If Ramp Chicago needed a poster boy it would be Scott Hansen—equal parts audio and visual, he executes both with finesse. As Tycho he’s a master of swirling, sun-drenched melodies and as the much-lauded graphic designer, ISO50, he’s equally stunning and mines a similar aesthetic. Having just shared a bill with Matmos, Tycho is at work on new material for Ghostly International, having recently released Past is Prologue on Merck records. Hansen will be performing and displaying artwork from his ISO50 guise, as well as his live set as Tycho.

You’ll regret it if you miss Chicago DJ, Mr. Automatic, a long-time veteran of collectives like Metropop Media, Retropop!, Boutique Sound and Iconoclast. He’ll be spinning an eclectic mix of downtempo, 60’s pop and disco. Also look out for our new resident DJ Liz Revision (a.k.a. Quantazelle), who recently appeared with a live set in January, as well as live video artist Spiderback, returning to Ramp Chicago with his distinct blend of synthesized visuals.

* Tuesday, March 13, 2007 @ Sonotheque [MAP]
* 1444 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago IL
* 9pm – 2am, 21+, $5

* BassUpTrebleDown presents Ramp Chicago featuring:
* Tycho (Live)
* Mr. Automatic
* Liz Revision [aka Quantazelle] (Resident)
* Emulsion (Resident)
* Live Visuals: Spiderback

Chicago’s public housing project made famous by its newsworthy gang-fueled violence and criminal activity has finally been demolished, but the high-rise husks still standing in its semi-demolished state have become unintentional wind instruments. A strangely appropriate, unintentional art installation for the “windy city.”

Cabrini Green is in close proximity to some of the highest property taxes in the city–the Gold Coast. Likewise, public housing built in the 50s and 60s was built on (desirable) lakefront proerty in the south loop. In the past few years, due to low interest rates and a cooperative city zoning department, the city has finally realized that it could reap greater profits by developing these areas and benefitting from both the income of raised property taxes, and developers have lept at the chance to cash in on huge margins by developing housing for the middle and upper-middle class.

The recent addition of a Jewel, Starbucks, and a row of townhomes on the southeast side of Cabrini Green foreshadowed what was to come for the housing complex. In a strange turn of events, the demolished buildings have begun to “sing” in the wind due to the irregularities of their cavities. Would they sing songs of welcoming in an influx of yuppies or mourn the displaced and dispersed community that has since been scattered throughout the city?
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Just download, print, cut out and assemble this robot-on-a-rampage for hours of attacking and mauling with your new friend (of the somewhat gentle sort, seeing as he’s made out of paper).

The Splatterbot has a waist that twists, the arms can move up and down, and the claws can be swapped out so the ‘bot can hold different weapons. Pop off the head and you can see the eyeball-creature sitting at the control panel of our friend the robot.

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Use dot matrix fonts and make a DIY-slogan wrist cuff just by grabbing an X-acto and popping out perforated dots on this cool leather cuff. Choose from any of the geek phrases supplied on the provided downloadable templates, like APACHE, GEEK, , WTF?, NSFW or MYSQL.

I made my own “WTF?” cuff and it’s pretty rad, although kind of illegible when its around your wrist. The material is also thinner than you’d expect, but that makes it easier to pop the dots out. However, it’s unique enough where it does draw attention from strangers, and then you can just unhook it and straighten it to show off the design.

The aforementioned downloadable templates are these:

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From divedi.blogspot.com:

Wikipedia + blogs + Facebook (social networks) + podcasting + videocasting (YouTube) + Flickr + mobile (cell) phones + gaming + IM + VoIP = Education 2.0

“Rather than spending 4 years of your life taking a bunch of courses that may or may not really matter in your life once you graduate, you can choose your education on an ‘as needed basis,’ based on your unique interests and talents.”

I think this is an excellent idea, provided that the students are sufficiently self-motivated and resourceful enough to seek out the information they need. I remember reading an example somewhere that compared two different curricula for an internal company management course. The first way was a standard 16-week or so course with traditional teaching methods–classrooms, homework, grades, and a syllabus. The second way involved giving the students a set of objectives (the same that were taught in the first method), and then giving them open access to all levels of the company, where they were free to ask questions of anyone, and watch and participate in any procedures they deemed necessary. It turned out that the students in the second group were able to complete all of the objectives–and in only 2/3s of the time.

However, these were students on the management track–normally self-motivated, confident and resourceful types. I’m not sure if the second method would work for everyone. My boyfriend is a college teacher and he says that a large portion of his students in the computer lab spend the entire day on MySpace. Not networking to promote their band’s latest album or seeking out fellow videographers, mind you–they’re just being social, collecting friends, and keeping their profile updated.

I went to a few colleges before finally just striking out on my own and running multiple businesses, and it’s the best college course ever. I enjoy what I do, and because of this I stick with it even when things don’t go so well (unlike calculus, for example). When I hit a wall and don’t know how to do something, I seek out information about it, acquire what I need, and then go onto the next level. Sometimes I “fail” a test, but it only increases my knowledge in the long run by showing me now not to do something.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who just want to have someone tell them what to do. One of the women I work with teaches at DePaul and she was amazed at the number of kids who basically just ask “Tell me what I need to do in order to get an A,” while she was expecting them to learn the think and ask questions.

In theory I think this is a great idea, as long as it accommodates less-motivated individuals and still helps them be a fully productive member of society.

I remembered reading a book years ago in the library that had mirror images of each side of celebrity faces, and then a few “analyses” made as to the personality that was suggested by the facial features. Wondering if there was something to this, or if it was pseudoscience, I started exploring the web.

Faceresearch.org is an online research experiment determining what the general populace considers “attractiveness.” Basically, you sign up, and then go through photos and give your reviews. The group behind the website then publishes the findings of their study. Some of the more interesting discoveries:

1. Contrary to popular belief, exaggerating features that are different from the average results in a “more attractive” rating.

2. People prefer faces that have characteristics in common with those of their parents.

3. People have a greater response to smiling faces with a direct gaze (i.e. the person is smiling at you) than when the face is shown with averted gaze. The opposite is true for fear-exibiting photos (when a person is afraid of something off-screen, it’s more disturbing)

I also found a book on “echoism,” or examining the similar facial features of couples to determine whether or not they will get along. Here the author analyses the features of Maddonna and Guy Richie to explain why they get along so well (ie: they have the same underlying skull shape and facial symmetry, and they both have strong chins, which means neither of them are more dominant than the other)

And here is a (commercial) web-application that determines the degree of symmetry of photographic objects.

The relationship between these two realms is interesting. While it’s been determined that things like wrinkles can be linked to personality traits because of constant use (worry lines at the bridge of the nose, “pucker lines” around the lips of chain smokers) , I have yet to be convinced of the scientific merit behind facial features and personality.
Just for laughs, here are the mirror images of both sides of my own face. It’s quite amusing:
Left side mirrored
Right side mirrored

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