Random Thoughts for Today

First of all, let me offer my congratulations to Kimmie Meissner, Evan Lysacek, Brooke Castile and Benjamin Okolski, and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto on their victories at the National Championships. I must say, however, that I think my analysis of the ladies' field still holds true. Meissner won the event, but placed third in the long program because of a few wobbles. If you look at the results of the top four ladies, there is an amazing lack of consistancy.

Final Place	Name	Points	SP	FS
1	Kimberly Meissner	181.68	1	3
2	Emily Hughes	180.86	3	2
3	Alissa Czisny	177.74	5	1
4	Beatrisa Liang	167.15	2	4

These final results show the potential for great depth of field, but they also show that no one U.S. ladies skater is really ready to take on the Japanese trio of Asada, Suguri, and Ando by putting two solid programs together. Czisny turned in an amazing long, but that was after finishing 5th in the short. Meissner had a solid short, but had trouble in the long. If any of the three going to Worlds--Meissner, Hughes, and Czisny--are able to improve their consistency between now and then, then they might have a shot at the title.

The other thought for today...Over the weekend, I saw some pictures of work done by sidewalk artist Julian Beever, and I was really impressed. While some chalk artists just draw regular pictures, Beever creates trompe-l'oeil drawings using a projection called anamorphis. In other words, he creates optical illusions by skewing the perspective of his drawings; these illusions work only if the drawing is viewed from a certain angle, otherwise it just looks strange. For example, here is a drawing of a Coke bottle:
I'm just very impressed by the way the bottle does actually appear to be in 3 dimensions. If you're interested in seeing more of his work, the link above goes to his website, where more of his sidewalk drawings are on display.

Hope everyone has a happy Tuesday :)