Mobius Engineer Report

New Website - New Blog

2011-06-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

I am moving my website and blog to a new Wordpress template. There will be many things missing or wrong with my web space for quite some time, but then it will emerge from this chrysalis into a great big insect of wonder.

In the meantime follow this chain of thought...

must therefore lead to

See you all soon.

Don Quixote vs the Dictatorship of Po Mo Cyn

2011-06-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

For too long there has been a dictatorship that has towered over the modern, Western lifestyle. A force that is offers the easy way forward without offering any solution. It says that it has all been done before, nothing is new, all solutions lead to the same conclusion, that time is circular and all your hopes for better are mired in the inevitable outcome.

This is the terrible weighted voice of that horrendous dictatorship of Po Mo Cyn. His message has seeped into all forms of creativity and creative response, his thoughts have pervaded every media channel. It is the very essence of negative apathy. Post Modern Cynicism is everywhere and insidious but it must come to an end.

The irony is that under the control of Po Mo Cyn there can never be a revolution, all force is met with an equal and opposite nullifying effect. For every good deed and bright spark there are a thousand snarking retorts waiting, a thousand skulking comments in the forums, a thousand jibes and jokes made for their own sake. It is time for this to end, and the only way to overthrow such apathy and cynicism is to ignore it and keep going.

Britain’s Got F%&! All - if it hasn’t got integrity.

By way of example Britain’s Got Talent pushes new boundaries in self serving, controlled media, designed and delivered for maximum acceptance and manipulation, yet it continues to make a fortune and top the ratings. Despite all the scorn I can pore upon it I too find myself drawn into the ‘entertainment’ of it. I despise that part of myself that chuckles at the antics of Ant and Dec, or feels good when some poor fool is given an inkling of a chance because even as I laugh along with it I am aware it is fundamentally fixed, corrupt and managed – but I still do nothing. Po Mo Cyn is at work here, not in the corruption I watch and willingly consume but in my indifference to it.

The Invisible Revolution

To drive Po Mo Cyn to a bunker ridden starvation there needs to be a revolution in thinking and the time for that must surely be now. We must begin by look for him and recognising that this frame of mind is everywhere. Then we must consistently resist, overthrow and revolt.

I was walking through the town and passed a sign outside a pub that read "What is the meaning of life? QUIZ NIGHT!" and I felt it to be a profound statement.

Was that the answer, just a quiz night? A series of repeating, random and meaningless questions? Or was a pair of disparate phrases simply thrown together?

After pondering this on my walk I had a great upsight and I realised two things. The first was that only my mind was responsible for the association, it did not necessarily exist for anyone else. The second was that such an attitude was not necessarily a good thing. I realised it was not good enough to make some pithy remark and walk on, I had to change my state of mind in order to create change. Far too often my mind will speak without considering the inherent negativity or destructive sourness. This is the work of Po Mo Cyn!

My boy sang 'Old McDonald Had a Farm' and my immediate reaction was to add 'and on that farm he had e-Coli'. Here again this is the work of Po Mo Cyn!

All of these thoughts remind me of Don Quixote; not just the literary work but my personal relationship with the work. Every time I come back to that story I feel it is my tale being recounted.

     Comte De Guiche: Sir, have you read Don Quixote?
     Cyrano De Bergerac: I've practically lived it!

All that we consume seems oppressive and fills me with indignation. I ponder, how do we make a better world when cynicism, apathy and pastiche bring profit and originality and creativity none at all. Where fraud, deceit and malice are mingled with truth and sincerity.

Don Quixote's battles are the same as ours in this age. Where Don Quixote had his nemesis in the Great Enchanter we must battle Po Mo Cyn; whose thoughts are cold, whose soul is shrivelled, whose eyes are machines and where he walks the earth is blighted.

In order to fight this monstrous giant of infamous repute we must become knight-errants of the media age. We must go about actively to praise the creative and joyful, to find and uphold the new and courageous.

Listen to this boy, he is battling Po Mo Cyn and this is his battle cry.

This is the same as Don Quixote's call to arms.

     "Hear me now
     Oh, thou bleak and unbearable world
     Thou art base and debauched as can be.
     And the knight with his banners all bravely unfurled
     Now hurls down his gauntlet to thee."

These ideas lift me up. It is time to hurl down a gauntlet to apathetic thinking, to the quick response that diminishes rather than uplifts. This is the time to reject the quick fix of instant gratification and pre-chewed entertainment.

Bring down Po Mo Cyn where ever his presence is seen.
It is never too late.
It has not all been done.
There is positivity in the world.
There is a solution that can be achieved.
"You can do it. Thumbs up everybody, Rock and Roll!"

Coffee Homeground

2011-05-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

I recently quit sugar, down from three sugars to nothing. All of a sudden my favourite beverage became hollow and bitter. Of course, being bitter was not the suprise part, coffee is bitter, but I realised how much the sugar and milk were integral to the experience.

At what point, I wondered, would it stop tasting like 'the bitter tears of sadness and regret' and start tasting like 'a damn fine cup of joe' once more? I thought maybe a week, two weeks? It will be much longer than that and in the meantime I have to relearn what coffee is and how to appreciate it for its true taste.

To that end I bought a stove top coffee brewing pot and a milk frother. So far this works but there is a learning curve to the whole thing and a pathway that seemingly goes on forever into coffee brewing perfection. Obviously I can't afford a top of the range machine but the stovetop pot does a pretty fine job.

Here is what I have learned from the home brew experience, although far more in site could be drawn fom www.coffeegeek.com I have been through my own trial and error process.

If the pot says it's a 3 cup size then it means three tiny espresso shots, this equates to one shot of espresso volume as used in a cafe. I bought the six cup and it fills up a normal mug with a double-shot of coffee, which may be too strong for many but I kind of like it. It would also work for a strong brew that is used for two mugs, topped up with boiling water. This method would also avoid the 'kick in the face' coffee hit but I would rather replace with hot milk as the dilution can be tasted.

The lower chamber is filled to just below the steam vent.

The coffee grounds are placed in the container and tamped down. First I thought I could adjust the strength by adjusting the amount I placed in but it does not work that way. It needs to be full. This full amount plus the degree to which it is tramped down effects how the brew and flavour is extracted from the grounds. The denser the grounds are tamped, the more pressure builds through during percolation and the stronger the taste. The more level the grounds are tamped the more evenly the flavours are extracted. When you open the pot back up afterwards to clean you can see the degree to which it has worked; an even distribution of filter holes is best, any sign of caving or large holes will show where the water has rushed through the weakest part of the coffee grounds in order to escape. The sites I have gone to for information recommend 30lb of pressure and to practice on a kitchen scale to get the right amount of force.

Using hot water to fill the reservoir first does speed up the process but also makes the pot very hot and difficult to hold.

Do not tighten using the handle as it could break under a lot of use and isn't designed for that kind of torsion.

Brew until just after the bubbles start coming through, essentially the water has now been drawn through the coffee under pressure and it is ready.

The milk frother is essential to the experience but could use a lot of milk in order to get the volume. Though I only use enough for one milky coffee any less would make it difficult to do anything more than make big fat bubbles. As long as the plunger can submerge in the milk and be agitated, it can generate a kind of meringue like microfoam replacement. Frothing the milk looks rediculous and sounds silly but needs to be vigorous. The froth will disappear eventually so get it straight into the drink.

Pour out the coffee, then add the milk. Use a spoon to hold back the large foam then allow more foam to enter the cup. Finally spoon on the thick foam from the surface of what's left. This process of foaming does increase volume, so it seems like some is wasted at the end but eventually this amount returns to a normal consistancy. In theory the jug of milk can be frothed, used, left, frothed, used, etc.

Stir and then the coffee is ready to drink. One of the major factors that is essential to this experience is the type of coffee bean used. Locally, fresh ground selections will always be better than superstore packaged brands. Our local store, Guntons does small selection bags for around a quid but I am trying Lavazzo decaffeinated.

Then there are all the other factors that I haven't begun to touch. The heat of the milk, the pressure of the brewing, the fineness of the grind, the freshness of the bean after roasting. What I find fascinating is that each aspect can be detected, they are subtle changes but every part of the process has an effect on the final taste. This is what compels me to return to the next cup with a fresh excitement.

Eye

2011-05-26T13:43:00.001-07:00

Eye eye sailor, the eyes have it, eye Claudius, eye candy, eye am Spartacus, eyes down, eyes right, eyes left, eye for an eye, eye who have nothing, eye believe in miracles, the hills have eyes, the king and eye, my husband and eye, eye pod, eye pad, eye tunes, h-eye-d-hi, eye don't like you either, eye don't wanna talk about it, got my eye on you, eye for the ladies, eye for the engine...

I have been having trouble with my eyes recently. A bit like suddenly switching on Beatles mode or flipping the Pink Floyd setting. My vision gets more blurry and weird, like looking through a kaleidoscope, before returning to normal a couple of hours later.

At first worrying, but now that I have seen an optician, my GP and a specialist whom have all confirmed there is nothing really wrong and I can rest a little easier. It's not like it happens all the time, just once a month at the moment. Apparently it is the equivalent of a migraine in your eyeball. No known cause, not dangerous and will go away for it's own reasons.

The specialist did give me some eye drops just before shining bright lights into my eye and it did this to me...

...but I am OK now. Back to normal. On with the show.

Gibsonian meeting is Out Of This World

2011-05-25T04:57:00.001-07:00

I have just sat down within a meter of the literary futurist giant, William Gibson, and listened to him speak about the nature of the future and our entanglement with technology. There were some other people present of course, a large audience for one thing, including other luminaries and folk of note on the panel but I confess I had not really heard of them.

Cory Doctorow, Mark Stephenson and Diane Coyle were on the panel of 'Who Owns the Story of the Future', a British Library discussion on the nature of the story we are telling ourselves as we create our view of the future. I had travelled swiftly and decisively to London for the event for one reason only, however, and that was the presence of William Gisbson.

Luckily I had a seat right at the front and as all the panelists arrived and sat down, Mr Gibson was opposite me so I was able to observe his mannerism directly; the plain but weighted cool that surrounded him, the individual items of unique origin like the urban shoulder bag or khaki converse trainers, his stooped and unhurried gait.

As the discussion began and circulated, the other panelists were quick to answer, chiming in with intelligent and witty observations. Mark Stephenson, speaking with well oiled phrases and naturally eloquent monologues in response to the hosts direction. He named dropped the best institutes in science and technology and talked of his optimism in the technology horizon. Diane Coyle speaking directly with facts and insight, managing to make economics interesting. Cory Doctorow's booming, jocular style - having to raise his voice over laughter from a pithy witticism, quick to speak and throw out ideas. In this time each had their say, bantering back and forth, and Gibson had been silent. When the question finally came to him for an answer the room fell quiet. Even the panellists hushed and looked intent, awaiting his reply.

When he spoke it was in a quiet and slow slur, mixing the drawl of the US with the amiability of Canada and filtered through the deliberate measure of his age. He was also incredibly jet lagged and so he admitted that it was all cosmic, perhaps not a true reflection of his real self or his persona but everyone hung on his every word nonetheless. Every time he came to speak the room would fall to intense focus and once he had finished, with a humble shrug or dismissive gesture, the room would remain in deep reflection for a moment longer.

It was clear that he was held in very high regard by all present. In that sense I feel like the rush, the departure from a comfortable routine was worthwhile. Not only for bringing home the treasures of a video, a picture and his signature but for the chance to be there in the room.

Of course, only moments beyond that adventure and I can hardly remember a single thing that was said, all these moments that were vitally important at the time have since washed away. No doubt they will seep into my subconscious and reappear in the coming weeks, in dreams or discussions.

One of his phrases, conjured up improvisationally but also immediately seeming like an age old meme, was "Tweeted in stone." Thus, I must turn to the social networks to try and recreate the message, much as Gibson describes the work of future archaeologists.

He first spoke of how impossible it is to guess the future because of the immense complexity and absurdity. He described how, if in 1981 when he first began writing he had take a pitch to a publisher which described the year of 2011 as it is, then he would have been thrown out. I paraphrase...

"It is the year 2011 and everyone is connected invisibly by tiny computers they carry around and can access a vast store of information whenever they wish, Soviet Russia is no more, terrorists have flown planes into the Twin Towers and destroyed them, causing America to wage war in the Middle East, a virulent disease targeting the human immune system has ravaged the world... by the time I had mentioned two of these plot points the publisher would have said I had bitten off more than I can chew and by the time I reached the end of the list they would have called security - but that would have only been the start of it."

He spoke of the old giants of science fiction as 'The Uncles', and I am sure he invented that phrase on the spot, yet I am also sure that Heinlein, Asimov and their ilk will henceforth be known by that title. Discussing Heinlein's Future History.

"The uncles got it wrong. That was amazing to me to think that they could be wrong. The work was old by the time they reached me... No one saw the internal combustion engine as the possible cause for destruction of our species on the planet. But who knew... 'Who knew' could be the motto for our species."

In discussing the aspects of cynicism, positivity or the difference between dystopia and utopia.

"I was always saddened that my work was considered to be set in a dystopia. At the time there would have been untold numbers of people who would have gladly been transported to that setting because they would have been better off. You can't appreciate how positive a place the present is now unless you had been through the 50's to the 80's where people were living with the possible threat of predictable and horrible annihilation at any moment. This seems like an ideal future in comparison."

When the chair person opened questions to the audience I thought about all the questions could've asked. All would have been as pretentious and meaningless as the ones asked by rest of the room. Everyone was desperately conscious of not babbling, of appearing lucid and cogent and framing their ideas eloquently as the panellist. These questions were interesting, though some did go on too long, but were just starting points for the panel to expand on.

Some plucky fellow avoided the roaming microphone by simply speaking out, his deep voice compelling a question. You could tell the panel were a little nervous of him but answered all the same. The question involved whether we were 'rendering' before creating something with our future. He meant that in a computing reference, to complete any processing of the information before moving on. The panel thought it was a reference to fixing a wall. I imagined the boiling down of fat. It reveals how difficult it is to find a common language in an area where no one can know anything for certain. If anyone could imagine it, it would be this group of people.

At the closing of the event, in speaking of the narrative of the future that we have, Mr Gibson summarised as follows.

"What stories do we have now? Zombie Apocalypse? Geek Rapture? I like to think we would would be somewhere between the two."

Then a round of well earned applause for the panel and the doors were flung wide to allow the audience to leave. Not me. I had one hand on a copy of Neuromancer and a pen secreted in hand. As every else seemed to be too cool to gawp in awe at their literary heroes I simply cut straight up to William Gibson and said "Excuse me, sir. Would you mind signing your book?". I always revert to Bertie Wooster mode in times of awe.

"Well I'm not sure" he said hesitantly glancing at the large crowd that hadn't seemed to catch on to the idea yet, "you might end up starting something." But he signed the book all the same, with a smile to boot.

Ok, Mr Gibson. Good advice. I'm off to start something. After all, that's the way of the future.

Nighty Night by 8in8

2011-04-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to Nighty Night by 8in8. Ambitious for most artists but I never doubted this crowd. They have the confidence and following to fart through water and still make it into a pleasing artistic endeavor at the mix. Despite their great individual talents they still managed to make something personal, intriguing and creative. It is strange that you can still hear their individual input.

The full story is better explained elsewhere, the short version being they recorded 6 songs in 6 hours, released the album and performed it live in the space of 24 hours. Fleeting art. The zeitgeist of the post modern rock ethic in action.

You can hear and download the album here:

http://music.amandapalmer.net/album/nighty-night

These things stay with me

2011-04-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

I remember the cool, dark catacombs deep beneath the ground. The sound of the chainsaw revving and the held breath, listening for the sound of a thrown grenade echoing off ancient steps.

I remember the bright, summer sky and open fields surrounding the vast Egyptian monuments, lush and verdant. A shotgun in my hand and far away the first sounds of a constant scream that remained in my hearing for long after it's owners disintegration.

I remember the first day at work and the sudden, swift fall of mankind. The endless crawl through the ducts of the underground complex, emerging only briefly to freedom before being forced below at the click of gunfire.

I remember the ancient temples of Na Pali, the search for the damned crystals and the never ending conflict of the alien war machine. Those high cliff dwellings will always provide a place of refuge.

I remember the mansion by the sea and the party guests, oblivious, far beneath my ceiling perch. The interconnecting laberynth. The desperate run from shadow to shadow as the metallic wardens plodded back and forth for their Mechanist masters and Pagans talked of woodsy terrors.

I remember the arrival at City 17 and the long, epic voyage ahead of me, crowbar in hand. Nothing will remove the soft wind of the abandoned canals from my mind, or the darkness of Ravenholm, or the echoing snap of crossbow through empty train yards.

I remember the time of waking at the Enrichment Centre, the promise of cake, the hidden office, the empty chairs. The final struggle with the artificial intelligence and the last sight of daylight before the return to sleep. I will return there soon.

A jig for all

2011-03-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have finally tweaked my website into anew kind of shape. I wouldn't call it a re-design, I would barely name it a re-boot and vaguely reference it as a re-jig ( I don't even think it was jigged first).

I have added a few new items such as:

The Mojo Squad

The Walking Dead - Headshots

The Golgo Brothers

You can also keep up to date with my Blog and Twitter account here, in one easy page.

So, for me, it was worth the jigging and fixing.

