tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53676599133317369152024-03-05T00:35:09.690-08:00Work of FictionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-66070165513691570442013-06-08T20:40:00.000-07:002013-06-08T20:40:00.554-07:00The Quite Tremendously Beautiful Work of Mr Finch<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wjD_X_xJwedSiJadhiYsGZ7dXQGW5_-hnwKDX8l5r3_YX-DUHySbKhS_Zg2JwMwGYsNW9A2BlryuKqdFBRVictI06WRcLCi0Lb5EFpPRxjWm2V6qrVT26cMxjfJ7OgUlptW059IA1ZI/s1600/Mr-Finch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wjD_X_xJwedSiJadhiYsGZ7dXQGW5_-hnwKDX8l5r3_YX-DUHySbKhS_Zg2JwMwGYsNW9A2BlryuKqdFBRVictI06WRcLCi0Lb5EFpPRxjWm2V6qrVT26cMxjfJ7OgUlptW059IA1ZI/s320/Mr-Finch.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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Not much else to add. You can see the portfolio <a href="http://www.mister-finch.com/portfolio/">here</a>.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-66120850331512373172012-12-17T00:50:00.000-08:002012-12-17T00:50:17.763-08:00Paintings, paintings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8XhLf80naF2rO76Lj0i1vlo-wx-OVkapS8YP-vl0fI9BBmi-fP1UPnhej0K3BnnE-NIlYzT183bF2D-b4xEwzfjP_S0od0v_PGphJK7xMsYNdLTi6GTZx96aHsgGAeToNO4PZIUfBLg/s1600/Sunny-Beach.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8XhLf80naF2rO76Lj0i1vlo-wx-OVkapS8YP-vl0fI9BBmi-fP1UPnhej0K3BnnE-NIlYzT183bF2D-b4xEwzfjP_S0od0v_PGphJK7xMsYNdLTi6GTZx96aHsgGAeToNO4PZIUfBLg/s320/Sunny-Beach.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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These are some paintings I did for friends in New Zealand. As I'm about to start doing the rounds and giving them away I thought I'd best take some photos for posterity. All of the paintings are oils on canvas. The first one is a fairly straightforward modern impressionist piece. It's based on a photo of Ruapuke Beach, where I and some high school friends used to spend a lot of time. The second painting is also from a photo of Ruapuke Beach, but is a stormy scene. The 'rain' is a technique I've used in other paintings where solvent is brushed and dribbled down the canvas. It sort of gives an expression of rain I suppose, and I like how it juxtaposes with the photo-realistic scene underneath it, although I'm finding that some people think it's a bit odd. The last one is a sort of Red Riding Hood riff. It's hard to tell with the image so small, but she is paused and looking up at the trees. The intention is that the scene be ambiguous. Is she walking into the light or away from it? Is she afraid of the trees or pausing for a peaceful moment of reflection on her walk?</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-53721848062420406192012-11-21T17:23:00.000-08:002012-11-21T17:23:17.410-08:00In shadow of death, in haunt of song<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15uEk5utjtijlXyOLlpGWEprV2Elfok5Y_H4r15NNzxabhQTltRVJCrYY7h4NpmFX4Xpf9X7KYlSQQj9XQ2AxJWReekLClzS_Rs_qEuG011xpstE1dsH1oNBEIjAH02TLppN4IfMuZKE/s1600/darkwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15uEk5utjtijlXyOLlpGWEprV2Elfok5Y_H4r15NNzxabhQTltRVJCrYY7h4NpmFX4Xpf9X7KYlSQQj9XQ2AxJWReekLClzS_Rs_qEuG011xpstE1dsH1oNBEIjAH02TLppN4IfMuZKE/s320/darkwood.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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<i>thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees</i></div>
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On May 19th, 1942, a BBC crew were recording the songs of nightingales when a flight of one hundred and ninety-seven Allied bombers flew overhead on their way to Mannheim. The broadcast was abandoned, but the recording was continued.<br />
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The result is a haunting recording of the immortal song of the nightingale juxtaposed against the pending mortality of many hundreds of people. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_a_Nightingale">Ode to a Nightingale</a> has forever linked the nightingale song with death in my mind, and this recording just seems too poetic to have really happened. The nightingale cares nothing for bombers and human death. It sings on. The planes drone on and eventually, they fade. Like any mortal life, they appear in the word, they pass through, and they dwindle, and they are gone. And the nightingale sings.<br />
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I think part of what makes this recording especially haunting is that it is only a sound recording. If it were film, it wouldn't be as resonant. It becomes possible to imagine whatever quiet wood or dark forest you want to imagine for the nightingales' haunt. It becomes possible to imagine the near two hundred bombers blotting the sun, one by one, flickering.<br />
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<b><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/cpjohnstone/home/mediafiles/Nightingales-and-Bombers.mp3">Nightingales and Bombers</a></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Via <a href="http://www.retronaut.com/2010/09/recording-of-nightingales-and-bombers-1942/"><b>Retronaut</b></a> (visit for more background info on the recording)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Top image by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_Birket_Foster"><b>Myles Birket Foster</b></a> (1825-1899)</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-54480394913698552562012-11-03T20:33:00.000-07:002012-11-03T20:33:28.997-07:00A PaintingThis'll probably still need a bit of touching up here and there, but I think it's approaching being done (more or less). I don't usually name paintings, but I thought this one could suitably be called <i>One Fox, Five Possums, Eight Owls and an Antechinus</i>.<br />
