I want to pretend that we have a discernible Autumn in Brisbane, indeed there is a moderation of temperatures, but we lack the temperature drops and seasonal flora to clearly mark the change of season:
Having been places that have deciduous trees, and seen the glorious colour changes in leaves from yellow to red and all colours in between I appreciate the milder climate but miss the beauty. Continue reading
Dear Donald, Kim, Vladimir and others,
I am writing to your parents regarding the bully tactics and macho posturing you seem to be engaging in while playing in the sandpit. This unacceptable behaviour has to STOP before someone gets hurt.
It seems to me that the sand pit is large enough for you and all the other children, but you seem to want to claim bits of it for yourself. The petty bickering and labelling bits of play equipment “mine” is tiring, but the threats to lob projectiles at each other has wider safety implications I can no longer overlook.
We have tried timeout, handshaking seems not sincere and meetings seem a waste of time as you seen intent on name-calling so, in a last ditch effort, I am appealing to your common sense. Failing that I will roll up a newspaper and give you all a good thwap.
Should the spit hit the fan, and some dumb f*ck lobs the first projectile, I would guess that you will all join in the shit fight. For the couple of minutes you congratulate yourselves on this retaliation (I mean he started it, right?) you will finally have a chance to consider what you have done. You will be making it impossible for anyone to play there again. Ever.
Enough is enough.
Sincerely, PDub
I am avoiding the news at the moment, with world leaders posturing at each other, a bunch of lunatics in charge of launch codes on all sides, it seems to me that we are sliding towards making the world a perfect place for this little guy:
This is Robert Lang’s Cockroach, a faithful paper recreation of my most hated insect. Continue reading
Dedicated to Lillian Oppenheimer, a luminary in the early ’70s Origami world, this butterfly, designed by Michael LaFosse is pretty neat:
Interestingly, not poles apart in technique from “Alexander’s Swallowtail“, I chose different colours and was careful with the wing formation so it was morphologically distinct. Continue reading
Continuing my exploration of Michael LaFosse’s Butterfly folds, I present the “Origamido” Butterfly:
Named after his signature brand of hand-made paper (of which I have a couple of sheets yet to fold), this little butterfly is lovely – the wings seem delicate and the body seems in proportion and is colour changed. Continue reading
I must admit to never having folded any of Michael LaFosse’s designs, not sure why:
I found a few designs that I thought I would like to have a go at – all butterflies, and this is one of them. Continue reading
As a teacher, we periodically get the opportunity to meet with parents of our students. Invariably they are interested in how their sons are going, how they went on the test and what can be done to continue to encourage them to give of their best:
I actually like meeting with parents – they are great allies in the battle to teach kids. Fortunately I teach a fairly interesting subject (IT), but can imagine it is a real battle in subjects the kids HAVE to do, as opposed to wanting to to it. Continue reading
I am not sure what it is about the music, but “The Last Post” always gets to me:
After visiting Gallipoli 2 years ago (nearly to the day), and the Canberra war memorial last year, this is never more true. The tune is haunting, desperately sad and intimately bound up with a remembrance of Australian and New Zealand troops (originally) but more recently with all armed force personnel from all wars, police actions and conflicts.
I am always, oddly, extraordinarily anxious when it is played live. I feel for the trumpeter as the tune has no where to go – when the note is wrong it is so terribly uncomfortable. I am particularly in awe of the students that play it in front of the whole school. James did it proud yesterday at a school assembly. I get goosebumps thinking about it, but I always have. Continue reading
This is a simple water-bombic critter, from a family of compact animals designed by Perro Cerdito:
I decided to fold the cow, from a collection that contained a dog (thing) and a cat-ish thing. Continue reading
If you have not seen the movie “Lion” starring Dev Patel, you really should, it is a wild ride, lovely story and contains reference to an Indian name that means “Lion”:
I have been looking for nice lion models and a friend on Fakebook (Oriol Esteve from Spain) graciously shared a recent design. I knew I needed to have a go at it. Continue reading
Origami seems to be the new Materials Engineering black, being considered a contemporary alternative approach to fabrication and structure:
I was reading an article on deploying large solar arrays in space. This problem is not unique – everything taken into space must be small at launch so it can fit in a rocket. Continue reading
I have passed this model many times, thinking “not sure what that is, maybe later”, but decided to give it a whirl tonight:
What a curious object. Designed by Jeremy Schafer, from his book “Origami to Astonish and Amaze”, this odd ripply mathematical conundrum hurts your brain to look at.
A fun paper manipulation first makes a nested tetrahedron, which is then accordion pleated to make the deltoid. You can then open it up like some surreal book, 4 separate rippled deltoids emerge – curious indeed. Continue reading
It is late, I am tired, the first week back at the start of the term is exhausting but this little alien is looking after me:
Folded from Japanese foil, it compliments yesterdays model. Incidentally today is a few days after the 56th anniversary of humans in space as Yuri Gagarin first left our atmosphere Continue reading
Now I am not so conceited as to think that humans are the only intelligent life in the universe, but the more I understand about humans, the more I am convinced that the sure proof there IS intelligent life elsewhere is the fact that they have in no way attempted to contact us. Nothing. Not a peep:
I want to understand what form extra terrestrial life might take, but I am continually confounded by plethora of lifeforms on this planet.
I am sure that ET will not resemble the Sci-Fi little green carbon-based bipedal life we see in popularist imagery. Continue reading
Few origami masters did more for modern origami than Yoshizawa Sensei:
With delightfully few folds, his models evoke shapes, creatures and personalities. Continue reading
I have had this model on my “must try” list for ages but there was something about the fold sequence that made me uneasy, couldn’t put my finger on it:
I decided to fold it in black, because…reasons. faithfully following the folding diagrams unexpected things began to happen – layers on the wrong side, meridians not aligning etc.
I got a little “creative” and it worked out fine, but I think there are errors in the sequence (or steps missing). I followed the diagrams faithfully until … I didn’t, really. Continue reading
