| blog | about | audio | docs | fonts | music | recipes | login |   |
|
Eli Evans | 67 posts Not Entirely Whole Sep 13, 2011
I wrote this in an email today, explaining why I edited another designer’s sentence “Hide entire words” to “Hide whole words”:
Weird, and better for it Apr 12, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed “Temple Grandin”, which I Netflixed this weekend. Wikipedia says it’s about “a woman with autism who revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses.” Yes: It’s a strange concept for a movie, but it works. It isn’t about animal husbandry or even autism so much as it is a character study of a profoundly different woman adapting to a sometimes hostile and always confusing world with courage, perseverance, and uncompromising her-ness. Temple Grandin isn’t like other people, and that’s a very good thing.  Interaction design is ... Mar 4, 2011
Thinking Differenter Feb 11, 2011
I’ve heard that it’s good for company managers and employees to “think entrepreneurially”. I’ve also heard that entrepreneurs think differently. This video is one of the better summaries of “entrepreneurial thinking” I’ve seen. (Not that I’ve seen that many.) A conservative, a liberal, and a libertarian ... Feb 10, 2011
This is an old joke, so bear with me:
It’s Winter in the Northwest Jan 5, 2011
... so take your vitamins. As I was walking into the office this cold, gray morning, a coworker and I were discussing how sleepy the Pacific Northwest winter has been making us — and how our caffeine intake has increased in response. Not that either of us has Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but the dim, drizzly days do start to get to you after a while. It’s beautiful here in north-of-Seattle-land, but from October to April it can be a very dark and gloomy place. Content Libre! Nov 17, 2010
Rachel Lovinger of Razorfish reports:
Life in the Stratosphere Oct 19, 2010
Pandora and Netflix plan to take over the world:
Speaking of Pixar ... Jul 21, 2010
Toy Story was fun. Toy Story 2 was poignant. Toy Story 3 is a subtle and beautiful existentialist masterpiece wrapped in brightly colored molded plastic. It doesn’t compute: The geniuses at Pixar are somehow able to wring more genuine human emotion from CGI renderings of rubber squeak toys than many studios can do with actual humans. Worth it for the incinerator scene alone: Simultaneously breathtaking and heartbreaking. You’ll know what I mean after you watch it, which you should do at your earliest convenience. The Architect and the Worker Jul 21, 2010
My favorite blog on interaction design is Lukas Mathis’ ”Ignore the Code“. Interesting, thorough, probative, relevant, and [thesaurus sounds] fun. Recently, he interviewed designer Jon Bell. IE Jumps the Shark Apr 30, 2010
... repeatedly. I recently bought a new computer from Dell. This is how Internet Explorer looked, out of the box: A Four-way Dialogue Apr 30, 2010
This got me ruminating:
I perceive where you’re coming from ... Apr 30, 2010
Dear Editor, I see that you changed “[this] may help you to see where each evangelist is coming from” to “[this] may help you to perceive where each writer is coming from”. The change from “evangelist” to “writer” makes good sense, but the change from “see” to “perceive” frightens and annoys me. “I see where you’re coming from” is a common English idiom, but if someone says, “I perceive where you’re coming from,” you should be instantly suspicious of what they’re up to. That’s just the sort of thing people say to distract from the fact that they don’t know what they’re talking about. Worse, “perceive” is a word that is weighed down by its (over)use in postmodern flimflam, mystic hipsterism and, let’s face it, sixties drug culture. In that sense it’s not a word I use, except pejoratively. Choice Considered Harmful Mar 12, 2010
... or at the very least, annoying.
