brucine (broo'-seen), 1) n. Pharm., Chem. a bitter, poisonous alkaloid, C23H26N2O4, obtained from the nux vomica tree; 2) n. Bruce Bortin's 'low-impact' weblog

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

March Madness



From: Jason Redacted
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 10:53 AM
To: allbasf
Subject: Esprit de Corps is Challenging You to enter the NCAA Tournament Challenge


Welcome to the BASF NCAA Tournament Challenge! Compete against your friends and co-workers for bragging rights and a prize. Fill out a bracket at the link below and follow the action as the tournament progresses. You must enter by the morning of Thursday, March 15th before the first game of the Tournament.


Hi, Jason

I hope my entry isn’t too late to be considered for the competition.  These are my brackets for this year.  As you can see, one of them is curly; the other one (on the right) is square.  The curly one is pink with turquoise shading, and has been ‘bedazzled’ along its outer flank.  The square one has been 22k gold-leafed(!) which is why it’s all shiny like that.

Good luck to all who competed!

xxBruce

March Madness 




Hi Bruce,

Thank you for your entry.

Unfortunately the bracket attacked by a bedazzling gun was disqualified by NCAA officials for academic violations and the bracket out of Aziz Ansari’s typographical collection was recently beaten by Long Beach State.

We thank you for playing.  Please keep an eye out for future Esprit de Corp’s contests, such as Hunger Games: BASF Edition.

Best,

Jason


 Here it is colored in.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Notes from Breakfast with John

Notes from Breakfast with John

I think Dec 27, 2011

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Candy Wrappers

Candy Wrappers

It was an immaculate Lindor/Foil peel.  I don’t know where the Jolly Rancher came from.  Just showed up as floor-detritus.

Malign Yellow Sports Car

Dream Image

Dream Image





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watercolor. First image in my new drawing book, yay, cleared that hump. 3/18/12

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Raft of Ants


LIFEBOAT from Science News on Vimeo.
I was led to this video by Lynda Barry's excellent tumblr, http://thenearsightedmonkey.tumblr.com BB sez check it outski.


  • Max Tubman plus 10 months ago
    ants holding on to each other to form a raft i think, where they are coming from i dont know.

  • bruce bortin 9 minutes ago Delete / Edit
    Some quick-witted antologist bought a bunch of ants, then formed them into a ball. To do this, I'd imagine he (and let's face it folks, it was a 'he') smeared the inside of a tennis ball with sugar water or Mountain Dew or whatever it is that lab-ants like, let the ants out of their packaging, and waited for the ants to fill up the up the ball.

    He put the ant-filled ball (you understand that the ball has been bisected at its equator, hinged, and it has a 3/8" circular port cut into it to allow the ants to get in there, right?) in the fridge to stupefy the little fuckers. After about an hour or so, he got out his video camera, trained it on an under-lit tank of water, and emptied the now solid ball of ants into the water.

    We're watching the ants as they transform themselves from a loosely coagulated, rapidly de-hibernating sphere into a floating planar raft, with a lot of fractal-y dendritic rule-based behavior action. Isn't it pretty?






















Did you watch to the end? I'm sure I don't know what "Snout Utensil" refers to. Oh fiddlesticks. Watched it. Now I know. Thanks a heap, internet.

Big Damp Hairy Blue Ball

IMG_6657

On San Pablo near Market St. Oakland

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Week of Many Nametags

IMG_6641
OVIPS chandelier
IMG_6642
OVIPS photo-op.
Nametags
Nametags.  OVIPS over EJS

IMG_6652
Timeline from USF Mock Courtroom
IMG_6653

Equal Justice Society Ceremony

at The University of San Francisco School of Law 8th Annual Creative Justice Art Show Hunger Pains.
Desk Set
Here’s what I showed, a watercolor called “Desk Set”, and the copy I wrote:
I do SSI advocacy outreach at methadone clinics in the city. My clients are destitute and addicted to opiates. They know from hunger; the hunger of living on food stamps (if that) compounded with the hunger of addiction.
When my clients come see me, they've just had their dose of methadone for the day. It's my belief that taking methadone probably knocks out every vitamin in your body. So when my clients come to see me, I always have a bowl of fruit on my desk. “Did you just drink some methadone? Here, have a nice piece fruit.”
This is a painting of my desk at one of the clinics with a bowl of tangerines.
IMG_6640
Here’s the frame corner display at the framing shop that matted my painting.  Boy, they sure keep those rows straight and tidy!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

BART Seat Repair

IMG_6649

HANDS UP, WHO LOVES POP-RIVETS!  Me too.

Fat Boy Hydrant

IMG_6616
9th St between Mission and Market.  Must be near a cistern; see notes, consultation with Elinor Roberts, 3/14/2012:
Hydrant Notes copy
Fat Boy Street View
This here one.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Oranges

IMG_6625
…tangerines, citrus.  It’s all good.
IMG_6663
…and the mighty JUICIT Automatic SCM Proctor-Silex. I love that machine.  Anybody who doesn’t think that was the best $15 flea market purchase ever can go take a hike.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Tom’s Scary Helmet II

Tom's Scary helmet_Juggalo

Put a Juggalo underneath it.

 

Tom's Scary helmet_Drachmas

Drachmas. 

Escudos would work, too.

Next year:

  • Lira,
  • Rubles,
  • Dollar$,
  • whatcha got?

 

Tom's Scary Helmet_Unicorn painted

Unicorn horn and mane (long, flowing) 3/9/12

Friday, March 09, 2012

Nabumetone

IMG_6620

Rx # 254 770 8359 Nabumetone 500mg

IMG_6618

Line Drawing with Snakey Diagonal Structure

IMG_6621

Kaiser presente Kaiser.

Philip Zarri, PT

My excellent Physical Therapist.  Thanks for your help, Philip!

Monday, March 05, 2012

Tom’s Scary Helmet

Tom asked me to customize his bike helmet.  “Make it scary.”  Alright…some concept sketches…

Tom's Scary helmet_02 copy

Just the outer shell!  Maybe replace padding with Chiclets. Or shredded rental agreements of octogenarians.

Tom's Scary helmet_01 copy

Lotsa syringes sticking into it!

More to come, probably.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Greetins, Gate! Need an

OP8
?
A couple blocks down from the methadone clinic.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

It's the First of the Month at the Methadone Clinic

...a song...



...all done in one take!  Can you believe it?

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