Future Shocks - the Nerdgasm!

2011-02-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

When we were kids there was a momentous occasion in publishing I now look back on and feel privileged to have been present for. It has resonance similar to seeing Star Wars: A New Hope at the cinema the first time around, back when no one really understood why it was episode four. This was the release of a new publication. The Way Back Machine is set to 1977 and the first issue of 2000A.D.

The first prog of 2000A.D. actually went to my brother, because he found it first (ever the canny watcher of future trends for a nine year old) and because there was also Starlord, a kind of younger brother publication, which went to me.

Both of these comics were mind blowing. Each on their own enough to melt young minds, yet eventually they became a single uber-comic. This new 200 A.D. comic power contained some of the finest story arks and character developments in British comics - hellfire, even in British writing! - I say this purely because of their long term and subliminal effect on my idea of narrative, science fiction and graphic novel forms.

The list of story lines and characters that came from these comics is incredible when looking back. Though steeped in the clouded view of nostalgia, they remain influential. I never realised at the time how much of them were homage, or derivative or pastiche but I find that this does not diminish them at all, rather it seems like artists and writers were reaching out to a younger generation and pointing the way to a very high road of culture and literary taste.

Harlem Heroes, Flesh, Robo-Hunter and of course Judge Dread started as iconic story lines. Dredd most of all and especially "The Cursed Earth" story arc, the first time I could conceive of a plot line that was allowed to stretch on into a wider back story. The first real experience of the sense of epic narrative.

Strontium Dog, Ro-Busters and ABC Warriors continued the legacy of great titles. Backed up by another epic Judge Dredd story, "The Day the Law Died". There was also an adaptation of Stainless Steel Rat stories that lead me to reading the back catalogue of Harry Harrison's work.

Judge Dredd continued to expand the Mega_City One universe with consistently grand scale story lines; "Judge Death", "The Judge Child", "Block Mania", The Apocalypse War". There was also the introduction of Nemesis the Warlock, Rogue Trooper, Ace Trucking Co, Skizz, D.R and Quinch, Marshall Law and Sláine.

Though all of these stories continued to inspire, there came a time when we had moved on to more serious comic series like Warrior, which was a whole other time line for me of great images, ideas, characters and stories. Still, I think that taken as a whole, the 2000 A.D. collection has provided influence to every creative coming from Britain in the last thirty years.

What I find most amazing from this long list is that the most powerful of them have come from one man, 'the godfather of British comics', Pat Mills. The direction and power behind the seminal comic series, Judge Dredd, A.B.C. Warriors, Invasion, Charley's War, Deadlock, Dinosty, Finn, Flesh, M.A.C.H.1, Nemesis the Warlock, Ro-Busters, Sláine, Torquemada, The Visible Man, Nemesis & Deadlock, Marshal Law - all were created or influenced directly by one writer.

You may wonder, why I have felt the need to reminisce and eulogise the wondrous influences of this British phenomena ( I think they call it a nerdgasm). Mainly because I was reminded how much of my youth and childhood was locked up these tales, and I was reminded because Mr Mills himself was kind enough to autograph a copy of Nemesis vol 1. Then while I waited for that he was kind enough to send me vol 3 with a signature and dedication.

All because my lovely wife, Snippety, makes an awesome sock monkey - but that's another story.

I am your father, join me...

2010-11-30T04:50:00.000-08:00

... and we will watch YouTube together!

My boy Tally and I do a lot of YouTube video watching. I wondered if it was actually a formative core memory for things we do together. Obviously the kind of things we watch revolve around children's films and TV that Tal is into but I have also subverted him along the way by opening his eyes to all sorts of wonders. He too has a habit of asking for a random idea, convinced it exists in singing/music form. He asked for Donkey Kong the other day. I dutifully found it and he was not impressed. Then he also has a habit of lunging at the screen with a pointing finger and shouts "That one!" - again a random way to see new things.

YouTube has also turned Tally on to My Chemical Romance's Danger Days album in a big way. I have commented previously on the vicarious joy of sharing a rock album with him, with me and my aging jaded, lost youth, perspective and he with his full on innocent abandon to the sounds and settings MCR created.

I include here a Playlist of tracks I thought had inspired the Danger Days album, for me it comes across as a Diamond Dogs for the new millennium.

I thought I liked MCR before but then I discovered some key facts that have blown me away. mainly that the lead singer Gerard Way has also worked for Vertigo comics and wrote The Umbrella Academy. Then I find that Korse, the villain in the Killjoy universe, is played by Grant MORRISON! Grant FRAKKIN MORRISON!

The album is very enjoyable for me, though I am still aware it may be beyond my ability to participate. Similarly, Tally is too young to join in.

Another request from Tal came in the form of "Let's watch Star Wars.", obviously I would love to show him Star Wars. I was aware though that it will never have the impact that it had on my generation. There is so much more around these days that will supplant it and you can never un-see things that have come along since. Even the Killjoys of MCR are probably having a greater impact on his future than Star Wars ever can.

His interest came about because Mr Lucas sold the last few dregs of soul and pimped his robo-biatches, Artoo and Threepeeo, to the advertising industry. Tal has seen the ads and wanted to see them in film. We got as far as Luke having a whine before he wanted to do something else, not that I mind, of course. He can have his own choices and discover things in his own time. I wonder if it is the equivalent of my Granddad showing me westerns or WW2 films with a similar enthusiasm? I hope I get to share a whole load of stuff with him before adolescence sets in.

MCR are live with the Killjoy tour in December of 2011 and I find myself wishing we could do stuff like that. I can't wait to show him so many wonderful things. Comics, films, animations, music, instruments, camping, gigs, museums, cinema, D&D, computer games, board games, coding, writing, reading, etc. In the meantime I look forward to YouTube, Toy Story and Wallace and Gromit... oh and tickling.

Zombie Madness

2010-11-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

I have been watching Walking Dead and playing Left For Dead 2, both of which have given me some insight into the zombie apocalypse. This is not a new train of thought for me though and living a corporate consumer lifestyle often makes me think of how fragile it all is and how so many would be unprepared for the end of society.

I'm not suggesting that zombies are likely to take over the world. It is a metaphor, obviously. A view on how society would crumble so quickly in the face of major shifts of normality. However, I believe that thinking upon the zombie apocalypse and mentally preparing for it is a way of preparing for anything and reminding one's self of the key things that matter in life.

Who would you save?, where would you go?, how will you live?

If you Google the term 'zombie survival quiz' you get a lot of results. Clearly I am not the only one planning for this.

I got %68.8073394495413 on the

Ultimate Zombie Apocalypse Survival Quiz!

Now that 'Need for Speed Hot Pursuit' has turned up I may move on from my zombie-revelry but before I do, here are my top tips...

Zombie tip No.1: Zombies prefer the coast.
As most classic zombies will shuffle aimlessly about, it stands to reason they will shuffle in the easiest manner possible. If they come across some stairs they will shuffle down them but it is unlikely that they will climb the stairs. The same goes for a steep hill. This means that in a random shuffling about over time the dead will congregate in the low lands, drifting down toward the coast and valleys. Therefore, take the high ground. In the short term, I think that with the fresh smell of brains to spur them on they might get it together to climb a ladder or shamble uphill. Without any impetus from the living they would drift where the path is easier, so after a while they would all be down the beach and climbing up a mountain would ensure a quieter life.

Zombie tip No.2: Head shots are certain but not always required.
Though the only true zombie killer is a head shot or decapitation, sometimes you would just need to slow them down long enough to get by. If you are clearing an area in order to settle for a while, then best be sure. If you are foraging or just passing through, then all you need to do is stun them, disrupt the brain a little with a concussive hit.

Zombie tip No.3: Be ready for action.
When I see anyone in flip flops or poorly manufactured footwear I always think "What are you going to do in the Zombie Apocalypse?" - the answer is hobble ineffectively away only to be eaten moments later. Meanwhile those prepared for action will run full pelt across any terrain, occasionally kicking Z upside the head. Generally this translates as being prepared for any eventuality, so that may not need to dwell on what can go wrong.

Zombie tip No.4: Protection from bites and scratches.
Even if you can't get full ballistic protection, if you have a cover-all material that is impossible to bite through, then Z is not going to make much of an impact. In full preparation for going to a proper settlement from your over run urban dwelling place, you should have good clothing and, if needs be, armour. This could range from a set of riot security armour to simple bikers leather. I even heard suggestions of armour made from recycled milk carton plastic.

Zombie tip No.5: Don't fill the cupboards.
Some may think that a larder full of water and tins is going to keep them alive but this is a fatal error. You can't possibly have enough space to house all the food and water you will need for extended survival. Even the biggest mall or supermarket is not going to sustain you for long. You spend maybe a month feeling smug, maybe six if you ration and then the Z are back knocking on the door again asking to borrow a cup of braaains. The best chance of survival is a protected enclosure where you can sustain a farmstead. So, learn to milk animals, make cheese, bread, harvest crops, grow vegetables, keep livestock. Even the basic information will take you further than a living room full of soup.

Perhaps all of this advice is already in the bible of zombie survival.

Guns Attract Monsters

2010-10-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

Samhain tomorrow for us, for myself a new year. This post carries on from my previous one by way of Tal's choice of fancy dress costume. He wanted to be Party Poison from the Killjoys, a.k.a. Gerrard Way from My Chemical Romance, currently his big obsession during 'song time'.

So he has his billy bones shirt, badges, bandana, MCR holster and lazer gun, spider wellies and skull legging. Snips and I both joined in with Killjoy variants of our own but Tal stole the show as the leader.

I was so proud I entered him into the MCR costume competition under the name Flashback Boy. Just to prove that Tal is genuinely into the Killjoys and the Na Na Na video, here he is with his intro to the vid.

Now that's some vicarious rocking!

* Guns Attract Monsters, by the way, was something Tal said that I thought qualified for a band name, a graphic novel and a film, all in one.

All hail the lone goth.

2010-10-24T14:26:00.001-07:00

It's that time again... you know, late thirties. I feel like I'm fighting the mid life crisis but really I think it's fighting an urge for another reality.

I heard from QI elves that we don't change our temperament as we get older; the fool we were at eight is the fool we will be at eighty. Which must mean that the 'mid-life crisis' we experience or rail against in our mid life is merely a change of context for something we have been battling against throughout our lives. Fighting the sense of complacency. Coming to terms with a sense of self and developing self expression.

Railing against normality seems so much more natural and easy for youth, when stupid fashion makes some kind of sense. Attempting to get to grips with this strange idea that we should be 'grown up' by now, that we should have put aside childish things, is far more difficult to shake off once you are embedded in the responsibility of real life.

Yet, here I am as a near 40 year old with little sign of becoming any more mature. Is it a by product of my generation, coddled from the harsh realities and austerities and inebriated with media distractions, or is it just me never really growing up?

I use the term 'mid life crisis' jokingly, as I don't really buy in to such a definition. It seems to me to be more like an alternate reality, an idealised version of ones own psyche just out of reach and barely understood. A version of one's self where confidence and extroversion is maximised as a conduit for everything we like and find cool about the world. It draws us on, tempered only by common sense and feedback. I think it is this avatar that I have been dealing with, which leads me to now question my instinctive sense of self and how it differs from reality.

Anecdote: It was a cold, morning and I was waiting for the bus to work along with other dour faced commuters and school kids, when along comes some very youthful chap who had elected to go about his normal day in the manner of a 'goth'. He was platform booted, chained, black fabric, arms bands, studs and attitude; all of which would have been startling enough to see on the school bus, without the fact that he was wearing a girl's coat. Sure, he had removed the laces and corset bands, and clearly imagined himself armed and dangerous, stepping from the Matrix, but it was clearly a girl's coat. He didn't care. That takes some 'cojones'. Perhaps in a darkened nightclub his garb would have made a contextual sense, but surrounded by laughing 9 year olds and still managing to bop ones head to Korn takes some doing. All hail the lone goth.

I have always been an odd bean. When I was very young I wore a faux-leather coat, wellies and a milkman's hat. I carried a toy luger. I didn't take them off no matter how hot it become in Summer. Only looking back can I imagine what my parents must have thought, surely I was dressing up as some kind of innocent toddler version of a Nazi gestapo officer?

As a teenager, having ventured out for Art College at 16, I would wear a fedora, a long coat and two-tone shoes as a kind of de facto uniform. I wanted to be easily recognised as 'that guy with the hat'. Which I was for a while but I can't really tell if that was a good thing or not. Just another affectation of youth and the need to define one's self from the crowd. Where others sought to join in, fit in and get along, I actively loathed any such mainstream but as a student I never went far enough.

If your in fashion, music, film or celebrity you can justify any kind of oddity but as a middle aged, middle manager it becomes more difficult, especially outside of London.

I now wear a suit for work and in my private life I wear army surplus but neither of those goes far enough. Neither really match up to the avatar, the ideal from that alternate reality.

I have in my wardrobe some white leather hand made spats but dare I wear them? During the normal working day I wear a chain fob for my watch, a waistcoat and a derby hat. I am halfway to the weird world that my brain is living in. If I'm going to do smart I want to wear two tone shoes, bespoke tailoring, Edwardian style's, spats, a wide brim fedora.

At home I wear my army surplus. American army boots, a Dutch army jacket with BSG arm patch. Again I am half way into the other world. Not quite fit for this one and not bold enough for the other. I am imagining myself wearing kick-ass motocross boots, flying hat with goggles.

Yet, despite my wild idea of fashion I am sane enough to know that I would not look good if were to give in to all these flights of fancy. I would be as cool as a goth on a school bus. Sorry kid, for all your kudos, you just went a little too far out of context.

Every so often something comes along and wakes up the urge to go a bit mental, a calling from that place. With the new My Chemical Romance album I felt, for no known reason, that I should buy those huge boots, dye my hair, get a tattoo. It's kind of a guilty pleasure. A little embarrassing.

Perhaps this is where the avatar from the other world comes in. Is it here to remind me of the things I never did? The other paths, the other choices? I never did join a band, dye my hair, get a tattoo, rip my clothes. Why not?

I think fundamentally I was never that fussed. I could never commit to any single genre or style, any single design ethic. The dream of touring is one thing but I think being with my wife and boy is my pleasure. It is something I can become effortlessly passionate about. A nice cup of tea and a sit down, chatting about any old thing. To grow old and watch my boy grow up.

Perhaps it is because my boy likes the My Chemical Romance vid as much as me, that I can allow him the chance to make that choice. He has plenty of time to rock out. Until I get a reason to become the avatar I shall be happy enough in my present state. Just weird enough, one hopes, to be interesting.

The Crying Policeman and the Bieber-meme

2010-08-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

There was a recently flurry of interest in the soundcloud of Shamantis ( follow him on twitter! he always does random projects like this alongside his actual music: @Shamantis ) who took the song "U Smile" by popular song imp Justin Beiber and slowed it down by 800% in Paul Stretch, a freeware piece of musical gadgetry. The premise picked up was that it became a fantastic ambient piece in the mode of Sigur Ros. And fair play, it did. It was a lovely time-stretch experiment and very reminiscent of Gavin Bryars track "The Sinking of the Titanic" in its execution and basic idea.

J. BIEBZ - U SMILE 800% SLOWER by Shamantis

Well done, Shamantis. I liked it.

Then I was thinking anything could be slowed by 800% and sound like a lovely ambient track. This meant that I had to now prove my point. I downloaded Paul Stretch and went to work with the most ludicrous track I could think of.

Original work: The Laughing Policeman by Charles Penrose.

OK. Now for the stretched version.

Laughingpoliceman - Charles Penrose 800% Slower by catjuju

Not sure I would call it beautiful. Sometimes like a wailing, plaintive cry of despair. I still like it though, I imagine it would require another 800% or a few octaves pitch shift before it becomes beautiful.

The Wakefulness of Inception

2010-08-02T08:43:00.001-07:00

CHOC-O-SPOILERS!

Clearly this post is going to give away the ending.

After finally seeing Inception, dodging many a spoiler and great hyperbole, I feel compelled to write my take on it. Good or bad, it is certainly one of those films, where discussion and contemplation of it must take place. I also like a film with the opportunity for deeper and wider concepts, that extend past the story into a larger setting.

Diagram - a nice graphic, but it wasn't *that* difficult to follow.

http://twitpic.com/293ylr/full

Music - a love this idea but wished that more was done. The use of time dilation as a motif is inspired, but little else is done with it beyond this one hook. Unless, of course, I am missing the deeper nuances of the score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVkQ0C4qDvM

COBOL - A prequel, spoiler free comic. Not enough pre-release viral work was done. Where is my video game?

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/inception-comic.html

The candy coloured clown

For my personal take I found myself enjoying it all immensely, completely caught up in the world and the story line. I watched it with my lovely wife whom did not share this kind of experience. I was captivated where she described it as boring, a disappointment and Matrix re-written by accountants, yet I still found I agree with her on many levels. There were a lot of aspects where they missed the mark, where an opportunity for greatness was overlooked or a choice that underwhelmed but all in all, it was amongst the more enjoyable films I have seen. I think my dual thinking on the film comes about because the 'dream' concept speaks to me quite clearly.

Although there was a lot of exposition and explanation woven into the story, the full mechanics were never explained to the point where one could fully understand the nature of the 'inception/extraction' process. The general idea was simple enough but the audience is left hanging about the finer details of who dreams, what they can achieve and why.

