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automatic writing, aroma coffee and palmer eldritch

today I read an article about automatic writing.

[quote]
" Sit at a table with pen and paper; put yourself in a 'receptive' frame of mind, and start writing. Continue writing without thinking of what is appearing beneath your pen. Write as fast as you can. If, for some reason, the flow stops, leave a space and immediately begin again by writing down the first letter of the next sentence. Choose this letter at random before you begin, for instance, a 't', and always begin this new sentence with a 't'. "
[/quote]

this is pretty much how I write all the time. occasionally I go back and re-read it and correct any obvious spelling / grammatical errors, but sometimes I don't even do that.

The Crazy Wisdom of Philip K. Dick - online course

I'm starting an online course tomorrow called " The Crazy Wisdom of Philip K. Dick". I'm not sure how I'm going to go, but I enjoy his books so it'll be interesting to find out more. the lecturer is Erk Davis who's well known for his studies on the author. I've just logged into the course page and read the intro and it sounds really interesting. I have a feeling I'm going to need to take it twice!

there's another one by Douglas Rushkoff which sounds interesting also - he sent the note about his course via his blog mail list, so that's how I came across the PKD one. there's others by R.U. Sirius of Mondo 2000 fame which I wouldn't mind checking out also. some of the others on the site seem a bit out there! but it's interesting to find out about things I don't know much about.

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chucK - live coding music tutorials & results

I'm trying out making music using live coding techniques, with 2 pre-requisites - that it's easy and fast to do & learn - probably not the right pre-requisites (might upset real musicians :), but it's where I'm at for the moment.

so, I'm trying chucK. this is the first chucK tutorial. I used the miniAudicle IDE instead of command line interface. it was very easy to load the songs into the IDE (miniAudicle) and play them. I had separate files for each module and adjusted some of the parameters to change the sounds, then clicked the 'replace shred' to 'take' the change and add this file's sounds to the output audio.

this it meets my criteria - easy and fast to use. now I just have to make it sound musical instead of a collection of random sounds & tones :) (the hard part)

chucK documentation
chucK community / mail lists
chucK miniAudicle documentation
chucK wiki
chucK projects - some people are hooking up chucK apps and Processing for java based visuals, plus there's many examples of laptop instruments, as well as a Max patch and more

listen to the audio :
chucK_tutorial01.mp3
loscha_com_tambura01.mp3 - from the loscha.comchucK tutorials ( Loscha is in the Australian band Toydeath - a circuit bending performance experience ) - this piece reminds me of the original samples of the bridges in the Jodie Rose Singing Bridges project and cd.

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bboys in jerusalem & youtube boty finds

I've been watching the bboys in the Ben Yehuda mall in Jerusalem. some of them have some good moves. they break on the stone large chess board. these reminded me of the break circles in Hanover during the weekend of Battle of the Year 2000. I found some videos on youtube from then and other years.

the Battle of the Year website has details of past year's winners

Flying Steps - Battle of the Year 2000 (winners)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUhq96JayhQ

Battle Squad show - BOTY 1991
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZDHbSQrvKg

tuffkid & benny 1999
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzTd-_pMJGc

bboy Benny (from Flying Steps)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b69Dc6qjRQ

my breakdancing favourites list on youtube

boty 2000 photos on flickr

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a simple knitted Ada Deitz polynomial equation

Dan sent me an invite to the Open Source Embroidery facebook group. their website is www.open-source-embroidery.org.uk. I haven't tried embroidery since I was a child, and I don't remember being that good at it, but it sounds like a good project. so I thought I'd post info / photos my knitted polynomial bag. (even though it's not as nice / perfect as some of the other online examples!!) when I was a child I used to do lots of crafts and was always making things. I had a resurgence of this about a year ago. it feels good to make things with your hands, especially little presents for people. so I've been (very slowly) working on hand made things. I find it's better than buying something, though it does tend to take me longer to finish things these days!

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Got Funk? @Eurotrash with BLUEPRINT (live on dex n fx) >> summer session launched!

The Got Funk? crew is kicking off its party season with their first show for this summer...
We're bringing you good times & great music with a pick of our favourite local crew.
Get set for a nite of breaks, funk & dope party jams!Got Funk? @Eurotrash
[Penthouse]

Saturday 29th September

  

The Got Funk?
crew is kicking off its party season with their first show for this summer -
Saturday 29 September.

