random tangents

posted by ekeith @ 8:44 AM 0 comments

found this little movie on the web made from filming of 9th ward Jan. 31st....
although the area of new orleans that i'm dealing with--treme--is not AS devestated as the 9th ward alot of it mimics the destruction. there are closed down schools that are still trashed, the 2 project areas are completely boarded up and there is very limited availability advertising to the open businesses in the area...the issues that the little film deals with are applicable to my site....
in texas they say "Remember the Alamo", in this case i advocate a similar saying on different political grounds..."REMEMBER KATRINA"--it's victims are still being vicitimized:

http://www.droppingknowledge.org/chocolate_city.html

-the houses in my area were rented primarily by people who qualify as section 8--and yet the owners of the property are rebuilding yet raising rental prices to beyond the means that these people can afford--even with section 8 assistance.

my point: the issues surrounding rebuilding of these areas are STILL here....
as someone who has come face to face with these issues through the location, proposal, and feasiblity of the project that i'm proposing....

i'm having an activist moment...please bear with me. =) but know that there will be more in the future....

posted by ekeith @ 4:56 PM 0 comments

Here are my conceptual models. Taking characteristics from the regeneration of forest ecosystems after a natural forest fire, constraints are created to generate the dynamic system in a more pragmatic way.
Biodiversity & Symbiosis[diverse flora and fauna exist within the ecosystem. this diversity, usually competing, must exhibit traits of symbiosis as the ecosystem, the biome within all these creatures exist, is rebuilding itself.]--diverse, and competing cultural, political, and economical parts of new orleans must assist each other in the over-all rebuilding of the city--in the model each material exhibits different characteristics and properties, but work together to create a form.

Dormant Qualities Activated[plants and species of wildlife previously dormant or shut out of the ecosystem are allowed to prosper]--through the mass destruction of portions of the city, a new approach to urban planning, housing, and other design are allowed to be considered in real opportunities--this model shows how the dormant quality of curvature and sectional variation is allowed within a normally flat board.
Seeding[distribution of growth both randomly and desicively]--city decisions upon rebuilding efforts, random progression of people coming back into the treme neighborhood, random business generation based upon population of surroundings--this model mimics the purposeful seeding through rows but also acknowledges the random scattering of input into the system.
Biological Legacies[structures left after a change or disturbance. these shelter the new growth and house the remaining animal population, directly assist in the regeneration of an ecosystem]--New Orleans infrastructure, first response rebuilding efforts, economic instigtors, cultural instigators--the placement of the basswood allows the white plastic peices to trace the remaining lines of the ghosted image underneath it.
Adaptation[the ecosystem must adapt to the alteration or disturbance and the new conditions that it produces]--regeneration of the city must rely on the shifts of population, business, and other factors--this model shows how the longitudnal lines are being forced to conform, move around, or grow over the disturbances in the field.

Variable regeneration speeds/levels[growth cycles can vary widely between different plants, animals and insects, and various species of animal re-enter the ecosystem at different points during the regeneration process]--certain areas rebuild faster than others depending upon amount of damage, economic issues, and distance of the evacuated population--this model represents a three dimensional graphing of all of the various peices involved in the regeneration of an ecosystem.

posted by ekeith @ 12:14 PM 1 comments

happy valentines day!!

=)

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle;--
Why not I with thine?
See! the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven,
If it disdained it's brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

Percy Bysshe Shelley

posted by ekeith @ 1:38 PM 0 comments

I HATE* TULANE FINACIAL AID!!!

*Know that i rarely if EVER use this word b/c when i use it, those four letters hold all of the indignation that is physically within me...so when i use the word HATE i mean that i wish that biblical proportions of crap could fall out of the sky and land smack dab on the faces nay the open mouths of every member of the financial aid department of tulane...strike that...just enough crap to make them extremely uncomfortable, but not enough that they wouldn't be able to FINALLY process my REFUND check of $3000 so that i can actually put money in my negative balanced account, pay off the $1000 that i owe upenn, have my tire fixed since i've been driving around on a donut for the last week, stop my constant grocery buying at the gas station, and end my diet that is comprimised of bean burritos, lays chips, and cigarrettes....
In other words i am so broke right now i have been rocking out on the supermodel diet of cigarettes and diet coke...i am not holding my breath on Karl Lagerfeld calling me back though...

posted by ekeith @ 12:40 PM 0 comments

a moment of zen: t-shirts now sold in the french quarter that reference katrina....

posted by ekeith @ 1:44 PM 0 comments

i had my first pin-up on Friday....first comment about my project came from a guy that was @ ASU last semester with Karen Bullis...his comment/question:
"did you have karen bullis as a teacher?"
"yes i did, in my undergraduate, but i've been interested in dynamic systems before this and i wanted to test out using the system in new orleans as a regeneration of the urban fabric and habitation patterns of how the city is rebuilding itself."
"yeah, well when you said dynamic systems i thought of karen bullis, because she would always use that word"

---thank you for your massive amount of insight into my project....this is the assistant of verderber--the professor that is REALLY REALLY annoying and who i'm working with for an independent study by helping him make his design/build project environmentally friendly....i drank alot on friday night in part because of the disappointment in the way that the pin-up went...the rest of the reason was in preparation for the mardi gras season...first parade rolls on Feb. 11th!!!

BUT i DID have a great meeting with Graham Owen today and he sent me in a REAL direction on what to have prepared for the REVEIW on FEB 15th/17th[next wednesday] and DAMN do i have alot of work to finish by that time....will post it soon for feedback...
am going to a maya tutorial tonight to try to figure out what exactly i will be doing once i finally get a working copy of the program....

saturday i packed up the last of my stuff from Rosen Hall and had it moved to Deming[my downtown abode] and got to unpack it again....now am feeling the sore throat and grodiness that comes with the NOLA Funk that's been going around...

song of the day: "We want the Funk"--George Clinton and P-Funk

posted by ekeith @ 4:08 PM 0 comments