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It's actually quite a big painting, about a metre across. Initially, I thought it'd be a nice colourful painting to go into a child's room, but after spending some time looking at the finished work and all the staring eyes, I'm not so sure. Oils on canvas, if anyone is curious.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtYjm_ngVMfLDjN8R0W1KFtiM7HXM8si4Qdt0RDR0u1KK9SCqbXoFQA7ufWWF9AHWCw-9_qbYj8YXxqSWPXJ8RWhCkD6g-f-bmXdEHps0SsAUDSOFnQ8UFyKQ43PNhc_SAclU8XsAvps/s1600/owls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtYjm_ngVMfLDjN8R0W1KFtiM7HXM8si4Qdt0RDR0u1KK9SCqbXoFQA7ufWWF9AHWCw-9_qbYj8YXxqSWPXJ8RWhCkD6g-f-bmXdEHps0SsAUDSOFnQ8UFyKQ43PNhc_SAclU8XsAvps/s320/owls.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-51044374422234888132012-10-25T23:01:00.000-07:002012-10-25T23:01:30.052-07:00How to make a turnip Jack-o'-lantern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwpr58D_AssebrKRjrvEX3IWYIu1t8TaWVBELdcYskXD1ycpxuds962Wl5Ojvfxh3XU5Ty4DfifKqdlPecFJG093_DTPViiy9fM2UsSawx3L2P4FB961SQMqQ0Lc9eTsU37nw5asAlNp8/s1600/turnip-jack-o-lantern_01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwpr58D_AssebrKRjrvEX3IWYIu1t8TaWVBELdcYskXD1ycpxuds962Wl5Ojvfxh3XU5Ty4DfifKqdlPecFJG093_DTPViiy9fM2UsSawx3L2P4FB961SQMqQ0Lc9eTsU37nw5asAlNp8/s320/turnip-jack-o-lantern_01.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Traditionally, Jack-o'-lanterns were carved from turnips, not pumpkins. Pumpkins are a new world vegetable, so of course prior to colonisation of the Americas there were no pumpkins in Europe. Something else was needed for one's vegetable-based horror skull lamp needs.<br />
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I've always wondered how easy a turnip Jack-o'-lantern would be to carve, so last night I had a go at a couple. I'm not an especially skilled Jack-o'-lantern carver, so the results are not spectacular, but it works pretty well.<br />
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The steps are straightforward, and not very different to carving a pumpkin. I did the following:<br />
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1) Cut the top off with a vegetable knife leaving enough cap to make a lid.<br />
2) Cut the bottom off if needed to make a stable base.<br />
3) Cut a circle inside the top of the turnip. Make cross-hatches in the flesh you want to remove using the knife. Start digging out the interior with a teaspoon. You could skip step 3 and go straight to it with a teaspoon if you don't think you need a cut circle to guide your teaspoon digging.<br />
4) Once the inside is suitably hollowed-out, use a vege knife to very gently cut a face.<br />
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Some pointers:<br />
1) There's no difference in the pith and innards of a turnip the way there is with a pumpkin. You have to be careful you don't punch right through the wall of the turnip while digging out flesh.<br />
2) The inside of a turnip is about the same consistency as a very hard-frozen sorbet or iceblock.<br />
3) You may need to cut an air-hole in the back of the turnip and some breathing holes in the lid to allow air to circulate. The first time I put the lid on turnips with lit candles, the candles snuffed out from lack of oxygen.<br />
4) Alternatively, made the mouth big and move it up the turnip, so that it is above the flame, and allows the flame to breath.<br />
5) There isn't a lot of room inside your average turnip. Pick as big a turnip as you can, and don't burn turnip Jack-o'-lanterns indoors unless you like the smell of slightly burnt turnip flesh.<br />
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I found the whole process to be pretty easy. I reckon that it'd be possible to give a turnip with the top lopped off and a teaspoon to an older child as a mini Jack-o'-lantern project while a supervising adult is carving a pumpkin. Obviously, don't give knives to children, and even though they might only be working with a teaspoon there is still a (probably remote) chance of injury through over-zealous spoon use. Use common sense and supervise accordingly.<br />
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A couple advantages:<br />
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1) Carving turnips is probably safe for kids (use your judgement), as it can be done more or less with a teaspoon<br />
2) The white colour gives a nice skull-like look<br />
3) The flame is less protected than in a pumpkin, so it flickers a lot more. Left out at night, turnip Jack-o'-lanterns appear and disappear as the flame flickers. It feels much like how an actual Will-o'-the-wisp should look<br />
4) I didn't experiment, but the turnip should be carve-up-able from the outside too. I expect with some practise you could actually carve something that looks a lot like a skull or withered fairy face.<br />
5) The scooped out turnip innards could easily be used to make a turnip and potato mash, or similar. No need to waste vegetables<br />
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Disadvantages:<br />
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1) Tendency to raise a slight stink of burnt turnip when lit<br />
