Irrelevance Glorified

So yeah, I got myself a new apartment. It’s not too bad, just moderately overpriced instead of ridiculously overpriced. But it’s the little things that I never bother to check. For instance, here is the cell phone coverage map for my area.

That “X” there? That’s my apartment. Seriously, what the hell. I kinda need to stand near the window to ensure good coverage. Well, as we all know, my blog is carefully read by corporations, so maybe T-Mobile will get off their ass and put in some new towers. Or increase the power. Either works for me.

(Note : I realize that most of what I say here is more indicative of the area I’ve been living in the past 11 years rather than this particular urban area, but it doesn’t make it any less ridiculous.)

For the past 5 years or so (plus-or-minus 6 years) I’ve had the good fortune to live in Urbana-Champaign, an area with a very low cost of living. It’s a very livable town, even on a graduate student’s salary. One of the most successful scams in Central Illinois is the wool that local landlords have pulled over student’s eyes, making them think it’s a sellers market instead of a buyer’s market. Many people sign leases in November for an August move-in, and they’re in their new home for about two months before they’re being asked if they want to renew. But for the past three years, I’ve paid about $230 for my share of the rent. Not too bad.
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Week 10, March 3 – March 7

Woodpecker

A little plain, perhaps. But the resemblance is clear.

Kiwi Bird

I thought this one was pretty cute. Again, though, the resemblance is clear.

Pelican

This week has been a good week for birds. Even pelicans.

Fantail Goldfish

You know, I’ve always said that Fantail Goldfish are really the birds of the sea. Anyways, from looking at some webpages about fantail goldfish, I’ve come to the conclusion that the fan part of this origami needed to be more about the tail and less about the fins.

Tweety Bird

I feel this was somewhat cheating, since scissors were involved, but all the same I was quite pleased with the result.

Week 9, Feb 25 – Feb 29

SST Plane

I refuse to take the blame for the crappiness of this one. I fault the design. I think that even under ideal conditions, it does not have much resemblance to the Concorde.

Inflatable Box

This is very similar to the Winged Box from last week, so I am tempted to call shenanigans.

Pass A Note

Pretty cool design. You write your note on the notebook paper, and it folds up quite nicely into this structure. There is no danger from people “accidentally” reading your note while it is being passed to the intended recipient.

Leap Frog

This is not to be confused with the Leak Frog. I used to make much simpler versions of this all the time with index cards. The stiffer paper would allow for magnificent jumping. I also made a video of this bad boy in action.

Thrilling, I know.

Crown

For all its awesomeness, this crown gets a thumbs down for requiring three sheets of printer paper. Wowsers.
It’s also apparently made for people with gigantism, because the thing is huge. I got my malleable coworker Sara to model for you.

Week 8, February 18 – 22

Angelfish

This just reminded me of goldfish. It’s probably the smile.

Winged Box

Okay, this one is

It’s whimsical. It’s accurate. It’s stupendously useless. It reminds me of the tomatoes of Garcia’s Pizza in a Pan.

Inflatable Rabbit

This one was pretty cute, although the way it’s set up, it always looks a bit like it was stepped on.

Paper Cup

Very utilitarian. Nice. The way this one was designed, it actually looked like it might last more than 10 seconds filled with water.

Turtle

Two words. Epic. Fail. This has, so far, been the hardest one. Have you ever seen the Mythbuster’s experiment about folding paper? Yeah, for this one, you needed to make 14 folds, then invert the 15th one. Impossible. Now, here is the image of the supposed final product.

I think this image was produced with CGI, and nothing you tell me will have me believe otherwise.

After a long hiatus, they’re back! I have quite a backlog of Origami to discuss. I wouldn’t want people to visit any one of the many other blogs doing the exact same thing, except perhaps with more precision and skill.

Week Seven, February 11-15

Mrs. Cicada

This was actually pretty cool looking. I think I would be more impressed with 10,000 cicadas instead of cranes. I guess it’s the thought that counts.

Hot Lips

Okay, this was just ridiculous. I think they were stoned when they came up with this. It would probably be quite fascinating to a person who was high. But don’t just take my word for it, here it is in action:

Stand Up Heart

Hearts are probably inevitable this week. This one is true to its word; it is freestanding, not requiring support of the background.

Hearts

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today’s origami also promotes conservation, because you can make two hearts from each square of origami.

Mr. Cicada

I gather this is Mrs. Cicada’s husband, and together these insects bookend the week. Honestly, I doubt these people vetted these designs with an entomologist, because my cursory internet searching (meaning, first link I found) indicates that you can tell the difference between the male and the female by turning it over and looking for the ovipositor. I assure you, I did not fold an ovipositor. I would have washed my hands immediately afterward.

I did not go to evil graduate school for seven years to be called Mister.