We're bringing you good times & great music with a pick of our favourite local crew...
get set for a nite
of breaks, funk & dope party jams!

With
Blueprint
(on decks n fx), DJ Ides, Alias, Lil Misbreaks,
Obliveus vs ill Cadre, Snowie & The Scratch Foundation

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vlog europe 2007 - streaming online

Vlog Europe is on this weekend, but they've just posted a link to the site where they'll be streaming some of it live - video of course! and a chat channel. the schedule looks good. they're going to talk about software, personal media, videoblogging and it's effects on big media, videoblogging and making content not money

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sounds from dead sea at zohar & after the jazz festival

I'm testing recording audio along with the photos - the files are smaller than recording video as well, and sometimes a picture and sound is all you need to trigger a memory. plus you can still use some of your imagination to fill in the missing pictures that movies provide. plus I want to sample some of the audio for general soundscapes from different places.

this is after the jazz performance at yemin moshe 11/08/2007 in jerusalem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R6_Z3ZWjy0

photos and audio recordings from my drive to the Dead Sea at Zohar today. this is a public beach, but it's so much quieter than the Tel Aviv beaches - both in numbers of people and sounds!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_fbTojBWcw

another drive to the Dead Sea today. this time I had a dip! or rather a float! it is a strange sensation. you float then try to push down but you're popped back up. it's like bobbing in the sea. I went to the public beach at Zohar which is where most of the photos are from

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Super Massive new sound opens Urban Stage at Marrickville Road Festival

Making its festival debut at Marrickville Road Festival this year is an artistic new band called Super Massive. Super Massive will perform on the Urban Stage at Marrickville Road Festival, Marrickville on Sunday 9th September at 11am.

Named for modern society’s collective fascination with superlatives and for the biggest and best! of everything as much as for their wall of sound, Super Massive is a synth pop rock band with exhilarating, danceable grooves, an emphasis on melody and an engaging, energetic stage presence. The band has a unique sound and a treasure trove of songs that respond to the nature of today’s urbanised, fast-paced world.

online video editing sites

online video editing sites

Andrew Garton's posted a question asking for recommendations for online video editing systems. I did a quick google search & asked on the videoblogging list. making a list below (& replied to his post) for reference :

(read more)

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second life links

the empyre list is discussing Second Life this month, and different Australian and international digital media artists are showing their work. Blakkbyrd sent through some SL articles and links

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Super Massive @ The Mess - Thursday 16th Aug - Candy's Apartment

Super Massive headlines the launch of The Mess - a new art-meets-art night for Sydney - this Thursday 16th August at Candy's Apartment.

The Mess
Thursday 16th August
Candy's Apartment
22 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross, Sydney

Super Massive (Headline)
Great Apes
Stopwatch
Champagne Shoes

Doors open 8pm. $10-

THE MESS..

On Thursday 16th August Candy's Apartment hosts the launch of THE MESS, a monthly event to be held at Candy’s Apartment in Kings Cross in celebration of great local music, art, fashion & culture.

Electrofringe 2007 - programme is now online

Electrofringe 2007 programme is now online. This is one of my favourite festivals, and it takes place annually in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. During the festival Newcastle comes alive with creatives from all parts of Australia and overseas. The umbrella festival is called This is Not Art. Last year's festival was really hands on, which made it extra fun. This year looks set to keep your creative juices flowing also, with sessions such as Physical Computing : 1, Radio Locus Workshops such as Build your own Radio, Mulchwerk, a Dorkshop Sense & Control, a Homemade Instruments workshop Gestural Control & Feedback plus heaps more. The electrofringe website has the full program and a day by day listing of each workshop / panel session / project presentation / gig and happening. The other bonus to the festival is stopping to chat with friends and strangers about the festival and projects everyone has been working on over the year. Some documentation from previous years festivals is on this site, or check out the previous years festivals links on the electrofringe site.