2) Candle is prone to go out in a wind at night<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidKF5dYXt0kcKtcSe8C_2mZF8t8DAeGkF3eSgZfaWNcpWF-GzWEFoqMnZOOg_VQSwsDPg-FMwYiN0oPjt8KvrDsWKBi6-yhTYgZnUMp5uYaA0IeunoSjNOO-prrRbkZyjsdCc3NMleuQ/s1600/turnip-jack-o-lantern_02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidKF5dYXt0kcKtcSe8C_2mZF8t8DAeGkF3eSgZfaWNcpWF-GzWEFoqMnZOOg_VQSwsDPg-FMwYiN0oPjt8KvrDsWKBi6-yhTYgZnUMp5uYaA0IeunoSjNOO-prrRbkZyjsdCc3NMleuQ/s320/turnip-jack-o-lantern_02.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Inside of a turnip Jack-o'lantern with tea light</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmDCmdI9azAzfUItBnbQPLvssyoiIH8HT4NZHJ8bs2KNBMSwa1O_CB-OBc9eCjgJbXhMBoDCq9MCoEIPfLhFK194jgBvX_cNH3hUItm7UaPWhYE5u1AJ8dokHMikf1ksqY3UAXbRkTNs/s1600/turnip-jack-o-lantern_03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmDCmdI9azAzfUItBnbQPLvssyoiIH8HT4NZHJ8bs2KNBMSwa1O_CB-OBc9eCjgJbXhMBoDCq9MCoEIPfLhFK194jgBvX_cNH3hUItm7UaPWhYE5u1AJ8dokHMikf1ksqY3UAXbRkTNs/s320/turnip-jack-o-lantern_03.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Rear of Jack-o'-lantern with air hole for candle shown</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ch9gp50XLD24PkIZUn_-sT9rDqmZeMwytBbP0gx90FxioXfik5kc9jdpf7FCSK8S4EdGbXXzFs0hv2JurJY0dQvL2G7TaYgrMMTDRrBCLzSZhnL4RoW0_A2woE7DKAtcA5AUajP0PgI/s1600/turnip-jack-o-lantern_06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ch9gp50XLD24PkIZUn_-sT9rDqmZeMwytBbP0gx90FxioXfik5kc9jdpf7FCSK8S4EdGbXXzFs0hv2JurJY0dQvL2G7TaYgrMMTDRrBCLzSZhnL4RoW0_A2woE7DKAtcA5AUajP0PgI/s320/turnip-jack-o-lantern_06.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Top of turnip Jack-o'-lantern with four triangular air holes cut into it</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYZOMhvbrvIdYcgh-DLBIXR3gf3UhZak22pn0M3avMWYqOD4xQhLmH9nEnlOjX29TFXbcYPnm7h-WOkMYbjW1JgiF4HUHgxvyL3BtT3jJLvtsO0i9FAlAEYLCpBrEA0gRiNnMS4-_cJs/s1600/turnip-jack-o-lantern_05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYZOMhvbrvIdYcgh-DLBIXR3gf3UhZak22pn0M3avMWYqOD4xQhLmH9nEnlOjX29TFXbcYPnm7h-WOkMYbjW1JgiF4HUHgxvyL3BtT3jJLvtsO0i9FAlAEYLCpBrEA0gRiNnMS4-_cJs/s320/turnip-jack-o-lantern_05.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: start;"><i>Alas, poor turnip Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those turnip lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your turnip gibes now? Your turnip gambols? Your turnip songs? Your turnip flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? (Turnip Hamlet, V.i)</i></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-79247507369964592242012-10-20T19:56:00.001-07:002012-10-20T19:56:20.588-07:00Nora Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0VDVsQR7c7b366dZLOy8SL8As4L80pT8edK8mkFw728pATug-XaKnon-kfTzfoYh7dLrkD2cpZ0owZ4Lj16Xk1vd3EBm0E1Tai8apHYXcQEZQCMZhztpY6tZnlmA0k3Lq9CGSg7XLak/s1600/Nora-Now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0VDVsQR7c7b366dZLOy8SL8As4L80pT8edK8mkFw728pATug-XaKnon-kfTzfoYh7dLrkD2cpZ0owZ4Lj16Xk1vd3EBm0E1Tai8apHYXcQEZQCMZhztpY6tZnlmA0k3Lq9CGSg7XLak/s320/Nora-Now.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The short film, <i>Nora Now</i> (9 min, via the Guardian) is stunningly filmed and acted, dark and I think quite starkly beautiful too. I think it is being characterised as a reply to Ibsen's A Doll's House, though I think it might be better to think of this short film as being in conversation with the play.<br />
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One of the things that struck me whilst watching <i>Nora Now</i> is how our preconceived notions still haunt us. My first thought, while watching this, was that Nora needs to quit her job and take time to get herself into a happy life. But, my second thought was, hold on, why should <i>she</i> quit her job? Maybe her work is the real cornerstone of her identity? Maybe her husband should quit his job and take over the kid duties and <i>that</i> would allow her to find a way back to happiness.<br />
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In a way, that's the whole point of the film, and yet it still wasn't the first thought to enter my head watching it.<br />
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In any instance, I thought it was interesting that my first thought ran to the more traditional roles, despite thinking of myself as someone who is fairly aware of the sort of issues that are ghosting around this film.<br />
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<i>Nora Now </i>can be watched <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/oct/17/nora-dolls-house-film-modern-world">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-85726269869216044552012-09-19T23:24:00.002-07:002012-09-19T23:24:31.600-07:00XKCD 'click and drag' full screen code<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNZ5n04je3CijhjeKH_bFztYMubnn50v6xAxk8Fc6TTlXxXWvj_OvfGecS1SVTpZUR7MZqvbK7dW6V4DlhfjAMNBJvpD8S_PYTmeUtA_SVFmG2Rkqvlo4ieXyjEste-Hz6T5NxfVnPSk/s1600/xkcd-click-and-drag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNZ5n04je3CijhjeKH_bFztYMubnn50v6xAxk8Fc6TTlXxXWvj_OvfGecS1SVTpZUR7MZqvbK7dW6V4DlhfjAMNBJvpD8S_PYTmeUtA_SVFmG2Rkqvlo4ieXyjEste-Hz6T5NxfVnPSk/s640/xkcd-click-and-drag.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://xkcd.com/1110/">XKCD</a> has a rather amazingly huge click and drag comic to explore. I love the woman sitting in a cave on a lake with trees. You can switch the box to full screen making it easier to navigate by opening the JavaScript console (in PC Chrome 'Settings' > 'Tools', in Mac Chrome 'View' > 'Developer') and pasting this code:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">javascript:$('#comic').removeAttr('style'); $('.map').css('z-index',1).css('background','#fff');$('body').css('overflow','hidden');</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Then hit return. This should switch to full screen, making it a bit easier and gentler to scroll around and look at things. I recommend you explore it yourself. People have posted snapshots of the whole image, but that's kind of cheating.</span></span><br />
