For those who haven’t caught the news it looks like the final decision has been made and Alaska’s new quarter will be the design with the Grizzly Bear gnawing on the Salmon.
The ear on the bear still bothers me a little but the water is so beautiful I think I can overlook it.
The little wave in the foreground reminds me of The Great Wave.
Now is your chance to comment on the Alaska state quarter design.
It looks like they’ve narrowed the field to four potential candidates but they left out the most obvious and my favorite which would have been a dipper alone on the coin face. Simple, iconic, and beautiful, just like our flag.
At least none of the designs they’ve presented are awful.
AK-1
I like the midnight sun in this design but I think the polar bear is a little lumpy and over textured. This coin has a great choice of subjects which emphasize the uniqueness of Alaska as a state.
AK-2
This one is probably my favorite although the musher looks a bit rigid. I’ve always like the slogan “North to the Future” and I’m glad it ended up on this particular coin. They included the dipper which gives it bonus points. The sled dogs are totally appropriate. It might not be intentional but this could also be a nice tip of the hat to Susan Butcher.
AK-3
This one feels a little primal and the bear looks like his head is on backwards. I think it’s because of the positioning of the ears. The detail on the water looks amazing.
AK-4
My grandfather was a mining engineer and I know that the gold rush was a huge part of our history but I’m less and less inclined to think a white prospector playing with a big pair of nuggets is a good symbol for the state.
Ok, that’s it for my critique but I think they could get better feedback on the coins if they let the artists provide a brief statement on the choice of symbolism.
There’s a wonderful interview with our friend Sarah Asper-Smith that has been posted on the Indie/Pretty/Perfect blog. She talks about her artistic influences, life in Alaska, and her most recent work.
One of those R2D2 mailboxes popped up down on South Franklin. Too bad it doesn’t make whistling noises when you have incorrect postage. Lou thinks the tourists are going to mistake it for a trashcan.
Here’s another photo I snapped while walking the docks. The Alrita sunk a couple weeks back and the salvage crew pulled her up off the bottom. I wish I’d brought my camera by before they got to her, she looked like a lonely little ghost peering up through the frosted winter water.
It’s nice to get away from the computer occasionally so I decided to make some money shoveling off a boat shed last night. Good thing I got there before it sunk, some of the neighbors weren’t so lucky. I had to go back this morning and finish up the job so I decided to bring my camera along.
Boat Shed Front
Boat Shed Side
Boat Shed Rear
On the Dock
Sarah’s Float House
Today on Boing Boing there was a link to a video of a three year old prodigy that was probably faked as a viral marketing shill. I like seeing special effects and as a filmmaker I rely on these kinds of tricks but this was nothing more than an underhanded attempt at marketing.
Lou, Aaron and I made a video response… basically we think the kid is a plant.
The people who posted the lame turtle video also seem to be responsible for the rest of this mess:
I probably get an especially bad taste from this clip because it’s the kind of half hearted commercial work I can almost… in some bizarro parallel universe.. almost see us getting stuck with. The guys who made this garbage probably just want to create short films and do neat compositing tricks but they somehow ended up making sneaky commercials for the man… and really that’s where the problem lies.
The Man.
I’m getting tired of big companies trying to pass themselves off as their own happy customers. A few months back Sony got called on the “All I want for Xmas” crap they tried to pull but it hasn’t slowed it down. Other companies are joining right in. They’re buying off reviewers and paying people to haunt forums and chatrooms. I don’t think we’re going to stop seeing this kind of manipulative advertising anytime soon. Big business is buying friendship and they can afford a hell of a lot of friends.
There’s more here though. I think maybe even a… could it be… a lesson? I’ll need to think about how this applies to my own business and what we can do to avoid falling into the grey glop of shitty marketing.
Short Film - The Kid is a Plant
File this under WTF? Elsbeth just brought me a comically large box of free beef she picked up with her new Les Schwab tires. I don’t know why they gave her the giant box of beef. She’s a vegetarian so I think it’s hilarious that she’s been carting around a giant box of Free Beef all day. It has Beef Jerky, Beef Summer Sausages, Beef Sticks, and Beef Sauce. I think I’m going to have go dip the Beef Sticks in Beef Sauce for dinner.
love.
