Hugh Graham Creative

What more could you want? This site has all the wisdom in the world, and provides a great way to waste an hour too.

I came across this site today called Basic Philosophy as I was doing some research (some days I do a lot of research). This one is a project done by a self-described ‘retired canadian former bridge-builder’ named Phil. It’s the history of philosophy wrapped in a dialectic hidden in an aphorism. More to the point, this page is a classic way to burn through a lunch hour.

Consider, for example, argument number 20 (out of 581):
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LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

IS FRIENDSHIP THE HIGHEST LOVE?

You can’t love what you don’t know.

but

We only know someone through friendship. (St. Augustine)

and

The bond of companionship, both in marriage and friendship,
is conversation. (Oscar Wilde)

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Don’t like that one? Don’t worry, there are 580 more.

Phil’s biggest efforts seem to go into advocating for a universal basic income. He says the following:

Capitalism is based on the principle of competition. People must work hard in order to succeed. But many people, through no fault of their own, are ill-equipped to live in such a competitive world. If we think it wrong to discriminate on the basis of race, creed or colour, why do we tolerate economic discrimination on the basis of energy, academic aptitude, or the motivating desire for wealth? It’s up to the victims of our economy, and their sympathizers in the middle class, to point to the obvious injustice in much of modern economic practice, as well as to the historic change underway in the nature of work. Though it may be delayed the day is coming when our society will agree with John Kenneth Galbraith, ‘Everybody should be guaranteed a decent basic income. A rich country…can well afford to keep everybody out of poverty.’

There’s something I like about this guy…

Maddie and I read the lead article in the New York Times Sunday magazine with interest, as you can well imagine. After all, Maddie considers herself to be the equal of any labradoodle or puggle and, frankly, superior to a bichon-poo or a doodleman pinscher.

So it was with some surprise that we visited the American Canine Hybrid Club, looked at the recognized breeds, and found that (horrors!) there is no mention of the combination of Old English Sheepdog and Standard Poodle. I tried to console her by explaining that just because she’s different doesn’t mean she’s wrong. But she saw that there are shih-mo’s, and beacols, and bogles, and shockers, and corkies, but not a sign of a ‘peepdog’. Oh well, what’s in a name, anyhow? She’ll just have to get by on her good looks and charming personality.

I alway liked Snickers. Good candy bar, a peanut in every bite and all that. But I guess I’m gonna have to give ‘em a break for a while.

During last nights superbowl Snickers ran an ad (called “after the kiss”) where two guys share a candy bar, meet lips, and rip their chest hair off to prove how manly they are.

This happens during the Superbowl where Tony Dungy becomes the first african-american head coach to win an NFL title.

The timing wasn’t lost on me, or on King Kaufman who has an article on the topic in today’s Salon. I guess it’s true that gay is the new black.

I suppose you could argue that the agency was trying to acknowledge the existence of gayness, but without offending the delicate sensibilities of their homophobic audience. But it just ends up offensive to everyone.

Oh well. I shouldn’t be eating candybars anyhow.

Update: February 6th
King Kaufman reports that Mars and TBWA/Chiat/Day have pulled the Snickers ad campaign. He also quotes Molly Willow in The Columbus Dispatch: “I’m ready for homophobia not to be funny anymore.”

Every year during the stock show the grand champion steer is exhibited in the lobby of the Brown Palace Hotel for one day. As befits such a fancy place, he drinks out of a silver bowl. While the steer is there, you can go get your picture taken with him. It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s a Denver tradition.

This year, my buddy Allen Hill and I went down to get our picture taken (his suggestion). I’m not sure who the guy on the right is, but I think he’s trying to make sure nobody gets killed. As you can see, this year brought in two champion steers (Spud and the reserve champion Titan). They’re good looking fellers, raised by kids in the Future Farmers of America. Spud was raised by Lance Unger of Carlisle, Indiana. Unfortunately for Spud, he’s well on his way to becoming someone’s dinner. Here’s what 9news has to say:

Weighing over 1,300 pounds, Spud sold for $80,000 during the auction. He was bought by the Emil-Lene’s Sirloin House.

A year or so ago I read “Alice off the page” in the New Yorker, and thought it was the most moving work I’d read in a long time. I passed it on to my brother-in-law, John, who then sent it on to just about everyone else we know. Now it’s been turned into a short book (78 pages). There is a great article on Mr. Trillin, and on his book, in the Observer this week.

