Great TED Talk

Iwan Baans great talk on how people around the world have
appropriated abandoned housing complexes or made use of their 
own unique surroundings to create a unique living space.

 It's a valuable insight into "when needs must" and also the innate 
creativity in all of us. Its a far cry from our own "cosy world" for 
sure, but the ingenuity is quite incredible.

I think the quote at the end of the talk speaks volumes in a world that
is increasingly becoming too generic and uniform. 

Here is the link:

http://www.ted.com/talk/iwan_baan_ingenious_homes_in_unexpected_places.html

Free-Diving & Static Apnea

So I have recently completed my first Free-diving course at the Esslingen Tauchturm with Malte the instructor.

After doing lots of snorkelling and scuba over the last couple of years I had become increasingly interested in "equipment free" diving. And so did this course to learn more about technique and safety in order to free-dive properly...

So why free-diving ... well I guess its a total sense calmness whilst being immersed in a water without panicking at the first onset of convulsions for air...

So if anything the course has propelled me forward into learning about Breathing and how to control the breath so that you can dive longer and safer.

Before the course I had a Static Apnea breath hold PB of 2mins 26 seconds 
Its now 3mins 37seconds...

Dynamic No fins pool distance prior to the course was 35 metres and I haven,t had the opportunity to test that yet. 

A long way to go but I,m hooked now and cant wait for a chance to do this in open water.

And the one thing you learn on the course that is essential


NEVER DIVE ALONE....EVER  !!
(even during horizontal practice in a swimming pool )

Finally ditched Windows !

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Homescreen with Pangolin

So I finally ditched Windows completely today having not used it for some months. I no longer saw any reason to keep the dual boot system on my notebook as it was merely taking space and slowing it down...

So now its up and running just with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and it's like its been turbo charged... less than a min to boot from cold and no lagging.

So it's fair well to Windows...forever
(well you can never say never !!...but I cant imagine why I'll ever need it again )

German General Election 2013 an UK Expats View

Did you know there is a General Election in Germany next Sunday 22nd September.

• Well I guess if your German the answer will be straightforward.  Ja
•  I guess if you are Greek it's possible the answer will be Ne (Yes) !!
•  I guess if your from the UK ....you might ......but who cares anyway. 

I just got back from two weeks in Thessaloniki, Tour of the Pelion Coast and Skiathos. As I now live in Germany (in the so called rich part ) I daily hear about the Euro crisis in the German media. So in going to Greece I wanted to see clear evidence of how the austerity measures being imposed by the Troika were affecting daily life there.

Now I am not a politician nor an EU bureaucrat but I expected to see a sort of empty destitute wasteland full of empty shops and cafes. Well the exact opposite was the case. Cafes full of customers, a functioning infrastructure, buses full and running to time  and ATMs distributing money. So in fact it was Normal.

So I want to know what constitutes a CRISIS

I think I have some idea having watched images of Ethopian Famines prior to Live Aid Concerts in 1984 and I have no doubt that Syria really is in the middle of one now.

So why is Germany so obsessed with the Euro Crisis ? or let me be political about this why are  the Ruling CDU CSU FDP coalition and the German Media.
obsessed about it.

Let me be cynical.
Is it perhaps that due to the continuing low value of the Euro, (based on the struggling economies in the southern part of Europe) Germany's exports have boomed over the last few years and therefore Germany has benefited from the status quo?

So heres a UK expats view on the German Election in which I cannot take part ( as in vote ) knowing full well that the outcome is going to affect the whole of Europe.

So unsurprisingly perhaps the Euro Crisis is a key aspect of the CDU CSU FDP Campaign  or as they would see it the Saving of the Euro and of Europe itself.

What they want to keep quiet however is the following:

• Extremely Low wage economy second only behind Latvia in the EU
• Lack of any minimum Wage in Germany (despite being the 3rd Richest Economy ) we Cant afford it !!!  heard that one before ?
• Mini Jobs (400 Euros a month ) for a job worth far more.
• Extensive use of agency workers on a quarter of their full time counterparts wage. ......Getting the picture ?
• Syria (as they might  have to get involved .... take up arms that is  )

What you will hear are

• EU Crisis and how Germany is sorting it out .....no brainer there then !
• NSA ....as Germans are totally obsessed about privacy ...
• Lowest EU unemployment .....and thats a no brainer as well because exploited and threatened workers keep their gobs shut dont they !!