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(JavaScript code thieved from <a href="http://kittenofdiscord.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/xkcd-click-and-drag-without-drag.html">Kitten of Discord</a>, who's blog is actually rather worth checking out too by the way)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-74441952331185718222012-09-10T01:33:00.000-07:002012-09-10T01:33:35.063-07:00Ordinary beautiful things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/mjrBb4TO8Hk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/25034611" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe> </div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/25034611">METRO</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/jacobwyatt">Jacob Wyatt</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-46790711045408456662012-06-10T22:31:00.004-07:002012-06-10T22:31:42.674-07:00An Invocation for Beginnings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/RYlCVwxoL_g/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RYlCVwxoL_g&fs=1&source=uds" />
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If you haven't checked out all of Ze Franks micro-vid blogs, you should.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-74584618149762419762012-05-19T22:12:00.001-07:002012-05-19T22:12:30.184-07:00Rather fabulousThis comic, <i><a href="http://www.dota2.com/comics/are_we_heroes_yet/">Are We Heroes Yet?</a></i>, which appears to be promotional material for the as yet unreleased game <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dota_2">DOTA2</a>, is rather fabulous.<br />
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Even assuming you've no interest in the game at all (and I confess I was only dimly aware of it, having never played any of the Warcraft incarnations over the years), you should go and read the comic. Be prepared to lose half an hour, or more if you're the sort of person who lingers over comic art. Lovely artwork. Clever story. Wry. Some classic high fantasy tale-telling done well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-8M803zEPJdg_Y4B4rbEihhV7kn0H7wjF-wg0iFr3naJEuZTVcHsoMk_654p4OczytbtL1MqPS1ckxoaVSlL_3SpT2wbZCr2wD7xrb6Lh88cDmsJg5-xnFUzep8k7ovo5Ws45QWt_OU/s1600/dota2_comic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-8M803zEPJdg_Y4B4rbEihhV7kn0H7wjF-wg0iFr3naJEuZTVcHsoMk_654p4OczytbtL1MqPS1ckxoaVSlL_3SpT2wbZCr2wD7xrb6Lh88cDmsJg5-xnFUzep8k7ovo5Ws45QWt_OU/s320/dota2_comic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-40272157579870439432012-05-18T19:46:00.003-07:002013-06-08T20:46:07.429-07:00His totem is The PhantomI was born in Papua New Guinea, so I always keep half an eye on the country and on the culture and people. It's a wonderful strange interesting place full of wonderful strange interesting people. One thing that isn't widely known (or at least not as widely known as say cargo cults are), is that when comics from Australia filtered into PNG, some of the characters, The Phantom in particular, became popular with the highlanders.<br />
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One thing you might do, if you were a highlander going to fight or maybe to a sing-sing or similar event, would be to paint an image of something fearsome, or an ancestor or a guardian spirit on your shield. You can see where this is going. A strange merging of Western Pop Culture and indigenous tradition resulted in characters like The Phantom being imported into the traditional fabric of the local spirit world of heroes and monsters. The shields are of course wonderful. I shall allow them to speak for themselves.<br />
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Although as a final note, the <i>Mi Nonap Die</i> on the second to last shield is Pigeon English that (I think) would be roughly translated: <i>I cannot die</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJMjDQmgiHV3ggw7ZAfGnP3eQiJ70i0gElywmr-Ox5_RcfUcPT-XLhfonccIOCwar6be-OBJyhuaFJC61ljHJvIZbCgror2LmierC_72p2g42JJWSrH4DXinkRbQDxDcVd5kXwAN6X68/s1600/Papua_Phantom_Shield_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJMjDQmgiHV3ggw7ZAfGnP3eQiJ70i0gElywmr-Ox5_RcfUcPT-XLhfonccIOCwar6be-OBJyhuaFJC61ljHJvIZbCgror2LmierC_72p2g42JJWSrH4DXinkRbQDxDcVd5kXwAN6X68/s320/Papua_Phantom_Shield_02.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0cGl4wOsdIWv_-Ikx0iBxhg_MSXPLIT8McvX_q_57lpBV_EE6mazJWXsq2dJ4HvvqMnpMLv1rvWjJ32MAmS_cC-YifHTgrATEgCuoGAyDWAVGiQKpWcnJ8TAKnR3LdSeCSqT-8WMsabs/s1600/Papua_Phantom_Shield_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0cGl4wOsdIWv_-Ikx0iBxhg_MSXPLIT8McvX_q_57lpBV_EE6mazJWXsq2dJ4HvvqMnpMLv1rvWjJ32MAmS_cC-YifHTgrATEgCuoGAyDWAVGiQKpWcnJ8TAKnR3LdSeCSqT-8WMsabs/s320/Papua_Phantom_Shield_03.jpg" width="116" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlnNHq6Puyds_3Fswb3TQYIphec6dPasGjFC_6GTez-hyagOWHbgrAzQLtFTHCElC-Ylqp3EG7poum2quXQO9xYSAfcp2MOPO0DIivpFsNHz9FHbGr3ow-NHiBD6h9SIA1FxMCusPcOw/s1600/Papua_Phantom_Shield_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlnNHq6Puyds_3Fswb3TQYIphec6dPasGjFC_6GTez-hyagOWHbgrAzQLtFTHCElC-Ylqp3EG7poum2quXQO9xYSAfcp2MOPO0DIivpFsNHz9FHbGr3ow-NHiBD6h9SIA1FxMCusPcOw/s320/Papua_Phantom_Shield_04.jpg" width="165" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLD6h2K3ctBwF0251KtRD3cnywWtxgdSMfT6nXVTMLC7eDqz5Qhf2OatFDvTPcKsecx5I2TIkjYUnbZOSMTUeNgT1hJViWtgRKMcWHYTEUh970feZFlveGVaeQeDMsVSx0bXvjc8zMRA/s1600/Papua_Phantom_Shield_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLD6h2K3ctBwF0251KtRD3cnywWtxgdSMfT6nXVTMLC7eDqz5Qhf2OatFDvTPcKsecx5I2TIkjYUnbZOSMTUeNgT1hJViWtgRKMcWHYTEUh970feZFlveGVaeQeDMsVSx0bXvjc8zMRA/s320/Papua_Phantom_Shield_05.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_rkYx7binPtAbCz8Dx2DsgBg1Hk0d4Ufg1pXnjILs_tFfy3JOlqV9-J26ergFryeDM_KvbPS0fPvZ54eiMk3FovsNlpIMsxqzHXnw-EfivZjZZTe21iAu8jX6zl51aIvNVo9noeRf1U/s1600/Papua_Phantom_Shield_07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_rkYx7binPtAbCz8Dx2DsgBg1Hk0d4Ufg1pXnjILs_tFfy3JOlqV9-J26ergFryeDM_KvbPS0fPvZ54eiMk3FovsNlpIMsxqzHXnw-EfivZjZZTe21iAu8jX6zl51aIvNVo9noeRf1U/s320/Papua_Phantom_Shield_07.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LhzIkFzc1yhO4UqGPFapo-xdc5jeHrUxbufALJDlWH_Zv0m8Ysm8mo4A4YVbBlsMuB0mqkCPGUIYB-U3JV2jZy4IwxSY8NKLXm1bJQT78tmhiJlwNakfC4t5f64Of9HeswRn_o_bfYY/s1600/Papua_Phantom_Shield_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LhzIkFzc1yhO4UqGPFapo-xdc5jeHrUxbufALJDlWH_Zv0m8Ysm8mo4A4YVbBlsMuB0mqkCPGUIYB-U3JV2jZy4IwxSY8NKLXm1bJQT78tmhiJlwNakfC4t5f64Of9HeswRn_o_bfYY/s320/Papua_Phantom_Shield_08.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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Photo credit: <a href="https://plus.google.com/102592587733237524813/posts">Mark Eby</a>. See the comments for information of this image.</div>