When one lucid dreams, thus becoming aware yet remaining in the dream, there is an assumption of control. Surely there is an element of manipulating the dream to ones desires. This manifested with the sudden arrival of Eaves grenade launcher, "you have to dream bigger" he said, but did any of them ever really dream big?

When one explores the nature of the subconscious in art, fiction, poetry, film or music it is rife with the absurd, the surreal and the bizarre, but here the dream is only very loosely textured with the odd, most of which comes about due to interactions between levels of dreams and the rest comes from Cobb and his fixations. Granted, they had a job to do and were controlling the experience for a specific reason, Fischer would still have woken up and thought, "I just had John Grisham's dream!".

The subconsious of Cobb bleeding in due to his personal problems were barely touched on but could have had more impact. They were a crucial aspect, not only of the larger narrative but of the real conflict and the nature of dreaming, where deeper problems are resolved. Cobb uses a memory house rather than allowing himself to dream naturally or spontaneously, there was another idea untouched or explored.

Comparisons to the Matrix are probably a little unfair and unfounded. If the film had opted for kung-fu and big guns, exotic locations and full on mindbendery, it would have passed by as a very poor Matrix clone, so I can understand the setting, ambience and pace. Then again, haven't we had enough tailored, sixties suits and slick hair?

Open your mind, Cobb!

There are a lot of narratives that traverse this territory, beyond Matrix. Matrix didn't even have a sub-reality ( unless you accept the Matrix Evolutions Theory ). The closest real similarity comes from Vurt, in my opinion. Chasing after a missing loved ones by going into dreams within dreams, it's all there.

Here are some others that go along this path. One thing that is abundant in a lot of these films is their use of the surreal. It immediately talks of the subconscious. In Inception the dream was there but the subconscious was missing.

Big Fish

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Strange Days

Waking Life

Being John Malkovich

All good films and together would make for a great weekend.

This is not my beautiful wife, how did I get here?

There seems to be a lot of net discussion concerning whether Cobb is still dreaming at the end of the film, whether he was ever awake or if he managed to find a happy ending ( see Never Wake Up). Having seen it a second time I think the story is quite clear on this matter.

The key plot point revolves around the totem continuing to spin if he is dreaming. He does this a few times with great seriousness - it is his ritual and security. When it topples, he is awake. For this idea to have any meaning we have to accept that we can trust the totem as well, so that when it falls early on we know we are also awake and his story is valid and matters. If the top does not fall at the end of the film, gasps go up in the theatres but I think that a point is missed here.

The fundamental focal point of the film comes when Cobb confronts Mal, admits his guilt and states that he accepts she is just a projection, that he can never come close to replicating her perfections and imperfections. Just as he was the one to reject the limbo state he found himself in with her, he knows deep down that a dream is just a reflection of himself and that the Mal who begs him to stay is 'just not good enough'. When we come to that last scene of Cobb at home, he spins the top to go through with the ritual but it is the faces of his children that he sees. It is their 'beautiful faces' that show him he is awake - he cannot replicate them in dreams and looking at them makes the top irrelevant. Cobb had already accepted and rejected the prejection of his wife, so he wouldnt then accept a projection of his children. The last shot is just to allow for doubt on an existential level, the same doubt Cobb had experienced, the passing of the idea to you the audience but no longer Cobb's doubt - he knows he's awake.

Reasons to be Cheerful.

2010-07-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

I have reasons to be cheerful.

However, whilst listening to Ian Dury I wondered if his reasons would stand up to scrutiny. How many reasons do we share and could this be used as quota for Cheerfulness?

What follows are the lyrics to 'Reasons to be Cheerful Part 3', listed out. To work out your Cheerfulness Quotient (CQ) just go down the list and select which ones might make you cheerful, just by virtue of its existence in the world. That by having 'boats' in this universe, for example, it is a happier place. Ian Dury would naturally have a CQ of 65, though this should not reflect a similar level of cheerfulness as Ian; after all he always seemed cheerful to me but I never knew him. Think of it as a relative Dury scale upon which we may all stand and be measured in a like manner. Whatever happened to parts one and two, I do not know.

I was about to go through the lyrics with an explanation but this has already been done, so I pass you over to this page (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A847460 ) if you wish to know whether the items will make you cheerful.

In a similar vain, the comedian Dave Gorman did a one man show in Edinburgh for the Fringe, based around a thorough examination of these lyrics and their inherent truth. I do not know his conclusions but he talks about it in his website: http://www.davegorman.com/projects_reasons_cheerful.html

The CQ score of 65 can be exceeded by the inclusion of Bonus Points. These can be gained by adding your own verse and thus a few more reasons. Rhyming does seem to be a prerequisite though.

Some of Buddy Holly

The working folly

Good Golly Miss Molly

Boats

Hammersmith Palais

The Bolshoi Ballet

Jump back in the alley

Eighteen-wheeler Scammels

Domineker camels

All other mammals

Equal votes

Seeing Piccadilly

Fanny Smith

Willy

Being rather silly

Porridge oats

A bit of grin and bear it

A bit of come and share it

You're welcome

We can spare it

Yellow socks

Too short to be haughty

Too nutty to be naughty

Going on forty

No electric shocks

The juice of the carrot

The smile of a parrot

A little drop of claret

Anything that rocks

Elvis

Scotty

The days when I ain't spotty

Sitting on the potty

Curing smallpox

Health service glasses

Gigolos

Brasses

Round or skinny bottoms

Take your mum to Paris

Lighting up the chalice

Wee Willy Harris

Bantu

Stephen Biko

Listening to Rico

Harpo

Groucho

Chico

Cheddar cheese and pickle

The Vincent motor sickle

Slap and tickle

Woody Allen

Dali

Dimitri

Pasquale

Balabalabala

Volare

Something nice to study

Phoning up a buddy

Being in my nuddy

Saying 'okey-dokey'

Singalonga Smokey

Coming out of chokey

John Coltrane's soprano

Adi Celantano

Bonar Colleano

I have come up with some bonus 9 points via the following couplet.

Seeing Penn and Teller,
Smiling little feller,
Under an umbrella,
Laughing with your spouse.

Gadgets and an Xbox
Reading Fox in Sox,
Wooden building blocks,
Sitting in your house.

My CQ Score is: 60

I will let you guess which ones make me cheerful.

Awesome toys for awesome boys

2010-06-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

My boy is three! Yee haa! Happy Birthday Tally!

I have spent a wonderful week at home with family, soaking up time with my wife and boy. It shows up how much I miss them, even in the course of a day. We are a very close knit tribe of three and it has been a very rewarding week.

This started, as our new traditions dictate, with the festival of Litha ( mid summer ) and a chance to recognise the passing of the year and enjoy the moment. By marking the astrological intervals of the year I find it both comforting and enhancing to focus on time and not let the year go by. We take a photo each festival and place it on a calendar wall chart. It is good to see our three happy faces squished together in a smile, changing ever so slowly.

The mid summer festival then gives way to a week of activity ( seaside visits, hilly woodsy walks, tasks that we need to attend to or have been waiting to attend to ) before culminating in the birthday of my boy. He is now three and on the cusp of so many revelations, no longer quite a baby boy but not quite little man.

This year his big, favourite gifts were a lovely Ukulele, which he is able to hold properly and twang at with gusto. His love of instruments and music making is a joy to be a part of and I get as much fun as he does. His second big gift was a full sized Woody from Toy Story - not human sized of course, but film realistic, replica quality, deluxe Woody in absolutely film exact detail. I am more in awe of it than he is but he clearly loves it very much already. It is the perfect kind of gift where the quality makes it a work of art but the sentiment behind the film narrative means it is something he should be allowed to play with as he likes. Despite the Disney connection it is one of the few franchises I can buy into next to Studio Ghibli. It makes me want to buy the Buzz film replica too!

There bloody well is a spoon, I can see it.

2010-05-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the Matrix? Seeing it for the first time?

Focus on that for a second. Not the third one. Keep that out of your thoughts, come back to me and remember how it felt after watching the first instalment. The one that was cool and blew your socks off.

Not the sequel. Not yet. Keep that man in a room gibbering nonsense away from your thoughts too. He will only confuse you at the moment as you try to recall the coolness of the original Matrix. Just let it slide for now. The first Matrix.

Don't let the third one ruin it for you either. You wouldn't let Jar-Jar ruin A New Hope, would you? So just let your mind return to 1999; black coats, Martial arts, lots of guns, bullet time, hacking reality, Anime and Kung Fu film references. It was good, right? It took a little bit everything that was kinda cool and mixed it up into the best film of the decade. Maybe I am over egging the film there a tad, but all the same it remains one of my favourites.

I'm going back there. But this time it will be different.

The first Matrix will still be cool and I will pretend that there are no sequels. I'll just watch it as a standalone movie. Then there will be a sequel, which will also be cool. It will have some great scenes and it will spend lots of time in the Matrix with Neo kicking ass. Sure there will be some stuff that doesn't make sense all of a sudden, there will be a few Chinese dudes for some reason and when the guy at the end shows up I will just absorb his nonsense - serene in the thought that it will all make sense in the end.

This time it will. This time it will be different. I am re-writing the trilogy. Matrix Revolutions will no longer mean something revolting. I will call it Matrix Evolution and it will make some kind of gorramn sense! I am going to try and summarise the films in order to prove some kind of point about the story in the end. It has been on my mind for a long time and every time I watch the series of films I hit the wall of the third film and must finally set down what should have happened.

The Matrix

Watching this again was great. I am always struck by the various scenes and how well they roll along with the main story. I like all the references held within it and they in turn bring fond memories. Oh, how young everyone was. The full and sensible breakdown can be found here, without my rambling fervour: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix

It starts with the introduction of Trinity and the Agents - the first inkling of cool, super powers, renegades and hacking. A teaser start. A nice action sequence and the first view of some bullet time. Then we are introduced to Neo/Anderson and the whole section showing him as the geek Everyman; the dull job, the hacker subculture, the disillusionment with normal reality and the quest for Morpheus and the Matrix. There are a lot of nice moments but all very small scenes, never wanting to drag the plot down to far taking us all the way to the critical scene of the red pill and waking up.

Here is the fundamental premise of the film. Everything he knows as reality is a construct and in the real world the machines rule humanity as their masters. With this little twist the film has an excuse to introduce any little chunk of weirdness and wonder into the plot. Now we can have the kung fu and learning montage without taking any time at all. The rules of reality are just code to be hacked and on the flip side, with 'The Real World', we have grungy rebels fighting for the last of humanity.

Key plot points here are the machines won, humanity is enslaved. There was a first Matrix which failed because the human mind would not believe in it, and successive Matrix versions where things were altered in order to promote control. There was also an original 'The One' dude who freed the first human. Someone had to wake up first right? ( Then that first one woke others up, who ran off to create Zion presumably - there are some glaring problems with that but we can let it slide for now. After all that first must have a) had help from the Oracle and b) must have woken enough up in one go to actually get anywhere or do anything with the ancient human technologies... I digress). The Oracle and the prophecy of the One who can control the Matrix and free humanity is also key.

So after a range of exformational conversations and introduction of this setting there comes an extended action sequence. A betrayal. Morpheus sacrifice. Neo starts to believe and shows he could be the One. The rescue of Morpheus. The love of Trinity. Leading up to the final boss battle. Agent Smith, who has shown himself to be a little bit rogue, goes head to head with Neo and forces Neo into being the One by killing him. He takes the Hero path into death and back to reveal his true powers and goes on to blow Agent Smith to pieces.

This is the big set up. Now Neo is set to start freeing others and reclaiming humanity much as the prophecy claimed. Cue Rage Against the Machine and the desire to wear big boots and black shades.

That was the first film and I have no problem with any of it. It made loads of awards, 86% of critics gave positive reviews. All is well. I watched it many times without worrying that a sequel would happen and when I finally learnt that there would be another film, how could it possibly live up to that? I was eager to know...

Enter the Matrix and Animatrix

With a new film looming and lots of nice teaser art the Wachowski's launched a wide range of cross media, meme splices. A website full of clips, stills, and wallpapers but more interestingly philosophical text and essays. There was a comic. Plus a computer game and an animated collection of short stories.

The major theme of these was to begin setting out some of the back story leading up to the sequel. Clearly the plot was already beginning to creak under its own weight and needed to loosen its belt into the mediaverse.

Though some of the back story was a primer on the historic theme and narrative behind the original war, one major strand concerned the tracking of a new character, Niobe, and her relationship with Morpheus and her links to the main plot.

Whilst Neo is running/flying around the Matrix kicking software and agents "up in the head" as it were, there is something going on in the 'Real World'. Another hover craft, the Osiris, discovers that the machines have abandoned finding the access codes to Zion and instead have decided to dig their way in. This discovery is logged but before the crew can make it out alive they are attacked only managing to hide this news somewhere in the Matrix itself. Niobe, is the next craft in line to go after it and through the 'Enter the Matrix' game, the data is recovered and presented to the council.

There is also some other stuff in there that attempts to smooth the transition from Matrix to Matrix Reloaded, such as the Merovingian attack on the Oracle, which changes her appearance and other Frenchy/Keymaker/Vampire nonsense that is really just interesting filler background, expanding upon but never introducing anything vital or meaningful to the overall plot.

The game had exclusive footage and though some of it was certainly cutting room floor stuff ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCbL781RxIM ), it was used well. Though the content was not always what you'd expect …

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bcXWKi1h6Y).

Sometimes it was really exclusive and made for the game, for instance - compare...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ek7meST7J4

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

Matrix Reloaded

There are lot of problems with this movie but I am still happy enough to just let the film wash over me and give it the benefit of the doubt. I am still under the impression that the Wachowski brothers can do no wrong. They did the Matrix, so how could they possibly deliver a screaming sack of 'Revolutions'?

The sequel opens with Trinity and an action sequence. Nice start. Then, of course, Neo wakes up and that bit was all a dream - one of many that he has been having. Morpheus and crew contact Niobe and in a common secret location in the Matrix, a whole bunch of captains learn of the last transmission of the Osiris and the dig, dig ,dig it approach of the machines. Morpheus is more concerned with the Oracle and see's anything that does not progress toward that as distraction - he convinces someone to stay behind and get the message when it arrives.

Back to Zion we go which leads us into a long set of plot that basically entails teaching the audience that Zion is a good place, something worth saving, that the people in Zion are good people worth caring for and that Neo and Trinity are getting it on. I don't think it needed the sweaty dancing boob scene but others may feel that was their favourite bit. Other background plot points show that Niobe and Morpheus used to have a thing going on, that her current partner hates Morpheus and is planning his own 'sensible' counter attack.

The plot is so dense, like a stodgy old cake story. This description is already for too detailed for a summary but all the little plot points do need to be made.

So a message does come through from the Oracle, and in delivering that message one member of the Caduceus crew meets Agent Smith, who has gained the power to become other avatars in the Matrix - he takes over the avatar of Bane and then loads up into the 'real world' (Note that if we accept the films as they stand and go on to the end, this makes no real sense at all).

When Neo meets the Oracle he discovers that there are a number of rogue programs that do not work for the main Matrix system, that one of them (Merovingian) is holding another one (Keymaker) prisoner, who is the only one who can help Neo enter the mainframe of the Matrix - which is apparently what he will need to do in order to end the war. This scene ends with the many Agent Smiths attack, which is a whole heap of CGI kung-fu and for all its enthusiasm, does not hold up too well any more. It does show that Agent Smith is akin to a virus within the Matrix and is taking over everyone, which must mean that the sleeping population are no longer enjoying the wonderful Matrix experience, right? It can't be a good thing for anyone.

Strangely enough I can bypass and gloss over the best part of the film, a huge chase scene, the best fight scenes and the most interesting characters by stating: They go get the Keymaker.

Luckily for them, this Keymaker also knows exactly how to get to the Source and what they need to do to gain access. I could bypass another chunk by just stating 'that's what they do' but certain points should be mentioned in the process. Niobe is there to help and takes out a power station. Everyone who played Enter the Matrix feels all smug at having played through that level, everyone who didn't is robbed of a good scene and just gets to see Niobe press a button. The other crew there to help are attacked in the 'real world' and killed, forcing Trinity to go in and save the day. Here is the point at which we see that Neo's dreams were actually visions of the future, meaning he has powers comparable to the Oracle. Neo, meanwhile is aided by Morpheus and the Keymaker to enter through the special door - into the Sources cupboard. I say it's a cupboard because they attend a small death scene for the Keymaker at the bullets of Agent Smith before going through another door to the Source.

I think its quite clear no one liked this next scene. It is important but not the way to do a end a film, I will quote from the Wiki entry rather than trying to explain it my way.

Neo meets an anthropomorphic program called the Architect, the Matrix's creator. The Architect tells Neo that there have been multiple versions of the Matrix and multiple versions of the One, a computer anomaly used as a means of control. Because humanity rejected the "perfect" Matrix as well as the dystopian Matrix, the machines realized that humanity needed to be offered the power of choice in order for them to accept it. The current Matrix is flawed and remains an unbalanced equation. The One is the sum of the remainder of that flaw. The One's purpose is to return to the Source, resetting the Matrix to its prime program. Afterwards, he will choose 16 females and 7 males to repopulate Zion and provide another round of humans for the "rebellion". Otherwise the unresolved error will spiral out of control, destroying the humans connected to the Matrix, which coupled with the battle at Zion will result in the extinction of the human race. Neo retorts that the machines need humans to survive and will not allow this.