Bible Study Reimagined Nov 7, 2009
For the last three years or so, I’ve been working on my employer’s flagship product, Logos Bible Software. It’s the 4.0 release of a mature product with a large, established customer base. The 3.0 version of the product has been out there for several years, and it works just fine, but it was built on an underlying technology1 that was better suited to 1999 than 2009. It’s starting to show its age. (For those of you who don’t know, Logos Bible Software is a desktop application for reading, searching, annotating, analyzing, and generally playing around with Bibles and biblical reference works — dictionaries, lexicons, commentaries, maps, and so on. Think of it as Photoshop for pastors and seminarians: Required equipment for professionals, but very nice to have if you’re a hobbyist.) Julie and Julia Nov 4, 2009
I don’t have much to say about this little trifle except: Watch it. It’s a little late to catch it in the theater, I understand, but if you see it come to your local discount theater or drive-in, or video store, go for it. It’s charming, lovely, surprising, warm, cheerful, witty, and endearing. In a word, winsome — as I suspect Julia Child was in real life. At least, this movie made me suspect so. That, and Meryl Streep simply inhabits the role of Julia Child. Amy Whatsername was pretty good, too. Dude, where’s my blog? Nov 4, 2009
No, this isn’t one of those apologies for not blogging more frequently. I never promised you people anything. However, I have been working on a couple of long term projects that have just come to fruition: One personal, one professional. I suppose I could write about those now that they aren’t top secret any more ... Parade of Hideousness Aug 23, 2009
I watched District 9 Thursday night, and I’m still not sure what to think. Graphically violent and laced with profanity, it’s not alien invasion movie so much as a monster horror flick. By the time the film gets going, it’s just one shocking scene after another. It seems to ask the question: What makes a person hideous? Or if you like, Who are the real monsters here? Beautiful Smoke Aug 23, 2009
This is one of the more lovely things I’ve seen (or heard) in a while. It’s like a living painting. The artist, Esteban Diácono, has created plenty of other beautiful dancing abstract things. “Entridge”?! Aug 15, 2009
My dad can’t spell for beans, but we love him anyway. Sometimes he chats me up for help. They’re like random little word puzzles that pop up from time to time. This one stumped me for a minute: Health Care Aug 10, 2009
... is not a right, to be upheld by the state. ... is not a privilege, to be withheld by the state. I ? software Aug 10, 2009
Jeff Atwood writes at Coding Horror: Nobody Hates Software More Than Software Developers. Key grafs:
See you in the funny pages Aug 10, 2009
Khoi Vinh of Subtraction.com writes about “last gasps for a dying medium” — large, paid funny pages. Will these sorts of ploys work to save the newspaper? Probably not. My prediction: The newspaper is dead and will not be revived until electronic paper arrives in full force, which will be at least a decade yet, due to the usual supply-chain friction. Blueberry Cheese Tart Jul 15, 2009
Sauce. In a large pot, combine 1 pound dried blueberries, 1 pound fresh blueberries, 1 bottle of tawny port, 1/2 bottle cream sherry, 1/2 cup honey, 4 ounces of black currant jelly, 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses, 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses, 1/4 cup rose water, 10 threads saffron, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, a few drops of food-grade lemon essence oil, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low. Simmer for 1-2 hours, or until reduced in half. Remove from heat, strain through a wire mesh strainer, and chill. Cream. In a large mixing bowl, wisk together 16 ounces honey-flavored Greek yoghurt, 3 8-ounce bars of Neufchâtel cheese, 4 ounces (a small jar) lemon curd, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth. Chill. Because I Can Jul 14, 2009
So I finally joined the legions of Apple fanboys (and girls) and bought an iPhone. And just to prove that I can, I’m writing this post on it. I wouldn’t want to write a novel this way, but I’m finding it amazingly easy to do. I imagine my one-finger typing speed is around 25 WPM or so. (I wonder if “there’s an app for that”?) The first night I had it, I spent several hours using Beejive, an IM client for the iPhone, again, just to see if I could. It worked beautifully, and my usual 80+ WPM was ramped down enough that I didn’t dominate the conversation the way I can sometimes do. Update: There is an app for that. Several, in fact. I scored 20 WPM exactly. Wolfram, Schmolfram Jul 11, 2009
Mencius Moldbug (either that’s a pseudonym or that dude has some seriously cruel parents) doesn’t like the natural language query part of Wolfram Alpha. Go watch the fireworks, it’s fun! Key grafs: In Case You Were Wondering Jun 1, 2009
 Sample page from Why Daddy is a Democrat from Little Democrats. Now, I figure that in a free society parents should be allowed indoctrinate their children with whatever ideology they please, so long as it’s not actively destructive to others. Society of Antisocials May 27, 2009
Following up on my last post. Yes, introverts like to just get away from the crowd, the hustle and the bustle, the rat race. The noise! That’s always been true; as I’m fond of saying: Human nature has no history. People are people, no matter where or when you go. A Man Thinking or Working May 27, 2009
My friend Jacob alerted me to an article by Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic, “Caring for Your Introvert.” A key graph:
New Trek May 14, 2009
Here’s the review of Star Trek I just posted to Fandango.com:
Postmodern Bop May 5, 2009
If you’re wondering whether or not we’re living in different times, we are. Now, I’m one of those who firmly believes that human nature has no history; that is, that no matter how far back you go, people are people. The human condition is what it is, no matter when it is. And one of the most humany of human qualities is the need to express, through whatever modes are available. Say, music. First there was that fellow jamming on the wall at Lascaux, then Mozart, Beethoven, the Beatles, blah blah blah, then the carrot ocarina guy, and now this. Thru-you is musician Kutiman’s take on bop for our post-post-post-everything times. He takes snips and snaps from YouTube videos, and tosses them into an incredibly yummy salad. I sure hope this is a hoax Apr 24, 2009
