Timothy Berg --"Tasty Treats" Exhibit

This exhibit is extremely cool to me. When I first saw this art, it definitely stuck out to me as something that was different and something that I would put in my house. However, what makes me love this art is what the artist, Timothy Berg, says inspired him and what these disappearing ice cream treats really allude to about our culture. This meaning is what makes this art stand out to me and it is something I would have never thought about until reading the inspiration for these pieces.

Tasty Treats

Things disappear.
Sometimes things disappear as the result of an accident.
Sometimes neglect causes things to disappear.
Sometimes things are intentionally made to disappear.

One's understanding of disappearance is the result of a specific perspective. In reality, most things do not disappear they simply transform. When they are transformed beyond recognition they are said to have disappeared.

My recent work revolves around notions of cultural consumption. I intend to create a tension between what is fun and what is grave in order to pose fundamental questions about the consequences of overconsuming. I employ humor and metaphor to simultaneously disarm the viewer and challenge them to evaluate the larger implications of our culture's habit of making things disappear.

Timothy Berg Website

Guitar Hero World Tour Commercial

Funny commercial for what might be a great game. Kobe is funny and looks mad awkward to me in this one.

Quote of the Day--- "The Future"

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."
--Yogi Berra--

I hate times in my life when everything is getting uncertain and I am not sure what the next hour, next day, next month or next year is going to bring me. The more I try to figure it out, more out of control I feel. I am starting to enter a time of great excitement, great confusion and hopefully not to many troubles. I am trying to do my best to enjoy it all and hope the future holds something great for me.

Beyonce---Put a Ring On It

Love this video. Especially when they run up the stairs. Still can't put a ring on it though.

All-Nighters

I have never been the one to pull an all-nighter and I have never really believed in them. Recently, I have become more and more frequent. Then I asked myself, "Am I the reason for this?" I came to the conclusion that sometimes it is just necessary only when you have began something already. Starting something the night before and pulling an all-nighter is stupid. But I have found that they can be pretty productive when having started a project and you want to end with a strong finish. So, discovering this I have figured out there is an 'art' to pulling an all-nighter. They need to be planned for. I googled all nighters and found that there is an array of how to steps to puling an all-nighter and studies on the success of all nighters. The rate of success if very low. Anyways, I found interest in it because I simply want to get better at it. Ithink it is an added tool or competitive edge for the work world. Besides, the only all-nighters I have pulled in my life is trying to beat Super Mario Bros. 3 when I was little or at the club.

How to pull an all-nighter

My Favorite Scene from E.T. (One of my favorite movies.)

I was watching E.T. last night and realized how hype I get when I see this scene.

Richmond Folk Festival

Last weekend, I went to the Richmond Folk Festival and had quite an experience. It was my first time going to the Festival and I definitely enjoyed it. I did not know what to expect or what it would be like, but when I got there I was more than impressed. A wide array of people were there, which is something I did not expect. I saw a good amount of performances, but my favorite was the Irish music by this group Laiden. They must have been pretty popular cause the stage area was packed when they were on stage. People were dancing and they had the Irish dancing, which was cool. It reminded me of an dancing lesson, I took when I went to Ireland awhile back, I definitely was not good at it. The Folk Festival is something I would definitely go to again, though I did not stay as long as I would have liked, it opened my eyes to some new experiences and views of the world.

Richmond Folk Festival

Quote of the Day --- "Creativity"

"If you define your personality as creative, it only means you understand what is percieved to be creative by the world at large, so you are really just following a rote creative template. That's the opposite of creativity."
--Chuck Klosterman--

If you are something you should not have to say, it will show and others will tell you. Most of the people I look up to as being extremely creative, do not even consider themselves that creative.

Aston Martin Takes it to the Next Level

Aston Martin One-77

"the ultimate creative interpretation of the renowned British marque"

"One-77 fuses advanced technology with stunning Aston Martin design to create possibly the world’s most desirable automotive art form. Based on a sophisticated carbon fibre chassis with a handcrafted aluminium body, this 7.0 litre V12 super car will deliver exhilarating performance for a strictly limited number of discerning customers."

"77 examples of the £1 million coupe will be produced and customers will be able to customize the bespoke supercar to meet their individual tastes."




