Given the amount of time it took me to get this stupid thing up and looking like I wanted it, I probably should be a lot more upset with myself. However, I was watching Schindler’s List at the time of this little mishap and seeing what the Jews were going through at the hands of the Nazis pretty much put my problems into perspective. I am actually dealing with this loss quite well. I am seeing it as an opportunity to fix shortcuts, clean things up, perhaps even try out a new design. I am also giving up on the Pic Of The Day and ditching PixelPost. I think I’m going to start using my Flickr account more.

I have to quit talking about it now because I fear I may lose my cool if I dwell on it anymore.

Elton John is mentioned in that article because he too dared to disagree. I’ve seen the criticisms of Elton John for saying he doesn’t want gay marriage and that civil partnerships are just fine for him. He’s being called a self-loathing gay, a self-absorbed and privileged gay, basically he’s falling out from grace. How ironic that just a few years ago, Sir Elton appeared as the head of the Gay Mafia on the popular gay-themed sitcom, Will & Grace. He was chosen to play the role of Alpha Gay and now he is suddenly worthless to the gay community. Why Elton, what have you done?

I really did not want my fresh, new blog to turn into a venue for my political rants, but this season’s election stirred me up enough that I cannot just sit back and keep quiet. I would say I am surprised that people who cry so much for diversity seem incapable of accepting diverse points of view, but I am not really surprised at all. I have never given much credit to those who tell others to be more tolerant and to celebrate diversity. I have seen through their absolute bullshit. Sorry for the harsh words but really, there is no better way to express my feelings on the matter.

Celebrating diversity means that not everyone has to be the same in order to fit in and get along. In fact it is quite the opposite. Celebrating diversity means that black people can be proud to be black, asians proud to be asian, whites proud to be white, etc. Black can enjoy equality while still setting themselves apart from other ethnicities with the moniker African American. Men and Women can enjoy equal status while retaining the different titles for their gender. The entire premise of diversity is that it is okay to acknowledge differences. I should be able to sit next to a black man and an asian woman and acknowledge the differences in gender and ethnicity without some politically correct kook screaming that I am treating them like second-class citizens. The same applies to homosexual relationships and heterosexual relationships. Acknowledging a difference does not imply superiority for one relationship over the other. Celebrating diversity would mean civil unions and marriage could co-exist in harmony and equality in this country.

Then again, what do I know? I am just Mormon Scum afterall…

About a week later I got hit hard. Back to the doctor. He sent me to the dentist thinking I had an abscessed tooth. The dentist said my teeth were fine and that I more likely had a sinus infection. The doctor was concerned because I had just taken some major antibiotics, yet my white blood cell count was off the charts. He sent me to get a CAT scan. CAT scan confirmed I had severe sinusitis. The doctor said it was so bad he would hardly categorize it as a sinus infection. I am starting to dislike hearing the word “severe” when I go to the doctor.

Last visit I had, things seemed to be clearing up. “That’s good” the doctor says. He had expected to send me for an MRI and surgery to clean me out. I had no idea it was that serious. Good thing.

I am a mormon. I am employed by the LDS church. I do not live in California and therefore did not vote on Proposition 8 nor did contribute to the campaign. That said, I had family members and friends that did work on the Yes for 8 campaign and had I lived in California during this past election cycle, make no mistake, I would have voted YES on Prop 8. Some people say my religious affiliation and political opinions amount to me being a bigot. Other people go farther and claim I am a brainwashed robot acting at the behest of the leaders of my cultish, bigoted religion. However, my favorite people are those that lay it right out there, pure and simple, like the person in the picture above with the sign that says “Mormon Scum.” Mormon Scum. It has sort of a nice ring to it.

I have been thinking long and hard about whether or not I wanted to say anything about Prop. 8 on my blog. Being employed by the LDS Church was one of a thousand reasons why I thought I ought to keep my mouth shut. Besides, what can you say to someone that will simply dismiss you as a mindless bigot the second they find out your religious affiliations or political views? Arguments rarely change minds so what is the point of inciting one? Then I thought, no, I should not have to keep quiet for fear of retribution from those that disagree with me. This is America gosh darnit! I have a valid opinion, I have the right to free speech, and I have a blog! So here is what I have to say to those that would call me a bigot.

The homosexual activists/advocates/allies have been saying all along that you are either for gay marriage or you are a bigot. President Bush famously said “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” Therefore, my simple answer to anyone that wants to call me a bigot is that they had better be a staunch supporter of President Bush and the war in Iraq or they are “with the terrorists.” Plain and simple, just the way I like it. You cry bigot, I cry terrorist.

For the record, I will take issue with anyone that chooses to call me a bigot. I prefer the term Mormon Scum.

Thank you.

This is something I have been meaning to post for a while now but have been reluctant to do so given the ugliness that Election 2008 has brought out of the American people. At this point, I am sure that come November 4th, Senator Barack Obama will become President-elect Obama and while I am not really happy about this, I can honestly say that I hope his presidency does not live up to the pessimistic predictions I have for it in my head.