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why would someone pay you to make video / media if you're not getting lots of hits ...

there was a discussion about why would somebody pay you to videoblog if you're not getting huge amounts of traffic (amongst other questions / points). the thread started talking about online advertising. I didn't read all the replies, but here's what I'm thinking..

read the original thread

my reply # 1 and # 2 (below)

I think one day people will be shooting / making video / media as stringers and sell that to people who need video / media, likely businesses who can afford to pay. another layer to news program's stringers/freelancers but on any topic, not just news. ala Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. so people will be taking videos for themselves and to upload and be paid if someone uses/downloads it. when archive.org started I was reminded of this also - "The Library" - a collection of clips from creative minds & people uploading as they will. so the utubes and googles et al will become clip libraries. most will be noise, but some will be useful for others. it happens in a small way now, how many of you have had people see a clip or video and ask if they can use it? similar with photos. eg I've had people see a photo and remember a place or a personal memory and ask if they can use it. after a while of people posting videos / photos / media - patterns will develop and certain topics / styles / genres will be sought after. anything is possible - the niches, the popularist content, the everyday life, the world around us. in the future when the world is different people will want to see how it was. I wonder also if it'll affect our memories & the way our brains connect thoughts & images as the ease of storing photos/videos to trigger memories is different now to even say 30 years ago, but that's probably another thread. I wonder then if it'll lead to obsession ala until the end of the world when Claire became obsessed with watching her recorded dreams on her portable video player. I think the two ideas (book/movie) will merge & expand.

I think this has all been mentioned here before - a while ago.. so a refresher. but, I think it's getting closer. especially with google etc & their searching capabilities and tagging / metadata so common place these days. if I were a big business this is the way I'd be going anyway.

oh, also, which is why I think ads on videos is an old media way of thinking. like ads on tv. (which will phase into product placements soon enough). people will still use them now whilst they make money from them but I don't think they'll be necessary or used in future as they'll be regarded as spam. similar to what was mentioned earlier, people ignore spam on the net now, so in the future when the generations change, they'll lose their power. the information / message will be the currency. & hopefully the creative mind! :)

--

extract from Snow Crash (by Neal Stephenson) about the library..

"The business is a simple one. Hiro gets information. It may be gossip, videotape, audiotape, a fragment of a computer disk, a xerox of a document. It can even be a joke based on the latest highly publicized disaster."

"He uploads it to the CIC database -- the Library, formerly the Library of Congress, but no one calls it that anymore. Most people are not entirely clear on what the word "congress" means."

"And even the word "library" is getting hazy. It used to be a place full of books, mostly old ones. Then they began to include videotapes, records, and magazines. Then all of the information got converted into machine-readable form, which is to say, ones and zeroes. And as the number of media grew, the material became more up to date, and the methods for searching the Library became more and more sophisticated, it approached the point where there was no substantive difference between the Library of Congress and the Central Intelligence Agency. Fortuitously, this happened just as the government was falling apart anyway. So they merged and kicked out a big fat stock offering."

"Millions of other CIC stringers are uploading millions of other fragments at the same time. CIC's clients, mostly large corporations and Sovereigns, rifle through the Library looking for useful information, and if they find a use for something that Hiro put into it, Hiro gets paid."

"A year ago, he uploaded an entire first-draft film script that he stole from an agent's wastebasket in Burbank. Half a dozen studios wanted to see it. He ate and vacationed off of that one for six months."

"Since then, times have been leaner. He has been learning the hard way that 99 percent of the information in the Library never gets used at all."

---

just out of interest, there's also some interesting papers about this book.. google 'neal stephenson video library' and there's even some interesting discussions

http://www.utpjournals.com/simile/issue16/blackmorefulltext.html

http://library20.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=515108%3ATopic%3A5678

Zills & Arabic Percussion

yesterday I bought a dvd on Arabic Percussion - it's a how - to / instructional dvd by Yinon Muallem, "Master of Percussion". I don't think I'd be able to carry a traditional drum around with me on my travels, and I thought they were made from wood & animal skin so wouldn't be allowed back into Australia by Customs anyway. I spoke to the guy from the shop and he had modern versions not made of wood or animal skin which sounded great when he played them but I said I'd think about it.. instead I found a couple of pairs of finger cymbals / zills - like the ones bellydancers use. the larger ones are the more professional versions and sound the best. the smaller ones are the cheaper ones found in most of the stores at the markets. but these fit my hands better so I thought I'd start with them. you wear them on the thumb and middle finger and can do a couple of strokes - hit together then open again for the higher 'ting' and hit together and stay together for the 'clap' sound. the store had a dvd also for bellydancing, hopefully it's got some English. their website lists the classes but it's in Hebrew so I can't read it yet..

http://www.arabesque.co.il/ - the arabic bellydancing & musicians site
http://www.yinon-muallem.com - the arabic percussion dvd site

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