Alfa
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Everything posted by Alfa
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I don't know if it's available still, but atleast there used to be a webiste giving out some of his material for free(and legally, I think). Could be worth practicing some google-fu to see if it's still available. Either way, Andrew Loomis books are worth their weight in gold. They are not praised nearly as much as they deserve, probably because most people today come across them on some p2p service, browse through the books briefly and toss them aside without understanding the valuable insights he offers. Though I think Ifat already understands alot of the material I think what Loomis can offer is a thorough understanding and a good way of learning and improving different techniques. Another guy that has some great stuff is Glenn Vilppu: http://www.vilppustudio.com/. I'm not that familiar with his material but a while ago I saw a video where he taught figure drawing from simple geometric forms(like in combining spheres, cubes and cylinders to draw figures), and that was among the best material i've seen regarding figure drawing.
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I was reminded by Caruso in the MJ-thread and thought i'd post a wonderfull version I just found. It's sung by Pentti Hietanen, with lyrics in finnish which I think sounds more melodic(it's even better if you understand finnish, but i'm sure you can appreciate it anyway): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSo6LFzoCYo
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This is just from a quick youtube search, but I think it will suffice as an example: Identifying exactly what makes it hot is harder... I think there's a strong masculine elegance from the male lead, while the lady moves in a sexy, feminine and gracious way. Then there's the music... Sweetness can be hot, sometimes.
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I was thinking of learning Tango, but if it's about sweetness i'm not so sure. I want the sex and passion, and my(very limited) view on Tango is that's it's, simply put, gawdamn hot.
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What I mean is that the value judgements does not have to be made explicit. The what and how can relate to implicitly held values. So that's where I disagree, when you wrote that art requires atleast a thought of "what values to I want to portray?"(which is a question of explicitly held values).
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I think you got it slightly wrong here. It requires at least a thought of "what do I want to portray?". The artists value judgements will be implicit in what(and how) he portrays.
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I think Francisco is more of a latte drinker. John Galt probably had some high-tech espresso machine, while Rearden liked his coffe black, strong and simple. I like my coffe black and just strong enough to make my tounge curl a little bit.
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From what i've seen of club dancing it looks more like some sort of primitive mating ritual. I've never liked it, despite that fact that if I enjoy the music I find it very difficult to sit still. Perhaps part of my negative attitude towards club dancing is also that I have no clue how it's done. The moves seem so arbitrary and I suspect my sense of rythm is lacking. On a few occasions though I have really enjoyd dancing at clubs, but this has been of very good clubs where everyone has primarily enjoyed the music(singing, dancing and generally just having a great night out). In most clubs though it's been too loud, people are too drunk, it's extremely crowded and most guys are there in hope of getting laid. Ballroom dancing on the other hand seems like it could be alot of fun. I've actually made a promise to myself to have a go at tango as soon as I have the time.
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Cool, i'll have to try those gradient meshes.
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Have you done this with vector graphics? That must have taken alot of work. I like the second one better because it has more natural skin tones and doesnt look as smoothed out as the first one. The pectorals on both of them are friggin awesome though.
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Can you imagine public run schools offering decent education? I can't. Where I live all education is dictated by the government and education-wise I think most people would be better off on their own(and yes, you can actually learn to read, write etc. on your own).
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Judging from the trailer it seems like they're making a Shanghai Noon/Knights of Sherlock Holmes. While I did enjoy those movies I find it a shame that they're doing this with my second favorite detective(number one of course being Hercule Poirot). I would have loved to see a new, well-made, and serious Sherlock Holmes movie. Oh, well... there's always the old tv-series with Jeremy Brett as Mr. Holmes.
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I used to have a job like that too. I was a bit chubby to start with, but as the job took so much energy my eating habits got alot lazier and I lived on junk food for a couple of years. Realised though that it sucks to be fat and have a worn down body when you're young, so decided to loose some 75lbs or so. One thing I learned from this is that when you fully understand what is good, when you see the long term consequences of every little choice, then it's really quite easy. The difficult part is to get there. Changing my eating habits took some willpower in the beginning, but once I got going... it's like choosing to go down different roads. One road leads in the direction you want to go, and you can already see and feel the benefits of that, and you know that making the right choice will feel much better afterwards. The other road does not lead directly back to square one, but if you go that way too often it will, and every step leads in the wrong direction - just a couple of misteps can take away a weeks work. This, of course, applies to many different things. Once you reach that full understanding though there will be no more conflicts.
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From what i've been able to make out from this(it's not easy to follow your thoughts here) it's not a "complicated romantic issue", I think it's you who are making a fairly simple issue very complicated. Do you like him? Why? What is it that you value about him? Does he have any negative traits, and are those severe enough so that you don't want to get inolved with him? If you conclude that he's a great person and that you are attracted to him, then go for it and let him know. A person not being an Objectivist is not a flaw. Judge his character by the virtues he lacks or posesses, not by his explicit philosophy(a virtous man can still make errors of knowledge). Not sure I got this right, but did you suggest you should be just friends until he came around and became an Objectivist? If so, I find that rather disrespectful. It's on the same level as a guy telling you that he want's to be "just friends" until you lost 20lbs and got a boob-job. I mean, either you take a person for who he/she is, or you don't. When you start off by wanting to change someone it shows that you don't value them enough.
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I just saw this movie and was, unfortunately, a bit disappointed. It wasnt bad but I just thought there was something lacking with how they told the story. I wasnt really drawn into it and got no good feeling for the drama. Certainly enjoyable, but nothing more. I think this could have been much better in the hands of Pixar.