The Aston Martin DB9 have always been my favorite car, even though this is even further out of my rich, I think the DB9 has been replaced as my favorite.

What's in a Name?

This short commentary was thought provoking to me.

"Just as Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner titled a chapter in their 21st century classic, Freakonomics, ‘A Roshanda by Any Other Name. How do babies with super-black names fare?’ The authors tell the story of a father named Robert Lane who decided to call his son Winner, thinking it would give the kid a boost in life. Three years later, he had another son and out of freakish amusement decided to call him Loser. Punch line of the story is: Winner Lane ended up as a loser in life and became a petty criminal living homeless on the streets. Loser Lane, on the other hand, graduated from college and became a sergeant with the New York police force. Long story short, you either overcome your name or you fail to live up to it."

I am currently studying advertising and this just made me think about brands, who spend a lot of time creating their name, logo and tagline to appeal to people, but are they living up to these promises these names give us. Some do and some don't. As it is soon to become my job to make sure that they do, I was just forced to think about myself and am I living up to what my name represents and what I was raised to stand for? Just something to think about.

To me there is nothing really in a name, it is what behind that really matters.

Kanyes West -- Love Lockdown

New Love Lockdown video by Kanye. I like this song and this video. It is definitely something different, but that is why Kanye is my favorite artist. He is always trying to challenge himself and create new things and he does not care what anyone says about it. He does what he feels and is unapologetic about it.

Quote of the Day --- "Light"

"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being."
--Carl Gustav Jung--

Watching the news and observing the things that are going on in our world on an everyday basis, I feel as if I am watching our world deteriorate right in front of my eyes. The world is full of darkness, selfish and greedy people and lacks any type of moral responsibility or character. It is up to us to try to restore in anyway we can the substance and character that is need for our society to succeed and to reestablish itself. We must all be a light, even though we have our own conflicts and flaws, we must truly work hard to become better ourselves and not be part of the problem everyday.

Pharrell - "I' A PC" Video

I like this video even though I am not fuly convinced that Pharrell is a devoted PC user. haha.

Quote of the Day --- "Competition"

"Winning doesn't satify us---we need to do it again, and again. The taste of success seems merely to whet the appetite for more. When we lose, the compulsion to seek future success is overpowering; the need to get out on the course the following weekend is irresistible. We cannot quit when we are ahead, after we've won, and we certainly cannot quit when we're behind, after we've lost. We are addicted."
--Stuart Walker--

The spirit of competition. There is nothing like it. To be successful, we need to embrace it. If we shy away from confrontation and competition, I find it hard to be successful.

Universal Mind Conrol --- Common Feat. Pharrell

New Video from Common featuring Pharrell.

This is definitely a new direction from Common. I kind of like it though. Creative concepts and not to far reaching from Common's image. I like the new edge and risk he is taking on.

VA. State Fair...Rodeo Time

This was the most expensive hot dog and fries I have ever bought and was also the worst tasting.

The Bull pen at the Rodeo.

Trying on the protective Bullriding vest.

Professional Bullrider Dan Welsh

The Bullriding event at the Rodeo. No one lasted the whole 8 seconds unfortunately.

Last week, I attended the Virginia State Fair. I must say that I was not extremely excited about the Fair even though it was my first time there in about ten years. I went during the day, so there was not a great amount of people there. I did not get on any rides, simply because I do not trust portable rides, but it was cool watching people enjoy these rides. The highlight of the day for me, were the pig races and the rodeo. I loved attending these events because I have never experienced anything of this nature ever before. The pig races were hilarious. These over sized pigs, running around a track, with hundreds of little kids screaming for them was a scene I have never witnessed before. It was truly exhilarating.

The rodeo was great too. I am sure there were better rodeos out there, I was still impressed and amazed by rodeos and the culture of cowboys. For a class project, we are exploring the culture of bullriding and seeing what it is all about. Seeing the bullriding event was great. I have a great respect for these athletes, the bull and the rider alike. The sport which is growing in popularity is crazy and a true adrenaline rush. After the rodeo, my group members and I got to meet Dan Welsh, a professional bullrider, and he talked with us for about an hour about bullriding, the culture, where he got started and why he enjoys bullriding so much. Intially, I thought bullriders were not really athlete and there was not a great amount of talent that wnet along with this sport, that is was just simply people who were half way out of their mind. All in all it was a great day, and I am definitely looking forward to learning more about bullriding and attending another rodeo in the future.