That said, I wanted to put up some side-by-side comparisons of Obama’s campaign artwork and some classic communist propaganda posters. Obama can laugh off the notion that his policies amount to socialism and I do not care to argue that here. I am posting this to critique something that I do know a little about which is art, style, and particularly design. In my mind, there is no question that Obama is using a style similar to the communists of yesteryear, a style I have dubbed “Obamaganda.” The real question that absolutely fascinates me is why Obama, being a left-of-center politician running for the highest political position in a nation that has had such a major anti-socialist/communist past would be comfortable using this Obamaganda style.

So how did this all start? I believe this image of Obama (right of Lenin, above) is what set it all off. According to legend, an L.A. street artist named Shepard Fairey created this image for an unauthorized poster. I have seen other samples of Fairey’s artwork and it is amazing. Again, I tend to admire his style and design prowess but not so much the messages his designs convey. The Obama campaign also seems to have admired and even latched onto that style and from there it has grown.

The main reason that I am so interested in Obama’s use of propaganda styles is that I kind of collect digital images of old, communist propaganda. I do this because as a designer myself, I appreciate the aesthetic, the techniques, and the power of this simple style used almost across the board by the most famous of the commies. My favorites are the bold-but-minimal Russian posters primarily from the Lenin era with the Chinese Mao woodcuts a close second. Make no mistake, I despise the messages being conveyed by the propaganda. However, design is about communication and whether you love them or you hate them, the commies really knew how to communicate effectively. Perhaps this is what Obama’s camp was thinking in adopting this style.

A very common element in propaganda is the sunburst effect. This was particularly a favorite othe Mao. What does this convey? A simple burst of sunlight signaling a bright, new day? Yeah, that is the essence of a revolution right there. This Obama poster next to a smiling Mao (Mao tends to smile a lot, most other commies did not) has a single word: BELIEVE. The sunburst says the rest. Believe it’s going to be nothing but sunshine and glory, baby! This is a great example of the beauty of simplicity in design.

Another smiling Mao next to a unique Obama. This is the only example I had of Obama looking directly ahead (if this were a photo, he would be looking directly at the camera). Almost without fail, Obama is depicted looking upward and to one side. Looking upward conveys optimism, hope, confidence, and coupled with the looking to one side, it is almost as if he is looking around some obstacles, sort of a ready-to-take-on-what-is-up-ahead look. As a matter of personal taste I do not like this Obama poster as much as the one above it. At first glance you see the word “Dream” but then there’s the word “the” above that, plus the “Hope” button and the hokey use of “E PLURIBUS UNIM” above that. Couple all that with the sunburst and my opinion is that this designer went too far and simplicity was lost.

I was able to snap some pictures of what appeared to be low-fidelity, even homemade Obama posters, including the one on the right up above, while I was in San Francisco a few months back attending UX Week. There were slogans like “Power to the People!” and “The Time is Now!”, very simple-yet-action-oriented posters. Given that I was at the very liberal intersection of Haight & Ashbury this was not so shocking to me. The single color, black and white image makes for an easily reproduced flyer. Very spartan, quite effective. Similar in style and pose to that of the Lenin image on the left.

Obama vs. Fidel. A pretty tight crop on Obama’s face but very simple, minimal colors with the mouth open as if delivering one of those famous Obama speeches. Text on the Obama poster reads “The New Hope” which brings an almost religious fervor to the whole thing.

Some interesting similarities between Castro and Obama here. Both posters use a colored block background to set the main idea off (10 de Mayo for Castro, Hope for Obama). Castro has more descriptive text because this is for a specific event whereas Obama is merely trying to convey hope. Both are looking more sideways than usual, almost more of a profile shot. 

The ubiquitous Che picture and a somewhat similar image of Obama side-by-side. No words, just dead-serious.

It would appear that Hillary tried to jump on the bandwagon late in her bid for the Democratic nomination. The turtleneck just does not have the same effect as a military uniform or power suit. Probably all part of her game plan. She did not want to appear to enjoy power too much. I bet she would hate how I put her next to Lenin down below, her eyes appearing to gaze adoringly at the former Soviet leader.

As I said at the beginning, it is with reluctance that I make this post. Frankly, I do not trust people to behave properly. I will be using an iron fist and an itchy delete finger to moderate any comments on this post, you know, like that guy from Venezuela that Hollywood seems to adore so much. Well, assuming I get the word out and people actually start reading my blog, or should the search engines pick me up and bring in readers from outside my normal sphere of influence. If you are reading this and you see it as a knock to your dear leader, Obama, then you have missed the point entirely. I am actually admiring his choice of style and if that was what I based my vote on, he would have it, hands down.

Before anyone castigates me as a racist for laughing at ethnic stereotypes, I believe my German mother had an Italian Grandmother or Great-Grandmother so I am pretty much some fraction Italian, therefore I have the right to laugh at my own race. Please enjoy Italian Spiderman.

That’s amazing. Simply amazing. This is merely the trailer and there are (at the time of this posting) 10 full episodes of this stuff to enjoy. The episodes seem to last anywhere from 3-5 minutes and some tend to get a little PG-13 so enjoy them responsibly.