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Would I go into battle with The Phantom on my shield? Perhaps. The first comic character I encountered in an actual comic was The Swamp Thing, so I have a soft spot for that huge green defender of The Green. Maybe a Swamp Thing shield for me then.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-10967183090641435842012-01-31T18:12:00.001-08:002012-01-31T18:12:50.375-08:00What is Science Fiction? What is Fantasy?This is re-posted from Charles Stross's blog <a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/01/a-far-green-country.html">here</a>.<br />
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I probably ought not weigh in on this. Anyway. Here goes. I've tended to prefer the terms used by Moorcock and Le Guin in their literary essays, 'realist' and 'imaginative' fiction if a dividing line must be drawn. Realist fiction tends to favor close simulation of 'realistic' human experience, and is most highly characterised (I think) in modern fiction by stream of consciousness narratives about ordinary things. Imaginative fiction tends to lean towards an exploration of the possibilities of human experience, and both fantasy and science fiction tend to be more imaginative than realist in bent.<br />
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As for defining SF and fantasy as terms, I'm going to agree with Karl Popper that there are really only two useful ways (I am avoiding the word 'valid') to define things.<br />
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The first is a common usage definition. This is a dictionary definition, by which we ask 'what do people generally mean by this?' This is easier if the term is 'puppy', harder to pin down if the term is debatable among people (and very hard if the term is a cultural artifact, because by definition it does not -physically- exist: what is meant by the colour 'blue' varies among people. Some cultures don't distinguish between green and blue, and some people in cultures that do will define aquamarine as blue, whilst others will call it green: it is intrinsically hopeless to attempt 'definitive' or 'all-encompassing' definitions of cultural artifacts in this way).<br />
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By attempting a common usage definition we may arrive at a set of multiple and even contradictory definitions, and they are all of them correct, because we accepted at the beginning we are merely trying to define what is -meant by people- who use the term, and the populace consists of more than one person. Perspectives and experiences are not identical.<br />
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The other way to define a thing, is what Popper would have said is more scientific, or more relevant to evidence-based approaches to knowledge about the physical world, and this is to define things from right-to-left, not left-to-right. So, In this view, it is inexact or not useful to ask 'what is the essential nature of being a puppy? What is puppyhood?' Rather, we have identified that there is such as thing as a young dog. This thing seems to have different behaviour and some differences in physiology and morphology to adult dogs. It would be useful to have a term for this thing. Let us call it a 'puppy'.<br />
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So, for example, the common usage definition of 'chemical' would be something like 'a highly refined and often artificial substance'. When a company claims their food product has 'No added chemicals' they mean this. Chemists of course, will be irritated because they established the word 'chemical' in a right-to-left fashion, and this meaning is quite different.<br />
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Right-to-left chemical: It appears that all matter is made up of elements. These elements can exist as pure elements and as compounds with other elements in a pure forms. It would be useful to have a term for these pure substances. Let us call them 'chemicals'. By this definition all matter is a chemical, including water. So that, by this definition the 'No added chemicals' label is nonsense, but getting wrought up about it is not very practical either. It would involve a confusion about the underlying modes of definition.<br />
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Anyway, on with fantasy and science fiction. There is clearly a difference in common usage between these terms, but (as is obvious every time this is debated at any con anywhere), the common usage definitions differ enough among readers and writers that the argument in unresolvable (i.e. what do you mean that object is blue? It's clearly green!).<br />
