Vanishing Point

Oh! I haven't mentioned its best feature. It is the only retractable fountain pen in current production. A push-button mechanism raises and lowers a trap door as the nib is extended or retracted. This allows for easy one-hand operation, especially when bouncing around a data center or the office. It does mean, however, that the clip is on the nib end of the barrel.

Even without the retractable feature, it is a great pen. With it being retractable, it is a classic.

The first step is to define the vanishing point itself and the horizon line. This horizon line represents the eye level of the viewer and is where the ground and the sky meet.

--------- * ---------

       \     /
        \   /
         \ /
--------- * ---------
         / \
        /   \
       /     \

--------- * ---------
           
        / |
           
      +---+
     /    |
    /     |
   +------+
   |      |
   |      |
   +------+

The two point perspective is used when looking at the corners of boxes and buildings (and other similar objects) and uses multiple vanishing points. This type of drawing starts out with a line and the two vanishing points at either end of the line.

* ------------------------------ *

                    |
                    |
                    |
* ------------------+----------- *
                    |
                    |
                    |

             ___.---|--._
     ___.---'|      |    |--._
 _.-'        |      |    |    `-.
* ------------------+----------- *
 `._         |      |    |    __'
    `---.____|__    |   _|.--'
                `---|--'  

It is possible to use multiple single vanishing points in a single drawing. The most often instance of this is with a road vanishing into the distance, but turning (not a straight road as seen in the desert). Each twist of the road leads to a new vanishing point.

See also:

• single point perspective
• perspective projection
• Isometric 3d

http://www.olejarz.com/arted/perspective/
http://mathforum.org/workshops/sum98/participants/sanders/Geom3D.html

Vanishing Point is a great 1971 road movie directed by Richard C. Sarafian. The explosive combination of high speed pursuit scenes, hippie and a well balanced soundtrack makes it one of the main cult films of the 1970s, comparable only to such masterpieces as Easy Rider.

Notable cast

Vanishing Point was Primal Scream's fifth album, released in 1997 on the Creation label in the UK and Ireland, and on Sony or Sire/Reprise elsewhere.

Track Listing:

1. Burning Wheel (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
2. Get Duffy (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
3. Kowalski (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy, Mounfield)
4. Star (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
5. If They Move, Kill 'Em (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
6. Out Of The Void (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
7. Stuka (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
8. Medication (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
9. Motörhead (Kilmister)
10. Trainspotting (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)
11. Long Life (Gillespie, Innes, Young, Duffy)

Personnel:

• Bobby Gillespie: vocals
• Andrew Innes: guitar
• Robert "Throb" Young: guitar
• Martin Duffy: keyboards
• Gary "Mani" Mounfield: bass guitar
• Marco Nelson: bass guitar
• Glen Matlock: bass guitar
• Brendan Lynch: producer
• Andrew Weatherall: producer
• Augustus Pablo: melodica
• Jim Hunt: saxophone
• Wayne Jackson: trumpet
• Duncan Mackay: trumpet
• Iain Dixon: bass clarinet
• Pandit Danesh: tabla

Vanishing Point was a great return to form for the Scream Team, after the disappointing retro mess that was Give Out But Don't Give Up. The album begins with the long, trippy instrumental build-up to Burning Wheel, the bassline coming in as sitars and tablas float through the ether with electronic bleeps, before Gillespie's bruised vocals appear and the song coalesces behind him; it ends with the woozy come-down of Live Life, where Bobby tells us "it's good to be alive", while sounding on the verge of passing out.

In between, we get the jazzy/techno instrumentals of Get Duffy (named after their keyboard player) and If They Move, Kill 'Em, the soothing melodica of rebel song Star, the spooky vocoder vocals of Stuka, and an incredibly kitchy disco cover of Lemmy's Motörhead, which features original Sex Pistols bassist, Glen Matlock.

Most of the songs here are enhanced by the wonderful, bouncy bass guitar of Mani, who joined after The Stone Roses split up. He adds a kind of effortless funkiness to a lot of the tunes, especially Burning Wheel and Medication (which sounds suspiciously like Rocks from their previous album).

Vanishing Point was half inspired by the film of the same name (see above); the first single, Kowalski, was named after the film's hero, and contains samples of most of the dialogue quoted in meiso's writeup, above.

To sum up, Vanishing Point is an excellent, atmospheric album with some very cinematic moments (Trainspotting was originally written for the soundtrack of the film of the same name). It's only weak points are Bobby Gillespie's occasionally clumsy lyrics, but the music is so good, that you can always forgive him.