Boston Dynamics

So I've been an avid follower of Boston Dynamics on YouTube for about the past year or two, and I think this is the first time I've been very impressed with a company's progress with their robotics program. They bring us an actual 'line' of robots, both 2 and 4 legged applications, that are making significant progress within the last 10 or so years now. I remember seeing their videos when I was unfamiliar with their company, when they were doing testing on the larger BigDog, and I remember watching almost in disbelief this robotic structure with legs walking and balancing on it's own! It was almost unreal the first few times. But even watching their progress today and seeing them advance step by step is a real treat! Just take a look at one of their videos here showing Atlas, one of their more prominent robots, running, leaping and jumping with controlled balance up some steps on it's own! Wow. Unfortunately, I think a lot of movies depicting age old robots and androids already fully functional have sort of ruined the 'wow' factor today, but when you think about where we really are and the progress made in our real world, it is pretty amazing.


Boston Dynamics have already done field testing with their Spot Mini and are hoping to release a version as early as next year in fields like construction, to help with various tasks such as overseeing the progress of development. In one video seen on Instagram quite recently, they capture one of their robots picking up a large wooden substrate and nailing it to a structure with a nail gun! Although quite slow and a bit awkward, I don't have any doubts that they will improve the application of this robot and it's ability to do tasks like this more efficiently. It's just a matter of time, I believe, when robots will be working alongside humanity in various fields in a variety of applications, including law enforcement. I believe that K9s will eventually be replaced by their 4 legged robots such as Wildcat or Spot to help assist them. At this point I think they are many ways that these robots can & will be used, and it will be exciting to see (at least for me) how they are used and disbursed. And along with the ever-progressing 3D printing technology, robots may start being produced the same way an automotive assembly line functions. Think Bicentennial Man. I think that movie gives us a good indication of how robots and androids may eventually evolve, and without the whole 'robots will take over' scare factor.


More to come! :)

What happened to Kelli Ali?

You have those days where you remember so and so leadsinger from a certain band and wonder "whatever happened to that person?" Well, the thought came to me regarding the former singer for Sneakerpimp's album Becoming X, remember her? I think most of us who grew up in the 90's definitely remember, it springboarded the band to greater heights at the time, not to mention Kelli Ali, AKA Kelli Dayton, former lead vocalist of both Psycho Drama and the Lumieres.


So where did she go? Well turns out, the british singer actually continued creating her own music, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. Her music varies from album to album however, from dreamlike folk music of Rocking Horse and Butterfly, which remind me of Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain a bit, to a more electronic and rock feel of her first album Tigermouth. She also collaborates quite a bit with others, so as you can see she's been quite the busy one and has had quite a long stretch so far! I look forward to seeing her progress in the years ahead! :)


Click here to see her video for Kids from the album Tigermouth.

Dont forget gravity...

Ever see a sculpture of, say, a nude woman sitting, with a perfectly round bottom? Looks nice right? Yes, except for the fact that one thing was not accounted for: gravity. Unless she weighs practically nothing, her bottom should be pressed against that which she's sitting on. That should also apply to other parts of the body as well. It's just one observation I've made in a few various sculptures lately as I myself delve further into it, and a good reminder, at least in the area of realism. If it's surreal, hey do as you please, there's no limits, her bottom could be square or triangle shaped if you want! I understand that some artists may be trying to portray a certain kind of aesthetic in their work, but I'll admit myself, I do find a certain aesthetic in a woman with all her various curves and shapes that are portrayed in various positions, and not just one. :)

Icelandic Fix and More

Lately I've been discovering some really great Icelandic electronic bands, such as Iamamiwhoami, Vök, Samaris, Gangly, and Yster, who is actually under the To Whom It May Concern label founded by Jonna (or Ionna) Lee, who is both part of Iamamiwhoami and is releasing her own solo album in February 2018. It's been extremely hard to find any CDs or LPs available locally but fortunately I've found their music for sale online. I'm particularly interested in finding LPs for these artists which is even more rare. The most common, of course, is digital downloads. Hopefully at some point, when resources are more available for them, they will have CDs and LPs available as well. :)


I'm also right on the brink of finishing my first kitteh (or cat) sculpture! I will post pics on Instagram when finished, which will be any day now. I need to finish because one, I need to move on and start a new one, of course, and two, I just bought a supplementary book that I want to follow along with while I'm sculpting. It works out perfectly because it's more of a 'how to' guide on developing details in your sculpture, as opposed to guiding you from start to finish on a particular sculpture. So I'm excited about going forward, creating new things, and experimenting even further.


On the work front, there's also an exciting development happening as well. If you don't know, I work at a sign company and have for the last 6+ years in Ontario, CA. My boss (finally) decided to buy a Router machine, which is going to give us more of an edge when creating things like ADA and engraved signs and acrylic letters, among other things. I'm looking forward to learning how to run this machine, which will add to my sign knowledge as well. So we've all been cleaning up the production areas to make more room for this new arrival which should be here in the next week or so. :)