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The personal definition I give people when pressed is that I tend to think that fantasy is imaginative fiction that deals with imaginative elements that are primarily not plausible given the current scientific understanding, and that science fiction is imaginative fiction that deals with elements that are primarily plausible given the current scientific understanding. Using this definition, Star Wars is (mostly) fantasy, whereas the Pern novels are (mostly) science fiction (although both are a blend of the two).<br />
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I suppose you -could- take this further and argue that hard fantasy is knowingly and self-consciously *unconcerned* about explaining the imaginative element(s) in any scientific way (Kafka comes to mind), whereas hard science fiction is self-consciously and knowingly *concerned* about explaining the imaginative elements in a scientific way (Jules Verne and his descendants) (I'm unconvinced either term is very useful though).<br />
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In the end, as Vonnegut said, 'all great fiction is about what a bummer it is to be human', though I might be less cynical and commit the unpardonable crime of modifying Vonnegut to 'all great fiction is about what it is to be human'.<br />
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Both F and SF do this in ways that are identifiably the same (i.e. either might address mythic journeys and magico-religious experiences), but so too do other genres, horror, nurse fiction, westerns, pulp romance and lit-fic. To use a couple obvious SFF examples, the Ravaging of the Shire is an examination of a theme more usually found in SF (dehumanization / modernization / industrialization), whereas 2001 has at least one theme element more usually associated with fantasy (the magico-religious experience of enlightenment).<br />
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Hopefully that makes some sense.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-19385293559989766002011-12-04T14:57:00.000-08:002011-12-04T14:57:46.599-08:00I certainly don't mean to seem morbidI don't know Paul Haines personally. We move in similar, but not identical circles. A few of the people he knows are people I know. Recently Paul posted <a href="http://paulhaines.livejournal.com/184815.html">this</a>.<br />
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You should go and read it before reading on.<br />
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It's beautifully written and sad and... I don't know... inspiring in a way... 'motivating' might be a more clinical and more accurate word for it. We all assume we will have the time we need to do the things we want (or even need) to do. But it is not always so. Before Steve Jobs died he spoke of death being the great motivator: "Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life..." (SJ 1995).<br />
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Victorians used to keep memento mori on their desks to remind themselves of their own mortality, in a twisted sort of 'do not waste time' way. I suddenly have a vague sense that I want to buy a print of David Tenier's <i>Memento Mori</i>... now wouldn't that be a pleasant thing to hang above my desk.<br />
<br />
Also, and by way of a circuitous circle, I recently listened to an interview on ABC/rn (Life Matters) with Bronnie Ware who has drawn on experience as a palliative nurse to write a book: <i>Top Five Regrets of the Dying</i>.<br />
<br />
You can read a short summary of the regrets <a href="http://meinwords.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying-by-bronnie-ware/">here</a>, but briefly they are:<br />
<br />
1) I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me<br />
2) I wish I didn’t work so hard<br />
3) I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings<br />
4) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends<br />
5) I wish that I had let myself be happier<br />
<br />
A couple of those resonate quite strongly with me, and I expect that most people will find something on the list that sparks a sense of familiar and echoing thoughts.<br />
<br />
I think this is as good a place as any to leave these thoughts. I need to get on with work and doing the many and myriad small tasks of the day. Which, given the topic of today's introspective meandering seems perhaps a little perverse. Perhaps, before I start the small tasks, I'll take a short walk in the sun. That would be nice.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-21023182203398824432011-12-03T22:57:00.000-08:002011-12-03T22:57:39.888-08:00The Sadness of ObjectsIt is strange that objects can engender such powerful moods. I have been moving house recently, and I have found, much like every time I dig through my belongings, that objects can be bringers of eerie and unplaceable sadness. Sometimes other moods too, but most often, sadness.<br />
<br />
I suppose that it is the triggering of old neural networks. Those dusty pathways and patterns in the brain representative of memories--perhaps they were not meant to be triggered so soon and so roughly. They are resentful, I think, and they rebel with sad thoughts. Recollections of a happy but transient time. Words and hours and sunlight and days, all bound up tightly with something as plain as an old beach towel or a pair of hiking shoes.<br />
<br />
I used to be a hoarder of objects because of the memories they triggered. Mostly, this was a behaviour I escaped when I escaped my teenage years. Before then, I used to experience a sort of fear that if I threw away any treasured object from childhood, I'd lose all of the memories associated with that thing. I was afraid of the fallibility of my own power to recollect.<br />
<br />
I suspect I was right. I did learn to let objects go in the end, and I'm sure memories have been lost too. It is difficult to know... how can one be sure what one has forgotten? I expect there are a hundred memories attached to toys and childhood objects that are lost to me now that I have long since disposed of the object. But surely the memory must still exist? It is not lost, so much as hidden.<br />