Here is a quick look at what Bullriding is all about:

Quote of the Day --- "Feelings"

"You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings."
--Pearl Buck--

No, you cannot. I find it hard to make myself have feelings. I have been taught and have lived to have the minimal amount of feelings. Most people in the world do not care about your feelings or care how you react to certain situations. With that said, I find having feelings about certain things to be pointless and hindering. Well, being attached to feelings and having them control your actions is down right stupid in my opinion. As far as doing right in spite of your feelings, I do not really understand that phrase. When I read that it tells me to overlook your feelings in order to make people feel better about something or to cater to others feelings. That may be true in some cases, but I definitely disagree with doing that all of time. At the end of the day, you cannot make everyone happy.

Monticello.

Thomas Jefferson

Kris and I admiring TJ's Gravesite

TJ's front door

The Beautiful Monticello

Closer look at TJ's Grave

For my Cultural Exploration class last week we were to visit Monticello. It was quite the experience. Monticello is the dream home, mansion and plantation of our nation's 3rd president and the author of the Declaration of Independence. I was amazed by the home and how much of the original structure and furniture was still there. The smell of the house that was built back in the 1700s was still strong and the floors squeaked with every move. The mirrors were aged and the1500 books in Jefferson's library looked as if they would fall to pieces if they were slightly moved. The house a great and really showed off Jefferson's smarts and imagination with many of the creations in the house as well as things seemed to be run in the home. What I found so amazing about the home was what was underneath the house, where the operations of the home was really run. The kitchen, the slave quarters, the ice house and the wine cellar where wine was pulled through a pulley system to the dining room for guests. I was truly amazed that back in the 1700s that there was that much thought and inventiveness put into a home. Jefferson's house by far could be considered a modern home on many levels, in my opinion.

There were a lot of thoughts going through my head as we took the tour through Monticello. I felt like a little kid. I felt like I was in the presence of greatness. The experience was humbling and just opened my eyes that there are so many things out here in the world that are fascinating that I have yet to experience. Monticello, even though the weather was not the best, was a great trip and I learned a lot. Seeing these old home of one of the men who shaped our country and is responsible for what we are today is truly great and inspiring. It's inspiring in the sense that it makes me want to do something great in the future that will be remembered by people. I enjoyed this visit so much, I plan to visit Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, in the near future.

T.I.--- What Up, What's Happenin'

I have not been a big fan of rap music lately. This is simply because no one has been saying anything worth listening to and sometimes that just hurts my brain. Then I heard this song and saw the video, and my interest was sparked. I am not a big fan of T.I. I like him as an individual and what he stands for as a man and as an artist, but I am not a fan of his rap style. Anyways, this song, even though it is not the greatest artistic work of art, it is saying something and serves as kind of an anthem. I listen to it and it serves as an anthem for me. When I hear it, it speaks to me to just say true to yourself and to keep going no matter who tries to hold you down or put you down. That is a message that I think is important to learn one of the hardest lessons in life to grasp. I said all of that to say that T.I. is doing his thing and that rappers can create music that has a message and a meaning. For the majority of the rappers out there, they should take notes and strive for that type of work.

Quote of the Day---"Trust"

"Never trust a man who speaks well of everybody."
--John Churton Collins--

"Distrust all those who love you extremely upon a very light acquaintance and without any visible reason."
--Alexander Pope--

"Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement."
--Alfred Adler--

Trust is a topic that has been on my mind recently. I have found that I do not trust very many people. Maybe it's because of the experiences I have had in my life that causes me to not trust most people around me. I do not think that I am someone walking around in a box, shielding myself from the world. Its just that I don't expect everyone to be trustworthy because the truth of that matter is that most people aren't. The way I see it is if you don't expect someone to be held in the highest regard you will won't be disappointed. However, with that said, it may seem that I would never give someone the opportunity to be trusted. Trust is earned and with my current outlook on the issue of trust, it puts more pressure on the person who wants to earn that trust to earn it, making that trust more valued once obtained. I may have a pessimistic view or a backwards take on this situation, but it is what I feel right now when it comes to trust and maybe one day that will change.