Adobe Photoshop CS6 Digital Classroom/ Jennifer Smith, AGI Creative Team 26

006.686 SMI

Clear instructions; illustrated. Good systematic approach in learning Adobe Photoshop CS6. Presented as specific lessons and tasks (vs just describing each features).

Secrets of Corel Painter Experts: Tips, Techniques, and Insights for Users of All Abilities/ Daryl Wise

006.686 WIS

Features individual Corel Painter users. Each digital artist shows a work, explains how its done. Most have a sequenced walk-through.

Plenty of inspiring works; insights into the digital art creation process using varying preferred techniques and styles.

A few artists I really liked (interestingly they happen to be asians):

• Song Yang http://www.zhajiang.com
• Benjamin

  http://blog.sina.com.cn/benjamin

• Youchan http://togoru.net
• Pete Revonkorpi http://peterrevonkorpi.daportfolio.com

The Hidden Power of Blend Modes in Adobe Photoshop/ Scott Valentine

006.686 MOO

Many ‘Single-technique’ examples of Photoshop CS6 blend modes (in Layers).

Second part has a more technical explanation of the workings and mathematical calculations.

UI Design with Adobe Illustrator: Discover the ease and power of using Illustrator to design Web sites and apps/ Rick Moore

006.686 MOO

Well-organised book.
Clear instructions and illustrations.
Concise chunks on using specific Adobe Illustrator features.
Step-by-step guide in using the required features to complete a (mock) site.

Tan Kah Kee and Lee Kong Chian in the making of modern Singapore and Malaysia/ Edited by Leo Suryadinata

Published by the Chinese Heritage Society, the Tan Kah Kee Foundation, and the National Library Board. 2010.

A compilation of papers (in English and Chinese) that examines the two Chinese leaders.

Tan Kah Kee (1874-1961) was the father-in-law of Lee Kong Chian (1893-1967). Both were successful businessmen who were also active civic leaders, but who pursued different political paths.

P31 “Tan Kah Kee’s major legacy was more narrowly confined to education with tangible results and depth of impact. On the other hand, Lee Kong Chian’s major legacy, Lee Foundation, was rich in funds and had broader influences in society.”

Justice: what’s the right thing to do?/ Michael Sandel

A 2009 publication.

Starts with the question: what is fair? The broader question being, what is justice?

P19 three approaches to defining and framing justice: welfare, freedom, virtue. “this book explores the strengths and weaknesses of these three ways of thinking about justice.”

The book examines various theories of philosophy: Kant, Rawls, Aristotle.

Cites theoretical questions to real-life situations as examples to explain how these philosophies of framing justice has been applied (largely western societies).

E.g. If you are on a runaway trolley and you have a choice: let the trolley run its course and it will run over three other people in its path. Or veer the trolley off its path where it will kill one other person but spare the other three.

How does one explain that somehow putting one other person in harm’s way is worth the lives of three? Or, would you be less at fault if you choose not to do anything.

P87 examining the thinking behind a conscript Vs volunteer army. One view is that conscription is an imposition of an individual’s right not to serve (freedom). But on the other hand a volunteer army is not entirely voluntary since the motivation is pay. Which a question arise of whether military service is a civic duty (equality) or the non-serving citizens have abdicated this duty to others.

We seem to have a collective morale sense. E.g. in times of supply shortage, when is it considered ‘price gorging’? Is “insanely high prices” unjust per se? Most of us feel it is exploitation and taking advantage of others when they are down, that’s what I think we feel strongly against. But there is a way to also explain such intuitive reactions using philosophical theories.

The book gave me the intellectual vocabulary to discuss the idea of what is Justice; to be able to articulate what seem to be intuitive and subjective. For instance moral contracts, autonomy and reciprocity in social and business contracts.

See http://www.justiceharvard.org

Praying to the goddess of mercy: A memoir of mood swings/ Mahita Vas

[Rough notes for a book review; edited post, here]

ISBN: 9789814358910

There is power in knowing a name.

Maybe it allows for some measure of objectivity and rationality when one is able to put a name to a problem or illness.

Knowing what to call something means we are able to make sense of it. And subsequently adopt strategies to deal with it.

It is the same as other coming-of-age books about physical or mental illness that I’ve read.

As the author writes: “It was a life changing revelation to learn there was an explanation and a name for my unusual behaviour.” (Chapter 13, p232)

Reading the first few lines of Chapter One, my impression was the author who had acceptance. By the end of the book, it told me this was someone who had come to terms, but not eradicate, her inner demons. I appreciated how the author does not make excuses for herself nor subjected the reader to a self-indulgent confession.