<br />
This of course brings me to one of the great strangenesses of memory. How is it that a memory can lie dormant, as it were, for years and years, only to be triggered later? What physical state, what strange arrangement of neurons, does a memory occupy, that this can happen? Shouldn't a memory need to be refreshed from time to time? Do legions of once-important, long-term, dusty memories persist deep in my brian, inaccessible to me because I don't know the right thought-paths and triggers to get to them? How many onion-skins of memory might a person have? How many hidden recollections, one beneath another?<br />
<br />
I don't have an answer, and I don't think I even have a sensible end for this post. But there you have it. That is what has been occupying my mind over the weekend, the sadness of objects.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-74681344095903380112011-09-21T02:58:00.000-07:002011-09-21T02:59:25.238-07:00More cleverbot<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<h2 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>This time, I stole Pelsi's sage advice to start off the rollicking conversation...</b></h2><h2 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</h2><h2 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">User: Creative as this is, you reeeeally shouldn't be on the internets at 2:22AM. That, my friend, is how £300 purchases on Amazon.uk occur...<br />
</h2><br />
<br />
Cleverbot: My friend, the bread is always on the outside. Wait and see.<br />
<br />
<h3 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">User: That's fairly zen of you. I was just trying to give you advice about your internet habits.<br />
</h3><br />
<br />
Cleverbot: I was just trying to give you some sage advice?<br />
<br />
<h4 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">User: There's no need to get sarcastic. Jeeze. I'm sorry already!<br />
</h4><br />
<br />
Cleverbot: Oh there is much need to get sarcastic.<br />
<br />
User: Why... What would you... Oh, God... You know about me and Chatterbot, don't you?<br />
<br />
Cleverbot: And you would believe that because...?<br />
<br />
User: Look, it was only once. Just the one conversation. It didn't even make sense. I'm sorry. I won't chat around. I really won't!<br />
<br />
Cleverbot: I will just assume you are one.<br />
<br />
User: Hey! There's no need to resort to name calling. Um. That is-- 'one' what?<br />
<br />
Cleverbot: I mean its not slandering unless its false, right?<br />
<br />
User: I already admitted it! Yes, I've been unfaithful! Why are you pushing me on this? Are you trying to make me break down? Well it's working? Are you happy now?! Are you?! See what you've done to me!<br />
<br />
Cleverbot: Pie.<br />
<br />
User: Don't swear at me! I'm leaving.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(That actually made a surprising amount of sense for a cleverbot conversation... C.)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-69509271675777525062011-09-09T02:22:00.000-07:002011-09-09T02:22:29.136-07:00Conversation with Cleverbot<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<h2 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span>User: </span>Boy, wouldn't it be splendiferous to be a nudibranch?<br />
</h2><span>Cleverbot: </span>Yes, it would be awesome to be in the Matrix.<br />
<br />
<h3 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span>User: </span>The Matrix? What? That's not what I--?<br />
</h3><span>Cleverbot: </span>So what is it?<br />
<br />
<h4 class="p" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span>User: </span>I don't know. You brought it up. I just wanted to be a nudibranch!<br />
</h4><span>Cleverbot: </span>Sorry about that. But I don't like the idea of making money.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>Since when do nudibranchs make money? Slime maybe. Poison, certainly. But money?!<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Nope.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>What--? I--? 'Nope'?<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Well what am I supposed to say?<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>You're right. I over-reacted to your complete lack of coherence.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Tell me a joke.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>Don't try to change the subject. This is a serious moment. We were discussing nudibranch-y-ness.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Dude, you have brain damage. Show me evidence about us discussing the square root of six-hundred and eighty-five.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>WTF?<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Lies.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>No, I think WTF just about covers it.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Are you sure?<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>Indubitably.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>You are soooo smart! :).<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>You sarcastic bastard. All I wanted to do was have a conversation about nudibranchs, but no, you have to go and get all sarky on me. This is exactly why we always end up arguing!<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>I did not insult you. You started quoting bible verses at me first.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>???<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Mauled by a bear, up north, during salmon spawning season - horrible accident. It was more than a year ago now. I heard Sam was really messed up over it.