I’ve always been fond of Trillin’s work, and Hadley has always loved his articles in the New Yorker. She wants to move to Nova Scotia because of how his describes life on the island (I’m willing to go with her). This article is different, though I’m not quite sure why. There is an aspirational component to it, I’m sure. Calvin Trillin represents potential for the not-so-young man (and I am one of those); attentive, loyal, funny, and not so egotistical to misunderstand what matters in the world.

There are a few stories that have surprised me with my own tears in the past ten or so years; often they involve older men who can’t do what they used to do. This one is different though, as it got to me by bringing out what I should be doing. It gave me hope for my own future, but also a challenge.

The interviews I’ve read say that Mr. Trillin is surprised by the response to this work. Isn’t that just perfect. At our best we do work that resonates in ways we don’t expect. Calvin Trillin sets a top notch example, doesn’t he?

“At this point words become inadequate and I return to the great discovery I began preparing you for, the knowledge of the one surface with which the world offered itself to this art. Offered, but not yet gave. Accepting it would (and still does) require endless work.

Consider for a moment how much work would be required for an artist who wished to master all surfaces; after all, no one thing is just like another. He wasn’t concerned with knowing the body in general, nor the face or the hand (none of which exists anyhow); but rather all bodies, all faces, all hands. This is a task! And how simple and serious it is, how completely devoid of temptation and promise; how completely unpretentious.

A craft develops that appears to be that of an immortal; it is so broad, so infinite and beyond boundaries, and so dedicated to a process of constant learning. Where to find a patience adequate to this craft?”

From “Rodin” by Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Daniel Slager)

Once of my favorite Hadley Hooper pieces, this one entitled “Solstice” (though I usually call it ‘the one with bjork’), and with it I offer best wishes for a peaceful new year.

I’ve often wondered how long the tax-cutting as good governance faction of the Republican Party would be able to stay in control of things. My paranoid idea (shared by some) is that this group wants to build such a huge deficit that we’ll have no choice but to get rid of any safety net and drive our society back into the dark ages, thus bringing forth the inevitable beam up of all good persons into heaven. It’s the coalition of the trickle-down reaganites and the social conversatives that will lead to the end of civilization as we have come to know it.

But not all republicans are in this evil cabal; this week in the New York Times, Ben Stein put forth a call for reason - you can read it here. He used Warren (no longer the richest man in the world) Buffet as the cover fire for his attack, but what’s strange is that he even had to make the argument. All he says is that we have to pay our way as we go, and not leave a huge debt to our children. And if we have to raise taxes to do it, so be it.

I don’t believe that government is always good, and certainly it would be nice to get rid of the pork appropriations and run things more efficiently. But there are some programs that should be run by government. If we want the services (whether it medicine, roads, or defense), then we have to pay for them. I don’t agree with a lot of what we spend our money on, and we may well be leveraging our way into bankruptcy as a country, but the least we can do it agree to pay our the bills.

I’m looking forward to seeing an end of the idiotically simplistic “cut taxes and all will be well” form of governance – tax cuts should always be connected to spending cuts. But I’m not hopeful. I’m afraid we are all too tempted by this form of pablum. Ah well, so be it.

I am a bit of a mongrel, though perhaps that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To quote William Blake from “Proverbs of Hell”,

“Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of Genius.”

My own background is in performance and storytelling; I started working in interactive media in the early nineties. The addition of interactivity caused me to rethink the nature of telling stories; over time I came to believe that personal stories are the most vital and compelling, but as I began to consider interactivity I was thrown into a world where there was no longer control the way the story is experienced; how do we communicate themes and messages if there is no plot, no defined beginning, middle, and end?

One way to frame this new form of storytelling is to think of it as a conversation between the author and the audience; by its nature a conversation has a spontaneous and uncontrolled feel, and yet it can also be structured and composed. Conversations wander crooked roads, but they are informed by the needs and desires of the participants.

There is a natural tendency among creative people to believe that great work leaps fully formed into the world like Athena from the head of Zeus, but when we are creating complex projects that require interaction both between various team members and audiences, this is a risky proposition to say the least. This is another reason I prefer to frame the design process as a creative dialogue.