Exploring The Shift
The shift is not a thing. It is the action of discovering Self.

Does the sudden appearance of a Firefox crop circle imply which browser extraterrestrials prefer? Does it showcase the skill and reckless modifications of reality by photoshop magicians? Or does it maybe hint at the enthusiasm of the linux user group at Oregon State University?

Find out the answer here

© Oregon State University

More about crop-circles

Ahh, here is one those people, who are not keeping themselves from doing something, just because it is silly. Silly? What am I saying? This is science!

Did you ever try to get a clear answer from a lawyer or politician? Well, no matter if you tried or not, you probably know the saying that "you might as well try to nail a pudding to the wall". Or depending on the country you live in, maybe try nailing jelly or jello to the wall … in Germany it is pudding.

And here is a guy (via neatorama) who actually tried it, documented all the steps and then answers the burning question if this saying in essence (backed up by practical evidence) means that is easy, hard or impossible: Link

I could bask forever in the creativity of people and this one takes a top spot in my eternal list of appreciation about what people are spending their time with, doing things beyond the commonly accepted. Doing seemingly crazy things.

Like making art from toothpicks as Stephen J. Backman does.

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I recently posted videos to two Goldberg Machines and yesterday haha.nu (re)posted a video of an 2003 commercial for the Honda Accord, which is probably the most incredible Goldberg Machine you'll ever see. I remember that I watched it for ten times in a row when I first saw it a few years ago, all with my jaw dropped and eyes wide open in disbelief.

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I have a couple of focuses who intensely work with metal, many of them creating blades of all kind, like a japanese swordsmith or a person creating knifes in France, working at the original Forge Laguiole. The fascination for fine craftsmanship, especially in metal, spills over big time into this life, although in this focus my own skills in that regard are close to zero. But show me a fine piece done in stainless steel and I'm the happiest person on the planet.

So, when I saw the work of Mark Ho yesterday on haha.nu I was struck in awe and smiling all over the face.

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Another entry for the crazy ideas category which features people or projects which are crazy or silly and which are implemented just for the fun of making them.

These two videos are about goldberg machines, which Wikipedia defines as any exceedingly complex apparatus that performs a very simple task in a very indirect and convoluted way. This definition may sort of apply to the first video, while the machines in the second don't even serve a purpose at all, except of course being implmented for the fun of implementing them.

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Is this dimension really wondrous and extremely diverse? If you are not convinced yet, have a look at these samples of sculptures from around the world .

I especially like the one below, the space cow, the upside down rider and the guy coming up from the manhole in Brussels (well, and the blowjob couple :-).

No, this time it is not about Team Hoyt, it is about beverage cans instead :-). This is a video and sound entirely made from 250ml Redbull cans. I like it mostly because of the rythm and eerie sounds but also because of the the story how it was made (probably lots of Redbull consumption involved there in order to stay awake).

I love people who have crazy ideas and the power and the will to implement them.
 

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I came across a news snippet from LA Weekly recently which I like because it outlines the immense creativity in humans and because it's a nice metaphor for overcoming separation.

There's a beach between Mexico and the U.S. with no signs, no parking lot, no lifeguard but with a huge border fence made of metal pylons which are rammed into the sand and going out far into the water. It's a place where nobody except the border patrol is supposed to come to.

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I mentioned yesterday that I appreciated ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

There are two versions of that. On the one hand there are those stories which arise out of the circumstances of ordinary life and which touch the heart, like Team Hoyt or the Walking Dog . On the other hand I appreciate projects which, when measured by normal standards , are useless, stupid or crazy (or all of that at the same time). Projects which defy the idea of productivity and which are done out of pure fun, simply because someone wants to do them or wants to know if they can be done. I guess part of the fun comes exactly from the lack of rationale behind them, like building a hamster wheel for a cat or making realistic replicas of guns from paper.

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Inititally I wanted to write about PES (Adam Pespane) in the other Wondrous Things post today, but it really deserves it's own because first his work is really outstanding and second he's a semiprofessional short film maker, so he didn't really fit into that list.

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I hold quite some fascination with people are doing things outside the ususal ways of spending time. That why I recently got hooked to blogs, they are such a wonderful medium of sharing and becoming aware of unusual ideas and people who take the time to follow them through, no matter how silly they may seem.

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