The bit I highlighted in red was in the film but was nonsensical gibbering. It doesn't really make sense or say anything directly unless you analyse it within an inch of its life. Ultimately is comes down to this: each time the Matrix is set up there is a 'rebellion' secretly controlled by the Matrix to give the human population the myth of their own choice. Neo is supposed to 'reset' the Matrix and save a handful of survivors, but because of his love of Trinity he decides to save her and allow humanity to be destroyed.

Back in the real world Neo tells Morpheus that the prophecy was a lie created by the Matrix as a means of control, at which point the Machines turn up and destroy their craft - don't worry, Neo and chums flee the craft first but being chased by huge Sentinel machines gives Neo the feeling that something is different, that he can feel the machines and proceeds to destroy them with an EMP-like super power before collapsing in a coma.

As a final denouement, the crew are rescued by another captain who tells them that the counter attack plan against the drilling machines went disastrously wrong when an EMP was triggered too soon. A massacre from which there was a lone survivor. Cut to Neo lying comatose next to an equally comatose Bane/Agent Smith.

That was the sequel. It was not as impressive as the first film, because this is always the way with mid trilogy films. So many questions and thoughts. So many thought that they burned my mind trying to work out what would happen. I think I could subliminally see that the story arc was going off the rails, too many loose ends, and unknown elements appearing, but I didn't want to believe it. It had to make sense in the end.

Matrix Revolutions

What actually happened was not good. I have always felt so let down by a plot that bore so little relation to my view of a series that I feel that now I should strike it from the record. Start again.

Matrix Evolutions

The film begins where The Matrix Reloaded ended. Bane and Neo are both unconscious, but Neo shows neural patterns suggesting he is in the Matrix. Morpheus decides to start a search for Neo within the Matrix.

Seraph contacts Morpheus on behalf of the Oracle. Explaining that the exile programs are attempting to leave the Matrix to a secure area controlled by the Merovingian, they must go there if they are to learn more about Neo and in order to meet with the Oracle. Seraph, Morpheus, and Trinity pursue the Trainman to Club Hel to confront the Merovingian. The Merovingian demands "the eyes of the Oracle" in exchange for information but with the warning that the information they desire will be their undoing. Trinity loses her patience and provokes a Mexican standoff, forcing the Merovingian to stand down - before information can be given, however, the Club is attacked by multiple Agent Smiths. The Merovingian and crew leave via their secret doors, Trinity manages to go with him as he is the only source of information on Neo. Morpheus goes with Seraph and escapes to meet with the Oracle.

The Oracle, with a changed appearance, informs Morpheus of Neo's confinement in a place beyond the Matrix, the Merovingian controls the way there but Neo is beyond anyones knowledge. She explains that since Neo chose to save Trinity everything is different and even she is having trouble seeing where events will take them. She informs him that as the One, Neo has developed a wireless connection with the Source. All of Neo's abilities - inside and outside the Matrix - exist because of this connection. She characterizes Smith as Neo's exact "opposite" and "negative", who threatens to destroy the Matrix and eventually the Machine City. She states that "everything that has a beginning has an end", and that the war is about to end "one way or another."After Morpheusleaves the Oracle, a large group of "Smiths," after assimilating Sati and Seraph, arrive to assimilate the unresisting Oracle, gaining her powers of precognition.

Trinity finds herself trapped in a subway station; a transition zone between the Matrix and the machine world, where the Merovingian wil be riding out the virus of Agent Smith. At this station, Trinity is imprisoned with a 'family' of programs, including a girl named Sati, whose father tells Trinity that the station is controlled by a program called The Trainman, an exile loyal only to the Merovingian who exerts complete control over the subway. Sati tells Trinity that to persue Neo will be bad for everyone, Trinity refuses to remain trapped and attempts an escape. The dramatic escape fails and the Merovingian elects to kill her - at which point Neo appears and with greater powers, destroys all opposition and rescues Trinity. Neo does not seem to be bound by the control of the Merovingian or Trainman and is able to remove both himself and Trinity back to the 'real world'.

In the 'real world', the remaining crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and the Hammer encounter Niobe's deactivated ship, the Logos, and its crew. They successfully reactivate the ship and begin to interrogate the now awakened Bane, who claims he has no memory of the events of the earlier battle. As the ship captains plan to return to defend Zion, Neo announces that he needs a ship to travel to the Machine City. The captain of the Hammer refuses to allow it, citing his rights as ship's captain. However, Niobe provides him the Logos, rebuking the captain of the Hammer when he attempts to prevent her from exercising the rights he just extolled.

Niobe pilots the Hammer through a series of service tunnels, which are nearly impossible to navigate in order to avoid the Sentinel army. Shortly after departure, they discover that Bane has murdered a crew member and has hidden aboard the Logos.

They also come to realize that it was Bane who fired the EMP which disabled the human fleet after it had engaged the Sentinel army. Despite this discovery, they are unable to warn Trinity and Neo. Before the Logos can depart, Bane ambushes Trinity and takes her hostage. Neo fights Bane, who reveals that he is Smith. During the struggle, Bane blinds Neo by cauterizing his eyes with a severed power cable. In spite of his blindness, Neo can see the glowing form of Smith and kills him. Trinity pilots them towards the Machine City.

In Zion, the defenders deploy infantry armed with rocket launchers and Armored Personnel Units. The docks are invaded by a massive horde of Sentinels and two giant drilling machines. Outnumbered and overwhelmed by the attackers, the APUs are unable to hold the Dock, and their leader Captain Mifune is fatally wounded. With his last breath, Mifune tells the Kid, who has been rearming his APU, to open the gate for the Hammer. Encouraged by Mifune, Kid pilots the APU and opens the gate with the help of Link's wife Zee who kills a Sentinel and saves him. The Sentinels are on the verge of overwhelming the remaining humans when the Hammer, with more Sentinels in pursuit, arrives at Zion and sets off its EMP, disabling the Sentinels, but also the remaining defenses. Although they have bought a temporary reprieve, the humans are forced to retreat to the temple's entrance and wait for the next attack, preparing for what they believe will be their last stand.

Nearing the Machine City, Neo and Trinity are attacked by the city's largest defense machines, which begin to propel incoming rolled up sentinels. Neo uses his powers to destroy the incoming bombs/sentinels, but the Sentinels soon overwhelm the ship.

To evade them Neo asks Trinity to fly the Logos into an electrical storm cloud. Their action disables the Sentinels, but also disables the ship's engines. Above the cloud layer, Trinity sees a glimpse of sunlight and blue sky for the first time. The ship then free-falls directly toward the Machine City, falling Neo asks Trinity to trust him - he see's the world around him as Matrix code and uses his powers to control the ship and crash land into a tower. The impact of the collision fatally wounds Trinity, and she dies in Neo's embrace he is able to tell her the truth - this is not the real world He recreates her physical form, tells her he must go alone from here and that he will find her when it is safe - she is then transported away.

Neo enters into the Machine City to strike a bargain with the Machines, personified by the Deus Ex Machina. Neo confirms that the choice offered by the Architect was another form of control, allowing humans who rebelled against the Matrix to enter into a high, more believable version of the Matrix where they could have hope and the belief in their own choice. Neo recognises that he must maintain the Machines because all of humanity are still in the web of the Matrix. Neo warns that Smith is beyond the Machines' control and will soon assault the Source, as he has already made a leap from the Matrix to the real world. He offers to help stop Smith in exchange for a ceasefire with Zion: the Machines agree, causing all the Sentinels attacking Zion to stand down and await orders. The Machines offer a connection for Neo to enter the Matrix and confront Smith but Neo says he is beyond their assistance and then self connects to the Matrix world.

In the Matrix, which is now wholly populated by Smith's copies, the clone with the Oracle's powers steps forth, claiming that he has already foreseen his own victory.The Smith clones stand by and watch while Neo and the primary Smith hold an epic final battle on the streets, destroying buildings, and in the sky, until they finally brawl in a flooded crater. Neo is outmatched by Smith but refuses to give up. A frustrated Smith continues to attack, but when he suddenly repeats the Oracle's words, "Everything that has a beginning has an end," Neo baits Smith into assimilating him. Once the connection is made Neo is able to reverse the flow and take over Smith.

This surge of power spreads through the Smith/Neo and the clones, who then burst with light which ripples through the whole matrix thus restoring The Matrix and its citizens to normal. In the crater full of water, we now see the Oracle lying on the ground. Neo is triumphant and returns to the Deus Ex Machina. It explains that the Matrix is restored but cannot allow the humans to remain 'awake'. Neo states that humanity will no longer be held by the Machines illusion of choice. Neo transports away.

The waiting Sentinels return to attack Zion. Neo, appears and uses some truly god-like powers openly to destroy the Sentinel attack and free the remaining humans. The humans of Zion realise the full extent of what Neo has become, and the implication that they are in fact still within the Matrix is not lost on Morpheus. There is a brief conversation where Neo offers the choice to Morpheus in a reflection of the 'red pill/blue pill' conversation. They both understand that humanity may not be ready but must wake up together in order to survive. Neo adds that this would have to happen with the help of the Machines and that although he could now 'wake' everyone he will seek after a peaceful resolution.

The Matrix ‘reboots’, repairing the damage caused by Neo and Smith's battle, and without its usual ‘green tint’ of letters and numbers. The cat is seen in the same fashion as in the first film, repeating itself, ‘which notes a major change in the system/matrix’ is picked up by Sati. The Architect and the Oracle meet, and agree to unplug all humans who want to be freed, and that peace will last ‘as long as it can.’ Sati, who has created a colourful dawn sky in memory of Neo, asks the Oracle if they will ever see him again to which she replies that she believes they will. Seraph asks the Oracle if she knew all along that this would happen, and she replies that she didn't know, but she did believe.

A short epilogue shows Neo back in the Matrix, making a telephone call promising that he will demonstrate to the Machines that a way forward can be achieved together, whether they choose it or not. He hangs up the phone and joins a figure which could be Trinity, together they fly into the sky.

That is my version, I think I am sticking to it. It seems to me to be better all round though I saw no point in reinventing aspects of the film that worked – as you tell the main point is that it seemed everything was pointing to the fact that Zion was a construct of the Matrix. This seems to answer the questions about how the Oracle is able to foresee the future, how Neo or Smith inherit that power, how Neo uses his EMP ability, how Neo is able to have dreams that foresee the future whilst in the real world, how Neo can see Smith within Bane in the real world and how Smith is able to transfer to a human at all. It makes a better use of the Merovingian ( surely his demise or safety is something worth noting ). Finally it allows Neo and Trinity to gain some kind of apotheosis to divinity without melancholy.

I feel better now… what’s next?

F.U.FB ( in the style of Facebook )

2010-05-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Facebook sucks @ss. Changing privacy settings and layout without a by-your-leave, enforcing defaults, appalling user interface, etc. This platform will be a ghost town in 1 year given the way they treat their audience - go look at Bebo, weeping and muttering to itself in the corner, it has no friends now...

And if they think there are no other models for social networking, there are 50 lurking around the corner whispering "pssst! come over here, we will let you adopt a social interaction preference of your own...".

Set my emoticon to fuming bilious rage, FB. Pick up on my inner thoughts and link me to the page of "F.U.FB"

Are we LIVE!!

2010-04-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

If you understand the hidden reference of that title, you will understand how excited I am... I just booked tickets to see Penn & Teller when they come to London this year.

They are without a doubt amongst the very greatest magicians of all time and I am stoked with the idea of seeing them on stage, literally my childhood heroes . It's also an incredibly rare visit as they never travel, they have a show on at the Rio in Vegas all the time and stay there all year it seems. I was in Vegas last year on business, planning my one opportunity to see them live and the only day I had free was their day off - vexed!. Now I have another chance to see them that can't be missed.

I must say huge thanks to my lovely wife, Snippety, who has shown great patience and understanding of my magic nerd behaviour. xxx I couldn't have this chance without her support - staying home and looking after Tal, while I go goofing off like a big kid. Snips, I will buy you a lovely present!

Here are some clips of the duo in action... I can't wait. :oD

The elements of 'sleight of hand', still mesmerising despite the full explanation...

The infamous bullet catch, a legendary trick preformed in a new way...

From their TV appearance on the West Wing, I wish they could do this kind of performance for real...

A classic of magic, re-imagined and fully explained without the loss of any sense of wonder...

The loop

2010-04-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is a quick post to make sure I force a break between my posts. That last one about the Oscars is SO out of the loop. Who the frak cares about the Oscars? I only wrote it because of that iPhone APP.

So to move out of grump I am going to post some fine, fine musical interludes that will always make me feel transcendentally calm and all-knowing. In preparation for the up and coming post about multi dimensional reality.

Glen Gould - Aria , Goldburg Variations

Andrew Manze & Rachel Podger - Bach Double

Schubert Quintet in C - 2. Adagio - Zagreb International Chamber Music Festival 2008

Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor "Quasi una fantasia"

Bach, Air on the G string (Air on a G string, string orchestra)

The Oscars results

2010-03-08T05:17:00.000-08:00

The winners are announced, I think. I say I think so - not because the media isn't awash with the details but because the trusty app for the Oscars is a stinking pile of difficult-to-get-any- sense-out-of.

2010 Oscar Predictions vs Actual Results!

Animated Feature Film:

I said: Up

Oscars said: Up

Costume Design:

I said: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Oscars said: The Young Victoria

Film Editing:

I said: District 9

Oscars said: The Hurt Locker

Art Direction:

I said: Sherlock Holmes

Oscars said: Avatar

Best Picture:

I said: District 9

Oscars said: The Hurt :Locker

Actor in a Leading Role:

I said: Jeff Bridges

Oscars said: Jeff Bridges

Music (Original Song):

I said: The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart), from “Crazy Heart”

Oscars said: The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart), from “Crazy Heart”

Actor in a Supporting Role:

I said: Woody Harrelson

Oscars said: Christoph Waltz

Short Film (Live Action):

I said: The Door

Oscars said: The New Tenants

Music (Original Score):

I said: Sherlock Holmes

Oscars said: Up

Writing (Original Screenplay):

I said: A Serious Man

Oscars said: The Hurt Locker

Actress in a Leading Role:

I said: Carey Mulligan

Oscars said: Sandra Bullock

Visual Effects:

I said: Avatar

Oscars said: Avatar

Cinematography:

I said: Avatar

Oscars said: Avatar

Sound Mixing:

I said: Avatar

Oscars said: The Hurt Locker

Short Film (Animated):

I said: A Matter of Loaf and Death

Oscars said: Logorama

Sound Editing:

I said: Avatar

Oscars said: The Hurt Locker

Documentary (Feature):

I said: The Cove

Oscars said: The Cove

Makeup:

I said: The Young Victoria

Oscars said: Star Trek

Actress in a Supporting Role:

I said: Vera Farmiga - who wasn't even nominated

Oscars said: Mo'Nique

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):

I said: District 9

Oscars said: Prescious

Foreign Language Film:

I said: El Secreto de Sus Ojos - which I thought meant the Secret of Orange Juice.

Oscars said: El Secreto de Sus Ojos

Documentary (Short Subject):

I said: Music

Oscars said: Music

Directing:

I said: Inglourious Basterds

Oscars said: The Hurt Locker

So... this tells me many things.

The Academy don't know anything about movies, obviously, for how can they be right and I be wrong!
I really should have seen The Hurt Locker before predicting.
Finally, I am very accurate when I make random guesses for films I know nothing about and terribly inaccurate when I make an educated guess based on a film I have seen and like.

I got 8 out of 24 correct. So if I had paid £10 per bet I would have needed combined odds of 3-1 in order to get my money back. Rats.

Parenting from a bean perspective

2010-02-23T13:48:00.001-08:00

Today, I passed a burnt out car. Not this one though--->

As I travel in the long, drawn out commute on foot, I get to experience public transport during a time when everyone is generally going about the same business. That of going to work. So I get a train and a few buses before I walk into the office, during that time I come across the various people associated with the different cities and suburbs.

Gibson and Noon both mention something call the 'f#ckfactor'. With Gibson it was the 'f#ckedness' of peoples faces as they go to work, with Noon it was the 'give-a-f#ck' factor. Both could be talking about a kind of quick judgement of a city or person by the expression people wear in the twilight displacement that commuting engenders.

With Colchester, the F Factor is quite low, I see generally young to middle aged office clerks and workers, all predominantly bright eyed. By the time I get to the industrial areas of Ipswich though, the F Factor has risen considerably and I sit, with my fine suit and hat, amongst predominantly factory workers, pensioners and a large number of obese and 'blackulated' white mums.

The mums in particular lead me to consider the way in which the parenting style, that of the lovely Snippety and I, is seemingly so incredibly different from what could be considered the 'norm'. I'm not denigrating the parental care or worth of these slack jawed, bulbous, chav harridans in any way, far from it - I am merely reflecting on my own values and differences.

In our family we subscribe to a number of philosophies that have sprung from intuition and could loosely be labeled as 'attachment parenting' but I though it would be of benefit for me to try and pin this further. After all, the point at which such choices are initially confirmed is around the very tiny baby stage of ones progeny, but as your wee baern grows it seems odd to continue to adhere to the same labeling and I want to define all aspects of how I see our parental structure, when I consider that this will go forward throughout our chibi's life.

