We’ve been catering lunches for the build teams at Local Motors for the past couple of weeks and I just think this is the coolest concept.  The model of developing a community collaborative using open-source and Creative Commons design that supports the local economy while remaining green and sustainable is quickly becoming the model of the future.  This is our working model at STW because it seemed obvious but would you think an automotive manufacturer could change the game too?

The Chandler ‘micro-factory’ builds the Rally Fighter, an off-road/street legal bad ass piece of machinery, because Arizona has lots of great off-roading spots. But other factories are being built in cities that require a different kind of vehicle.  Instead of buying next years’ popular model from some big auto maker in Detroit, you purchase from a local motor company that designs vehicles made specifically for your region.

As part of the Shell GameChanger DRIVEN Design Competitions they are collaboratively submitting designs of relevant and innovative vehicles for energy needs.  For Amsterdam they are developing a motorized/pedal bicycle made of bamboo, a helicopter for Sao Paulo and a hybrid electric street vehicle designed for the streets of Boston.

In the Local Motors conference area they have a white board with a list of the types of vehicles they design and it reads: Land Sea and Air vehicles. They don’t know it yet but last week I added the word ‘space’ to their list.

So, I may get my feet wet with some car body designs or graphic skins to start but I’d really like to take some of my space vehicle models and experiment with the community to find solutions for space travel, planet exploration, satellite recovery/replacement and more.

Photos of Rally Fighters Custom Skins

A Car Story: The Rally FIghter Takes Flight (11 Episodes)

Sarah Peacock performed last night for our monthly house concert and I can’t help but feel this is the way that music is meant to be shared.  Our group sat down to eat an amazing meal together and then enjoyed a live concert with this amazing singer and songwriter.

Sarah has performed at our studio twice before and we love her energy and storytelling which is just perfect for our intimate gatherings.  Sarah’s vibe is just perfect for a ‘date night’ in the downtown scene.  Check her out singing a cover of Heart’s All I Wanna Do.

Thanks to Alicia at College Times for this great article about Spread the Weird.  We gave her so much information about so many things it was a little hard to imagine how she would fit everything together.  She even knew about the exquisite corpse!  She really did an awesome job.

Downtown PHX’s Spread the Weird Offers Smorgasbord of Life Lessons

In 2009, Casey Pugh asked thousands of Internet users to remake “Star Wars: A New Hope” into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.

SWU has been featured in documentaries, news features and conferences around the world for its unique appeal. In 2010 they won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media.

ENJOY!

I’ve been craving some bacon and chocolate lately so I went to the grocery story with ten bucks to get a quart of chocolate ice cream.  With any luck I hoped to find a deal that I might be able to acquire two quarts so imagine my joy when I get there to find a huge variety of chocolatey delights for only $1.99 each!!

I stand in line with my four, count ‘em, 4 quarts of chocolate chunky frozen goodness and ten dollar bills.  The line’s moving quickly but all I can think about is pouring bacon crumbles over this stuff.  My turn at the register comes and the cashier quickly works up my total, which looks like it’s going to be over 25 bucks, then he swipes my “club card” and the final total is … $15.85.

The cashier pulls out his store circular and checks.  Sure enough, that’s the deal-eo!  But there’s a limit on two quarts per purchase.  There’s always a catch.  Okay, fine.  I just really need some chocolate.  He takes two of the quarts and removes them from the total.  And from my bags.  But I need to check which ones I’m allowed to purchase because one of the four isn’t as chocolately as the others and sure enough, it’s in my bag already and needs to be swapped asap.  The bacon to chocolate ratio is very important.

Suddenly, a manager pops up out of nowhere and overrides the action, then he’s gone.  Bam, these guys are fast, but I actually want one of the flavors he’s taken out and I tell the cashier while I attempt to swap it with one in my bag.

He abruptly says, “May I have your club card again sir!”

I try to tell him about my swap idea while fumbling through my wallet and pockets looking for the precious club card that grants these $1.99 chocolate wishes, then he realizes that he still has my club card and swipes it for me.  Now I can see he’s barely paying attention and certainly unaware of my choco-baco dilemma.  So I try to explain again, “I’d prefer one of these flavors over the one already in the bag.”

“That’ll be $3.98, sir.”

Damn!  Why is he battering me like this?  I hand him the four bucks and try to explain my preference in flavor once again.

ZIP! ZIP! DING! … Ca-Ching!  Lickity-Split!  My dollar bills go into the till, the change dispenser spits out my two pennies and the cashier hands me my receipt and says, ”May I have your club card again sir!”

Okay, now I’m thinking, WTF?!  Does he know how to work this frakkin thing or what?  This guy is about to drive me completely bacos!  I’m usually soft spoken and tend to mumble but now it’s clear there’s some hearing impairment or selective judgement at work here.  I mean, this guy is going so fast and he’s not even looking at me.

So just as calmly as before, I repeat myself,  ”I’d really prefer one of these flavors instead, please.”

Then at last!!  He reaches for the other quart.  He grabs it.  BEEP!  Then the other one.  BEEP!  The second pair of quarts go into my bag.

“That’ll be $3.98, sir.”

So, finally, I’m like, “Oh, I see what you did there!”

So now I’m chuckling, and I say, “I’m sorry, I thought you weren’t listening to me and it turns out you heard me just fine”.

THANKS MAN!

Of all the weird things this has got to be the most weirdest.  Everyone’s played this forum game, it’s an exquisite corpse of sorts, and there have been many variations on the theme.  If you’ve visited my good friend Maliaki’s website any time in the past five+ years you have likely come across the Three Word Story there.

When the story got to about 50 pages we started gathering regularly in his studio to record an audio version (ala Firesign Theater / Frank Zappa).  Out of that came some of the wackiest stuff I have ever heard.  It was also the most challenging audio project I have ever worked on because it was nothing like editing real music!  It was chaos.

Tune In to Radio BlahBlah

So now there’s an external link on the Three Word Story Wikipedia page featuring the www.blahblah.com 3WS as the longest story of its kind now that it has more than 10,000 entries!

Plus, who else has audio recordings of something so weird?

We just moved into a new neighborhood and I felt we should let everyone know how we feel about the future.

We need to let those corporate sluts how to do business.

I joined this little art community called Exquisite Corpse (pre-automation ~ 2002) but was never delivered a slice until after it’s automated reintroduction. I worked on about 10 corpses and then the site founder closed up shop.  The gallery is still there but the community has moved so now I finally found my way over to ‘Shae and Company’.  A New Exquisite Corpse.  Good things will come of this.

It’s difficult to talk about the abstract so we have to invent a special language to talk about the things we cannot perceive.  If these dimensions of space-time require imagination to perceive, then is all of reality an illusion?

Watch these two great videos to have your mind blown.

Understanding The Fourth Dimension

For the past year I have wondered what this site would become and how it would look.  Taking some inspiration from a favorite 3D modeling program I’ve decided on this simple approach using actions which also coincide with the beginning development of a web app/widget.

Orange.  Something about it is adventurous, mysterious and well, weird.  The condiment theme fits with some concepts that I will introduce as the widget evolves and becomes available in different refreshing flavors.

ENJOY!