• Episode 1
• Episode 2
• Episode 3
• Episode 4
• Episode 5
• Episode 6
• Episode 7
• Episode 8
• Episode 9
• Episode 10

I found this beautiful little YouTube video from someone on Facebook and loved the trip down memory lane. See, I grew up in San Jose, California and when people ask me what part, I’ll usually tell them something like “near Campbell” or “practically Campbell” and if they are at all familiar with the area, they know exactly where I mean. To set things straight, I’m no wannabe Campbellite, I am a San Jo thug til I die if you know what I’m saying. But it seems I couldn’t venture too far South or West from my house before ending up in Campbell. Heck, if you were to ask me where Taco Bravo, the Prune Yard, or where Andy Rockwood lived, I would have said San Jose. And I would have been wrong on all accounts.

One of the things people from this part of the world love to talk about is the fact that the band Rancid hails from the area, as if that’s the coolest thing about the place. Well, it is pretty cool, but now I think it’s even more cool to tell people that eBay is just a stone’s throw from my parent’s house. I can remember that office park before it was bought out and I can even remember when that old house (the Ainsley Mansion) sat right there before being moved down next to the Campbell library.

Well, before I geek out too hard, let me get back to my original purpose for posting this clip which was to allow me to add my own personal commentary and anecdotes. The bad dancing is reminiscent of this other video that I enjoy at a level beyond reason, but again, this is like a trip home for me. So here we go.

Opening Shot — Man I totally remember that animal hospital on Winchester Blvd. for some reason. I know it’s not the one just up from the old Delta Queen car wash where more than one of my household pets was euthanized for one reason or another.

@0:10 — Ah, Highway 17, the lifeline to the coast.

@0:21 — Westmont High. My dad taught here (though he doesn’t remember Lars). I went to Del Mar because it was a five minute walk from where I lived. There was the ominous threat of me getting pulled out of “that school” and being brought over to Westmont where I could benefit from stricter parental supervision of my scholastic career. I learned to get grades just good enough to not let this happen

@0:39 — Campbell Water Tower is looking pretty swanky. Did they paint that thing or something? Must be to make the yuppies feel better for paying as much as they did for their townhome.

@1:08 — I used to ride my bike past this sign a lot on my way to work.

@1:29 — Ah, BART. This reminds me that I need to write a post someday to compare and contrast the experience of riding BART and CalTrain.

@1:34 — Sharmon Palms Lane. I used to pass this everyday on the bus back in 7th grade when Campbell Jr. High was “too full” so they bussed me over to Rolling Hills. Was I part of some diversity program? Bring kids from “the hood” (okay, so I did not live in the hood but Ravenscourt was pretty scary!) over to affluent area to give the rich kids someone to taunt and torment? Holy crap, I think I was… I’m totally voting against that crap in the future.

@1:53 — Two, wide lanes of traffic in either direction, this was cool to see. Downtown Campbell underwent a big transformation that started back when I was working for the Waltons on Railway Avenue. Used to be I had to risk my life to run across this intersection to get to the swarthy little convenience store with the dirty magazines so I could buy chocolate milk (or something else totally ridiculous) for Curt. Now they have crosswalks and traffic signals. The convenience store was probably replaced by a Starbucks or something.

@2:16 — Ahhhh, Taco Bravo. Del Mar had an open campus and this was where you went to been seen. I think the first time I witness a drug deal was in this parking lot. Memories. Still love that place, even after my little brother told me what someone who worked there confessed to him, something about the beans… Plus you had Der Wienerschnitzel right next to it if you wanted chili cheese dogs or Tower Records if you needed music. Oh, speaking of Tower Records, if you ever find yourself there with a friend who’s holding a CD that has two price tags on it, do not advise said friend to remove the price tag with the higher number. You will be fine if you do so, but your friend will get picked up by an undercover security guard with an inferiority-complex that will perp-walk him to the back of the store and proceed to attempt to scare the crap out of him with words like “juvenile hall” and “crime record” while you wait hopelessly for him to get released. If this happens to you and your friend, pray that this friend has an understanding, discreet brother-in-law that can sign for his release when his mother cannot be reached.

Mark’s Boss: So, did you see anything interesting at UX Week?
I saw Jury Hahn Dan Albritton from Megaphone do a sweet presentation.

Mark’s Boss: Did Dan share anything useful or inspiring that you might share with the rest of the UX team?
Heck yes. Dan had these amazingly colorful shoes so I put my zoom lens on and waited for a clear shot of them which turned out to be a lot harder than it sounds.  People’s heads kept getting in the way and Dan kept moving around on the stage.  With a little hard work and determination I was able to capture the image.  Those are some crazy-cool shoes though.  It was well worth the effort.

Mark’s Boss: Okay, but did Dan present anything that you might share with the team?
Oh sure, you see Megaphone makes games that you play on large displays with complete strangers and your cell phone is your controller.  There was an amazing demo.  Unfortunately I had crappy cell coverage and couldn’t play the games first hand but everyone around me that tried seemed to enjoy them pretty well.  I took a picture of one of the games, too.

I love what I do.