I can't tell you guys how proud I am. How proud I am to be in this group, and how proud I am to have worked with such great individuals like you.
To be in a group with a good bunch of creative minds made me feel more secure about our good performance in this class. You should all be proud of the work that you contributed to the sound functioning of the group. We of course had some hard times, but that comes with being in a group of random people you may or may not have met before. Every single one of you deserves a pat on the back for the work that you put into this class, and to our group. Don't forget that each one of you can always be a big factor on how the group flows. And as long as you bring to the table what you have brought to ours, you will certainly have great success in the future with other class groups.
I do apologize for my harsh nagging and complaining, but it was my way of ensuring that you knew your participation was always important, for all of our projects. As Mark Twain once said, “There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.” You all have accomplished something in this group, learned new things about people and their reactions to art forms, and how to create something that is so powerful that it will wow the minds of your peers.
To those of you that felt that your work went unappreciated, it has not. The group, and especially I, appreciate everything that is brought to the table, no matter how radical. Because even though an idea at first may seem radical, it can always be morphed into a workable and sane piece. From our interesting and dangerous initial Environmental Design proposal to our long and complex Stage Design idea, all of these ideas have transitioned into something that seemed to be a great improvement over the original idea.
So with all of that being said, I leave you with these words of wisdom for being in any class group...
Always be open-minded, no matter how much the ideas go for or against your beliefs, and never force your ideas upon others. If you feel that you are being pushed around by group members and having your ideas shut down, feel free to speak up and share how you feel about the flow of the group. If that's not working, it is absolutely appropriate to talk to your instructor to find a peaceful resolution. Bickering gets you nowhere, but neither does hiding your feelings and just ignoring the problem.
So I hope all of you have a great winter break, I don't know if I'll be seeing any of you anytime beforehand. Good luck on all of your finals, and good luck with the rest of your year. Please feel free to contact me at any time during your college life for questions, or you know... just to say "hi". It's been a pleasure working with you all, and hopefully I'll see you in the future!
-Nick Vezmar
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Actually, I swear this is the last post for tonight...
I thought this was cool... It shows a transition of time, and I used this as an example of showing how conventional railroads have been phased out over time and replaced by different and more efficient methods. This example comes with a bit of history, which I think you may find interesting.
This is was a picture taken in the mid-1960s. It shows a small locomotive pulling a couple of dated passenger cars through a crossing on Main Street in Walnut Creek, CA on this train's last journey on this rail line. This particular rail line ran from the north part of Livermore all the way until the east side of Concord. Today, this rail line does not exist. The old extension from the main line in Livermore has been torn up and developed over, and the only thing rail-like that still exists in Concord is an extension from the Amtrak line, and part of the old train yard (which is still used today) this particular line passed through.
At the time Walnut Creek, and most of the East Bay Area was known for it's lush farm land. After World War II, more people started heading out west to settle and raise families, which lead for demand in more houses and business. This phased out a lot of farm land in the East Bay to move over the hills into the Central Valley, where cities like Modesto, Fresno, and Stockton lie.
As Walnut Creek became a great spot for businesses, due to it's great location and easy access to San Francisco/Oakland without living in a busy city, it became quite a popular community to buy houses in. Which meant that certain things needed to be sacrificed in order to keep the community going. And since demand for a railroad in the East Bay was going down as more industries focused on using other forms of transportation (trucks, delivery vans, etc.), the railroad was used primarily for personal travel, as there were no major highways running through the East Bay. This soon however changed, as Highway 680 was built, which connected up with Highway 80 in the north and Highway 280 in the South. This lead to more people using cars to drive from one end of the East Bay to the other.
So now a railroad was basically sitting around, wasting space and money to maintain. The railroad was soon torn up, and trackage rights were bought to build a system for fast rail transit, what we now know as Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
This is a picture of what this exact scene looks like today...
Definitely looks different huh? It looks a lot more developed and current. Which is what Walnut Creek, as well as most of the East Bay has become today.
Was this transition a good one? Yes and no.
The fact that and older outdated rail system could be replaced by something efficient and easy to maintain, was a great change on the economy for this area. People are able to get to work faster, and are able to go around to different spots in the Bay Area faster.
Unfortunately, the good always has a bad. The noise of a railroad still remains. While the conventional and more noisy rail system has been torn out, the sound of a train whistling through the night making an ever-so annoying whining sound really doesn't sit well with the residents that live near these tracks.
Also, because BART does connect to some major populated areas (San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco), it has brought in new groups of people that shop there. It has also increased the amount of people that come in the town just to be there. Jammed up streets, busy sidewalks and long store lines at this once peaceful shopping/residential area have got residents heading for the hills to find a nicer and quieter place to live.
Hope you enjoyed this little tid-bit of information from a "railroad buff".