Attachment Parenting is discussed in terms of being a starter style of parenting. After a while it just becomes 'parenting' and we make our choices as we go, without the need to feel defined by a group thinking or movement. AP could be considered to be part of the following values ( though this by no means a full account of AP, just my initial thoughts).

1. BIRTH BONDING
2. BREAST FEEDING
3. BABY WEARING
4. FAMILY BED
5. LISTENING and TRUSTING
6. TALKING and VALIDATING

That seems a pretty glib overview to me, not much detail, but there are other places to get a better description ( www.attachmentparenting.org ), and I am sure that all of them are full of arguments as to their descriptive validity. These aspects, that I believe are so vital for the very early part of childhood, seem to be key elements that should not diminish. They are also fundamental to the mentality and methodology of a particular parenting style that go forward, through toddlerhood, into young adult and beyond.

The bonding process of early infancy is tied together with breast feeding and baby wearing, and is a core principle that permeates the entire philosophy. It holds that one maintains a close connection to the child where practical, physical and psychological. An easy choice in the early days as they are so small and their needs so constant.

As they grow these aspects become less practical and I see that society starts to make judgements about them all. I have seen a general encouragement from society that it is normal to start making larger and larger distances between a parent and child; that hugging or holding them is considered smothering or mollycoddling, that by not sending them away to play or interact they are somehow unable to move forward into 'normality'.

I take a view that the entire list of AP practices begin to meld into a single philosophy, rather than a group of practices. Fundamental to this is the idea of value and worth for a child; once you explicitly give the child an equal status of value or worth you are allowing them to grow within a comfortable environment. Though they will inevitably bring with them 'infantile' or 'childish' behaviour or thoughts, by not looking down on these expressions or attempting to change them without discourse, then the child will be able to adjust their knowledge by themselves and a realisation arrived at by our own means is always more potent that a taught idea.

There are some actions or thoughts that cannot be allowed to be experimented with. A child may learn that fire burns them by getting burnt, but I doubt any parent would allow their child to get burnt just to "teach 'em good" - some things will have to be taken at face value. When our boy says "... but I really want to run in the road!", I am not going to respond with "OK, see where that gets you!" but if he thinks it is a good idea then I am willing to talk about it. Perhaps he will even understand that anything involving danger will get vetoed for good reason.

Once you start down the path of conversation rather than monologue, then you bring along all sorts of actions and methods. A lot of the reasoning for breast feeding, baby wearing and bonding is to enable a feeling of trust and open communication between parent and child. As soon as you decide to enforce a behaviour you end up walking down the path of Gina Ford - and though many people love that path, many people grew up walking down that path without a problem - for my family that path looks like a twisted, dark path with an evil oven-witch at the end of it. A bit like looking down the road at the impending ride of the Nazgul. "Get of the road, toddler hobbits! The evil Ginamonster is a sniffing for your fear - and if she finds you...". Well, it's naughty step and crying. Why go through that for so very small a gain? What exactly, is the benefit long term?

We advocate communication in all things, discussion where possible and safe experimentation.

We advocate the family bed. Again, I cant see the point in enforcing something like an 'own room/own bed' mentality. If the child wants to try their own space ( and I'm fairly certain that will come to every child without pressure ) then they can without any feeling of separation, night terror, distance or disassociation.

We advocate home schooling. This has a lot to do with a growing dissatisfaction with the educational system but much more to do with an ideal. I cannot see how a stranger with an ulterior agenda dictated by the state can be more beneficial than co-directed learning in a safe and comfortable environment. This one-on-one education is surely an ideal that the educational system would yearn for; one teacher for every child. A curriculum created and moulded specifically to the child's needs, speed of learning, interests and goals.

All of the things we advocate have come about by following our instincts and finding guidance and support when we were shaken by contrary advice. Finding that others share the same approach came later. Finding that it had a handy label came later still. There is more than enough information and experience to support our position and it comes down to what works. Everyone is different, as is every child and whatever actions and path is taken has to work best for both.

Also, I have heard the adage that "they f#ck you up, your mum and dad" and in reality no parent can guarantee a perfect upbringing for their child; especially because their child is an individual, separate from themselves. Every individual will take their own way and all power to them. For us though, we are very confident that we are doing the best we can and we find proof and validation every time our boy learns something new, tells us a story, laughs and jokes with us.

Back when art embraced the ugly...

2010-02-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

Some recent #FB links makes me want to push out a great selection of favourites. These remind me of the millennial sensibilities in the art world. How we seemed to revel in a view of grotesque that seems like teenage angst compared with the realities of today. I doubt such art is created in the same way, I doubt the art world would stomache a preserved corpse, a la Hirst, with as much serious thought and enthusiasm as it did.

...and the C3PO Statue goes to...

2010-02-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

I recently downloaded and used the Oscar app from iPhone. Normally I would quietly ignore the Oscars and their 'circle jerk' ( as Hijinks Ensue put it, what a lovely phrase!) voting but as the app lets me see the nominations I thought I would have a go. It was a lazy, no fuss way of getting involved and that is the kind of interaction I like about the iPhone/Touch.

So I made some predictions, though I have only seen half of these films. I made rough guesses, intuitive responses and some I just liked the name.

When the winners are announced I will not be looking up all the details or watching live. I will press a button and then do a quick comparison. If I get 80% correct then I may place a bet next year. :)

2010 Oscar Predictions!

Animated Feature Film: Up, Pete Docter

[Almost perfect but still no where near the subtle beauty of Studio Ghibli's Ponyo ]

Costume Design: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Monique Prudhomme

Film Editing: District 9, Julian Clarke

Art Direction: Sherlock Holmes, Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Best Picture: District 9, Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Best Picture: District 9, Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Music (Original Song): The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart), from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Actor in a Supporting Role: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Short Film (Live Action): The Door, Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

Music (Original Score): Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer

Writing (Original Screenplay): A Serious Man, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Actress in a Leading Role: Carey Mulligan, An Education

Visual Effects: Avatar, Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

Cinematography: Avatar, Mauro Fiore

Sound Mixing: Avatar, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

Short Film (Animated): A Matter of Loaf and Death, Nick Park

Sound Editing: Avatar, Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

Documentary (Feature): The Cove, Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens

Makeup: The Young Victoria, Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Actress in a Supporting Role: Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): District 9, Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

Foreign Language Film: El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina

Documentary (Short Subject): Music by Prudence, Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

Directing: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

Set the Way-Back Machine to 1981...

2010-01-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

Set the way-back machine to 1981...I am writing my composition...

"The Disastorous Picnic"

One day in cattle cotige the Mad family were listning to the wether for-cast. Mrs Iviy mad, Mr Ivor Mad and Jonny and Lotto Mad. Then Ivor said "Lets have a picnic EH!"

"YEAA god idea" said Jonny. And so thay packed fruit, sandwitches, cacks, and all sorts of things and then drove off.

Later they stoped put the table up and laid the food down. After a few minutes tahy switched the kettle on and then the table colapsed and all the hot water fell on Iviy. Iviy screamed as she though her arms out to the side and hit Ivor and Jonny in the face

"OOW" said Ivor

"YAA my eye" cried Jonny as thay both fell backward into the rest of the food. And then Lotto came along and triped over them. Then SPLAT Lotto fell face first into the custed flan.

So later at home thay all said...

"OH! WERE NOT DOING THAT AGEIN"

That effort will no doubt send the pendants into roiling fits, perhaps it should be a competition to spot the mistakes? Even my teacher at the time gave up trying to catch them all, though I did receive 70%.

Spool forward to 1982. My spelling much improved I have corrected in this reprint, so as not to detract from the deep and meaningful mood of the piece. Here we go, I'm sure you'll agree it has an uncanny sense of prediction. Startlingly accurate in many of its concepts..

"The Storm"

America, the year 2001. The nuke war bigins soon. It was decided we would move off in our highly advanced ships to an unknown planet in squadron 7xZ2JB3, a cold planet.

But when the second Sun exploded in 1990 it became as warm as California on an island as big as Ireland. Only America's army stayed behind to fight Russia.

The day came for the two day warning, where everybody was getting more and more worried, politicians were jabbering away and Catholics were praying like mad for God to help them.

Next day all the men, women and children went up top. All the politicians, members of parliament and Royal family went in the middle. Everyone was suited and strapped in. The lift off. An almighty cloud of smoke was the only remainders on Earth. A cloud of smoke.

That night a big wind blew up and rained badly, sods of grass were tossed out of bogs. The NASA men hoped it would get better but it got worse, much worse. A storm blew up.

That day all the scientists clambered into the spaceship Astroid 12. The take off count began...

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Engine on we have lift off!

It lifted off slightly and fell to earth with a thud. Everyone was thrown out... but I was OK.

Next go. Lift off. It struggled upward. "Only 3 minutes to nuke!" were the five words that scared them to death. Closer, closer they wobbled toward the atmosphere. They were out! ... at least, most of the ship was, as a tremendous BOOM! hit their ears and the engine went on fire.

I'm Issab Rissam ( i.e. me ). We're now drifting past the Vail Nebula after that accident 25 years ago on Earth.

Another 70% marked, however it also has 14/20 and the comment "rather futuristic as usual". Clearly the teacher wanted to show off some math skills by representing in fractions and was beginning to spot a trend in my creative output. Nothing could have prepared them for the mighty, poetic saga of...

"The End of the Earth"

Cosmos Blurs! Houses fall!

People scream as the roads

crack and splinter

but there's no escape

from the End of the Earth.

Volcano's erupt! Hell burns!

People cry and weep.

They weep for their Earth

but it is the end of their LIFE!

The Earth is near death

but what is the reason

for the End of the Earth?

Its time for the end.

As the Earth starts to crumble and crack

and people die for their illness.

The Earth heats up and burns.

More of the Earth is ruined.

Earth heats up more,

and more,

and blows up

to a billion stars.

That was the End of the Earth.

That one had no comment, just a big red tick.

I'm sure we all agree there was nothing more the teacher could say. I imagine them, head hung low, crying ( and weeping ) at the folly of humanity that only a child could perceive.

I try not to imagine them showing to other teachers and laughing.

I'm so happy

2010-01-12T13:31:00.001-08:00

I'm going to embed this right now... it has to be the weirdest thing I have seen in a while. I have watched it over and over again because my boy Tal loves it. It gets stranger every time.

The voice of the local Rhyme Man. The satanic, lecherous goat sheep with a mans face, waggling his tongue at you. The eerie kids. The Master, who looks like a white pimp. The Dame, who looks like Emma Thompson. The LITTLE BOY!!(sic) who lives down the lane, throwing charms or dead bugs into the air which then defy gravity. The incessant and inappropriate military, hyper drumming... I could go on, there must be more to uncover.

You don't believe me, do you!

I told you.

Don't even try to the others in the series. "Clap your hands!" should not be watched. You will end up talking like the Rhyme Man, I swear.

Please dont click me!

As antidote I will include this...

Ahhh, that's better...

Syntactic Semantic - new music in progress

2009-11-13T05:07:00.000-08:00

I am composing again. I have written out my process in order to prepare for the final release, so here is the process description so far.

------------------------------

There is a process of translation in all dialog and interaction.

First we translate our instinct, our subconscious impulse or primal reaction, into a conscious thought. Parsing the preconscious into a realised concept where the conscious mind interprets and deciphers it.

Then there is a translation of that thought or idea into appropriate action or wording, where it is vocalised or acted upon. Here we attempt to communicate and convey the essence of that initial idea to the outside world.

Those who interact or observe us will then go through a reversal of this process, first through a conscious process of comprehension on a direct level and then on a level where a reaction is formed. They must translate the immediate response of their experience, where the action or words are observed, into something that can be assessed and placed in context. This surrounding context is related to in a way that fits their prior knowledge before being absorbed at the deepest cognitive level, ready to frame an appropriate response.

Within this relationship of shared exformation lies the connections between semantic, where the words communicated deal with an inherent meaning, and the syntactic, where the rules that govern the structure of the words implies the meaning. This same process applies to artificial intelligence and computing to some degree.

The work I am composing at the moment is attempting to deal with the ability to understand one another, despite different or entirely incongruent forms of thinking. Our ability to understand one another despite the constant translation processes at work behind our interaction. The ability, not just to comprehend two opposing concepts equally but to comprehend the underlying structure and the symbolism of that communication.

---

The Bible, which has so many translations fundamental to its present understanding seemed a perfect choice. With its text beginning at 'the beginning', Genesis and the Creation myth, I thought it would form a good argument set against Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I chose to use the concluding paragraphs of Origin of the Species, which forms the final summation of a lengthy argument.

I should mention that the crux of this work does not lie with the existence of God but in the formation of life. The prevailing idea was that each life form was unchanging and that only God could set things as they were. Darwin went about explaining the immense age of the earth as he had discovered from his study and that of the immense journey that all creatures would have made in order to reach their current form.

First I took the written text of these works. The first few paragraphs of Genesis and the last few paragraphs of Darwin's Origin of the Species. In order to make the sound begin with a warmer, human tone I found recordings of these available to the public domain. These were passed through a clever 'speech to text' software in order to create a transcription of the spoken word. It is not a perfect replication though it quite close, but it is these slight differences or misunderstandings that I am interested in. The resultant text was run through a piece of 'text to speech' software, creating a second evolution of the original words.

As I ran through numerous iterations of this process the differences and mistakes consolidated themselves, eventually resulting in a set text and artificial voice that could easily be understood by the software. I went through about four circulations before it was clear that the final speech output was not changing anymore.

"God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters."

became...

"Cuts spirit was hovering over the circus of the waters."

and

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one..."

became...

"...the Iraqis ranch there in the CPU of money with its federal powers having been originally bred by the creator into a few forums on and one..."

This vocal track, switching back and forth between the two arguments, is the core of the work.

---

I was struggling to find a musical underpinning of the vocals. I wanted to continue to enhance the duality of the voices and of the message but at the same time find a musical common ground or blend.

I started looking at the DNA sequence and its seemingly random structure formed from Adine, Cytosine, Guamine and Thymine (AGCT).

There have been many interpretations of this kind of sequence as a basis for a musical piece. Very often the DNA sequence forms the music itself and the musicality comes from how the composer chooses to translate the AGCT; first into four individual notes, or twenty, then adding layers of information extracted from the sequence to produce a jazz like sequence music.

I wanted to blend it with musical aspects of Bible reading, namely the cantillation of the Torah. Cantillation finds its musicality from a series of tropes. Small musical structures joined together into larger patterns governed by their own grammatical rules, implied from the language. These grammatical rules, that of Hebrew, seemed both correct for my purpose but also a little too complex for how I wished the music to be created.

Plan A was to look at patterns in DNA that matched and corresponded to trope connections. Plan B was to create my own form of cantillation rules, paired down to something closer to my needs. I took a long time and a lot of hard work to try and create flexible, working understanding of DNA and Hebrew; enjoyable study, but it was not bringing me any closer to what I wanted.

In the end it seemed that Neumes were closest to what I actually needed. A midway point between cantillation of Hebrew and modern musical notation. Neumes used for liturgical plainsong do not represent melodies but instead are indications of relative pitch alteration. I tried three experiments along these lines.

1. Start at a note, alter the pitch according to one of four neumes assigned to the four indicators of the DNA sequence. A harmonic line then extends over consecutive connections. This produces an amorphous sounds that rolls up an down but disrupts any attempt to remain in a key. The seeming randomness of the DNA line means a melody is as difficult to see as the patterns inherent in the DNA itself.

2. Begin with four, more complex, neumes that repeat based upon an initial pitch set by the four indicators of DNA. This allows the pattern to remain in a set key and creates a folksy roll to the melody. There was a level of defined repetition due to overlapping notes, that disrupted the ability to track the individual notes and rhythms.

3. I settled instead for tropes based within a key. A set series of harmonic chord progressions were created, then divided into four sets. This essentially creates a group of four harmonious tropes that are grouped together and repeated in a sequence based on the structure of human DNA.

D Minor: i iv VII III VI ii- v i

Here is the work so far, in its initial test version. Some mixing to do...

Syntactic Semantic - part 1

Syntactic Semantic - part 2

Syntactic Semantic - part 3

Travel and Time Dilation

2009-10-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

I wanted to talk about time travel, seeing as I was on a journey through time, but I find myself almost at the end and back in the folds of normality. I will try and separate my thoughts but as it is both 17:30pm and 01:30am I am not sure how much sense I will make. Add to this a terrible cold fuzzing up my thinking process.

First there is the obvious aspect of travel, that of time zones. I took off from London and travelled west against the turning of the earth at an altitude of 34,000 feet. This journey takes me into USA time zones that are effectively 9 hours in my past relative to me at the start of the flight. Every mile I travel takes me forward in time along with my home but it also takes me into the past. All relative, of course, but the point is that my causal domain begins to shear away from my loved ones. Little by little I drift into a new time.

Add to this the fact that I am travelling at 430 mph. The faster I go the slower my time frame moves relative to a stationary person. Theory of relativity will tell you the closer I approach to the speed of light the slower time will pass. Regardless of the time zones I begin to slow down as I travel, albeit by a miniscule fraction. ( Time dilation due to relative velocity )

Add to this my altitude and we have another aspect of causal shear. The higher I fly the slower time moves relative again to the ground. Again, this is a miniscule fraction but it all forms the fact that relative to my loved ones I drift into a new causal domain. ( Time dilation due to gravity )

So not only am I moving into a new place on the globe, where the sun hits the ground differently and thus effects how everyone goes about their business, I have slowed down in time. I take off at 20:00 and the flight takes 10 hours, but it is not the same amount of time for people waiting for me back home. It is ever so slightly longer.

