…is in your near future.”
    — fortune cookie from tonight’s dinner.

Near indeed.

The fortune I discovered in my wallet yesterday — “We are here to create / not merely survive” — was inspiring. This one was just scary.

We have a little over a week before we’re performing in Boston (more…)

To the ruoriJews reading this: Shanah Tovah, and I hope you had a meaningful fast. To everyone else: Happy Monday.

My Yom Kippur was very hectic — I compressed this year’s atonement into a few hours this morning. Then for the afternoon, I headed over to the softpixel/ruori megalab to convert snack foods into mental energy and mental energy into a set of chaotic probability-driven sonatas for three theremin-like light-sensing instruments we’re almost done building.

So I guess I sacrificed my sacrifice for my art.

(more…)

It’s been about three weeks since we heard that we will be going to Boston to do a performance and installation at PURE.

Our proposal included an acrylic glass plinko machine (a la The Price is Right) and three hanging fabric cocoons. There will be a performer in each cocoon and a fourth performer dropping ping pong balls into the plinko machine. As the balls come out the three holes in the bottom of the machine, they will trigger the performers to change an ongoing soundscape in some way. Eventually, the person dropping the ping pong balls will replace himself with an automated device, the automated device will run out of balls, and the performers in the cocoons will leave behind the soundscape controllers for the audience to play with.

(more…)

Tonight we had a short conversation with Laurie Anderson after she performed as Denison University’s 2006 convocation.

Melinda approaches Laurie Anderson.

Laurie Anderson: Hello.

Melinda: Hi! I’m Melinda.

Laurie Anderson shakes Melinda’s hand.

Melinda: And this is Steve.

(more…)

Dearest Vostek,

Every time we hear someone mention the word technologies we mentally prepend “amazing…” and append “…that will drive our economy”.

This has increased overall conversational verbiage by 39.1%.

Thinking of you.

X X ø ø,
project ruori

So, a while ago I met the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson in a corn maze. He was chasing some kids around that appeared to be in his care in between muttering things like “This is like a Republican conundrum!”

Today at SIGGRAPH 2006 the phantom of Spalding Gray appeared in front of the booth in which Steve and I are functioning as ornaments. He was wearing 3-D glasses and delivered a short monologue about how he was from a suburb of Ohio. When asked where in Ohio, he said, “Manhattan”.

A moment after he left, Steve realized our mistake in not talking to him so I went after him armed with a DIY ruori sticker (the ruori URL and the words “You are a Winner!” written on a stolen Lufthansa baggage sticker) and explained that he had impressed us with his impromptu performance technique at our booth and after assuring him that I was not selling anything (nor was the website), and — after answering his inquiries about whether I was old enough to be admitted to SIGGRAPH (the minimum age is 16) — I gave him the sticker, accepted his obviously sarcastic thanks and handshake, and retreated, terrified and exhilirated, to the safe boringness of the booth.