New Media Scav Hunt

I forgot all about this assignment and happened to stumble upon something that actually reminded me of it! I was at Meijer buying groceries and went through the self-checkout lane like usual - when it suddenly struck me this is New Media at work - but it really struck me when I pushed the button to signify that I was buying produce. It asked me for the code, and then asked that I place the bag on the scale - not only did it ask, but it showed a CGI animation of a woman shopper placing a bag of apples on the machine's scale to show you where to place the bag. Even though this is something menial and not terribly exciting, it made me realize that New Media is all around me and that I don't necessarily have to seek it out to find it...

10 Times the Trouble

So we had Susan sub for today, (Very sorry to hear the bad news, Beth, she will be missed). Because of this the class was a little more structured than usual which was fine, but since hardly anybody showed up so even though it was productive, it could have been more so... Either way, we talked about a lot of different topics and particularly discussed the actual definition of new media. Almost everyone in attendance participated in the discussion, and all and all it proved to be both a fruitful and entertaining conversation.

Eighteen is actually 9...

Missed getting this one done on time... again. Today we watched What the *Bleep* Do We Know?, this was a very inspirational film about the power of thought and positive thinking - and rather than giving a New Age-y or any sort of religious connotation - they use the opposite to prove it: Science! Which is very interesting, because I have never heard this approach before - it sounds very mysterious and mystical, but apparently it's backed up by facts... It's not necessarily "god" answering your prayers so much as your concentrative thought processes actually altering reality - fucking wild! I've always felt as though it is possible to alter your own surroundings by your attitude - but not to this sort of degree! With this sort of knowledge it becomes clear why certain people seem to possess "special powers" or "magical abilities." I've always been interested in the esoteric, occult, and magickical (sic) thinking - which it now seems like maybe explained as "real" by us of it's one-time mortal enemy, science. For a little while now I have been trying to make a concerted effort to use thought in order to change the outcome of situations and the way they effect and affect me and my surroundings - it seems to be working, not a huge night and day difference, but then again I've just begun. Will report back on this as more developements occur...

Jeep update forthcoming as well, as new pictures (and my belated tax refund!) have been recieved...

8-Ball Corner Pocket...

Once again I was kinda not impressed with what everyone did for their randomness assignment. More than half the class didn't even attempt anything. Now, look, mine was fucking lame... I won't lie, I did it right before class. I had no idea what to do with "pocket" and "apple." Other than put an apple in my pocket, which is stupid. So I printed out a bunch of different typefaces and fonts in different colors of the word "pocket" and glued them to an apple. I know, uninspired and trite, but building a tank is a long and arduous endeavor! Doing all sorts of work to a vehicle takes up a lot of time (especially if you enjoy it) - like time that you should devote to other things! So anyway, I had that stupid "Pocket Apple" and I brought a bag of apples to share with the class - but I didn't have enough money that I can spend $10+ on apples that I'm going to just give away! So I just brought one bag figuring that not everybody would want one anyway... but then I didn't speak up so I didn't get to explain myself, so I just looked insane saying "It's a Pocket Apple." (which amused me.)

So even though I didn't get to use the apples for my randomness assignment - they ended up being put to good use! Pat and I convinced a ((n) on duty!) police officer to drive over the apples with his lights and sirens going, haha! I said "I know, it's bizzare..." and he replied: "Yeah, sure, I'll do it" (followed by a chuckle). The best part of the whole thing was that he was on the sidewalk guarding the burnt down condos and people were walking by when he did this - and we had him do it twice!

I have to remember to make Pat upload the video to the web. When I do, I'll post a link right here.

P.S. : I have received more Tank pictures. I will post them and subsequent explanations soon, including a good story involving fire, gas tanks, and a crispy hand!

Why This? Why Now?

So, what if I DIDN'T HAVE TO REBUILD THE JEEP FROM THE FUCKING GROUND UP??? We'll never know because that's exactly what needs to be done - since pretty much the entire floor is rusted through!!!! In a word: AWESOME. So we start working on the Jeep and decide that in order to truly build an indestructible killing machine, structural integrity is key - so we start taking up the carpet in order to weld a nice steel bar internal roll cage - and discover that the carpet is the only thing holding the floor together in several places, on both sides of the front seats - further exploration yields the same results. "Fucking rednecks are laughing about this," I keep thinking to myself. Sheet metal is expensive as hell, about $20 for a 2x2ft piece. At that rate it'll cost about $100 just for the front floor... Not happening.




This is what most of the "floor" looked like right after the carpet was pulled up.





After a lot of hammering, cutting and grinding, we found that the only solid metal on the fucking thing was the frame - after cleaning up and removing all the rusted, frail metal - there was more ground visible than floor by far! In the end I said "Fuck it!" and stripped the entire interior, including the side molding. After all, tanks don't have carpet!

WHAT IF THE IRS DIDN'T LOSE MY REFUND CHECK?

Well, I'll never know - because they did.

So... not only did that happen - but I also had some minor hang-ups on the Jeep-Tank conversion project itself. I took a bunch of pictures before the project got really underway about a week and a half ago, and wouldn't you know it! - that damn camera walked out on me until last night when it magically reappeared! So here finally are the pictures I've been talking about for a few blogs now:















So this is my blank canvas, so to speak... A 1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 4x4, 2 door, Automatic Transmission, 4.0 High Output Inline 6 Cylinder Engine, Power Nothing, over 203,000 miles. While it has clearly seen better days - it is a very reliable daily driver, the body and paint are decent for being 13 years old and having the miles, the 4 wheel drive works well and I paid $650 cash for this thing. By the way, the steel wheels are of course not factory - I purchased them @ Goodwill for $40, the paint is brand new and high quality. The tires that came with the truck when I bought it were dry-rotted and pretty much bald, I bought new Off-Road A/T Goodyear Wranglers with road hazard package ~$400, ouch! I know, but they are very nice and will be replaced for free in the event of any flats. The interior is dank, dusty, dirty, decaying, decrepit, and in places downright disgusting. It smells like musty rednecks and gasoline (the latter of which being because the gas tank has a hole in it at about 3/4 up the side of the tank! Thanks for letting me know rednecks!). So this is my canvas and I will address some of the things that have been done/are going to be to it in the next blog.

Here are some photos of someone's Cherokee that originally served as an initial source of inspiration. As you can see it's definitely been built to go off-roading, that piping all around it is an external roll cage which is designed to keep the vehicle from being crushed and body panels being destroyed in the event of a roll-over. I really want one for my Jeep, we are kicking around the idea of doing both an internal and an external roll cage - which would make this thing damn near indestructible. I also really like his custom spare tire placement, mine is currently located inside the vehicle and obscures my rearview on the driver's side.

There is a

Pocket on my mirror.