This week’s Hexup will be a little short and very video heavy, but at least it’s here! Today we look at some cool space stuff including a look at exoplanets and what some are calling the first music video filmed in space. We’ll also take a look at some of the latest cyborg tech and computer tech. Also the Opportunity rover begins to make the most of it’s mileage and we risk getting arrested as we look at illegal numbers. Enjoy!
General
On Being The Pwnage I Want To See In The World
by Dan • May 17, 2013 • 0 Comments
The other day I found myself spending some much overdue time with my mother and as usual we wound up sitting around drinking tea and talking about all kinds of unrelated stuff. One of the things we talked a lot about was Headshots From the Heart. My mother had a lot of questions and while many of them centered around the kind of technology we used to take donations and set up the event mostly she wanted to know about why I was doing it. This, among other things has gotten me thinking about why I am doing Headshots. A little while ago I did a post about what I think about charity in general so this time I thought I might talk specifically about the charity event that I am most involved in.
Expressions
The Art of Asking
by Jim • May 15, 2013 • 0 Comments
We shared Amanda Palmer’s TED talk “The Art of Asking” in our roundup a while back, but it’s remained something I wanted to expand on. In it, she talks about how much of her success and her ability to do what she loves is due to asking for thing. Places to sleep, pianos to practice on, food for her band, you name it. She tries to really connect with people and it’s through these connections that she feels comfortable asking. And they respond. Not everyone, but enough. As someone who’s done a lot of asking, this video hit pretty hard with me.
General
Piracy Re-imagined, Solar Planes, and Plant Communication
by Dan • May 11, 2013 • 0 Comments
Last week we got swamped with some Headshots From The Heart related business and didn’t get our Hexup out. We’re back this week with our usual strange assortment of cool ideas and interesting news stories.
General
On Painting
by Dan • May 10, 2013 • 0 Comments
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about quitting my job and going back to school. One of the things I am going back to school to finish is a Fine Arts degree, specifically, a Fine Arts degree in painting. Now before you even ask, no, I don’t have the slightest idea what I am going to do with that and, yes I am fully aware that painting is by and large a terrible way to make money. Even if you’re good at it. It’s a good thing making camel-loads of money isn’t on my to do list because at best I am probably a middling painter and I should add to that I am also horribly out of practice. One of the goals I wish to accomplish before classes start in September is to do some painting and get used to working with the materials again, but I seem to be having a damnable time getting started.
Expressions
On Charity
by Dan • May 3, 2013 • 0 Comments
As you may or may not of heard, the month of May technically doesn’t exist here at Concept Crucible and while we’re still getting posts written and putting them up, neither of us are entirely sure how it all is happening. The reason for this is that Headshots From The Heart is eating up most of our time and keeping us insanely busy. The event has us thinking a lot about charity and what it means to us as well as how it impacts others in our communities. So today that’s what I’m going to talk about. What does charity mean to me? How does Charity impact my life and my community?
Expressions
Headshots: Start to Finish
by Jim • May 1, 2013 • 0 Comments
May is charity month, and I can’t talk about charity without talking about Headshots from the Heart, naturally. It’s coming up in just a few weeks, and it’s going to be amazing. LAN party, webcast, auctions, all for children’s hospitals. But this isn’t an impassioned plea for you to help children (for my impassioned plea, go here). It’s a look at the idea, and the process.
Hexup
Movies, Fears, and Germs with Gas
by Jim • April 27, 2013 • 0 Comments
Hexup
Today’s Hexup has some gorgeous art, some killer stories, and no space news, not because there is none, but because this stuff is really cool. It’s going to be a brave new world for us today. Hold me. At least the weather here is sunny.
Send us your awesome idea stories, revolutionary news, or otherwise kickass articles by tweeting us at #CCHexup
General
On The Commercialization Of Space
by Dan • April 26, 2013 • 2 Comments
So I’ve noticed that I often start these things with a little anecdote which I then try to connect to whatever topic I intend to talk about. I then wander hopelessly off course and wind with bare coherence by about the end. I’m not sure entirely how I feel about this or why I like to start this way. Maybe I like to feel connected to my topics, or maybe like a lot of folks these days I’m just hopelessly self absorbed and can’t quite get away from myself. Well, whatever, here goes.
When I was a kid I used to draw constantly and almost all of my drawings could be separated into three kinds: airplanes, rocket ships, and weird underground complexes on other planets. In grade six I even remember doing a project where I taught my entire class how to draw a rocket ship from start to finish. The ships I used to draw were these vaguely Saturn V like things because when I was a kid that is what a rocket ship looked like, at least here in North America. That or the space shuttle. The Space Shuttle was alright but I always had my heart set on the Saturn V. It took people to the moon! Now I know the shape of the Saturn V must have the Freudians smirking right now, phallic something or other, but its aerodynamics okay? Besides I’m pretty sure Freud isn’t cool right now anyway.
Words of Power
I Brought My Teachers
by Jim • April 24, 2013 • 0 Comments
Words of Power
This one’s almost Pulp Philosophy, but it’s more feelings than philosophy. We all have teachers, the people who instill in us specific lessons about life, the universe, and everything. They might be writers we follow, friends and family, or actual instructors in a classroom setting. In the same way, we’re all teachers. We want to be, setting examples and hoping to make an impact on people’s lives. We want to be the kind of person whose lessons people will carry around with them. And we do carry those lessons around. We cart them from place to place, both good and bad, sometimes using them and sometimes not. But they’re always sort of there. Maybe it’s the student in me, but I’ve had a lot of teachers. Some of them knew it, some of them didn’t. So has the Black Canary.