https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKm3B-5DT8w
Still trying to figure out how to add a second piece of music within the Youtube interface.
Sir Vader Build Video 01
by Kimliatach Category: creativity
by Kimliatach Lovely Sunday
by Kimliatach Painted a card for 3 hours. Really struggling to match style and finish work I am satisfied with. It has been so long since I completed one.
Worked on L’s foam costume. Going to continue editing the first build vid once this post is up and if I get it uploading I’ll share it in the morning.
Constructed another new raised garden bed frame using scrap metal and some of the timber salvaged yesterday.
Cooked a homegrown spinach and feta pie.
Watched ‘Finding Dory‘. Which not as good as the first is of course but is lovely, clever and occasionally funny all the same.
Captain Fantastic
by Kimliatach In the aftermath of the US election result yesterday evening we watched ‘Captain Fantastic‘.
Which I count as easily among the best films of the year so far. At times hilarious, very moving and challenging. Richly developed characters grapple with loss and uncertainty. It was the perfect film for a hard evening and led to some interesting breakfast table discussions about where and how we want to be living long term and what our Cobar exit strategy will be.
Got crafty this afternoon and began foamsmithing together L’s Christmas present by request. I’ve spent the last hour on the phone else I may have made more progress editing together the vlog of the build.
Tue 19th
by Kimliatach Politic
I’ve found myself increasingly caught up in the candidacy battle going on in the US. Fiery exchanges and the possibility of a non-neoliberal candidate keep me coming back to the politics subreddits. With the New York primary happening tonight local time. It seems up to 60000 democrat voters have mysteriously disappeared from the electoral roll in Brooklyn and many more in wider New York state have had their affiliations mysteriously changed topping it off the Clinton campaign has been accused of violating campaign finance rules.
In local politics it seems more and more likely that our present government of ‘moron flavoured biscuits‘ may actually lose their ridiculous will they, wont they, oh they will, Double Dissolution on July 2nd. The Turnbull government has flailed and flip flopped on decisions big and small and clearly appears to have no coherent strategy for tackling the ridiculously long (74 Day) election campaign they just bought themselves.
Creative
Made some solid progress on the Castle card last night. Still tons of elements to deal with but a substantial improvement from the flat image it has been for weeks.
Invented a movement activity game with N while driving this afternoon. We were trying to think of fun ways to develop L’s coordination and instruction following abilities. We came up with a board game involving actions that I think I will call either ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’ or ‘Great Apes’. Going to prototype it tomorrow.
Tonight I’m taking a break from the castle to have a go at some logo sketching as we appear to have settled on a name for the game. Hush hush until settled but sketches maybe forthcoming tomorrow.
Colossal
by Kimliatach Daily
My firstborn’s eighteenth birthday today!
Spent a bit of time investigating possible group adventures to take on in Amsterdam later this year. After wading through more bicycle tour pages than I care to remember I was rather excited to discover that an exhibition of the deeply creepy Gunther Von Hagens‘ plastinated corpses are on display there. I’m excited, I missed the travelling exhibition that came to Australia years ago.
I would also like to go and see this mural while I’m there as well as plenty of other attractions.
Links
I have today come to realise that ‘Colossal‘ host of the link above has become the absolute favourite in my feed lately.
By way of example of why take four links, favourites from their most recent posts as evidence of their superb collating abilities.
Enchanting Storybook GIFs Animated by ‘Sparrows’
A 360-Degree Black and White Drawing of a Japanese Landscape Inside an Inflatable Dome by Oscar Oiwa
New Rainbow-Hued Origami Street Art by Mademoiselle Maurice
Theatrically Composed Scenes Highlight Human’s Impact on Earth
Creative
Plodding away at the castle card. Plenty more to do. Progress:
Magnification
by Kimliatach Daily
Family tour of the farm, feeding cows, admiring the dogs exploring abandoned machinery piles.
Projects
Had an hour or two to build in this afternoon and knocked up a frame for my biggest Fresnel lens Hoping to have a stand made tomorrow to test it with. The previous lens of this type I found didn’t have a tight round focal point and although I still own it it is unsuitable for my purposes. This one appears to have a round focal point. None I have yet found has the clarity I have seen others find online. though it is not as clear as I would like it to be. Again while making this I was practicing taking a shot for every single step of the process, right up until I forgot and did three or four things in quick succession without thinking. I think I need to film rather than photograph builds. Stand and test run tomorrow. If I’m lucky this baby aught to be able to produce temperatures in excess of 1000ºC at focal point.
