Yo, Hasek!!!

STAY IN THE FOOKIN' NET!!!!!

That way the Sharks' offense can't score an empty net goal on your ass.

Thanks.

And the winner (by technical knockout)....

...is University of Michigan.

It's not a decision that's terribly pleasing, but it's better than the alternative. Many of you didn't see the underlying effort that went into my wife getting into five out of eight of the schools she applied to; nor can you understand how heart-wrenching this outcome truly is. The past months have been horrendous, to say the least; full of overwhelming stress, crippling doubt, countless hours of lost sleep, and more than a few instances of frayed nerves coming too close to the surface for comfort.

For those of you who weren't privy to all the goings-on, I'll provide a brief backstory. Last year, over the course of several months, my wife and I traveled to six graduate schools in four different states - Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and New York - and prepped and sent out eight elaborately designed application packets. My wife did most of the heavy lifting; I was there mainly in a "support" capacity; serving as driver, graphic designer, occasional postal monkey, and researcher. When we visited these campuses, the faculty saw her; heard her present herself and her work. I hid in the shadows and checked out the graphics departments (it's my "thing."). After all of the visits were done and the packets mailed, the waiting game began. The first university responded with a rejection, which didn't do anything to lighten the already tense situation. Things were beginning to look a little bleak - until the second university responded: accepted. Then a second acceptance. Then another. Five acceptance letters in total: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ohio State University, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, University of Michigan, and University of Cincinnati. The first one in the list is where she really wanted to go, followed by the second, etc.

In the end, we were really hoping for Ohio State University. The program was impressive, and - according to the art office's graduate secretary - acceptance to the program entailed a teaching assistantship and a full tuition waiver as well as a stipend. This meant that we could live fairly comfortably - not like kings, mind you, but definately not like paupers.

And here's the part where it all falls apart.

For two weeks, the head of the sculpture program at OSU had been trying to secure funding for my wife to attend the program. Apparently we were misinformed regarding funding, and were now struggling to get anything. A couple days ago she finally got word that there was no funding available, which completely and utterly destroyed any hope of being able to attend that school. As heartbreaking as that was, she now realized that she was forced to choose between two programs that really didn't have what she wanted. One (University of Cincinnati) provided stellar funding but the program was severely lacking (and the city left much to be desired); the other (University of Michigan) provided minimal funding but a decent program in a more recognized and established university. The decision wasn't an easy one - neither was want she wanted - but in the end the decision was to go to a university that would help more with the career down the road.

So, University of Michigan it is.

In roughly four months, we'll be in or around Ann Arbor. There's no real details right now because we're still trying to figure all this out.

It's been a rough couple of months. I can only hope that the next couple of months are a little better.

Videogame violence vs. real violence

As I post this, faculty, staff, students, and family of students at Virginia Tech are struggling to come to terms with the death of 32 people after the 16 April shooting rampage. The gunman's motives may never be known as he killed himself, dying amongst his many victims.

That hasn't stopped some people from speculating about the reason why this 23yr. old South Korean student went on this rampage. It's a simple explanation; something that every fly-by-night psychologist/psychotherapist/quack has quoted nearly verbatim every time something like this happens. Here, Dr. Phil is the first to postulate on the motivation behind the shootings in Virginia (text taken from a Larry King interview from 4/16/2007):

"Well, Larry, every situation is different…
The question really is can we spot them. And the problem is we are programming these people as a society. You cannot tell me - common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they’re on a mass killing spree in a video game, it’s glamorized on the big screen, it’s become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high.

And we’re going to have to start dealing with that. We’re going to have to start addressing those issues and recognizing that the mass murders of tomorrow are the children of today that are being programmed with this massive violence overdose."

Just to make sure you didn't miss it, the important hyperbole is in italics. Once again, violence in videogames and/or movies/tv is seen as the catch-all reason. This - and only this - apparently is what causes fragile young minds to snap and think that a killing spree is a really good idea.

Excuse me whilst I call BULLSHIT on this, won't you?

First of all, how do we know that this student even played video games? Watched violent movies? Even if he did, what does that prove? Millions of people across the country play video games and are exposed to violent programming daily. By this logic, half the planet should be going ape-shit right now. Secondly, what about the other potential reasons? Was he struggling in classes? Did he have a relationship go south? Granted, Dr. Phil alluded to part of the reason - this student may have had some sociopathic or psychotic tendencies to begin with, and some circumstances could have pushed him over the edge. But solely blaming violence - whether in videogames, movies, or on television - is patently ridiculous. This, Dr. Phil, is what real doctors call a "faulty diagnosis." If this is the only thing you're going on, then how do you explain Jeffrey Dahmner or Charles Manson? Did they loose too many lives playing "Pitfall" on the Atari?

Granted, violence is prevalent in our society. But it's been prevalent for thousands of years, not only here but across the globe. Look at other cultures: the Assyrians; the Spartans; the Iroquois. Violent cultures have existed for many years before videogames, movies, and television came around. By Dr. Phil's logic, an Assyrian warrior was one Ultra-Combo away from starting a mass stabbing spree.

Please. For FSM's sake, please pull your head out. There are other issues that need to be addressed before the giant leap to videogame violence is even considered.