This is was a picture taken in the mid-1960s. It shows a small locomotive pulling a couple of dated passenger cars through a crossing on Main Street in Walnut Creek, CA on this train's last journey on this rail line. This particular rail line ran from the north part of Livermore all the way until the east side of Concord. Today, this rail line does not exist. The old extension from the main line in Livermore has been torn up and developed over, and the only thing rail-like that still exists in Concord is an extension from the Amtrak line, and part of the old train yard (which is still used today) this particular line passed through.At the time Walnut Creek, and most of the East Bay Area was known for it's lush farm land. After World War II, more people started heading out west to settle and raise families, which lead for demand in more houses and business. This phased out a lot of farm land in the East Bay to move over the hills into the Central Valley, where cities like Modesto, Fresno, and Stockton lie.
As Walnut Creek became a great spot for businesses, due to it's great location and easy access to San Francisco/Oakland without living in a busy city, it became quite a popular community to buy houses in. Which meant that certain things needed to be sacrificed in order to keep the community going. And since demand for a railroad in the East Bay was going down as more industries focused on using other forms of transportation (trucks, delivery vans, etc.), the railroad was used primarily for personal travel, as there were no major highways running through the East Bay. This soon however changed, as Highway 680 was built, which connected up with Highway 80 in the north and Highway 280 in the South. This lead to more people using cars to drive from one end of the East Bay to the other.
So now a railroad was basically sitting around, wasting space and money to maintain. The railroad was soon torn up, and trackage rights were bought to build a system for fast rail transit, what we now know as Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
This is a picture of what this exact scene looks like today...
Definitely looks different huh? It looks a lot more developed and current. Which is what Walnut Creek, as well as most of the East Bay has become today.Was this transition a good one? Yes and no.
The fact that and older outdated rail system could be replaced by something efficient and easy to maintain, was a great change on the economy for this area. People are able to get to work faster, and are able to go around to different spots in the Bay Area faster.
Unfortunately, the good always has a bad. The noise of a railroad still remains. While the conventional and more noisy rail system has been torn out, the sound of a train whistling through the night making an ever-so annoying whining sound really doesn't sit well with the residents that live near these tracks.
Also, because BART does connect to some major populated areas (San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco), it has brought in new groups of people that shop there. It has also increased the amount of people that come in the town just to be there. Jammed up streets, busy sidewalks and long store lines at this once peaceful shopping/residential area have got residents heading for the hills to find a nicer and quieter place to live.
Hope you enjoyed this little tid-bit of information from a "railroad buff".
Environmental Design
Boy oh boy, what a long and grueling task indeed. But we seemed to pull together an idea that made sense to us at the time. And here are the pictures showing our transition from light to dark, calm to chaos, lonely to sad, etc.
Stage Design
Posted on Tuesday... Talk about beating out the clock thanks to campus-wide power outages...
Anyways, here is our stage design. The point of this stage design was to go through the major stages of a man's life.
And first we start out with birth...
As you can see, the very childish elements add somewhat of a infancy feel to the room. Decorations and toys are two key elements that played a role in this room. The fact that everything has a very light tone and color makes it feel very warm and welcoming.
This setting is perfect for a baby to be nurtured and raised before it grows up into a young child.
Next, we move onto adolescence/young adulthood. The child is no longer a child, he is now a teenage boy. Growing up in the world, or mainly his high school, as noted by the letterman jacket.
This young man has decorated his room to be able to fit his lifestyle. He has a dog, a bed with leopard style sheets, and a stereo. All of which are the so-called necessities of a teenage boy.
Obviously, all men have to settle down at some point. And this room definitely shows it all. It's got that mature "I let my wife design the room" flair.
All of the furniture and nicely placed paintings make this a cozy room for the couple looking to relax after a long day at work.
And the darkest part of the stage of life, the end of it. The tattered and torn walls show that this room has not been taken care of at all.
The broken desk, and the empty yet dirty bed show that this room has been vacant for a long while.
The dirt spread across the floor brings up the phrase "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" as the room begins to die out, way after its owner did.
The room is lifeless, and cold, not what it once used to be.
Anyways, here is our stage design. The point of this stage design was to go through the major stages of a man's life.
And first we start out with birth...
As you can see, the very childish elements add somewhat of a infancy feel to the room. Decorations and toys are two key elements that played a role in this room. The fact that everything has a very light tone and color makes it feel very warm and welcoming.
This setting is perfect for a baby to be nurtured and raised before it grows up into a young child.
Next, we move onto adolescence/young adulthood. The child is no longer a child, he is now a teenage boy. Growing up in the world, or mainly his high school, as noted by the letterman jacket.
This young man has decorated his room to be able to fit his lifestyle. He has a dog, a bed with leopard style sheets, and a stereo. All of which are the so-called necessities of a teenage boy.
Obviously, all men have to settle down at some point. And this room definitely shows it all. It's got that mature "I let my wife design the room" flair.
All of the furniture and nicely placed paintings make this a cozy room for the couple looking to relax after a long day at work.
And the darkest part of the stage of life, the end of it. The tattered and torn walls show that this room has not been taken care of at all.
The broken desk, and the empty yet dirty bed show that this room has been vacant for a long while.
The dirt spread across the floor brings up the phrase "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" as the room begins to die out, way after its owner did.
The room is lifeless, and cold, not what it once used to be.
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