Now the act of returning home cannot undo the time distortion, I have to adapt and re-synch myself to local time. I believe this is known as Jet Lag.

Second and Last Day

2009-10-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

The second day of the vent was equally busy and I am left now, at the very end of the third and final day, heaving a sigh of relief. It was a very busy event in all ways. Hugely successful from a business point of view, very successful from a personal business point of view and run off my feet from an organisational point of view.

I met a lot of American colleagues and found everyone to be very personable and nice to have met. I learnt a lot about my business and my industry. It was good all round.

I do, however, look forward to returning home and squeezing my family. Throwing my boy into the air and cuddling my lovely wife. I have missed them.

With the event really busy I found myself running around behind the scenes a lot. On the last day the National Association of Convenience Stores started their big give away. It was obvious everyone there on the last day was there to hoover up all the freebies they could and the vendors were happy to push their items away as fast as they could too.

Now it is done. I am away tomorrow morning for another round of flights before touching down in Heathrow. Can't wait.

The First Day

2009-10-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

The first day of the exhibition and I thought I was going to get away with an easy time. I was wrong. The first task was to gather everyone and their hand carried secret items all destined for the show and get over to the booth.

That was the easy part, hefted a few boxes and arrived at the display where all the chaos of last night had been replaced with a beautiful exhibition booth. I had to be pleased with the results. However, I also now had to make sure the multi media was working - which took some time, and then I had to make sure that the secret area had all the secret items - without which the whole event would have crumbled. Luckily there was lots of help and assistance on hand and everyone pulled together.

By the end of the day there was a common consensus that the whole thing had been a great success. Huzzah!

It's very tiring though, my gods the dry heat and constant standing up wear you down. I have yet to eat a normal meal and very much miss my lovely home cooked meals.

The Last Push

2009-10-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

I spent a while fixing up the PPT presentation, making calls, answering emails, getting ready, etc. Then took a huge box of kit down to the taxi rank with the help of a bell boy, though he wasn't wearing the little hat I expected.

Once I was out of the taxi and waiting for a trolley I realised I had just lost my passport. It was in my trouser pocket and then it wasn't. I spent a while patting my self down, searching pockets, searching bag. Then I waited, counted to ten and searched again. It was gone. I did go straight to security though, who phoned the cab company, who got in touch with the driver, who then returned it safe and sound ( it only cost me a cab fare ). I am a lucky fellow.

Then finally I was at the exhibition where a lot of parts and fittings were forming into the design I knew of. The graphics were all in place and seeing the potential I was very pleased with the work done so far. I think it will be an impressive show. To start with I had to set up all the multimedia stuff but once that was sorted I helped the engineer guys do some welding, cleaning, packing, unpacking, shifting and so on. Acting as a human vice when called upon.

When I went to get lunch I found myself at Starbucks ( I didn't choose the venue ) and asked the lady for a "Bear Claw" because I had heard of them on Seinfeld and thought they sounded yummy and very American. The lady miss-heard me and gave me a bagel! Which was much better and a healthier choice to boot.

In the evening we had the team dinner. I had to race back from the set up and leap in a shower before attending the Cantonese meal. It was a very nice restaurant, with lovely meal. Lots to eat of all different varieties. The whole show is shaping up. Tomorrow is the last push before it starts.

First Stage: Slim Pickings to Sin City

2009-10-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

It was an uneventful trip in the nice car to Heathrow, chatting with some ex-copper about the state of the world. Then I went through a swift check-in process and boarded the United Airlines plane, a great big transatlantic one. I had to get my laptops out, belt off, shoes off, jacket off for the customs search but there was lots of time to recover my wits and garments.

On the plane I was stuck between two other fellows but I'm not much of a twitcher, so I found that I was OK for most of the flight. I watched the in flight movies "Night in the Museum 2" - which could be called 'Night in Ad Nauseam' ( you see what I did there?), lots of the usual faces doing Ben Stiller impressions so I was dropping off for that one. However, there was also more than enough time for "Moon" - which was awesome, very cool sci-fi.

I really felt for a character far from home and stuck in a tin can. I felt I was on a big coach trip until I glanced out the window and realised I was 34,000 feet up.

Landed in Dulles, Washington DC ( which looks very nice indeed, all green countryside and similar temperatures ) and had to go through the scary customs, where they take your mug shot and fingerprints. The desire to be naughty and cheeky, or just plain running around crazy, was quite strong (How far could I get if I just ran like a bastard through the customs line? How many times would they ask me to retake my photo if I pulled a joey face at the last minute? ).

Finally landed in Las Vegas after a final long dull journey, watched a program about the Stone of Scone, drifted in and out of snoozes. Then after gathering the bags, I bought a ticket on the shuttle. It is only at this point, driving into the heart of Sin City, that I understand I am in America. I haven't made contact with JAB or anyone else but I have had a whole load of stuff delivered to my room for the conference.

The hotel room is awesome and I have just about set myself up. I made sure I have internet and that I have coffee making facilities ( a tiny percolator ) - so I am about to have a coffee and some lovely home made biscuits, then a shower and shave. Whereabouts I may feel normal - how decidedly British of me.

Just Before the Big Adventure

2009-10-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

By the Beard of Thor! The time is upon me and the Big Adventure is almost here. Even now, with so much to do I still find myself hiding my head a little bit from the reality of not being at home all week.

This seems like the only time I will have been away from my boy in his life ( more sad for me than him, I'm sure ) and the only time I've not been home to wife since we have been together ( aside from a night or two at the time of said boys arrival into the world). The preparation has been so busy and stressful I have not really absorbed the scale of the project, let alone it's affect on me personally.

To describe a little more. I am about to go to Las Vegas for the NACS Show 2009 - which is a huuuuuge venue for forecourt and petrochem companies and their major yearly exhibition. I have been part of a team organising and forming the essence of the exhibition for my current employer PetroTechnik (hi guys!). I wont delve too much into the specifics of why or what because it may distract from the experiences relevant to this blog. Go to the company site to know more, Google your self silly and track down the details. What interests me more is obviously, my part in this.

The visual design, advertising and general organisation has fallen to me and thus I have been unable to fully take in the massive scale. I know it will be big and wonderful, I know it will be successful, but exactly how successful and wonderful is yet to play out.

I will talk more about it as the days unfold, as I plan to focus on communication. Something that will become very important. So I will try and keep a diary of sorts via this blog, post pictures and so on, even record some vlogs and messages.

I will discuss time at some point, and yes I will go off on a big twisty mind rant. Time is very much entwined in these events. Not just from the time spent away but the time not spent in normality.

The reason I have not blogged for so long and the reason for some new activity is that I will be away by aeroplane, staying in big hotel, roaming the halls of Las Vegas and not be back for a little while. This may be seen as a great time for most, a holiday even for some but with my particular family it is very different, we simply do not wish to be apart. Our lives and way of living is carefully balanced and sychronised, routined and ordered to fulfill as much of our quite and modest wishes as we can.

I will have to buy a suitcase for this whole event. Thank goodness I have a passport! Plus I have this swanky new laptop so I need to make best use of it.

Now, change is not a bad thing in itself and every time we have experienced change so far, we have adapted and molded reality until it allows us to once again maintain our path.

We are a bubble, a unit, the family is one.

Dan Brown's Mouldering Body of Work

2009-09-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

I wanted to celebrate the success of the the flatulent writings of Dan Brown with an ambigram experiment. Not quite perfect but alright for an hours thought... perhaps you all can join in.

Too late for now, too early for then..

2009-08-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Lets see.

First there is this...

A wonderful design set of coins, forming the shield of Great Britain. Hereldry in modern world, crypto coinage.

Here we have a great piece of viral advertising propaganda...

Then there is this, though a little late. Andy Murrey declares his skill and confidence in an exclusive Big Issue interview...

The editor and designer must have had other ideas, as can be seen in this subliminal hate campaign. They clearly think his skills are a smaSHhIT

Super Geek

2009-07-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

I am a super geek. Its' official.

45.75937% - Super Geek.

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GMC/MU dpu s: a C++ U--- P+ L E- W+++£ N o? K+ w+ O? M! V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP- t++ 5++ X+ R+ tv+ b+ DI++ D++ G++ e++ h---- r+++ y?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Though it's probably time for a new criteria; geek, nerd and cool have all become molten and shifting entities.

Bring on the neo-geek.

Blogstipation and mental laxative

2009-07-26T14:52:00.001-07:00

Out with that 4th of July stuff, cluttering up my blog space. That's SO earlier in the month. In order to shift the weighty blogstipation of ideas I thought I would take a mental laxative and 'unload' some thoughts, without much editing or composition.

I am currently writhing and wrestling with the key of D Minor, surely the saddest of keys. As part of a larger work that deals with Darwin and Creationism, the seeming impossibility of one person to understand the true meaning of someone else who holds a diametrically opposed viewpoint; due to the process of translation that occurs as we assimilate the context of others into our own. So I went bach to The Well Tempered Clavier and looked through my catalogue of notes on the key. I realised all my favourite pieces were D Minor.

J. S. Bach: Partita in d minor,5. (Chaconne1),Itzhak Perlman

compare with this, both sublime performances...

Maxim Vengerov playing Chaconne from partita in D by Bach

Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, organ

Bach Double Concerto : Isaac Stern & Shlomo Mintz (Largo)- the piece that enlightened me. Musical understanding exploded upon hearing this for the first time.

Onwards into thought...

Emotional DNA inherited from your parents disposition.

Multiverse - where one decision alters the future, go back and look at all the little details that would have meant a vastly different outcome. Go back further to your origin, back to your ancestry, back to the quantum moments of the big bang where all things were just energies yet to come into being. Back further to the points beyond time and space, all the possible universes that could have come into being, each with their own set of infinite realities.

Hemn Space is a reference to Phase Space or some such - the basic idea is that with an infinite number of data points we can create a model of the cosmos, that describes every point in space and time. If you imagine X, Y and Z representing space and then one for time, we can go further for the atomic mass of that particular point, etc - unsure how detailed one needs to be. Perhaps because we are referring to an infinite number of data points, it does not matter. Once you have that collection of data points you can shift the numbers to represent a change in that point in space/time. Following that along you can produce all reality... or rather every possible reality. Each alteration in the infinite complex of data will result in a representation of a new form of reality. Infinite realities.

Then you get to the idea of a world track. That this reality is only one version of the possible infinite number of states that reality can be expressed as. My reality is a path through this Hemn Space ( which is just a theoretical world of representative data ) every choice made, every flip of my quantum state, every adjustment to the reality is a totally different cosmos - each with me in it, with my consciousness tracking the cosmos.

I find it quite sad to think that death is a point at which I no longer track the worldtrack. For others, I no longer appear in their narrative, but for me I am simply other-where tracking the reality in which I do exist.

Alternatively, I find it heartening that intuition is like observing all those possible universes at once and collapsing the wave of possibility into the best reality, which is this one. The one in which I have a beautiful wife and son. x

Independence Day

2009-07-04T03:17:00.000-07:00

I just Tweeted ... Happy 'We Made The Colonies Independent and Let Them Spell Colour, Axe and Aluminium with Missing Letters Day.'

However, I am just being flippant.

I can see that the span of time between Independence Day of 1776 to VE day and the end of WWII, forms a larger social arc of a relationship that, though distorted by swells of changing political tides, shows a deeper link of a common people joined in a greater moral kinship. This moral kinship is not a religious link, if anything it is the spectre of religion that will cause the most illusory discordance between any nation, it is rather an ideal of freedom that should be continually maintained by the governed, now more than ever, when democracy seems so fragile.

Most appropriate track...

music
lyric

A nicer alternative...

Musick and the Mobius Engine

2009-07-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

Papillion for Poppy

I recently found that I could set up an artist profile in Last.fm and then went about setting up all my music files with them. It was a catalyst for me to finally sort out some of the collections of music in an official capacity and thus draw a line beneath those projects. It also helped define the nature of what I do for myself.

I consider the work I have created to be the output of a composer but the files as they stand are quite tough listening in any casual context... heavy with symbolism and cryptographic nuances but played back on some midi horror show (Monkies are Junkies, notwithstanding). Even so, go along and see if there is anything you like, if you like it, suggest a similar artist or shout about it.

Allow me to deconstruct some of the blurb I put together to explain myself, in an attempt to justify and possibly explain what I am on about.

Mobius Engine is the umbrella name for the most notable musical project by CatJuJu, also known as Curtis McFee; a welsh born artist, whose personal style attempts to create a meta-theoretical construction of music.

Creating a meta-theoretical work sounds a bit vague but does mean something significant for me. It is to create a work based on a theory of music that, at the same time attempts to look at the underlying theory of music.

All of his compositions exist as developments on musical theory in a pre-created state of flux, usually cut down to the bare, un-performed bones of a conceptual structure. This theory exists as a form of process music going under the developmental name of “Musick”, referencing both the sci-punk novel Vurt and the work of Alistair Crowley.

My problem/shyness concerning my own work has always stemmed from the fact that it was designed to played by an ensemble of real people, yet I only have my computer and have yet to convince enough performers to take on the task of recording the music ( Billy Cowie's rendition of 'Papillion for Poppy' being the exception - what a star). However, I do believe in the underlying musical journey itself, thus the construction of the Musick project, as a means to develop the concept formally.

“Musick” attempts to unify narrative, music and symbolism; this means that music can be successfully pinned to the esoteric details of Alchemy, Tarot, Divination Systems, Gematria and Numerology, Jungian Archetypes, Mythology, Gods, Animals, Plants, Precious Stones, Magical Artifacts, Perfumes, Astrological Symbolism, Elements, Runes, Colour and Direction. From this understanding a new way of looking at music can be discovered and employed in the study of musical composition and theory.

Here is a better explanation of Musick, I may incorporate it into the website but I will just experiment with my description for now.

Musick

By taking the twelve notes of the octave and arranging them in a circle, the interrelation of each note with all others can be analysed.

When the Circle of Fifths is also placed in a circle, a relationship can be seen between the chromatic scale octave and the octave of fifths. Half of the notes remain in position and do not alter their relation to each other, the other half swap places with their opposing note and so reverse their order around the circle.

Each of these two forms, or note collections, create the pattern of a hexagram and are formed from whole tone intervals. These shapes can also be four triangles formed from intervals of two whole tones. These four triangles correspond to the trine harmonics of astrology and planetary position.

By analysing all of astrological symbolism and meaning can then be applied to the chromatic circle by matching associated colours and astrological symbols to each tone.

Each tone will also correspond to a specific colour, forming a complete spectrum of the octave. Each colour can then be analysed in terms of our psychological reactions and with colour psychology can be matched to archetypal emotions or feelings.

Collected together, the associated symbolism of individual tones, scales and keys can be laid down. Once done, further sources of symbolism can be found by cross referencing early Greek esoteric music theory, Tarot, Qabalah and the interconnected knowledge of the Golden Dawn.

This means that music can be successfully pinned to the esoteric details of Alchemy, Tarot, Divination Systems, Gematria and Numerology, Jungian Archetypes, Mythology, Gods, Animals, Plants, Precious Stones, Magical Artifacts, Perfumes, Astrological Symbolism, Elements, Runes, Colours and Direction.

All of this is part of the overall Theory behind Musick and has all been catalogued and set down; a comprehensive study of all the relevant correspondence. There is another aspect, however, that begins with the astronomical analysis of time and date. It is another layer to the process that begins with a study of the positions of the planets in relation to place and time and forms connections with musical tones. By taking their apparent orbits around the earth, their relationships with each other form ratios, from which chords and keys can be extrapolated.

At least that is the raw idea anyway. It's not very eloquent and so far I have yet to explain the system to anyone without their eyes glazing over and a dark feeling welling up that perhaps, just maybe, I am actually as mad as a bag of baboons.

Samples for your delectation

2009-06-23T05:28:00.000-07:00

Nice new fresh content. Namely the downloads section of the website, where you will discover some 'Mobius Engine' wallpaper for your desktops plus some samples from my archives, ready to mix.

The samples have been around for a while and hardly used.

The vocals: As featured in Vocalism, and pretty much used up by me - I thought it would be good to hand the samples out for any who would like to remix them. 'Banyibopt' is my favourite, followed by 'Padadapibt'. Ah wasteful nonsense of youth. if you do find a use for them, please let me know.

The old piano: One day I came across a dying piano. It was torn and broken, with its spine open to the sun and no keys left to speak of (clearly scavenged by the ivory mice). So naturally, as you would with any once-great singer, fallen in the depths of its own despair, my traveling companions and I began hitting it. This of course, breathed new life into it and allowed it to sing once more. In order to keep this swansong forever, I recorded each note cluster in turn. This is what I offer here today for your remixing pleasure. Perhaps I should have called it "the old paino"?

Solstice

2009-06-18T05:32:00.001-07:00

The Midsummer's Night, the Solstice, will be here on the 21st of June at 05:45 this year. It is tempting to think it would be the same every year but that's not quite right. On one hand we have the loose idea of the longest day of the year, usually attributed to the 21st. Then there is a looser definition, celebrated from midday on the day before to the noon of the following day.

