Tinselman

I Don't Mind If You Forget Me

flickr photo by tamjpn, with notes, click to enlarge

I recently stumbled upon upon a book about the artist Yoshitomo Nara and his +graf A to Z exhibit in Tokyo. While flipping through the pages in the book store, I could have cared less that I couldn't read a word of it... I was so captivated by the photos. Within an old cider brewery, Nara constructed (with the help of the design firm, graf media) a miniature town! And hundreds of his whimsical beings populate the town. Borne of his imagination, it attracts the very old to the very young.

I searched online for photos of the inside of the exhibit but found none. The book, which is only for sale at amazon japan is stuffed full of them. I've never seen an exhibit so inspiring or fantastic; I only wish I could see it in person!

• More flickr photos
• Official A to Z page

Great Babylon

This Babylonian pillar, which now rests in the Louvre, is unbelievably huge. It's just one of many pillars that once held up an ancient temple in ancient Babylon.

The Mystery of the Vanishing Turtle

About two weeks ago, I was walking in front of the Grand Palais, and I saw this gigantic turtle. I was happy to be carrying along my camera!

I know nothing about the work or it's artist; there was no plaque of any kind. The next time I walked by, it was gone.

Hugely Great Small

As devoted tinsel-readers already know, tinselman is a ginormous fan of the miniature. That's why his brain practically exploded at the tinselmagically amazing Musée des Plans–Relief! Why, he asks, are there no tourists at this remarkable collection of historic diminutives?... especially when they're housed in such a central location: in the heart of Paris' 7th arrondissement, at the Musée de l'Armée.

click images to enlarge or click here for flickr set

• official website

• previous tinsel-miniatures
 

Exquisite Tinselhicks!

Cool Brains

Without a doubt, one of my favorite museums in all of Paris is the Galeries de Paléontologie et Anatomie comparée. I've really never seen anything like it... though I know it can't be true, there's a sensation it hasn't changed for 100 years, since it's inauguration for the Worlds Expo, in 1898.

Click on any of the photos to see them enlarged (via flickr), or, for more photos of the museum, go to this Flickr set.

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Melodyne Sci-Fi

I recently emailed a link of the the "Melodyne Direct Note Access" demo to a dear friend; he responded almost immediately with the following reaction:

Melodyne is crazy cool!  Have you actually installed it and tried it out?  I watched the demo, and it's like I'm watching an audio version of one of those eye-rolling effects in a sci-fi, where they snapshot and image and then extrapolate a 3d model out of it, or "enhance" the bit depth of an image =).  If I had seen this in a movie, I would have definitely laughed.

Click here to see the demo.

Old Tech

This bizarre (and grossly oversized) alarm telephone looks like it's about 100 years old. It never fails to catch my attention when in the Paris Musee d'Orsay RER stop: I always wonder if it even works. And why it has to be so big!

Click on the above photo for a wallpaper-sized version (though I apologize for the graininess of the photo: it was dark).

This photo (to left) may give some context.

Grayscale Riven

I discovered a plethora of old Riven files, hidden away in the depths of my computer. I guess i never went looking for them before now. Here's an interesting one: the grayscale representation of Catherine's prison island. I created this in Illustrator, using the method we invented in Myst. When the grayscale data is "extruded" (using a 3-D program) it is transformed into something that looks like an island.

If you want to try this yourself, using this prison island data, I've included the original data for you, as an Adobe Illustrator file (click on link below).

• Prison Island PDF

Dead in Paris

I recently took this photo at the Le Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. The skull's surface texture is especially fascinating: a texture which you can now study from the comfort of your cubicle! Just click on the above photo and it will enlarge to almost life-size proportions (though not quite that big).

Load time is fast. Firefox is preferred (for zooming in and out).