Photo of the Day: Sphinx with No Name

 Maker Faire, Saturday, September 21, 2013

Side of Cargo Container

Artist still working on additional panel to the right, out of view.

Substitute Sphinx, and it almost still works.

A Horse With No Name

On the first part of the journey,
I was looking at all the life.
There were plants and birds. and rocks and things,
There was sand and hills and rings.
The first thing I met, was a fly with a buzz,
And the sky, with no clouds.
The heat was hot, and the ground was dry,
But the air was full of sound.

I've been through the desert on a horse with no name,
It felt good to be out of the rain.
In the desert you can remember your name,
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain.
La, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la

After two days, in the desert sun,
My skin began to turn red.
After three days, in the desert fun,
I was looking at a river bed.
And the story it told, of a river that flowed,
Made me sad to think it was dead.

You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name,
It felt good to be out of the rain.
In the desert you can remember your name,
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain.
La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la

After nine days, I let the horse run free,
'Cause the desert had turned to sea.
There were plants and birds, and rocks and things,
There was sand and hills and rings.
The ocean is a desert, with it's life underground,
And a perfect disguise above.
Under the cities lies, a heart made of ground,
But the humans will give no love.

You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name,
It felt good to be out of the rain.
In the desert you can remember your name,
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain.

La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la
La la, la, la la la la, la la la, la, la

Songwriters: BUNNELL, DEWEY

Found at: http://youtu.be/zSAJ0l4OBHM

Photo of the Day: Families at the Faire

Maker Faire, Saturday, September 21, 2013

Tutus, robots, and children of all ages staring at the Life-Sized Mousetrap: 

Perfectly illustrating why I love the Faire.

Photo of the day: 3D Printer Art

 Marker Faire, Saturday, September 21, 2013

Portion of work by Shane Hope

3D Printed Paintings of Nanomolecularity

3D printed molecular models and paint on plexiglass.

Shane Hope

Shane Hope nano-nonobjective-oriented ontographically scribbles scriptable-scalable species-tool-beings quacker-castin' computronium-clouds.

---

Photo of the Day: Overexposure

Maker Faire, Saturday, September 21, 2013

Art inside a shipping container wall. 

Only "slightly" altered by playing with the editing devices.

A day at the Faire, with all kinds of stimulus, and I feel a little overexposed myself.

It was great, mind you, but I need to regroup.

40 Diamonds for 40: Journeys with Jane

There are moments of serendipity in life. There's the day you turn a corner in a hallway of your college dorm and come across a sight that makes you laugh and laugh at the incongruity of the scene in front of your eyes. Fast forward, more than twenty years later, and wonderfully two of the submissions for your 40 Diamonds for 40 project come in back to back, perfectly echoing the interweavings of harmony that come from chamber music partners. Those forged bonds of friendships, in and out of practice and classrooms, behind instruments, on stage and off, with verbal and physical shorthands that are only keyed to your core group, echo through the musical cosmos. Even though you don't talk all the time, and only see each other sporadically, you can pick up the threads that make up your relationship-- almost seamlessly.

Jane tells the story best. What she has left out is how wonderful she was to let me try my hand at her harp, not wincing at my tone and technique; how she would let me escape to her houses on Flax Hill Road for visits to The Dutchess for fast food, Trader Joe's for supplies, the thrift shop for deposits and withdrawals, to the yarn stores for supplies, and to Book Aid to "volunteer" -- and take home more books; how she so thankfully warned me about my 19th birthday "surprise" as planned by the girls, to take me to "a show" aka Chippendale's (seriously, THANK YOU for the warning); how she and her parents had/have adopted me and let me accompany them on trips to concerts, fancy restaurants where I got to try mako for the first time, fixed my clothes, given me advice, generally put up with me; how she allowed me to work out my aggressions by basically single-handedly demolishing a room in her house, with a mallet and crowbar, brick-by-brick; and so much more. Jane's been my arty travel buddy, who really knows that it's quality, not quantity, of time spent together.

Not only is Jane a talented string teacher, harpist, friend, but she's also responsible for many of my charming letters and postcards from college.

Brava and Milli Grazie, my friend. Brava!

Dear Auntie Nettie,

When we first met, I was sitting on the dorm hallway floor with an entire door lock in my hand. That moment was the unlocking of our friendship over the last twenty-two years.

After our initial introductions, we found our love of music as a common bond. We played together all four years of college. You could play anything and were the best accompanist a violinist could hope for! As members of Trio Non Sacre (Unholy Trio—named not by us, but the department chair), we enjoyed playing such favorites as “F- You, Martinu!” We must have been pretty good since we found ourselves to be the on-call musicians for various college functions. Not bad considering each rehearsal seemed to start with me playing a strip tease tune while you and Kristen removed coats, scarves, hat and gloves!

After college, you continued to support my musical pursuits, now as a string teacher. My young string students loved the opportunity to visit Caramoor and attend concerts or workshops. We felt that Caramoor was an extension of our classroom.

Because we have very full schedules in the “Ed Biz,” we find it hard to schedule time to do things together. But I’m glad we’ve been able to enjoy lots of things that NYC has to offer---walking the newly-opened Highline, concerts at Carnegie Hall, lunch at Peanut Butter & Co. or A Salt & Battery, and the annual Makers’ Fair.

May you have a wonderful birthday! I look forward to celebrating many more milestone birthdays with you!

Lots of love,
Jane

Postcard Art by Jane, c. the College Years

Sometimes you just feel like screaming!