Here is the Wiki view... "The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction." - a wonderful description. It seems almost impossible take in the magnitude of an interaction between a 5.9736 × 1024 kg mass flying through space at 29.8 kilometers per second and a 4.57 billion year old yellow dwarf star - but that is what we are talking about. A relationship betwixt the Sun and the Earth.

For some this describes an astronomical event, and therefore a colder description than would seem applicable to a long, lazy Summer day and cool evening dusk that goes on forever. Here we have an ideal concept of the Solstice as an immeasurable 'a priori' concept, where we know that the days get longer and longer up to a point, thereafter getting smaller and smaller. Astronomy fails, it seems, because we can never measure this interaction to ever really 'know' it. Yet within that knowledge we understand that there is a perfect point at which the year reaches its furthest point towards the Sun and begins its turn back towards Winter once more.

This perfect point has occurred every year in history, for as long as the Earth has orbited the Sun, which transforms it into a conceptual point of time, an event outside of time and yet connected directly to all the Solstices our ancestor have ever enjoyed. This perfect point in time occurs at the Solstices and the Equinoxes, the square corners of the circle of the year. Here I find a bridge between the two concepts of time and season; the perfect concept and the physical reality of the years passing. For this reason I celebrate in the Solstice, the movement of the universe and the perfection of the cosmos. For me there is nothing cold about the astronomic realities of a solar transitory marker, it reaffirms the wonder of life.

This celebration, for me, ties in with a vast array of pagan/heathen/animism/zen religious practice. Where the focus of celebration and mysticism lies in honouring the relationship one has with ones environment. I should also redirect the readers attention to Platonic reality and Universals, where our conceptualisation of a Solstice and the meaning imbued is outside of the Solstice itself, yet links every Solstice.

My celebration will be in time with my friends and family, inward reflection and a really nice slap up feast; which should not, in all fairness, be confused with the interpretations of neo-pagans, wiccans or quasi-Christian 'baptist' revels. The Midsummer also has it's own special resonance. It is faerie time with the ever lasting twilight, when the faerie revels were to move their homes( Secret Commonwealth by Rev. Kirk, 1691). It is the point, beyond which contraction occurs and the move to the next festival occurs.

First, we eat - next stop Lammas!

the inherent myth of social media

2009-06-06T04:58:00.000-07:00

Our relationship with Celebrity is beginning to change, and not before time. I think we have been caught up in the nonsense of media induced insanity since the early part of the last century and only now can we begin to see the humanity behind idolisation.

My reasoning behind this train of thought comes from Twitter. Though the platform's strength comes from its social interaction, its popularity came about through the power of celebrity.

I follow all sorts of 'famous' people as long as they fall into the interesting category. There are all sorts of talented and humorous individuals who become intensely dull as soon as they try to fill 140 characters, likewise there are 'celebs', whom I have no general personal interest in, suddenly popping up with cool links or interesting tweets.

Then I have begun to notice that the boundaries are changing. I fired off a tweet to Trent Reznor the other day as a response to something he had written. I did this instinctively as part of a conversational aside and would never have done this in any other medium. I am not the kind of fan-letter sender, or autograph hunter and I wonder what makes it OK for me to engage a complete stranger in conversation? I suppose the answer to that lies in the nature of Twitter itself; a social interaction, which encourages and rewards communication across all barriers. The fact that Trent is 'celeb' is neither here nor there, if he's on - then he's open to communication.

This is not a response or reflection of the whole 'eric/fred'/insult/praise kind of scandal. As that is just grist for the mill, the kind of wonderful extra tang that celeb tweeters bring about. Trent writes "What fucking rock did you crawl out from under @Fredgarrett? Jesus Christ this place is filled with assholes." and though that bit was stripped out of context I still don't find it insulting or alarming or objectionable. He is, after all, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. If he can't pour on scorn, then what is the world coming to. Same goes for @warrenellis, @twentymajor and the rest. I revel in their unashamedly direct discourse.

However, because he IS 'celeb', he is different. He follows the tweets of 83 people that he may be interested in or know. He is followed by 617,000 or so people in turn. I don't have to deal with the cross chatter and overawed questions of thousands of people that he does but this shows that the forms of communication are also in flux. How can you possibly follow thousands of conversations, lines of thought, activities and questions? How can you receive what must amount to hundreds of questions and responses each day without altering the method of absorbing that information? We are adjusting the lines of communication from linear to non-linear; where we used to have a conversation that began, moved around and so forth - now we have discussions splintered through time and a quick absorption of multiple lines of conversation aggregated into an overview. With this synopsis based discourse comes the danger of everyone speaking their own thoughts over one another, a series of overlapping monologues connected by contextual webbing; barely held together, save by a light string of intersecting ideas.

Here is the inherent myth of social media; ultimately it is a business tool, namely the business of seeming to communicate whilst co-opting ones own agenda.

I'm sure you'll be glad to hear (and have already worked out) that this subtle, insidious nature held within the vastly successful, and therefore monetised, Business of Twitter can easily be subverted. All you need to do is make sure you have at least one person that you can follow, that you actually know, whom you wouldn't get to speak to as much as you'd like.

That justifies everything else about Twitter in one go.

Time for a ramble through thoughts

2009-05-25T02:50:00.001-07:00

It begins with the sale of all sorts of old stuff and the acquisition of an iTouch. Normally, I am not one to line the purse of the Apple corp. preferring instead to fill the coffers of the Gates of Hell. I have always maintained that the Mac is for people who don't know how to use a computer, style over substance, the fools option, etc. I know that the Mac can also be described as being similar to a PC but it works - this doesn't bother me. I am a PC. I know I will not change anyone's mind on their choice... I digress.

The iTouch is, despite its origins, an excellent gadget. I have spent many a long hour tweaking the apps and enjoying many a gig of musical randomness. I don't understand why there is no decent music player app - surely someone could do a third party music player, or they could put the iTunes functionality into the firmware. Or am I missing something? I know that most of the functions carry across but it is missing something. This is the next gen iPhone :)

A link from Mr Wriggles : http://vimeo.com/2229299

...I digress, once more.

A lot of apps are very useful such as syncing the twitter/myspace/mail accounts, maps, etc. Some of the apps are completely useless. My favorite of these has to be the "Complete works of H.P.Lovecraft", or the "virtual kalimba". This brings me closer to my point.

I have also been using the vast memory to store the audio book of "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson. It's great to hear/read this again. Very immersive and inspirational. To return to the setting has uncorked a number of thoughts.

1. Why don't books have trailers made for them? Just enough to give a flavour of the theme or mood - then I found this...

2. Why don't people produce a soundtrack for a book, wither by composition or compilation - then I found this...

http://www.nealstephenson.com/anathem/music.htm

So basically, I was thinking nothing new.

A lot of the themes within the book are quite high brow - philosophy, mathematics and time/space dimensions. By way of a short cut I would like to include a link to the "Imagining the Tenth Dimension" ( another book with a soundtrack ) by Rob Bryanton. There is no link 'twix this and Anathem but it may help to assume, for the next bit, that we exist in a 10th dimensional singularity. :)

3. You know the theories that there are other dimensions, with an infinite number of you in an infinite combination of possible existences. yet, there is only one where you are you as you perceive it now. Well, why not have every you in each dimension interact by links of causality. The stronger the causal link - the nearer the connection.

Every you that looks like you and acts like you, but makes different choices exists within you in the same point of time/space. Much like a quantum particle and it's uncertainty. You are making every choice you can possibly make - it only comes into reality when you focus on it and act. Then there are all the dimensions where you get further and further away from the you that you know. These are other people, the people all around you.

Thus ... "We are all one person split into infinite dimensions, interacting along strong lines of causal connection." - now does it make sense?

Ultimately it brings me back to old conversations that have sprung up around TIME, which are seemingly coincidental or synchronous. I started to go back to my theories on music and how they can be linked to astrology, the rotation of a planet producing a sound wave, etc. I really need to log these thoughts... next time.

Han Solo or C3PO?

2009-05-25T02:49:00.001-07:00

The basic question asks whether you would rather be Han Solo or C3PO, when concerned with the world of business.

Han Solo is a renegade, surely everyone wants to be the hipster dude with a gun - he's just cool isn't he? Yes, that may be true but he does talk a lot of crap. All that moaning about only in it for the money, the use of nick names rather than someones real name, he may have flown back in to help Luke at the last minute but what else has he really done? What merits his appeal? No-one applauds him for bumping off Boba, surely? Even the Endor victory was down to Chewbacca and R2D2 ( Ewoks non-withstanding ).

And what was that stuff about Parsecs! I've heard George Lucas' explanation about how the shortest distance when navigating in space is to run close to blackholes and thus achieve the quickest time but c'mon Han! He asked if the ship was fast, not whether you can compute a distance - and you know who was really doing the maths there? Chewbacca, that's right. Chewwie may be a sidekick but he's got all the brains, the strength, maybe a bit soft but a caring side is an admirable quality; he has all the talent.

C3PO is a yes man of no use. Oh master Luke, yes Master Luke. Basically a droid - it's not his fault, he was programmed to be an ass kissing ponce.

While I'm on the subject...

R2D2 is IT support.
Luke is the post boy promoted before he was ready.
Lando is sales.
Darth Vadar is middle management.
The Emperor is the Board of Directors.

I have said too much. I am ashamed.

Howdoyoudoos and "kweempiwb ip weew"

2009-05-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be nice to make some introductions. Not just from me saying "howdoyoudoooo" but to connect anyone in the audience to some of the people whose aesthetic I am admiring of and by extension to introduce each of to each other.

Meet Peep and Gabi. Gabrielle Reith is a very fine artist indeed, her work has some very warm and nostalgic touches. It seems to be art created from a very warm hearth. Although her website is here ( http://www.g-r-a.co.uk/art.htm ) and full of lovely things, my favourite work was in her picture-a-day blog which I can no longer find - where has it gone?! Bring it back.

Peep is also a very fine artist and the consummate digital dandy, go see his video work here ( http://www.lepeep.co.uk/#video ). Not enough illustration though and where are your photographic experiments? Didn't you do some great nature images?

They also do this neat experiment of a typeface-a-week ( http://typefaceaweek.blogspot.com/ ).

Meet Rima and Tui. Also exceptionally nice people who are also exceptionally good artists. I cant really pin them down on style, so you'll soon be amazed with Rima's painting style here, somewhere in the midst of blog ( http://intothehermitage.blogspot.com/ ).

Tui is Orla Wren. Listen and support the work, very engaging soundscapes and there are only a few who can get away with that form in my opinion. You can see it here ( http://www.orlawren.com ) and hear it here ( http://www.myspace.com/orlawren ). In the same mind garden as Terje Isungset ( http://home.online.no/~isungz/lyd.htm ) and if you haven't heard of him, for shame.

If I ever get the time I will design a nice website for you both, your work deserves it.

Meet System. You'd think it was totally different, being hyper urban graffiti installation - but I can see great parallels in all these artists. System would call it keeping it real but his tongue would be firmly in his cheek ("kweempiwb ip weew") - I would refer to it as authenticity. Go to the gallery here ( http://www.400ml.com/ ) but also have a look here at the full blog of installation work in progress ( http://www.agents-of-change.co.uk/ ).

And don't worry guys, I don't want a link back - my work is ugly and strange and rarely plays well with others; but the internet is a funny place and it seemed a nice idea to point you all at each others work.

...tea breaks over - back on your heads

2009-05-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

This is a phrase that normally pops into my mind when I think about returning to work after a break. However, this time the break was a redundancy and returning to work after even a months break is the best news ever. This time is very different.

Looking back I notice a few striking concepts that stand out for me. The first is that all the worry of having a family and no income to support them has evaporated. It was a very stressful time but thinking back I can only think of the joyful time I have spent with my lady wife and our chibi. The second is trying to find out if all this integrated socio-connection-networking stuff has managed to be of any use.

Though I fondly thought that I could correlate a direct link between Twitter/LinkedIn and so forth to the acquisition of a new job, alas I cannot. I think it is more akin to wearing clothes. Though my clothes are never going to be the reason to employ me, it is going to look a little odd if I fail to wear any. Getting involved in the web 2 network has certainly kept me in the global web loop and that alone was worth the time invested.

I didn't have the time for a lot of work on this blog, my website, music, art or anything else during the bleak mid-winter of unknown quantities, but now I think my life is going to be back to a semblance of order. In the coming months I will be delving deeper into the world of online marketing than I have ever ventured and finally putting my bold new plans into action.

To balance this and maintain a sense of creative exploration of all things digital I will also be continuing to add to the website, to Twitter and to blog. Last time I added a new thing was when Mind trickery: the illusion of of perception was released on YouTube. I mention it again because I find the comments hilarious. Joe public hated it...

"wow thts actually quite smart! cuz ur mind focus on 2 pics u dont see the changes! it just looks like the big pic is just blinkin wen in fact the pic is changes wen it blinks! but u it makes u think ''wat the hell? tht was gay i dont see no point in that!'' my advice is look at it again replay it and look 4 the changes wen the pic blinks!"

or this is my favourite...

"That was pure pish-in almost all of them the changes were extremely easy to see and the footage of the guy with the beard couldn`t be more fitting because that`s exactly what he is ... a beard nothing but a fuckin beard"

...excellent. I love the internet for this kind of reaction because generally it means nothing so why not vent. I dont mind if Joe Public hates it or anything else.

With that in mind here are some new links added to the Mobius Engine website. These are not new projects but have been waiting patiently for an outing - to roam free once more looking for an audience. Be brave and kind, my fellow netizens and start to Digg, Tweet and blog my little treasures.

Random 13
- a chaotic order of music and art.

Brothers Golgo
- a very odd comic that I hold very dear, despite itself.

Latest crop of stuff I have viewed...

2009-04-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

Jackie Chan and Yuen Bioa at their young, energetic and crazy parkour best.

Jet Li - outstanding fight scene. I like YouTube and the folks who fill our time with 'stuff'.

(Skateboarding and slo-mo = cool) + explosions = cooliomundo!!!!

Brick Vader's Snatch vs Star Wars

Cat Shit One: the animated trailer. I love the USA G.I. pun (Usagi is Japanese for rabbit!) Its the kind of word play that works in Japan really well but not so much in translation

More than just a game?

2009-04-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

I like Dark Tower because it is more than just a game, it is an experience! Actually there are not many games that are without the phenomenology of an experience, so despite the marketing pitch I have to conclude that the 1981 electronic board game is just a game. However, for anyone who likes retro, 80's design, electronica, board games or fantasy RPG stuff - it is a priceless piece of entertainment.

I have carried this huge box of nonsense around for years, thinking only I liked it. I forced it on friends at any occasion. now I discover that it is a rare item, with a following no less.

Here is the Orsen Wells TV advert to explain a little more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxrY7MWEkwE

Here is the flash based conversion, should you actually have the patience to play...

http://www.hotflashgames.com/darktower.htm

The sounds are what stay with you the most- and there are so many more URLs for this than I ever thought possible. My version is in tip top condition too.

I feel honoured.

Brain Leaks and the Dangers of Info-Seep

2009-03-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

We are all media outlets. We are breaking news. We are consensus and aggregation of thought. We are the origin of the trends we follow. We are voyeurs of a meta-existence. We are the cause and remedy of the erosion of normality.

I'm getting a bit carried away with my pretensions there. I don't mind that though, that last bit was an unedited stream of thought - each bit could have been a Tweet, followed by a small, small group and for no more joy than to have my ideas expressed.

Yet the grains of truth are there.

We are all media outlets and breaking news. This step change in media interaction and feedback marks a new era of communication; a 'piscean age' of almost psychic interconnection. Someone is where they need to be to witness the event that is happening, they in turn are interconnected to their social network ( real or web ), the network links to the 'web'. The media are as poised to devour the ramblings of Joe Soap, just as much as they are ready for the news-bite of Joe Journalist.

We are consensus and aggregate. We are the origin of the trends we follow. Studies show that crowd sourcing can provide a more stable and worthy opinion than a committee. Wikipedia is a prime example of that but I shall authorise that statement no more than this. Trends, fads and memes come from this kind of behaviour. The downside of this is that we assimilate information and ideas from all over without any real qualification other than the power of consensus and aggregate. A thousand people stating a falsehood, does not make it true.

We are voyeurs of a meta-existence. We are the cause and remedy of the erosion of normality. I found out about the sad death of Ali Bongo directly from Paul Daniels Twitter - at around the same time Russel brand was asking me how to create a link - I don't know them personally, I was just watching their info feed and they weren't talking to me personally, they were just yapping their thoughts into the unknown. So now it seems I am a direct audience, one to one performance for everyone, and if I am the audience and I create the need for performance simply by the fact of passive interest then where will the future take us?

This stream of thought began in the source response of 'How to find value in being a virtual networking hussy'. Some would equate Value here with money. The answer is I haven't yet found out to make money from being a networking hussy but by Odin's beard, someones surely found out how to make money from me. As for 'value', that's something else. Look to the Sophists.

Everyone will no doubt continue to expand their levels of interaction, the software will expand to encompass all networks and provide content intuitively, the hardware will expand to encompass all levels of activity and then, it seems, there will be no you or I - there will just be we the audience/creator. Where celebrity will be judged by ones hit counter...

until then let me distract you with this.

