Eerie Photoshopping

The New Republic's front page is quite eerie. This image looks like an effete man - which Obama definitely isn't; and neither is Hilary a benign woman.

My babies

Over the last spring and fall semesters, I have been taking wheel pottery classes at Clayworks; a non-profit ceramic art school and studio. My proud achievements include making symmetrical cylinders (whew, finally!), and some sugar bowls. These are some of my creations.

At the Guggenheim

Last Saturday was a virtual overload of senses. We went to the Guggenheim in the afternoon, and then the evening show of the Phantom of the Opera. I was really impressed and overwhelmed with the collection and the exhibitions, and of course the interior space at the Guggenheim. I literally got goose bumps when I saw the famous paintings that I had seen only as postcards before in real life, so close that I could smell the paint on them (well, ok I exaggerate). Early Picassos, Kandinskys and Légers made the afternoon really memorable.

The Phantom of the Opera

We were in NY for the labor day weekend, where we had a mini reunion of sorts with some high school friends and finally managed to catch the longest playing Broadway show ever after so much anticipation. And boy, it did not disappoint. The sets, the music, the acting and the costumes made it a real treat! I loved the Phantom's lair and the smooth ride in the boat. Candles and wrought iron cages and smoke appeared from nowhere and disappeared just as seamlessly. If Lalunadiosa is to be believed, the show was nothing compared to Les Misérables, but that didn't stop us from raving about it.

The Sopranos

I'm only about 8 years late in joining the fan club, but the Sopranos is an awesome series, and L and I are hooked. I love the slick direction, the crisp dialogs (and the Italian accents), and the way all the characters are fleshed out.

Some Photoshop fun

A solarized image using the Filter > Stylize > Solarize option in Photoshop Elements. The image looks too dark, so adjust the colors by using the Enhance > Auto Levels option. The end result is a cool, pop-artsy look.

Old San Juan

Old San Juan mesmerized me with the cobbled-stone alleys, the curio shops, and the vibrant colors on the walls. What fascinated me was that seemingly ordinary buildings and in fact even chain stores used these colors to create an effect of harmony and vibrancy. Of course, the city has done a great job in maintaining this effect, and it definitely is not a coincidence that the redeveloped section of Old San Juan where El Morro, and the galleries are, also have repeated this architectural style. The architecture in San Juan seemed to be a medley of Spanish and island architecture - no wonder it seemed like I was in Goa. Featured pic (the ubiquitous Burger King – San Juan style)

The Flintstones...

I really thought I was reading some kind of a bad, ignorant joke. A creationism museum has opened in the heart of Jesus country extolling a universe where creationism rules, and evolution, securalism and pure science are ridiculed. I was really appalled when I read this article. I feel sad for the parents and their kids who are planning a trip to this myopic universe. Up next - an exhibit showing how the earth is flat and how the sun revolves around it.

Line Rider

Line Rider is an amazing piece of Flash gaming. People have gone to crazy lengths to make the rider a skier who could win in the winter Olympics! Check this out:



- Trackback from Pogue's post.

A full dosage of culture

This Saturday, we attended the South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival in DC. The festival was really well organized, well attended and we got to experience quite a feast of good movies, book readings and panel discussions. Plus, there was some star power in the form of Nagesh Kukunoor and Kiran Desai. “Dor” and “Punching at the Sun” were screened as part of the festival, followed by a Q&A. I quite liked “Dor”, and I think his style of writing/direction makes you feel buoyant and cheerful about life; and makes you believe in the innate goodness of humankind. L was even slightly disappointed that the movie had such a feel-good ending; but I was quite happy with it. He even asked Nagesh the same question, and he answered “Why not? I want my audiences to leave the theater with a good, warm fuzzy feeling”. He’s really a great guy – so creative and so unassuming. No airs, no fake accents, just sincere movie making.

“Punching at the Sun” is this year’s entry at the Sundance festival about an inner-city neighborhood in Queens and a teen’s coming-of-age story. Left me wanting for more; but I think the director Tanuj Chopra had me quite entertained in the Q&A. When asked a serious question about the teen’s father and how his character was not developed, and whether that was intentional, he started saying how it was an expression of his basic theme etc. Then he just gave up and said “Oh, actually, he just didn’t show up in the last few weeks of shooting!”

The other notables were Devyani Saltzman(Deepa Mehta’s daughter) who’s written a memoir, Tarun Tejapal (really dynamic journalist and founder of Tehelka.com with a colorful personality), and Samrat Upadhyay, whose reading reminded me a lot of “The Glass Palace”.

From the archives

This pic is from one of my first forays into digital art. Both the pictures were taken at the Met, and then superimposed. The background picture is the hieroglyphic from the Temple of Dendur (this entire Egyptian temple was transplanted to the US) , and the foot is early Greco-Roman.

Aah, a trip to NY just for the museums is long overdue. I am quite excited about going to the newly reopened MoMA.

Some more Photoshop stuff...

My inspiration was the cover of the Economist's "Intelligent Life".

Dabbling in Photoshop Elements

I love gifting photographs to friends and family, and nowadays, I’ve started dabbling in Photoshop Elements. It’s pretty easy to create fantastic montages, (slightly gimmicky) but cool jigsaw effects and shadow filters. Here’s how I created this particular picture:

• Start with a picture of your choice. Go to Filter > Texture > Texturizer > Load Texture (from file). Once in the folder view, pick Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 3.0\Presets\Textures\Puzzle.psd. Pick Scale and Relief values for your picture. The cool thing is that instant previews are available in the right hand side pane. I picked a scale of 150% and a relief of 6 for this example.
  
  
• Once the jigsaw filter is added, using a magnetic lasso, carve out the pieces you feel are kind of central to the theme of the picture. Once the lasso is complete, cut it and copy it on the same picture. Add some shadow effects; I typically like to “hang” the puzzle pieces and then add a heavy shadow to it.

That’s it! Feel free to add any other cool techniques you know or might come across.