Making Adventures of The Shushing Librarian: Maker Faire 2011

We interrupt these postcards from Cape Cod for a message from The Shushing Librarian:

Hey there!

Miss me? Sorry about that. Been busy this summer. The libraries were CROWDED with people hiding out in the air conditioning, checking out monster.com, going to career services classes, and generally keeping us working like dogsbodies.

Now that the schools are back in session, we have a whole new demographic to entertain and educate. I have been looking for ideas to keep the many many kids busy during those hours before we can kick them out, er .... send them home.

Luckily, Jane and Auntie Nettie let me accompany them to Maker Faire 2011, where I saw a variety of options for after-school activities ... where I can continue to babysit, I mean, "shape the future of America."

Unfortunately, while I really like the death-cage boxing match idea to cull the population, my legal counsel and Board won't let me participate or sponsor this club. They are more into the arts and crafts ideas.

The library unfortunately also doesn't have the resources to be a machine shop, a repair shop, or a furniture building shop. I really like this Jeep and chair though.

How did they exactly reproduce the back rooms of the library? This is what our Technical Services and Cataloging Department look like.

I did get some good ideas to try and incorporate the Steampunk sub-genre and Science Fiction Cosplay Geeks into after-school groups. Perhaps we can coordinate with the emo kids and have them write a theatrical production ... except the Gleeks are "too cool" and "too busy."

I was really excited to see this display ... of a perfectly sized THEREMIN!

You don't know what a theremin is? You haven't heard of one of the first electronic instruments, created by crazy Russian inventor/KGB agent/Siberian exile/benefactor of Caramoor-founder-generosity Leon Theremin? That's him, pictured on the box on the left.

I would have snapped up this instrument for my collection, but with my injury I can't raise my hands to the proper position. As for using it for musical instruction for after-school clubs, oh HELL to the no! There is enough noise in that place as it is. Why would I subject myself to that?!

Thank you Maker Faire and all you talented makers. I have so many ideas. Now I just need funding for staff so I don't end up stabbing someone with a pair of scissors.

Until later ...

Stay tuned for future Adventures of The Shushing Librarian!

Maker Faire 2011, Part 5 - Fun with Fabrics

My ONLY complaint about Maker Faire this year was the slight under-representation of the traditional handicrafts. I felt like it was heavier on tech and science than previously. In 2010, Martha Stewart, Lion Brand and Red Heart really anchored that section of the Faire. Also, there was a lot more swag last year. However, if you looked, you could find your niche and your loot of buttons, cards, and magazines. Burda Fabric presented sewing demos and Craftzine also was featuring demos and discussions.

Here are some of the crafty highlights.

l: This lovely lady proudly inked herself with a vintage Singer. She also made the most darling dress for Elle. r: Look at the ruching and pining on this dress. It, and the sari featured below, were made by the students at one of the special arts high schools in NYC.

The dress below on the left is one of the creations of Nit Ra Sit (www.nitrasit.com) who combines global diversity with modern designs. This cloth was from Africa, recreated into an intricate gown. She also showed Jane and me two beautiful turquoise tunics made from one Indian sari. We also saw obi cloths transformed into belts and wraps. Gorgeous.

The pins on the right were on the label of the jacket shown below. Further below: It's amazing how iconic some of the Sesame Street Muppet characters truly are. One field of color and some eyes and you know who exactly is hanging out. Say hello to my little friends ... Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Oscar.

l: See Spot. See Spot Run. See Spot be made with a framework, fabric, and some fake fur.

r: Don't let the look on his face fool you. He jumped on the chance to try his hand at the machine. It just jammed and then the little old lady had to help him out. Dude's street cred was shot.

One of the high points for me and Jane was attending a quilting demo by Lish from Craft. She made it seem so simple, I want to crack out Grandma Ollie's sewing machine and my stash of fabric. (Alas, I must get the machine looked at first.) As a bonus? I won a drawing for a vintage out-of-print copy of the magazine.

Maker Faire is great. I keep thinking that I need to get a two-day pass next year. One day you look around and see the sights. Day 2 would be for getting to the lectures and more demos. Also, some of the fun stuff all seems to be at the same time. Two years in a row I didn't get to see the Coke/Mentos explosion. This year there were great fun speakers like John Hodgman and David Pogue, not to mention Crafter extraordinaire Brett Bara - who came in on Sunday. Plus, who knows how much international cuisine will be there for the tasting?

If you have a chance to visit at Maker Faire in your area, I highly recommend that you go.

Maker Faire 2011, Part 4 - People, People who Love ...

If I thought that last year's visitors to Maker Faire NY were .... eclectic, I had no idea what was to come. This year's Faire had gotten so much more press, the etsy.com and DYI movements are gaining momentum, and people like me had talked it up so much that the crowds were bigger this year. Before I had even left Grand Central I had run into Nick from my library days who was heading in with his friends. Then I was talking to one of my neighbors about a week later who had taken her daughter in on Sunday, the day after I was there. I thought I would run into work people, and it's possible they were there. ... Instead, I saw some of these characters.

This guy in the chain mail? I thought he was the vendor--But no! Jane gets another view of things.

Family Time

Jane tries virtual reality, while etsy sponsors a whack-a-treasure.

A family of elves eats on the run, while minstrels serenade the passing crowds.

"Reporting live from the Faire, we have breaking news on the scooter races ..."

Fashion extremes: "Guys, eyes up here!" vs. Steampunk rules!

Jane scoping out the scene. Kids are fearless.

Fashion faux pas: MetroCard Man takes recycling to the extreme. Flamingos are NOT fabulous.