I have been struggling with a bad cold since Wednesday of last week. Jerry came over to work on Hoboes last Wednesday but I really couldn’t get much done. By Thursday I was sick sick sick and unable to move. I slept a full 24 hours and had a fever of 103 most of the day. Friday I went to to work and probably shouldn’t have but I have been in computer hell all last week and it was continuing into this one. Why you ask:
I finally got my new computer. A lovely black Mac Book with an Intel chip. Hooray you say? Well sort of. If you don’t want to hear a lot of computer mumbo jumbo skip to I mustered through the weekend and…..
If you do here is a quick rundown on the interesting stuff. I decided to run a program called Parallels Desktop for the Mac. It is super cool. It lets Mac users run Windows, Linux or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as Mac OS X on Intel-powered iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook or MacBook Pro.
It blew my mind all last week and I really couldn’t function. It all seems like a dream. I had to keep pinching myself to see if I was really awake. At night I had dreams of watching myself walking through the Mac OS and them leaping into a Windows application. Very Tron. Very Cool.
Why is this cool? Well, unlike dual-boot solutions, in which users must completely shut down Mac OS X and endure a full OS start-up cycle to access a important application, Parallels Desktop for Mac lets you run Windows programs (like Outlook) without having to give up the usability and functionality of your Mac for even for a few minutes.
Why is this not cool? I lost the functionality of using my left and right hand to operate 2 machines. Before the "change" I ran a Mac and PC at the same time. I did stuff on the PC with my left hand using the Wacom tablet and stuff at the same time using a mouse and my right hand. Very efficient. I am hoping that the integration and shared document folders will make up for the effiency loss. We will see.
What they don’t tell you:
Mac OSX controls all the ports and network connections making wireless on the PC side and syncing of devices inoperable (for example my Treo – workaround: use active sync to sync wirelessly. Not the best situation but it will work for now). Maybe they will fix this.
If your network isn’t set up to allow for this you can get bumped off for having duplicate IP numbers. Crappy.
Using VPN on the PC side seems to go little wonky
It is very easy to reformat your Windows installation. I did it. Set me back a couple of days. I was pissed. I did find out that there is a backup file. Make sure you make a copy of it.
I could continue but this is not the time or place. If you decide to use it I think it is super cool and mostly functional. It will probably get better with time. Here’s a picture of my new Mac running Windows XP an OSX at the same time. (Maybe I will get brave and try Linux next but I’m not making any promises right now).
On to more creative endeavors .I mustered through the weekend and was able to get some work done. I’ll start with Lady Madonna.
I was finally able to get Lady Madonna to stand on her own 2 feet. Hooray! The bad news (there is always bad news) is that the cello body will not work. It is not proportionally correct for Anna Swan (the largest woman in the world). Here is a picture of Lady Madonna standing on her own.
I was left to ponder the new situation. Luckily my friend Kym was coming over to do a little Andy Warhol Factory action in the studio. She was helping me foil the microscope slides for the 21 strands of hair for Lady Madonna’s head. We were able to complete 7 strands in about 8 hours. Take a look at all our hard work:
A little note about Warhol. My friend Kevin was telling me about the Warhol special on TV. I thought cool. I don’t really watch TV so I figured I would miss it. Funny how life is. I decided to turn on the TV and the special was on. Groovy. My favorite quote from the entire episode?
"Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide whether it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they’re deciding, make even more art"
Cool.
I pondered the Lady Madonna Dilemma all weekend and finally got an idea that started to jell. HEaMUSEs me (Jerry) helped me as usual (his contributions were Helter Skelter and Lovely Rita). HEaMUSEs me also helped locate the Beatles Page and the Quasi-Modo page. He’s a whiz when it comes to finding things. Here’s what we got:
Welcome to the Freak Show will be a quartet of freak show women. All them will continue the Beatles theme. Here they are (make of them what you will):
Lady Madonna
Based on: Nova Scotia’s Remarkable Giantess (Anna Swan)
Song Title: Lady Madonna
Musical Instrument: Double Base
Penny
Based on:
The Mexican Lilliputian (Lucia Zarate)
Song Title: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Musical Instrument: Violin
Violetta
Based on:
The Living Shop Window Bust (Aloisa Wagner)
Song Title: Helter Skelter
Musical Instrument: Cello
Clementine
Based on: The Bearded Lady of Thaon (Clementine/Clementine Clatteaux / Clattaux – or Catherine Delait)
Song Title: Lovely Rita
Viola
Last but not least I also started working on my Halloween costume which has posed yet another dilemma:
To Be a Pirate or a Pirates Wench. He he.
HEaMUSEs me is voting for a Pirate, specifically Mary Read or Anne Bonny. I haven’t decided which one I like better yet. So, saying that here is the beginning of the pirate costume.
Well tomorrow is Darkroom night with Blair (I am hoping to develop some of the Holga Pics and take another roll at the cemetery) and Wednesday is Hobo drawing with Jerry. I am going to work on the Boo Halloween Comic.
Same bat place, same bat time.
Cheers.