Painting again tonight. Decided I’ll push on with colouring even though principal line work is not 100%. It is easy enough to add detail layers over the top. Progress:
Link
It takes him six minutes to get to the point but dammit if he doesn’t make it very well when he gets to it. I find FriendlyJordies caricatures strained but occasionally funny. As I understand it he lives in PM Turnbull’s own electorate so he has plenty of reasons to be angry.
Red dirt country
by Kimliatach A walk to see first nation rock art with family and a little woodwork today. Collected another piece of the paperwork puzzle required for transferring a car registration from QLD to NSW this morning which involved the use of a surprisingly old mechanism.
Some painting yet in store this evening.
Interesting read about the failure of our present government to do well… much of anything.
No Surprises.
There is no future in deregulated capitalism.
A photo posted by @liatach on
Crafp
by Kimliatach The school Easter hat parade was this morning. Some lovely homemade entries but ‘crafp’ was as ever with these things a dominant feature. store bought disposable plastic hats with glitter covered Styrofoam eggs, plastic paper shreddings and synthetic and plastic puff ball chickens abounded.
The ‘crafp’ life cycle:
It has crept into art curriculums nation wide. Insidious easily assembleable craft with no skill development, no creativity, no artistic merit, just disposable shiny busywork. It is particularly prevalent in activities which require parental involvement because it is often sold directly to parents as an easy way of meeting the expectation of involvement.
Going to have to face the music and make some art tomorrow. Heading to bed early tonight.
Link
The only April 1st post that caused me to do a double take this year.
Teaching in a strange land
by Kimliatach Daily
Witnessed my first ‘Stations of the Cross’ performance today as performed by year 6 students, with delightful handmade props and cheap satin robes. Certainly no ‘Passion of the Christ‘ but and interesting experience all the same. Having not grown up in a religious family I have only attended church a handful of times in my entire life. Working in a Catholic school has been full of such experiences. Not just the frequency with which they invoke the holy trinity with the sign of the cross and lay blessings upon each other. It has been a bit like visiting an altogether different country, I can’t help but take mental anthropological notes. I wonder if my experience is common to others, including students from families outside the faith or if the Cath Ed system only rarely employs the nonreligious?
Anyway, I am done for the week, back on for four days with a year one class next week and another week possibly with 5/6 after that. Hopeful of some days in NSW public in term 2 particularly after the long wait for registration. Local NSW’s school have an odd holiday timetable this year made stranger by Easter falling early.
Media
Started watching Sense 8 again last night. In truth despite hooking multiple other people on it I missed the first couple of episodes and haven’t gone back until now. In the few that I have seen that series delivered more emotional impact and showed more bravery than any American TV series since ‘The Wire’. I’ll do a fresh review once complete. Started listening to the second season of ‘The Museum of Curiosity’ which although still very entertaining unfortunately no longer has Bill Bailey in it. Season one is simply hilarious and had me in stifling laughter on public transport multiple times when I listened to it pre-blog last year.
Creative
Back onto the castle last night and I’ve always more to do this evening. Current progress is going to have to do for the next print draft of the deck. I was hoping to have a the castle card finished and more of the sketch drafts of the evolution cards complete, but work got in the way. An example of one of the fifteen draft evolution cards I’ve done is included below and I’ll share a castle draft either later tonight or tomorrow.
Thursday 10th
by Kimliatach Daily
Last minute relief call in to take a kindergarten class at 9 AM this morning, caught me off guard and without a packed go bag, disappointing canteen lunch and a begged antihistamine from a colleague got me through the day. Host teacher has a cat. As evidenced by dander all over her laptop keyboard, which was not noticed until too late, thank goodness for cheap and ubiquitous antihistamines. School saved me from another day spraying in the fields, left me shattered all the same.
Creative
Spent last night exporting print quality copies of all cards completed so far. Tonight I am sparring myself another evenings work on the castle card and instead beginning putting all the titles and feature texts into the evolution card templates in readiness for the larger thumbnails I will create for them over the coming week or two.
My insect Insta photos have started attracting more attention. I’d probably have significantly more followers if I didn’t habitually block bots and follow spammers.
A photo posted by @liatach on
#cicada wing found in the dust. Image is approximately 5mm. #insect #macro #hermiptera
A photo posted by @liatach on
Almost forgot a link. Wait but Why has a new and informative take on the ‘Monty Hall Problem‘ up.