Friday, November 30, 2007

Modernist Art and Battleships


"Like most of us, The Allies only turned to modern art out of desperation. German U-boats were sinking enormous amounts of shipping and there was no really effective defense against them. It is axiomatic that if you can't stop the people who are shooting at you, you should make it very hard for them to find you. Thus, camouflage.


Most camouflage is based on the idea of concealment and blending in with its surroundings. However another school of thought has argued for making the item in question appear to be a mashup of unrelated components. Naval camoufleurs found this theory particularly appealing. Blending didn't work because ships operated in two different and constantly changing color environments – sea and sky. Any camo that concealed in one environment was usually spectacularly conspicuous in others.


Norman Wilkinson, a British naval officer and painter, suggested a scheme that came to be known as Dazzle or Razzle Dazzle painting. Wilkinson believed that breaking up a ship's silhouette with brightly contrasting geometric designs would make it harder for U-boat captains to determine the ship's course."


Whether or not this tactic of Razzle Dazzle really worked is hard to determine as at the same time, the convoy system was also implemented. I'm sure the ships looked confusing, but to be honest, I reckon some of the designs are pretty over the top conceptions. I would have thought fractals of greys and blues would have worked better. (I'm no naval engineer though)But it does allow the naval ships to claim the honour of being the largest painted canvases ever!



Original Post and Description [VIA]

Texhnolyze

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Texhnolyze is a cyber-punk anime; it was first released on Japanese TV in 2003 and ran for 22 episodes. The series was directed by Hirotsugu Hamazaki, Yoshitoshi ABe was the character artist and Chiaki Konaka was the writer. Texhnolyse is sometimes referred to as the staff of Serial Experiments Lain's 5-year reunion because most of the staff worked on both anime series. Texhnolyze takes place in the underground city of Lukuss where the people live in despair scraping a living in this crumbling city. Lukuss is run by three rival factions the Organo, the Union, and the Racans. The Organo and the Union are the top dogs in the city and have come to an agreement to stop fighting each other so there can be some peace (however small) in the city. The members of these factions live a very privileged life while the rest of the population is very poor.

Texhnolyze is a term used in the anime that describes the advance technology that replaces human limbs with cybernetic ones. And only the privileged have them with the exception of the members of the Union (as they are against anything texhnolyzed). The main character is Ichise he was a sort of kick boxer (but more violent) who pissed off some lower members of the Organo, and got a leg and an arm chopped off for this then was left to die. Because he is so hell bent on getting revenge he drags himself into town looking for the ones that cut his limbs off. Eventually he passes out and is found by Doc who takes a liking to him and texhnolyzes him. Ichise goes through a series of events which sees him get his revenge, join the Organo, and because of his choices’ places him in the middle of a whole heap of crap.



This is a very dark anime and it is very drawn out in places; for example in the first episode there is very little talking and in the first 13 minutes there is no talking. For the first half of the series thats about 12 episodes it is very slow as the scene is set and the main characters are introduced. But in the last 10 episodes it really picks up and turns out to be a really kick ass anime. Now I liked this anime but I’m not going to lie to you it took me 6 months to watch it. After watching 3 episodes I turned it off and thought what a waist of money and this went on until the episode 13 then I could not stop watching it. The last 3 episodes in the whole anime is so awesome that it more then makes up for the slow start. I would recommend this anime to anyone that liked boogiepop phantom and Paranoia agent if you did not then this is probably not for you. It is packed full of violence and things that will make you think; all you have to do to enjoy this anime is be patient and enjoy the anime for what it is.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Celebrity Mugshots


These are Celebrity mugshots,and they ain't pretty.As you can see professional Make-up and lighting,makes a world of difference.

Crazy Cars and Dumb Drivers














































A humorous list of crazy wheels created by dumb drivers.

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