and chicken cacciatore with the other. They're your friendly dining hall staff here at the brand new MarketPointe dining facility at Siddall Hall.

It's hard not to notice, but we have quite a unique staff on hand here at MarketPointe. Always smiling, always diligent, our servers and chefs work hard to put food on the table, or at least a convincing substitute. Whether it's garlicky chicken or greek gyros (pronounced like "gyroscope" in these parts), at MarketPointe it's served up with style. In case you haven't made their acquantence just yet, here are some profiles of the major characters.

SNOOP DOGG (a.k.a. TJ or "Toothless Joe") This is my main man at the Stir Fry station. Don't let his dental difficulties get you down - he'll fry up your noodles nice and soft. And he swears that wasn't his hair in your scrambled eggs Josh - you let him know next time, and he'll throw out the whole batch! Now that's service.

LITTLE DEBBIE (or "Miss Debbie" to be polite) What a woman. No, seriously - that's a whole lotta woman! No fret, there's just more of Li'l Debbie to love, even if you couldn't fathom reaching your arms around her. You'll find Miss Debbie sneaking in a snack behind the salad bar, providing continuous "food quality control." She's just lookin' out - Li'l Deb's got cha' back! You kids going out for a porty this weekend? Gonna drink up some bears? Smoke up a li'l sump'n sump'n? Yeah, Miss Debby knows all about 'dat! Fo real.

GODFATHER OF SOUL FOOD This man needs no introduction, because he'll call you over from across the room to try his brown sugar yams at the Traditions station. Not only does this man whip up a mean home cooked meal, but he'll sing its praises to you, to boot. Not sure what you're in the mood for? Stop by Traditions and the Godfather will sing out a funky tune that will have you hankering for his collard greens in no time. If the servers worked on commission, this man would win - hands down.

CHEF What's happenin' baby? What can I cook up for you today? Front and center is the Chef's Choice station, where Chef will serve up the meanest loaded baked potato this side of the Ohio. He's large and in charge, and he'll cook up your food to order. Sadly, the Chef's Choice station will be closed for the rest of the summer, but he'll have his glorious return in the fall. Yes, I love the Chef, but one thing...my name's not baby. It's Janet - Miss Jackson if you're nasty!

(Pause for 80's music reference to set in.)

DISCLAIMER: But seriously...MarketPointe does a fine job serving up some quality meals, and has received national awards for being one of the top-ranked dining halls in the country. Without them, we'd be grazing out on the grasses of McMicken Commons for sustenance. My personal thanks to everyone at MarketPointe, from the heart of my bottom.

Click the picture above for more images of MarketPointe.