This ain’t some Raelian crackpot, folks. This is a real fertility doctor, and apparently he made this claim in a documentary which aired last night (April 22, 2009) on the Euro-Discovery Channel. Bah, Humbug? Apr 22, 2009
Happy Earth Day, everyone! Make it Pretty Apr 21, 2009
So says Stephen P. Anderson in “In Defense of Eye Candy” at A List Apart. Do read the whole article. Can Design Save the Newspaper? Apr 3, 2009
Jacek Utko asks, Can design save the newspaper?. Watch it. Now. I’ll still be here when you get back. It’s a perfect presentation, well-delivered, short and to the point. And the point? That if you want to get readers for a newspaper in a world where such things are becoming increasingly quaint, you need to pay extraordinary attention to the experience of reading, which means design, design, design. He did it, it worked, and he has the evidence to back it up. Gumbo, Eli-Style Apr 1, 2009
Chicken StockCan be done ahead. Friends don’t let friends eat store-bought chicken stock. Superobamafragilisticexpialodocious Mar 19, 2009
Or, “What you can learn about a person by checking out the words that they’ve added to their custom dictionary.” Here are just the ones that I’ve added on account of this blog (and Stranger Pilgrim) so far: My Favorite Animes Mar 17, 2009
I’m not a huge fan of anime. Or manga. Or comic books. Or “pulp” in general. Most of it is ... well, pulp. So, when I enjoy a “Japanimation” feature, it’s in spite of the genre, not because of it. The following are just good movies, period. 1) Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki. If you can get past the “prehistoric Japanese meet pagan forest deities” premise, you’ll find a complex, character-driven plot and some of the most beautiful (and weirdest) film sequences I’ve ever seen. Every moment is a new surprise. I’d call it PG-13: Lots of action violence (and blood), but otherwise family friendly. Obamaganda II : Prometheus, Bringer of Fire Mar 15, 2009
Barack Obama was sometimes depicted using the same visual vocabulary as Prometheus, the Greek Titan who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mankind. Prometheus’ theft angered the gods, but brought humankind out of an age of darkness. Obamaganda I : Introduction Mar 15, 2009
Propaganda? The word may seem unfair. I only mean this: The use of artistic modes of expression not only to communicate an aesthetic message or intent, but also to forward the aims of a political movement or agenda. By this definition, Picasso’s Guernica is propaganda, and so is every political poster. The films of Michael Moore are propaganda, as was Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. To the extent that a political movement uses artistic means to accomplish its ends, it is employing propaganda. There is nothing inherently wrong with that; it is just another way to communicate in a mass media setting. Science Uber Alles Mar 12, 2009
More from Obama’s remarks on the 9th:
Bass Ackwards Mar 11, 2009
The human cloning debate has historically broken cloning into two broad categories: Reproductive cloning, and therapeutic cloning. In both the process is the same: A new human being would be created from existing DNA. I say “would be” because as far as we know, this hasn’t happened yet. What differs is the purpose to which the cloned person is put. Reproductive cloning takes a newly created embryonic person and implants it into a womb to gestate and become a child. If you know any identical twins, you already know some “reproductive clones”; it’s just that Mother Nature (I would say “Providence”) did the work inside the womb instead of a scientist doing it in the lab. I Looked, and Behold! Feb 24, 2009
I’ve added another piece to my “album” Carnivaux, a rhythmic/minimalist string orchestra piece that is in part inspired by the alien contours of several visions recounted in the Bible: Genesis 28:10-22; Exodus 24:9-11; Daniel 7:1ff; Ezekiel 1:1ff, 10:1ff; Zechariah 6:1ff; Revelation 4:1ff. The first sketches of the melody and chord pattern (there are only two) was banged out when I was studying Revelation 4:1ff in order to do a sermon on it.
Eli, no! Feb 15, 2009
 A children’s book by Katie Kirk of Eight Hour Day, a “multi-disciplinary, multi-talented design boutique”. I couldn’t find it for sale on Amazon, or else I might have bought a copy. I just like the fact that someone named their dog Eli. Rich Bacony Goodness Feb 15, 2009
The US Congress just passed the largest appropriations bill ever, one-thousand pages plus, which you can read in two parts: here, and here, complete with handwritten conference committee notes. I think you should read it,1 because a) you’re paying for it, and b) most of the people who voted for it didn’t. Absurd, no? Doom ... Doooooooom! Feb 3, 2009
Andy Rutledge of Design View says it better than most:
Gran Torino Jan 28, 2009
I saw Gran Torino this Sunday, and here’s (pretty much) the review that I posted to Fandango afterwards:
I Pledge ... Jan 24, 2009
Watch this video, all the way to the end (certified safe for work). It’s a bunch of celebrities pledging to do random acts of kindness. Innocent enough. But it ends with the group swearing oaths of fealty to the personage of Barack Obama. Um, whiskey tango foxtrot? What planet are these people living on? Do they not know how much this looks like a fascist propaganda film? At the end of the video, Demi Moore pledges to be a “servant of our president”. A servant?! Implied in all of this is that we, the audience, ought to adopt a similar stance. Sorry Ms. Moore: I am a citizen of the United States, not its chattel. The only person I am a servant of is the living God; I won’t bow down to this idol. Going Zero Jan 11, 2009
In my stumblings across the wide world of the web, I found the Conservation Fund’s Go Zero® service, where you can ease your guilty conscience over your carbon footprint. For a small fee.