So the "Wunder" that is Germany has a current darker side of self interest abroad (unless its got something to do with a War) and couldn't careless at home. But there is one saving grace in all of this

Elections offer the opportunity to kick out incumbent politicians and make a change. My thinking is that it won't take place this time as the pips havnt been squeezed enough to hurt the Volk themselves but another term of CDU CSU FDP and the chickens will surely come home to roost

And as for Europe ...well that will be an even bigger basket case than ever before.

Hey but if your not in to politics there's always a bit of Lederhosen Bum slapping dancing and a Stein (Mass ) of beer to take your mind off the whole thing ...well until next time ...happy yodeling from Stuttgart.
And this isn't English irony by the way (although it should be)  because in a few weeks time Oktoberfest and Wasenfest will be there to take the pain away....of what

...THE CRISIS of course !!.....

Squash and Stretch Video for GUI

The video for using the Squash and Stretch Ball  GUI
can be found at the following link on vimeo.com

https://vimeo.com/user16943767

Squash and Stretch MEL GUI

Here is a short MEL script to create an automated Squash and Stretch Ball in Maya.

A video will accompany this on Vimeo.
The script is intended for non commercial use only!
Load the following text into the Script Editor in maya and execute it
Use the Squash and Bend attributes in the Channel Box to make it work.
(MMB right to left)
Enjoy !!

// Created by Tony Smith for student training and non commercial use only 

// Please credit me if used any training context or use 09-03-2013 Tony Smith

//_______________________________________________________________

if (`window -exists ballcreate`)

deleteUI ballcreate;

window -title "ballcreate"

-widthHeight  220 310

-maximizeButton  off

ballcreate;

rowColumnLayout -nc 8 keyableRCL;

button -label "ball" -w 75-c "BallcreateGroup()";

showWindow ballcreate;

global proc BallcreateGroup() 

{

sphere -n ball -p 0 1 0 -ax 0 1 0 -ssw 0 -esw 360 -r 1 -d 3 -ut 0 -tol 0.01 -s 8 -nsp 8 -ch 1;

circle -n ball_ctrl -c 0 0 0 -nr 0 1 0 -sw 360 -r 1 -d 3 -ut 0 -tol 0.01 -s 8 -ch 1;

addAttr -ln "Squash"  -at double  |ball_ctrl;

setAttr -e-keyable true |ball_ctrl.Squash;

addAttr -ln "bend"  -at double  |ball_ctrl;

setAttr -e-keyable true |ball_ctrl.bend;

select -r ball ;

nonLinear -type squash  -lowBound 0 -highBound 1 -startSmoothness 0 -endSmoothness 0 -maxExpandPos 0.5 -expand .5 -factor 0;

setAttr "squash1Handle.translateY" 0;

setAttr "squash1Handle.scaleZ" 2;setAttr "squash1Handle.translateY" 0;

setAttr "squash1Handle.scaleX" 2;

setAttr "squash1Handle.scaleY" 2;

setAttr "squash1Handle.scaleZ" 2;

setAttr "squash1.factor" 0;

select -r ball ;setAttr "squash1.factor" 0;

nonLinear -type bend  -lowBound 0 -highBound 1 -curvature 0;

setAttr "bend1Handle.rotateY" 90;

setAttr "bend1Handle.scaleX" 5;

setAttr "bend1Handle.scaleY" 5;

setAttr "bend1Handle.scaleZ" 5;

select -r squash1Handle bend1Handle ball;

select -tgl ball_ctrl ;

parent;

select -r ball_ctrl ;

connectAttr -force ball_ctrl.Squash squash1.factor;

connectAttr -force ball_ctrl.bend bend1.curvature;

select -cl  ;

select -r squash1Handle bend1Handle ball ;

createDisplayLayer -name "DONOTTOUCH" -number 1 -nr;

select -cl  ;

select -r squash1Handle bend1Handle ;

setAttr "bend1Handle.visibility" 0;

setAttr "squash1Handle.visibility" 0;

select -cl  ;

};

Realism or Abstraction ?

Where does realism end and abstraction begin? Here the images above are painted from life on a beach at Southport as the sun is setting. This is done in watercolour and the light was changing constantly. The second images are entirely playful where there was no object of interest only exporation of materials.