Epilogue 12-13-10

The purpose of this blog entry is to explain to future students what I think the class named Seeing Sideways is all about.

I think that Seeing Sideways is a class intended to teach students to explore and create new things, free of whether it's "right" or "wrong". Basically, anything goes as far as assignments go...as long as the assignments are not pornographic in nature and as long as they obey school rules. I guess this class is preparation for future projects within the workforce.

Assignments include doing whatever you want with an egg, doing something that involves your identity, creating something that inspires you, and analyzing your beliefs, be they in God, in another deity, or lack of belief, and creating something from those beliefs.

You also have to make blog entries presenting such projects, and justify said projects(how it works, why they created it, etc.).

That's pretty much it from me.

Speaking of Pickles...12-10-10

This is the idea I have for the final project, aka "Pickles". And speaking of pickles, pickles are usually toppings for a hamburger or sandwich, right? And what do we associate hamburgers with most of the time?

Fast Food!

Funny thing about that...when I heard that this project had to be about the word "hidden", I had to rethink what idea should be created or sketched for my project. Then I remembered one day in Comic Book class, when Mat Powers told us to look up "12-year-old McDonalds burger". A McDonalds burger sat on a counter for 12 years and did not grow old or moldy. It might be because of all the preservatives they put inside their food.

I guess that's why certain people are scared to eat fast food: They fear eating hidden chemicals that could adversely affect their internal chemistry.

Another reason: It's fattening as heck.

Sometimes, I eat at Hardees or Five Guys when it comes to burgers. Unfortunately, some of the burgers Hardees serves go upwards of 800 calories(not counting fries or drink) and the Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger(without toppings) is over 1,000.

Not only that, but they have lots of sodium and cholesterol.

So what to do? Create a possible invention that can fight back.

The Fast Food Filtrator

The Fast Food Filtrator is designed after a fine dining plate and cloche cover. Inside the "cloche cover" there are scanners and filters. The scanners scan for "impurities" such as preservatives, hormones, excess sodium and excess grease and the filters suck those impurities out of the food. The lights in front of the cover shine red and scroll horizontally back and forth while it scans the food and they shine green when it is done with the filtration process. You activate the machine by pushing the button in front.

The top of the cloche cover is actually a filter that keeps the grease and impurities. It can be removed and cleaned for reuse.

Behind the cover is the rechargeable battery for the device. The battery has a max time of four hours without being plugged up. The machine automatically turns off when idle for a long-enough time.

The machine can also be used for eggs, lunchmeat, turkey, and other "household foods".

The Fast Food Filtrator would cost you an estimated $150.00 plus tax.

Inspiration Round Robin 11-21-10(Edit)

Since I was given an extra week, due to Mrs. Lykins' illness, I was able to actually think of something over the weekend.

Over the Internet, I watched two of Tex Avery's "Of Tomorrow"cartoons.

Car of Tomorrow(edited[I watched the unedited version])

TV of Tomorrow

So, since then, I was able to make a "Video Game Console of Tomorrow". Video Game Consoles already use USB ports and are compatible with CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray. But what if we went out there and make a video game console that tries to capture that "Of Tomorrow" feeling?

Introducing the Robertronics MPC, or the MultiPurpose console.

The MultiPurpose Console has a CD/DVD/Gamecube/Wii/Blu-Ray slot, Wii Sensor Bar, four front USB ports for PS3 controllers/keyboard/mouse/etc., three top slots for the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis cartridges, an alarm clock, and a laserdisc player. Under the Alarm clock, there is an SD slot, UMD slot, Gameboy/Gameboy Advance slot, and Game Gear slot.

In the back, there are two speakers, Audio ports including one for a Microphone. There are four more USB ports, a Firewire 400 port, two Firewire 800 ports, an antenna screw-on, 9-pin AV plug, AC Adaptor port for the main console, and AC adaptor for the laserdisc player.

And to boot, the console would also have a 4 TB hard drive.

The launch price point would be...to be generous...$3,000 at its launch date.

My inspiration(s) 11-19-10

My main inspiration is video games. Video games are a part of my childhood and a part of my life in general. I like video games, because some of them are fun. One of my favorite video game companies is Capcom, creators of the Mega Man and Street Fighter series of video games. I especially like some of the character designs in some Japanese-made video games. In fact, in Mat Powers' class NEWM-S355, I've made a couple of flash games based on a character inspired mainly by video games.






This character's name is Violet. She carries some inspiration from Capcom's Bionic Commando games with the "Steam Arm" and from Mega Man a bit. The video game I have thought up around this character is mainly a 2D platformer.

I'm sorry if this blog is a bit last minute, but I didn't look at Oncourse today until now. Apologies for being late.

Response to 11-15-10 class

Today, we discussed our identity projects. They ranged from something simple as a speed drawing to a customized Rubik's Cube. The one to which I responded the most was John Hester's identity project, because it's linked to video games, which I like very much. I disagree with his preference for playing as the bad guy in certain sandbox video games, because I don't like playing as criminal scumbags. Except for maybe Wario.

We also discussed anonymity in the internet, altruism, and how text can actually be scary. Some of the students said that imagination makes text scary, but I'm a follower of the mantra "A picture is worth a thousand words", which is why I'd connect most with Kathryn Thacker, because she's also an artist.

At the end of the lecture, we were assigned an Inspiration Round Robin, where we have to make something out of someone else's source of inspiration, and then inspire someone else to make something. Hopefully, I can do it right.

Who do I think I am? 11-13-10

For my "Identity" project, I made a cardboard picture frame with a picture inside it. On the piece of paper, I used posterboard to create four circles. I used those circles to make a "color wheel", put only showing the three primary colors: Red, Blue, and Yellow. Under Red, I have "Artistic", because I feel most passionate with drawing or sketching something. Under Yellow, I have "Intelligent", because I feel that I wouldn't be in IUPUI now if I weren't. Under Blue, I have "Autistic", but in order to tell you the significance of the metaphor I chose, I'll have to show you what the picture frame looks like in person, since I don't have a digital camera, and my cell phone's camera photos get heavily pixelated when magnified. Let's just say that it involves being an "octopus in the forest".

Providing that I remember to bring the frame to class, I will show you the project on Monday.

Response to 11-8-10 Class

Today we had another field trip, this time to Herron. We visited the "Notes to Nonself" installation. There was a roofless wooden shelter into which we could go. Luckily, it was sturdy enough for my weight. I was worried that it would collapse. We saw the forest motif and then noticed a papier-mache octopus in the middle of the installation. We later found out that the installation was about "identity".

The skulls prevalent in the installation symbolized death, and in the case of identity, it could mean death of the self, since "nonself" could mean "being part of the collective" or "assimilation". The octopus could symbolize the inability to blend in with the crowd. It could also symbolize the individual.

I read the pamphlet and it mentioned that this was inspired by Buddhist philosophy. I guess that would explain the "non-self", but after looking up "Buddhism" and "Non-self", I don't think I quite understood the concept as well as I thought I did.

We also discussed "final project" ideas, though we discovered that it wasn't a conventional "final project", since it has the same possible points as a regular blog. I had two ideas: either three ways to help debit/credit card users and/or three inventions to help monitor health. Beth then announced the assignment for this week; it involved identity and who we thought we were. Hopefully, I do a good job on this.

Overall, it was an interesting exhibit and an interesting class.