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Today I got my Christmas present... a new Yamaha trumpet. I haven't had on in over 52 years! Went to Chuck Levine's in Wheaton, MD today for the purchase. Chuck's is one of THE Music stores in the Washington DC area. It is worth the visit just to watch all that happens there. I'm excited about this horn! And, I can still play it a little. Here is my rendition (thought rather crude) of my new horn.
Sunday's New York Times had an advertisement in the International Section from MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) that was entitled "Good Design, Great Art." The Ad was a block set called New York in a Bag and sells for $14. The blocks in the set include the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Building, and some others city pieces. I think it might be worth trying to interest MOMA in a offering GollyGee Blocks as a gift in their store. We sold Blocks in the National Building Museum in Washington, DC some time ago for a little while. Blocks certainly has more play appeal than the New York City in a Bag.
By the way, if you have never visited MOMA in NYC, it is well worth the effort the next time you're in the Big Apple.
During this holiday season I hope that each one of you that read this posting will think just a little bit about how we can have a better world. Whether it is in doing the small things that help people (physically or mentally) or in some larger project that you might be involved with (e.g. Habitat for Humanity, Mission Trips, Food Banks), take some time to sit down and consider how to make a better society.
The picture that made me think of this is a bridge construction.
Construction pieces are from GollyGee Blocks Objects (some of the pre-defined themes in the program) and shapes (the domes and bridge platforms) were used to create the scene. Try your hand at GollyGee Blocks!
I have a free subscription to Edutopia Magazine. This is one of several educational magazines that I read on a regular basis. One of the others is the ISTE magazine.
One of the articles I read talked about Heifer International, a not for profit that provides various animals to poor families worldwide based on financial donations. Here's a link to them: www.edutopia.org/global-village-video. This is not a direct one but will get you an idea. I have personally used this not for profit several times giving gifts to those in need and as a gift to someone you know or care about (You send the gift in their name and they get a card saying that an animal was donated).
The other article in Edutopia that got my attention was one called "English-Language Lagging." The article talks about helping English-language learners catch up for standardized testing. The article writer talks about the vocabulary of early English learners being about 3000-5000 words and how they need to increase that. The writer says..."Students who started school as non-English speakers probably lag behind their peers on core vocabulary by at least 5,000 words by fifth grade." Made me think about using GollyGee Blocks to help in this type of situation since a lot of children are visual learners. The 3D lettering in Blocks allows the user to put up words in a scene which could really help. The scene I've put together is a season appropriate example.
I'm trying to do this blog more often. It is often said by writers that just sitting down and doing some stream of consciousness is the best way to write. I don't know - I think the idea part is the hardest.
Here is a quick rendition (not very good at that) of the Eiffel Tower. I saw it in an image the other day and thought it might be a challenge to construct. It was! I could have done better but wanted to get something up on the weblog.
The base should be larger I think. Put the image in "wireframe" mode and it looks a little better. Try it.
Did this scene for an educational show several years ago (NECC Philadelphia). Since the Liberty Bell is located in this historic city, I decided to see if I could make it using GollyGee Blocks. For the bell part I started with a cone and overlaid it with several diminishing spheres. The texturing covers up the shadows and unwanted lines.