The Stranger Pilgrim Jan 11, 2009
I’ve started a second blog, devoted primarily to issues of biblical theology: The Stranger Pilgrim. It aims to be “Light commentary on weighty subjects.” Subscriptions are FREE to the first ever how many people want to sign up! This forum is grand and all, and I do intend to speak about biblical things from time to time here as well, but this can’t properly be called a “biblioblog” — not when I’m posting random poems and thoughts about web design. Anyway, enjoy! Nip it in the Bud Jan 10, 2009
This news story from the BBC gave me chills, and not the good kind. Your family has a history of a particular kind of breast cancer that is caused by a genetic “abnormality”. If you have the gene, you have an 80% chance of developing the cancer. If the disease is caught early you can survive, but it’s still a fairly nasty cancer. I am an Architect Jan 10, 2009
I am an architect I Enjoy Ancient Hebrew Poetry Jan 9, 2009
I enjoy reading John F. Hobbins’ blog Ancient Hebrew Poetry, and I think you would as well. John blogs regularly, extensively, and passionately about the Hebrew language, the Bible, the church, biblical interpretation and application, and the culture at large. His translations of the poetic sections of the Hebrew scriptures are simultaneously erudite and moving. And always thought-provoking. If we can judge the man by his words, then here we have a gentleman and a scholar. I can’t wait each morning to see which thicket he’s going to venture into next. I read my newsfeeds in reverse alphabetical order, just so I can save the best for last. A favorite quote: Two Sorts of Narratives Jan 6, 2009
I drive, I think. Today I was thinking about how literature and music are similar:
I Enjoy Design View Jan 4, 2009
I enjoy reading Andy Rutledge’s blog Design View, and I bet you would, too. Here are a few reasons why I think so: More “Less is More” Jan 4, 2009
Less is More Jan 4, 2009
As I get older, I find that the world is too full. There’s too much, and little of value. Maybe it’s just me? So I took a critical look at my old website. Too many notes and too many features. So I treated it as if I were trimming a bonsai tree: It isn’t finished until there is nothing more to take away. Beware the Maven’s Pen Jan 4, 2009
Beware the maven’s pen my son, Hello, World! Dec 31, 2008
I hereby inaugurate the web presence of one Eli T. Evans. Whatever I have to say to the world will get said here for now. Roger wilco. Over and out. Manuscript Transmission Test (C) Feb 14, 2006
I realized that I hadn’t taken any pictures of my setup, so I went ahead this evening and set it all back up the way I had it the other night. Manuscript Transmission Test (A) Feb 13, 2006
My colleague Rick Brannan has been running a manuscript transmission experiment for the past few weeks. The task is to copy out the Westcott-Hort text of 2 Timothy, sans accents and punctuation, by hand. You can read about his own attempts here. He also has a few others participating in the program, including Suzanne McCarthy of abecedaria and Better Bibles fame. The other day, Rick received Suzanne’s manuscript submission (which you can read about here). He got the pages at work, which means that I saw them, too. Lovely! Can We Order Lunch Now? Aug 15, 2005
One of the things I like to do on Sunday is eat out with my family after church. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. Our church tends to be over around 11:30 AM, primarily because the pastor keeps his sermons to a lean 20 to 30 minutes. Again, I doubt that this is unusual. So after church today, we decided to go to the Boss Tweed restaurant in Bellingham. Both my kids love clam chowder, and I was in the mood for a salad bar. (Trust me, when I eat at a salad bar, it ain’t health food.) So we drove downtown and walked into the restaurant at about 11:40 AM. The Machinist Jul 12, 2005
The other day I watched The Machinist on DVD. This isn’t quite a review, but if it were, I would say something like, “This movie is painfully difficult to watch, but in a good way.” I would recommend it, despite the R-rating (for violence, language, and sexuality), and despite some unsettling ethical questions about Christian Bale’s destruction of his own body for entertainment value. The Plot |
                              |
Candidate Obama (and his followers) used art as the means to further his political aims more often and more effectively than any American political candidate I have ever seen. The symbolism used is both mythic and archetypal, fraught with symbolism and pregnant with meanings both overt and hidden, striking deeply at the “mystic chords of memory,” to borrow a phrase from Abraham Lincoln. As propaganda, Obama-themed art is strident, grasping, blatant, brilliant.