December 29, 2007
The movie Helvetica
This blog entry about the movie could not be set in anything other than Helvetica. (Or its rather inferior copy Arial, as Erik Spiekermann says).

November 26, 2007
Particlezoo.net Launched and Large Hadron Collider Powers Up
In celebration of CERN's big-ass project the Large Hadron Collider, I have launched The Particle Zoo, your one-stop shop for Subatomic Particle plush toys. The particles were recently shown at the 12th Annual Arroyo Art Walk in Highland Park. The particles will also be included in the upcoming show "Winter Wonderland" at Truxtop Gallery in Silverlake. So stock up for Xmas!

The gravitas of the graviton

September 2, 2007
Squeaky is Humbled
Dirty, fightin' cat gets a bath

September 1, 2007
Satellite or Closeup?
One of these photos is a picture of a moldy Mexican dinner (as photographed by Sean) and one is a satellite photo of India. Can you tell which is which? Please email me your answers. (click thumbnail)

August 2, 2007
Time and Anti-time
If I had to do it all over, I would become a theoretical physicist. But I'm having a hard time envisioning what a typical day is like for them. A morning of solving some formulas containing strings of strange numerals? Perhaps followed by a lunchtime argument with colleagues over the quirky nature of sub-atomic bosons? This followed by an afternoon trip to the particle accelerator in an attempt to generate some mini black holes?

How appropriate that I was cursing the lack of time as I rushed across town to get to the Multiversal Journeys-sponsored science lecture on cosmology and the beginning and end of time. One of the speakers was the awesome Lawrence Krauss, PhD theoretical physicist and the author of "The Physics of Star Trek" (OK, I am a geek now). His animated and thought-provoking talk kept the room in stunned silence as he ruminated on the recent advancements in our knowledge of the Big Bang, how and when time began and how and when it will stop and the absurdity of Kentucky's Creation Museum, where patrons spend $20 each to learn the Earth was created 6,000 years ago. Dr. Krauss is not only an accomplished Yale and MIT scientist, but also an educator and activist for the integrity of science, well-known for his campaigning against the teaching of intelligent design in schools. I am positively religious about my physics!

physicist Lisa Randall,
my hero

June 8, 2007
I happily abdicate my Queen of Extension Cords title
The apartment got an electrical upgrade this week, taking it out of the 1950s with new wiring and 3 new outlets.
The extension cords you see in the photo have been officially liberated and I forfeit my extension cord throne to the Almighty Outlet. In other news, I gave Kat-cam.com a facelift. You will notice a new link to "Mr. Lee," the groundbreaking cat photographer. Mr. Lee wears a camera around his neck and brings back digital photos of his outings. Mr. Lee's dad engineered a custom camera. Squeaky and Mr. Lee look similar, which proves my theory - tuxedos are the best photographers.

May 21, 2007
The End.
I am fascinated with ends. How the Earth will end. When my job will end. Human extinction scenarios. How I will meet my final day. America's inevitable downfall. How the universe will end, billions of years from now. And does time have an end? Why are ends so intriguing? Is it because the border is always more interesting? People prefer to live on coasts, by rivers, and sit on porches. An end is a change. Change is exciting. Transitions are interesting. Could it be because an end implies a beginning? So maybe it is really beginnings that I like.

Apr. 28, 2007
MT.WILSON telescope party is
COMPLETELY FILLED.
I look forward to seeing all 24 of you on May 5th.

Download directions:
Word doc | PDF

What you should know before going:
Word doc | PDF

Apr. 7, 2007
The Blessing of the Animals: All the Pets in L.A.
So far 2007 has been a bad year for pets with the Great Petfood Recall by Menu Foods. The perfect antidote was the Annual Blessing of the Animals in Los Angeles' historic Olvera Street plaza. A line of people and pets snaked around the city block, with practically every species represented, from pig to chinchilla to turtle. An endless parade of costumed cats and dogs sniffed, strolled and posed for photos. I noticed a disproportionate number of chihuahuas wearing sombreros. Wagons of daschunds, bags of bunnies, carts of chihuahuas and armloads of goats made their way proudly through throngs of admiring onlookers. Clinging to their owners chests, uncaged cats appeared less pleased than their canine comrades. With all the wagging tails and immense cuteness, I was in seventh heaven.

Apr. 6, 2007
PeepsBQ 2006: Celebrate Easter, Denver style
My friend Andrew has an Easter tradition of hosting a Peeps BBQ. Last year there was a best-dressed Peep contest as well as Peeps on the grill with chocolate. Witness the madness ...

Mar. 30, 2007
JUST ANOTHER DAY IN LOS ANGELES: The Great Fire of March 30th, 2007
At around noon, a huge forest fire broke out in Griffith Park. Although it was closer to Studio City. the flames appeared to be licking the Griffith Obervatory. Nobody appeared to notice that a gigantic, billowing smoke cloud had changed the crisp, cloudless day to a hazy orange. After all, Los Angelenos are used to the four seasons of their city: Fire, Flood, Earthquake and Riot.

(nobody was hurt and no property was damaged)

Apr. 4, 2007 Andy Wong just sent his most amazing photo of the fire.

What's So Special About This Tomato?

Mar. 20, 2007
ADOBE ACROBAT IS FOXY
If you've ever used Adobe Acrobat, you have been faced with the atrocious office drone artwork that appears on the splash page as the program is opening. After hearing me complain about this eyesore one too many times, Sean took action.
View the Office Drone's foxy makeover.

(larger version)

permalink

Mar. 3, 2007
"Information is not knowledge."
—technorealism.org

Sep. 9, 2006
USED CARS RULE!

• no pesky monthly payments
• no speeding tickets since it doesn't go over 75 mph
• fewer break-ins
• less chance of being mistaken for nouveau-riche
• no need to go to car wash as often
• grinding door on curbs not a problem
• on-the-fly painting whims easily fulfilled
• minor scrapes and scuffs can be laughed off
• easier to spot in parking lot full of late-model Nissans, Hondas and SUVs
• cheaper registration renewal


left: 1989 Ford Festiva

The "Foxy Nymphs (Grab Quick-Lived Waltz Jolt)" linguistics/ wordplay/typography book is currently being published by lulu.com. Ordering info will appear here in the near

What is Foxy Nymphs? The sentence "Foxy Nymphs (Grab Quick-Lived Waltz Jolt)" is a pangram, meaning it contains at least one of every letter of the alphabet. The book is collection of word oddities illustrated using creative typography. It could be called "The Guinness Book of WORD Records" but I decided "Foxy Nymphs" was much sexier. Sample pages in PDF format are available upon request. More than just an index of fascinating alphabetic and morphemic phenomena of the English language, Foxy Nymphs presents the text with 50 pages of lively typographic samples. From “the ugliest words in the English language” to the absurdity of pangrammatic sentences; from "nonconcurrence" (the longest word using only short letters) to "Baden Baden" (a tautonymic city name) to "primitivistic" (the longest i-univocalic word) to "borschts" (the word with most consecutive consonants), the book is both a visual feast and linguistic curiosity. From "academical" to "zoosporous" (words containing letters from the first and last half of the alphabet, respectively), Foxy Nymphs will amuse anyone who likes the curiosities of language and words.

sample page