How do we know if we are ill or just lack self-discipline? When does one lack self-control about one’s emotional responses and when is one just not being able to help oneself at all because of an illness? The last chapter scratched just a little of the surface of this issue.

Back in the 1980s, when the author was in her teens, mental illness was not something one discussed or publicly acknowledged. The stigma was real.

There is no shame in having a disability, be it mental or physical.

Taking charge of one’s mental disability — by seeking appropriate help — is an attempt at self-control.

I wondered “Have I ever been like that?” and “Do I know anyone like that?”

Uncontrollable rages that seem overblown.

She described several specific incidents where she let her rage get out of control. Each time, after the violent outburst, she would feel a sense of guilt and remorse. She described episodes of self-loathing for not being able to control how she has acted.

Just like one does not feel ashamed of taking medication for cholesterol or blood pressure, the same could be said about medication for one’s mental well-being.

P54/56
As I learned from the book, Bipolar Disorder symptoms include extreme mood swings: periods of energy, happiness and invincibility and then inexplicably sadness, over-reactive outbursts and rages. Even feelings of being unconcerned about death.

She described being aware of those episodes but initially took it as part of her personality (bad temper and unpredictable nature) and a normal life cycle.

A breakthrough came when she decided to consult a psychiatrist, though episodes continued especially when she decided to adjust the dosage of medication.

Pages 109, 128, 153, 163, 194

To anyone ill, the best thing to hear is there’s nothing wrong with them.

Chapter 9, on her suicide attempt and her husband’s response was a poignant and touching moment for me (hat tip to Bob there). I liked this line a lot: “The minute you become a parent, you revoke the right to think about yourself.”

As with many things in life, the support and understanding from family, friends and colleagues are critical for one to cope with an illness.

The book would be great for a book discussion, on the theme of awareness, consciousness, choice. Similar themes that reminded me of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, just not as ‘metaphysical’ or philosophical

We read life stories like this, to remind ourselves that there is always some measure of choice over one’s ‘fate’.

Death in the city of lights/ David King

Dr Marcel Petiot. Convicted serial killer in 1944 Nazi-occupied Paris.

You’ve got a serial killer. You’ve got WWII. Interesting combo.

50 to 60 victims?

At the time of discovering his misdeeds, he was a married man with a wife and a 16 year-old son.

Like most stories about serial killers, the telling is in the investigation and hunt for the killer, rather than the kills.

It is a story of Nazi occupation of France, as much as a story of a serial killer in war-time Paris. Interwoven to the hunt for Petiot are stories of personalities like Albert Camus, Sartre and Pablo Picasso, who were residents in 1941 Paris. Also the dubious and colourful underworld characters.

Chpt 15 War in the shadows – guerrilla tactics (terrorist tactics if seem from Germany’s eyes) against the Nazi occupational forces in Paris.

Epilogue: author explains that he first started researching on the Marcel Petiot case when he was preparing for one of his lectures on WWII.

The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the bogus identity/ Mike Carey & Peter Gross

I think this is book one of the series. It does answer the question (for me) why Tommy Taylor was incarcerated in the story I read earlier.

This is one of the more complex graphic novel stories. Taking in the visuals and narrative, I get a sense that something is about to tip over, and I am carried along for the ride. Kind of like Twin Peaks weirdness and pace.

Tom Taylor is worshipped as the same-named character in his missing father’s acclaimed novel (did you get all that?)

It’s like Harry Potter made real (as perceived by fans). Tom is treated as the literary incarnate, with the same magical abilities and all. Which Tom finds himself both wanting and hating his association with the novel’s character.

But slowly Tom discovers forgotten memories about his father and his own past. I’m led to suspect that Tom has no real past, and there is about about the literal power of words to make things real.

To use the Harry Potter parallel, it’s like a real world Harry discovering the literary figure is real while he isn’t. Or so it seems to me.

Mind bending stuff.

Halo: bloodline/ Van Lente & Portela

Story unveils the relationships among a Spartan team (Team Black) and a Convenant warrior pair.

Both find themselves stranded and (here’s where I reveal a little more than what the blurb says) have to make a choice to team up to survive.

Well, won’t share more or else i’ll be giving the whole plot away.

But I can add there’s a sub-plot about some relationship angst among the Spartans.

Could be something that might be expanded to a novella, though expectedly this graphic novel version offers the surface-level Hollywood treatment.