Compendium

2009-03-07T04:59:00.000-08:00

I know these must be everywhere by now, I've been busy.

I didn't realise how funny it was at first, I came across it and sniggered at the Star Wars fans but then once you've seen it you have to feel proud of Star Wars fans - such passion and commitment to produce so many great pieces of work. I'm not being sarcastic, honest. I mean it, I really do.

Courtesy of Mr Moore, with his endorsement it would seem. I have come to terms with the idea that the film cannot possibly do justice to the comic and is therefore a completely separate entity...and nowhere near as good.

Social Online Interaction: The App and the Agg

2009-03-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

I am currently locked in a rip tide of social networking and online interaction. I wanted to write down some of my thoughts while they are fresh. For some time I have been listening to the voice of fellow colleagues, commuters, snippets of conversation and rumour; all asking whether online social interconnection can be used for business. All asking if it is an ego parade, buzz word, band wagon or flash trend. This blows my mind! How can we still be questioning the overwhelmingly obvious fact that any trend that is present on the net is a combined response from the way people use the net. It seems like it is taking businesses a long time to really get their head around the meta-narrative, the quintessence and the zeitgeist.

For me it comes from use and immersion. If you spend all your time interacting with and using the net, then trend awareness becomes second nature - you absorb the subtleties from all over the net, with every site you visit, because everything is connected. If you spend you time merely talking or thinking about how people interact with and use the net, then you miss out on the reality and are left with 'a priori' concepts and therefore assumptions.

That's just the basic statement, that I believe investment in social online interaction, of time and money, by individual or corporation, is both worth while and inevitable. I'm not saying I have the whole thing worked out though, as an expert and egotist I feel quite happy presenting my opinions - but as an introvert I am not really compelled to either interact or socialise online. That's me as an individual, if I were a business then things would be different. The personality of the business is what would compel the interaction and its various forms.

Blog. Obviously I blog. I keep this blog as a receptacle of ideas and thoughts, a means to sort through concepts that I feel are worth keeping or developing, no matter how odd. By writing and publishing I am forced to put the thoughts into a better order or in a more presentable fashion. There are a number of posts that have withered and died because they weren't strong enough to withstand the scrutiny of a blog post. Some people use it as a diary, others as a publishing medium for full blown articles. All are valid. As an individual it is governed by what I feel like talking about, I think as a business it may be governed by what others are talking about.

Facebook. Clearly a big deal and not to be overlooked but personally I can't stand it. It seems to amalgamate the worst aspects of real life small talk into a sharp ended magnifying glass and repeatedly poke you in the eye whilst you're trying to procrastinate. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Perhaps that is merely a side effect of my personal online personality, my pseudo self; as a business I may feel very differently.

Twitter ( https://twitter.com/catjuju ). I like Twitter and use it but seems to me to be dependent on stability. If you are able to give the time to it, it can be inventive, addictive and interesting. Mixing the best of voyeurism and self expression, allowing you to feel connected and engaged whilst keeping track of those you aspire to. You can see I use Twitter, I also have my Tweets published here on the right as a micro-blog. Filling the gap between huge rambling post and immediate thought, the gap between ego and id. I also use Twiiterfeed to post my blog on Twitter, which then shows up here in a strange loop of concepts that makes me just a little bit freaked.

LinkedIn ( http://www.linkedin.com/in/curtismcfee ). I mention this because I use it and because it seems to be the best of it 's kind. It does everything it needs to, everything you expect it to.

Summing up - the only thing I really want at this stage is to be able to get everything in one place. This is an app. that has yet to be created as far as I can see. I also want and app. that can gather a user created aggregation of information from whatever online source may be appropriate. This is what I have referred to as the Agg. I want to gather a list of blogs, a number of Twitter users, various websites and mash them up into a single cloud of information. Plus I want to have numerous clouds for different occasions and questions. The I want break out threads that can display filtered results. All of this and more I see. Bring me the AGG!

Making a website when you're not a designer

2009-02-27T08:28:00.001-08:00

You can pay someone to develop your website and tailor the experience to your exact taste. Hopefully they will be able to graphic design your image and logo, create a brand that works as a signature style, use the right technology and methodology to get natural search engine rankings and make sure the entire user experience works for the visitor and for you. However, this may be beyond the normal budget and if someone is really cheap and offers these things, beware - they most likely believe that simply creating something quickly will be enough to turn browsers into buyers. A professional website is expensive and needs to pay for itself.

Budget wisely

If you go down the route of buying a website then I would advise building a rapport with the designer and be prepared to have an ongoing build; set a budget per week for time allocated to it, make sure that what is being produced matches your expectations and that it can be adjusted over a period of time.

Set a time limit for the overall budget, like a six month target, and try to work out how many leads generated in that time have come from your online presence compared with the cost of the website. At what point does the website pay for itself. Be prepared to change tactics, if the project is not cost effective in the long term then change to a different designer/contractor/method or use the money for alternate forms of marketing.

Do It Yourself

Either you don't wish to pay for a really strong website just yet, you're unsure whether it will be effective for your business or you simply want total control but by finding a free resource online you can do most of the work yourself.

1. Get a Domain Name - choose wisely. It is a good rule of thumb to be able to say it aloud to a stranger and they can then understand it immediately and remember it. Too many dashes, dots, underscores and such will detract from the hits. There are many good deals, I prefer the services of UK2.net and Streamline.
( http://www.streamline.net/ offers 500mb of storage and a free name for £2.50 a month, plus extras thrown in )

2. Go get a free website template.
( http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/ )

3. Learn a little HTML and read up - even if you don't become a web guru you will only need to know enough to tweak the templates a bit better. Tweaking doesn't require huge software as it can all be done in Notepad if needs be.
( http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/ )

4. Get a free HTML software. I recommend HTML-Kit
( http://www.chami.com/html-kit/ )

5. Use the Social Media - Free social media and cross viral marketing - or making procrastination pay. Sign up to these services and make sure you use them.

Blogger.com - there are others to choose from, just pick your favourite. You don't have to write every day but something every so often helps to keep the site fresh. Plus if you put a decent amount of work into it you can use your blog articles to link from del.ico.us and digg, etc

Flikr - Why not keep adding to your working photos, but keep it as a seperate work account.

Facebook, MySpace - all good but we start to hit the diminishing return here. If you're already using these sites then set up a separate account.

6. Advertise - submit the website to Google. Use your URL on every correspondence and signature, put it on your business card.

7. Listen to feedback but take action only on what seems right - it's your money, your business.

That is all I have time for... more later if I think of it. Hope it helps someone.

Oh, almost forgot - I am also available for hire

Follow Freeman

2009-02-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

I was recently passed this via my inbox...

I must say I as impressed. It may be a bit hokey in places ,but the feeling is very true to the games. The Half Life 2 cycle is something I go back to time and time again, not just for the high def ultra violence but also for the quiet moments. Sitting back at the canals edge and looking out across the misty urban wasteland is very tranquil. There are moments of incredibly well directed beauty in that game; the beaches of Nova Prospekt at dusk, the canals, white forest, the list goes on.

In this short film they have managed to capture a lot of what sums up HL2 and the incorporation of the 3D work was very well placed but I think the most accurately realised aspect for me was the use of sound. It is great to bring those audio cues into a real setting; the flat line of combine soldiers, the ka-chunk boom of the rifle granade launcher, the drone of the gun ships - even if they are simply lifted from the sound back, all work really well and take me instantly into the HL zone.

And as an addendum to this unashamed geek fest, adulation of Valve software I though I would also plug this game by an independant group seeking to make a Battlestar Galactica space combat simulation ... Beyond the red Line. Another triumph for fan made art.

Busy on the cards

2009-02-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

As you can se there have been few details posted as of late - but I do have a new project underway, apart from going through the Half Life cycle all over again. The project can be seen here in these photos...

...click on the pics for more details, more information on this to come.

The Big List - part 2

2009-01-09T05:04:00.000-08:00

Needing a shot in the arm of postings on this blog to get me into the new year. I was going to write about Yule and then I was going to write about how I couldnt write about Yule, but now I am going to abandon relevancy and wit in deference to an easy post.

A big list of links... worthwhile all the same as I missed them out of the previous list and a few peoiple I know might just get something from them.

http://theory11.com/
http://www.geekcode.com/geek.html
http://fanedit.org/
http://www.innergeek.us/geek-test.html
http://eserver.org/
http://www.inkajarvinen.com/
http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com/
http://www.billsienkiewiczart.com/index.asp
http://www.feric.com/
http://www.esao.net/
http://www.jamesjean.com/
http://www.jonjmuth.com/muth.html
http://www.kentwilliams.com/
http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/
http://www.noumenal.com/marc/dadd/
http://www.cssreboot.com/
http://www.logolounge.com/default.asp
http://ffffound.com/
http://www.zefrank.com/
http://www.symbook.com/?p=user_frontpage
http://www.pennandteller.com/
http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/
http://www.dansperry.com/
http://www.dananddave.com/
http://www.400ml.com/
http://www.worth1000.com/
http://ni.chol.as/media/sillytube.html

The YouTube Jukebox Game

2008-12-19T05:54:00.000-08:00

Time for a new game. This one may well be suitable for party's or at least bored parties.

The group decide on a theme and anti-theme, such as War and Peace.
The objective is to play music videos linked by some nugget of information until the original theme goes all the way to the new theme. The link can be session musicians, titles, cover versions, other work, previous bands, etc.

Player one goes to YouTube and selects their favourite music video ( original artist if possible ) based on the initial theme ( such as War by Edwin Star ).
Player two must then make the choice of video, but it must be linked. ( such as 25 Miles by Edwin Star ).

So it goes until one player makes it to the theme of Peace. ( such as Give Peace a Chance by Lennon )... this may take some time but will be an interesting musical journey.

1) War by Edwin Star
2) 25 Miles by Edwin Star (same artist)
3) 2000 Miles by The Pretenders (same subject of miles)
4) Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks (Ray Davies relationship with Christie Hynde)
5) Waterloo Sunset by David Bowie (cover version)
6) Fame by David Bowie (same artist)
7) Give Peace a Chance by John Lennon (Lennon co-wrote Fame)

...done! Player One wins.

The big list - Part 1

2008-12-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

I wanted to create a list of links that kind of represent the best of the web. It is neither exhaustive or conclusive, even of just my taste, let alone what could actually be labeled as the 'BEST of the WEB'. Such a term is a bit of hyperbole if I'm honest. In fact, now that they are listed down there aren't that many.

Here are some links that have been whittled down from the thousands in my browser to a few I really like. There are no explanations with them just in case you were thinking of skimming - stop right there. Just go through them one by one...

http://www.ted.com/

http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php

http://www.merzo.net/

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

http://www.aboyandhiscomputer.com/imhijinks.php

http://www.insults.net/html/swear/welsh.html

http://www.ubu.com/sound/index.html

http://www.calendarzone.com/

http://www.101airborneww2.com/bandofbrothers.html

http://www.deepdyve.com/main

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/

http://www.animalsontheunderground.com/the_animals.html

http://www.victorianlondon.org/frame-maps.htm

http://weburbanist.com/

http://www.imdb.com/

http://www.hsx.com/

http://www.sutlers.co.uk/index.html

http://www.stephenfry.com/

http://www.starchamber.com/paracelsus/elvish/elvish-in-ten-minutes.html

http://www.marilynmanson.com/

http://www.snopes.com/

http://www.wisconsindeathtrip.com/

http://ffffound.com/

http://cmart.design.ru/

http://www.explodingdog.com/

http://www.bandofmonkies.org.uk/frameA.htm

http://www.engrish.com/

http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/

http://www.coverbrowser.com/

http://flood.firetree.net/

http://twentymajor.net/

The Part 2 of this list may be along shortly but I will stop before scraping the barrel, after all there are other sites dedicated to this kind of thing.

The Infinite Now

2008-12-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

Dimensions are means of expressing information about something; we take height, depth, length but we can also add time, weight, spin, orientation or as many as are required to plot what we can know of existence. This full amount of information will represent a single form of reality but because an infinite number of information sets can exist, possibly, within an infinite combination, then we can have an infinite number of realities.

In the same manner that quantum theory has states of reality that 'become' only when observed, so 'Time' is the track of our consciousness as it sifts through infinite realities that then 'become'; moving from the possible to the probable to the actual . However, we must keep in mind that all infinite realities are already in existence in what I think of as 'The Infinite Now'.

A single continuum with a fixed dimension of time means that the future and past exist already, awaiting our arrival, and by the nature of this theory, the future is predetermined. Normally this association of predetermination is unpalatable, it is thought of as meaning that choice is an illusion - I disagree with this interpretation, in that the 'self' that also exists in the future would be making choices as well. It merely states that you have already chosen your future but your 'now-consciousness' will remain unaware of these choices.

The Infinite Now is a little different. As it allows for all possible choices to have been made, there can be no predetermination as all possibilities are equally true in alternate realities. The choice of the self, the aspect of free-will we naturally are drawn to remains intact.

Irrepressible

2008-12-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

I like monkeys. I think if you took all the words and conversations I have had and plotted the popular tags Monkey may be at the top.. I'm just guessing there, no research exists to support that.

I'm including most simians in that fan club too. Here are some links...

...have I just digressed?

Commuter Pattern Analysis

2008-11-28T00:28:00.000-08:00

Commuting is a strange activity, almost robotic and mindless - yet a shared and necessary experience of the modern world. Though no one should have to endure it I usually think that analysis and definition will help the process in some wise.

The mob(ility): The mob, the masses, the commuters.

Stream: The flow of the mob along predetermined paths of travel, usually designated as the shortest possible route from point A to point B.

Fighting the Current: Moving in contrary directions from the mob.

Flit: Moving from one stream to another if it seems like it allows the opportunity to overtake and advance along the line. Results from mob members travelling at different speeds.

In-line: Being trapped in a set area of the stream and unable to flit.

Boulder: A particularly slow or obstructive member of the mob. Usually groks or carriers of the TripTrap.

TripTrap: A pull along suitcase. Pick it up!!

Dead Terminal: The point where you try your ticket at an automated terminal and it doesn't work. You then become a boulder.

Ghost Terminal: A perfectly fine and working terminal that one commuter ignores, resulting in a back log of mob who would rather cue behind a terminal they know will work - rather than try a dead terminal and risk becoming a boulder.

Grok: A grokel, a tourist or daydreaming gimp.

In the tube: Not referring to the mode of transport but referencing Donnie Darko and the projection of the future path. The path one commuter takes is so regular and dependable it is as if they are following a time tube. To be in the tube is to follow the same path to work at the same time each day. Deviating from the tube is likely to cause confusion, becoming aware of the tube is likely to result in a form of confusing deja-vu where one is uncertain whether one is travelling to work or simply remembering a previous journey.

The Mad Scientist Game

2008-11-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here is my new game. It is a bit like Kiss, Marry, Kill but involves Zombies, which is of course much better.

It requires a list of three people and then the object is to allocate them into the following categories.

Clone: clone the one that would be useful if it were not for their upbringing.

Zombie Slave: remove the brain from one that has something of worth as long as they dont do the thinking, thus reducing them to a zombie slave.

Zombie Food: one will be of no worth other than feeding to the zombie.

Does that make sense? Part of me is sure it is more fun than I have made it sound.

Game 1 - Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Robert Kilroy-Silk.

Obvious isn't it. Clone Cameron, take the brain out of Brown and feed him Kilroy. Badabing!

next time...

2008-11-26T00:25:00.000-08:00

See, I have already commited a crime against blogging. Already uncovered some cardinal sins... first being that one rule will not cover it, there are loads of rules which I shall no doubt uncover in future. Just so far, two posts in, and I can see where I am going wrong.

The first post was trying to get around the problem of what to say in a first post. Once you set up a post it feels terrible to just let it sit there dormant and the urge to write something is too great. Of course I could have just said "hello world", I could have pretended it wasnt a first post, etc - ultimately I decided to pretend I had written other more interesting things... oh dear.

Then I go on to write about how much I dont like to write. This now seems like a guy in an anorak, clutching a tupperware mumbling about how people dont like star wars as much as he. Never tell the audience you dont want to speak to them - or use the introvert voice style. Don't write internally but externally.

I will try better next time...

The first post is the deepest

2008-11-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

As an anti-social person it is very difficicult to get into the notion of "social networking" and blogging is a fine example fo that. When I say anti social I do not mean afraid of social situations or shy as some extrovert types might conclude of anyone not happy to shout, bray and chortle their every thought to the masses but rather I am exactly this - "anti-social", I am on the whole against being social; I prefer to think inwardly, I detest small talk, I have been described as terse, confrontational and robotic - despite the fact that for the most part I am quite a nice chap. It is all down to the situation and context.

Yet blogging and social networking is a fixed and important part of New-Business models, web 2.0, and marketing, thus I am forced to confront it head on. Part of these problems come from the right to jabber on about my own thoughts. I dont think I should, whose business is it after all. But I wil try to instigate certain rules.

Rule 1) I will not care if I am witty, urbane and erudite. Sometimes I will be curmudgeonly, dense and rude. Some of the posts will be very short and I will not worry about showing off any writing skills or grammatical astuteness.

Ah hell, Rule 1 takes care of everything...

The answer revealed...

2008-11-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

Finally managed to solve the multiple burial problem. The answers were obvious, I detailed them when I wrote about how to get free money from cash machines (see previous post)...