Like a bridge over troubled water...

So I don't have pictures of my bridge (which incidentally is only one of three to have survived the testing) because I was holding the bucket during testing of mine instead of taking pictures. However, here are some pictures of the other bridges and our TA gleefully testing some to the point of demise.






Here is link to the entire album:

Arch 121 - bridge

I'll try and remember to take pictures of my bridge tomorrow when there is light.

Bridges burning the midnight oil....

So the TA for our Arch 121 class is going in for surgery so instead of all the bridges being due next Wednesday they are due this Wednesday.

It would have been nice to know this over the weekend so I would have done more the finalize my design, I would have actually built it.

Tomorrow I have client driving all the way from Idaho so that I can rebuild his laptop while he shops for Christmas so that leaves tonight and tomorrow night to build.

Grrr.

Oh and our paper deadline is moved up so I have to write a 4 page paper on arch bridges in that time too...

Alaskan Vampires and Assignments from hell.

Since the last 4 years have been a bust for trick-or-treaters for me and I didn't want to be stuck (again) with pounds of chocolate I took a page out of the Wiita playbook and made myself scarce for the evening.

However, because I did want to acknowledge my favorite day somehow (having to work and therefore unable to dress up) I and the dog went to see the film "30 Days of Night."

In case you are unfamiliar with the graphic novel, the premise is that during the 30 days without sun Barrow is cut off by and over-run with vampires.

I generally have low expectation for movies set in Alaska. Correction I have REALLY low expectations for movies set in Alaska, but hey vampires + Alaska... I will give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Things they did Right:

Movie Barrow didn't look like real Barrow, but it did look a reasonable amount like ye small isolated Alaskan town. Though frankly... it was cleaner then a lot of them.

Not to much exposition. See Distant Ship... see Man stumbling from distant ship. Message clear. Thank you for not giving us a 12 minute explanation of what was going on. I appreciate when directors don't treat me like an idiot.

North Slope Borough on the emergency vehicle... not North Slope County (which I have seen in some movie.)

Things that surprised me:

Josh Harnett didn't suck. He wasn't great... but I would even go so far as to say he did pretty good. I didn't like him in Pearl Harbor... so yeah....

The people reacted realistically and in human fashion. Some froze when frightened, some freaked out, and when someone did something really stupid it was for understandable reason (trying to save a family member or child...etc)

The vampires were not seductive or alluring. They were like the offspring of a shark and human. Visually and kinesthetically creepy, primeval and scary. They were NOT human, and that came across very well.

Oh... and the quisling... creepiest supporting character ever. EVER. Played by Ben foster. Who it turns out played Angel in the last X-man movie. (I didn't even recognize him.)


Things they did Wrong:
North Slope Police... not Barrow Sheriff. But, that was probably done for liability reasons. Likewise I suspect the "Alaska Fire Marshall" patch one of the characters wore. (With no State of Alaska patch visible.)

The trucks were all clean. In some cases immaculate. Riiiight.


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So my latest Arch 121 assignment is ummm... yeah. This isn't isn't my Design class this is my weird Modern Architecture lecture class + design recitation thing.

We have to build a bridge 16" long and no less then 4" wide the entire length. It has to be able to support a 5 gallon bucket filled with 6" of water. I would guess that's about 10 lbs of weight but I will get bucket this weekend and find out.

Here's the kicker.

It can only be made out recycled or scavenged material.
It cannot contain any metal.
No piece of material can be longer then 6 inches, nor can any piece of material be thicker then 1/8".
No glue or melting strategies to form monolithic connections.

Gah.

Anyway I have a plan. (Two plans actually.)

Studying, building, punching and growling

So it was time for our second Arch 121 test. 121 is the weird Architectural history/design class that I'm taking. The lecture portion covers modern buildings of importance from 1890-today. The recitation portion (taught by a TA) covers various design techniques and history.
I'm doing well on the recitation part, with B or B+ on all my assignments thus far. The lecture part... I enjoy but while taking the last test I suffered a brain freeze and forgot the location of darn near every building. As that was nearly 1/4 of the total points for the test... well I got a C, and not high C at that.

However, we had our second test today and I think I aced it. The only thing I think I got wrong is one of the architects is named Hans Sch______ and I forgot the last part of his last name. I scribbled something in there. I don't know if it was right, but I'm hoping it's close enough that I get credit.

Other then that I got every question on the test right, knew who built it, where, important facts about it and was able to draw it.

Feeling pretty happy about it.

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The other 2/3 of my weekend I didn't spend studying I spent build study models for Arch 151. It was about 16 hours of work for the two big ones and maybe 4 for the smaller. We have to have a finished, craft-perfect model ready by Friday. (We actually get next weekend off!) I have some changes I want to make to my design so I need to generate another study model tonight and then harass my instructor with it tomorrow. Wednesday is a in class work day and we are expected to 1) have started our final model 2) bring it to class to work on.

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Some of you may be aware that over the course of the years I have studied a couple different martial arts. The one I keep returning to because of my love for it, the fit it's philosophy it has with my own, and it's sheer practicality is Kenpo.

On Friday I discovered a small Kenpo school that offers one-on-one instruction in a relaxed atmosphere. My first class was Saturday (at 8:00 AM!) and I had a blast. Even for being as out of shape and out of practice as I am it started coming back pretty quick. However the 15 minutes of quick punch drills reminded me that I need to spend more time working on my cardio.

I've got a bonus session on Thursday night, but unless he has a student drop looks like Saturday 8:00 am is my time.

~~~

After Kenpo I went looking to see if any of the sporting good stores had punching bags. (One had a single abused display model.)

However, when I pulled up to the Sportsman's Warehouse Cinnamon noticed the Bronze Elk out front and started growling at it. She growled at it as I left the car. She was still growling at it when I came back to the car, and she growled at it as we drove away.

I guess she doesn't like bronze, because she didn't growl at any of the elk in Yellowstone.