Monday, January 31, 2011

Meet Chris Oyler



I met Chris a year ago when I first started working down the hall at Slapsale.com. Chris is an all around guy, a jack of all trades, a fan of technology and, despite the photo, he is very real. Every once in a while, we will catch ourselves in the hallway having an extended conversation about portable phones or the future of home computing. It's incredibly geeky and it would make for horrible conversation on a date but we seem to enjoy it.

When I told Chris that I was writing up little stories about everyone who works here, he sent me this:
Really, a bio? You want to know who i am?

Before setting up auctions and traveling all over Texas, Chris worked in a commercial photo studio in Kansas City, MO. An avid tech junkie, food lover, and gamer, Chris is also a hobbyist PC builder. Catch Chris in your area for rambling conversations about geeky stuff, or to sell your equipment, or both!
I've asked him to send me some examples of his photography so stay tunes for more good stuff from the people at Slapsale.com. In the Spirit of Chris' love of computing and tinkering I've included this video about about a Google engineer who built a PC from scratch.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Auctioneers, Percussion, and Abstract Art

 

It's a performance using auctioneers, percussion, and abstract art- I like it!

This video is the final part of the MOCA Happening Doug Aitken's performance  "WE". The performance was composed and created by Aitken and was accompanied by sound treatment effects from Beck and Devendra Banhart. Sonic tables, designed by Aitken and used for the guests' dinner, are suddenly cleared and manned by percussionists.   The steady rhythm of the sonic tables is soon joined by the call of cattle auctioneers that emerge unexpectedly through the crowd; as their chants accelerate they merge with the haunting vocals of urban gospel choir singers. As the performance activates the entire room "WE" builds to a crescendo that's punctuated by the violent and hypnotic rhythms of a whip cracker.