Among the unknown are questions about this guy's background. Did he have a happy home life? Did he have issues at school? Girl/boyfriend trouble? Did he seek out or was he in therapy? More importantly, was therapy available to him? Did anyone recognize he needed help, and offer it?

Dr. Phil is correct on one point: we do need to recognize the people that need help, and then try to get them the help they need. However, everyone needs to stop pointing their craggly finger in the direction of the nearest XBOX or PS2. Gamers are not being subtly programmed to kill you, nor are movies or TV inherently evil. As with all things, it's how you interpret what you're seeing, and how you deal with it.

Unfortunately for tirty-two people in Virginia, this student dealt with things very poorly.

[EDIT: Jack Thompson is also jumping on this bandwagon. Click here for background information on Jack.

*shakes magic 8 ball*

Deciding on a graduate school is much more difficult when said graduate school is really shy about telling you how much funding you're getting.

Ohio State - the place my wife would like to go - hasn't told her what she's getting (definitively)as far as funding. This is causing a small amount of stress (read: small enough to hold a planetoid). On the other hand, another university recently threw a crapload of money at her - enough for tuition and bills. In the meantime, I'm of no use; I can't - and won't - tell her which school to go to, but I can't exactly call up the school and convince them to toss money her way. It's a bit of a conundrum: go to the school with the lesser program because they're paying for everything and then some, or go to the school with the decent program and pimp out the cats to make ends meet.

Me? I'm hoping the school calls/emails today with good news so we can all start to relax a little.

On a completely different note, I think I'm living proof that the dead can walk. After working back-to-back 10.5 hour shifts on Thursday and Friday, my insomniac nature decided to rear its ugly head. After sleepless Friday and Saturday nights, I spent much of Sunday wandering aimlessly around the apartment, hungering for brainscaffeine - which did little or nothing to help.

I did wake up long enough to blearily watch the Wings (go Pavel!!) pound the hell out of the Flames to take a two-game lead in the series.

note to self...

A banana for breakfast and carrots and celery for lunch seemed like a wonderfully healthy idea.

But now my gastrointestinal tract wants to kill me.

Blerg.

Steal this post

Before you get too deep into this post, read all about the issue at hand here. In a nutshell, it's theft of art for commercial gain.

This all started when the author/artist of Purple Pussy, Shmorky, noticed that a painting by a chap named Todd Goldman strongly resembled a panel he had done a couple of years prior for his comic. This then exploded online as people began posting to the SomethingAwful.com forums with inummerable examples of Mr. Goldman's plagiarism. Since the initial forum post on SomethingAwful, the issue has been addressed on websites such as Digg and by numerous webcomic artists (including the infamous Scott Kurtz). It's still growing, and an interview with Mr. Goldman is forthcoming.

As more and more evidence is brought to light it's starting to become painfully clear that Todd Goldman has never had an original idea in his life, and has spent his "artistic career" stealing images from people such as Shmorky and Roman Dirge and passing them off as his own. He's apparently done quite well with it: his paintings are selling for upwards of $3,000 at gallery shows. Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol (Pop artists) borrowed imagery from others as well, but didn't do it with the sole purpose of turning a profit. They did it to comment on their surroundings - what was happening in the art world; in popular culture - rather than to make a fast buck. While they could have been sued for appropriating imagery, Goldman should be sued.

Why? What's the difference? There was no subterfuge with Lichtenstein or Warhol; they used the imagery to create art. Goldman has taken imagery created by other artists, and - rather poorly - changed small details and passed it off as his own. Warhol painted the Campbell's soup cans as they appeared on supermarket shelves (admittedly, in some fairly wild colours); he didn't remove the "C" and try to sell "ampbell's" as his own idea. Todd Goldman has done this, repeatedly, and is making a living off of it - more precisely, he's making a living off of other people's creations.

As an artist, I know how incredibly difficult it is to be creative; to get that idea to germinate. It's scary and frustrating to put your work out there, but it's unforgivable to see someone steal something you've created, claim it as their own, and make a small fortune off of it.

So, spread the word. Tell those around you. Who knows - the next work that's stolen may be yours.

It's like they were there...

Five Minutes to Kill Yourself
I swear, it's like someone understands how much I loveloathe my job...

It's just a jump to the left...

I love my wife.

This past weekend, I watched her hurl insults and epithets at an oddly-dressed man on a stage whilst I sat in a caffeine-enhanced fog of sleep deprivation and giggled like a rabid hyena.

Now, before I start getting angry emails from the three or four of you that read this blog, let me explain. We were in the audience for Grand Valley's production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which, if you're good little droogies you know that being lewd, crude, loud, and obnoxious is required for this particular cinematic/theatrical production. Indeed, this is one time where you can be the people that your parents warned you about.

The performance itself was great, especially the actor playing Frankenfurter - better than Tim Curry's performance in the movie. My favourite part: him admonishing an audience member for tossing toilet paper on the stage too soon by yelling, "not yet!"

The cast interacted with the audience through subtle glances, winks, and *ahem* "body language." Granted, they were breaking the fourth wall, but for this play it didn't matter. Besides, it's kind of hard not to interact when you're dodging fire from squirt guns, confetti, and playing cards.

Now if only I could get "Time Warp" out of my head...

It's just a jump to the left...