Now that we're almost two full months into 2010, some of us are wondering about the status of sculptor Michael Heizer's monumental, 200-acre work City, out in the Nevada desert. (Not terribly far, we note, from Rachel, NV and other large, mysterious desert installations.) Rumor had it that City was likely to be finished by the end of last year, but it's been radio silence since early 2009, when the de facto cancellation of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility turned out to be good news for Heizer and City.
One can find City on Google Maps, but you probably don't want to consider driving out there--not only is it difficult to find, but Heizer takes a dim view of trespassing. More background here and here.
Ever look down when crossing the street and suddenly find yourself ordered to resurrect the dead on planet Jupiter? You're not hallucinating; you've just encountered a Toynbee tile, evidence of what was at least once a spectacularly persistent, private obsession, or a highly individualistic art project. We have at least three of these within walking distance of Actual Size World Headquarters.
While the original maker seems to have passed on, a small number of people have become inspired to make new ones. When the weather warms up...will it be time, as the artist has urged us, to make and glue tiles? Stay tuned.
Yes, this is the 21st Century, and some of us are a bit disappointed that we don't have a hovercraft in every garage. Until then, we'll take the bus, and the bus riders among us really like the idea behind deeplocal's RouteShout mobile service. RouteShout sends bus schedule and routing info to your smartphone (or even a not-as-smart phone, if it supports text), so you'll know when the bus is scheduled to arrive at your stop. It'd be even more useful, though, if the buses were feeding it live GPS data so we'd know when they will arrive. Perhaps this will be coming in the Future (sooner, we hope, than hovercraft in every garage).
The last you heard about new people joining the forces of good here at Actual Size was over the summer. That's some old news. Both Mike and Kyle have moved on to greener pastures, and we're happy for them. Really. We are. *sniff*
Much more recently, though, we've added a new star among us, and his name is Steve. Steve Swackhammer joined us in early December, hit the ground running, and hasn't stopped yet. He's a front-end developer, and he's a welcome addition to our team. We've enjoyed getting to know Steve....he has a cat named Physics and when he completes a project he shouts "the hammer has fallen."
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