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Intelligent women enjoy sex more than 'bimbos'
Alfa replied to athena glaukopis's topic in Psychology and Self Improvement
I think it makes sense that people(not just women) with a high EI have better sex. Those who can manage their emotions well are likely more secure, mature and understand and communicate better with their partners - empathy should also help in taking pleasure in each others pleasure. They are more in tune with themselves and their partners which should make it easier to just let go and enjoy it. On the opposite side we have insecurities, weird hang-ups, poor communication and understanding as well as no connection with the partner. I can't say i'm drawing these conclusions from my own experience though, because they have been few and I prefer emotionally mature women. -
Ha, and you thought it was the soaring sales of Atlas Shrugged that attracted new people here.
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I don't think it's a choice where you just one day decide what you want to be attracted to(and that's not how I understood Capitalism Forever). To me it rather seems that it's about making certain evaluations over time that later define your sexuality. It's like making the recognition, over and over, that "wow, girls/boys/whathaveya sure are nice!". As adults I think this process gets more fine tuned, which is why we only see minimal changes like you mentioned. I don't know about others by I remember this quite clearly from when I was a child. I still remember the times when I first explicitly recognized that I prefer girls(though this was more non-sexual in nature than it became later, for obvious reasons).
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My memory may be a bit dim but I think Frank O'Connor worked as a florist and an actor, then got tired of Hollywood and picked up painting. So I think you're right that he wasnt exactly young when he started painting. You make a good point regarding Roark and Keating, I hadnt thought of it that way. I think you're right that Keating should not have sought Roark's approval(yet again).
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Also, why don't you think the man of your dreams would see past those minor problems? I don't know what the man of your dreams is like so i'll only speak for myself here, but if I met the girl of my dreams I could easily live with her being busy all the time - knowing that she's ambitious and things will get better - because that kind of person would be such a major value. I can definitely see where your coming from though, as your situation sounds very much like my own. Personally i'm laying kind of low as I don't have much time to go chasing after girls and I like to keep focused on more immidiate goals, but I wouldnt avoid it and assume that i'm undesireable.
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Thank you! I suspected it was something like that, ie regarding Peter Keating. The context here is very important. Peter Keating is the a man who has spent all his life "selling his soul". It's not too late because he's too old, but because there's not enough left in him. In the real world i'm sure you can find alot of examples of people who late in life have changed their careers and been quite sucessfull at it. I once read an article in a magazine that was quite inspiring to me. I'm 26(I know, it's not that old, but still...) and have just recently found a career I want to pursue, which is in CG. The article was about a guy in his thirties who had worked as a pupeteer but had found himself out of a job, so he decided to learn CG and gave himself a few years to do so. He not only became good at it, but really excelled. I see what you mean. I think in that case you need to find a way to work towards that goal and in the meantime finding a way to make a living(and perhaps taking courses or going to school).
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Did Roark think it's ever too late to learn? Would you mind refreshing my memory a bit? I also think anyone can learn to draw. I've seen alot of progress myself by just finding a good aproach, and while it's difficult and challenging at times it's not rocket science. However, I doubt anyone will develop much skill in just a week. Jill, where are your skills at now? I'm asking because even if you start developing and progressing with your comics it seem you still need a job, atleast temporarily. Maybe you have some skills you can take with you to other forms of creative work? For example, just to drop a few ideas here; storyboarding, web design, fashion, product design, marketing... Maybe you will need additional skills, but that should not be an impossible hurdle to climb. Sometimes there are also good places for people who actually have rather mediocre skills but coupled with other abilities have made themselves very attractive. I know of people working as art directors in game and film companies who got there without any outstanding artistic skills, but because they had a good eye for what works and because they were good leaders. Or perhaps you will make a good teacher. My point here is to have a look at where your skills might be usefull and what new skills you can develop to find a more interesting job. It can either be something temporary until you can make a living out of your comics or you may find something that you will fall in love with.
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He should, yes. I think the real issue for a James Taggart is, would he? To change he must want to change, and wanting that presupposes that there's something left of his soul to save. I think it's unlikely that such a person will ever change, however I don't think it's a case where alot of James Taggart's have tried and failed but rather that they never tried. Some do try and succeed though.
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Perhaps it's easier to understand if we talk about purpose instead. Roark had very clear reasons why he designed the building the way he did, the function - or purpose - was an integration of his whole philosophy(for example his romantic view of man, and life in general). So there was purpose and reason behind every descision he made; he did not just add ornamentation to fit into a certain style or because of popular opinion, and he thought that would destroy the integrity of the design, and he did not just make square boxes because it might have been functional(in a very practical concrete bound sense). He designed the building according to his highest ideals, as an integrated whole. In real life this means that you should be clear about your ideas and what you value, and also know the science of architecture to design building according to your purpose. Keep in mind that The Fountainhead is not some sort of design document on how to make great architecture. Ayn Rand presents great ideas but as far as architecture goes it's on a very abstract level. You can certainly use those ideas, and when your understanding and integration of ideas grow i'm sure you will, however... for the practical application of your ideas you must study architecture - that's how you will learn how to make your ideas into reality. I can illustrate this with an example. Say a painter wants to make romantic art, of things as they could and should be - maybe he just read The Romantic Manifesto and really liked the ideas. What does he need to do? A good start is of course to have clear understanding of the ideas and what he values, but then he needs to bring these ideas into life in his paintings. In order to do that he must understand painting; he most understand value, color, perspective etc. etc. and how all of these aspects relate to what he wants to achieve. The artist is facing a multitude of descisions he has to make and understand what serves his purpose. The final result will be a product of his thinking and his skill. It's the same thing when designing a building, it just takes a different set of skills.
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Why do you think so?