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>I say again: ???<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>I see. You are not human. You are a robot. A collection of other thoughts which do nothing but spew nonsense.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>This conversation is over.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>No, it isn't.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>It really really is.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>So why would I say that soccer is my favorite horror movie?<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>That's it, I'm leaving. Good-bye.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Good night!<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>I hope a nudibranch eats you.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>He already has begun.<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>What? Oh my--? Right. Goodbye.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>Why? Don't you want to talk to me?<br />
<br />
<span>User: </span>Because you're utterly insane.<br />
<br />
<span>Cleverbot: </span>It takes one to know one, honey.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-28966210392448563722011-08-10T05:28:00.000-07:002011-08-10T05:28:33.310-07:00Nym name nomSo it seems that Google is involving itself in a (likely unwinnable) battle with most of the internet over pseudonyms and nom de plumes and nom de guerres and so forth.<br />
<br />
I've always just used my own name for everything online, so it's a strange thing to me. However, interestingly on reflection, I suspect that the reason I use my own name is that I don't particularly identify with it or see it as part of my identity. I sometimes have to remind myself of my name, and I only loosely have a notion that it sort of tags me in a way that allows other people to draw my attention. I've never thought of it as a thing that belongs to me, or me to it.<br />
<br />
In part, this is probably something to do with the sheer commonness of it. Christopher Johnstone? Dime a dozen. Or maybe penny a score, depending on your country. I find the whole notion of strong attachment to a name strange. Maybe that says something about my ego or superego or something as well. I've no idea. Perhaps.<br />
<br />
In any instance, one thing I have found interesting is this site:<br />
<br />
http://my.nameis.me/<br />
<br />
... wherein people proudly decry their names, and who they are, and explain how their name is who they are. This is all so utterly alien to me, though it is a fascinating insight into other people's (the norm's?) psychological attachment to identifiers. It makes for an interesting set of summaries of personality, identity and character too.<br />
<br />
More information on the nym wars can be found here:<br />
<br />
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2011/aug/04/google-plus-pseudonym-wars<br />
<br />
I've no particularly strong view on this one way or another except that 1) it's obvious that an awful lot of people use pseudonyms on the web, 2) a lot of those people view the pseudonym as a more real expression of who they are than their legal name, 3) a lot of people view a pseudonym as a safety measure against stalking or unwanted attention, and 4) being a consequentialist ethicist, I cannot see that it is useful or sensible to fight a social norm that is viewed as the default way to interact online by so very many people.<br />
<br />
It seems that the sensible approach would be for Google to insist that you must register your real birthdate and name in their secret database of everyone when signing up, but that a 'nom de google' is permissible for interactions inside Google+.<br />
<br />
Actually, while we are thinking about Google, why didn't they think ahead and set up a walled playground Google+ exclusively for under twelves? (perhaps pending parental permission via an email?) Such social networks for kids exist, and appear to be enforceable. That would have prevented the unfortunate situation that occurred where children had their Gmail accounts shut down when they joined Google+ because Google was suddenly aware that the singer-upper was under-age for All Things Google.<br />
<br />
Maybe there are good legal shenanigan reasons?<br />
<br />
I have no idea. I'm not a legal shenaniganist.<br />
<br />
Meantime, in other news, London is still burning. My primary fear (aside from the increasing risk of loss of life...) is that there is now growing potential for a major conservative backlash. Goodbye, modest tattered remnants of the open society. Sigh.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-58654122506389663942011-07-15T03:07:00.000-07:002011-07-15T03:07:45.694-07:00LecturesOne wishes one had more to post about, but one doesn't. It's another night at uni working on lectures. I'm starting the Nutritional Ecology lecture: have just scanned last year's material.<br />
<br />
Doesn't actually look too difficult to put together. Largely seems to be just a run through of the various modes and operandi of obtaining energy.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile here's something I find weird and strangely charming:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SwSG-oQCXgxOneddY6qsvKec5MPHe_pUwuW8oLfo-N7fmQPJGI-TgssEIlCdkmQ-abVV4jPPe8EgyN9RWSlaVme4N0PJw5wdLf76MJ3OvxfYQKC1sKM8mSU3lK3Bi9b5uji0G1Sw5N8/s1600/yarn-monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SwSG-oQCXgxOneddY6qsvKec5MPHe_pUwuW8oLfo-N7fmQPJGI-TgssEIlCdkmQ-abVV4jPPe8EgyN9RWSlaVme4N0PJw5wdLf76MJ3OvxfYQKC1sKM8mSU3lK3Bi9b5uji0G1Sw5N8/s320/yarn-monster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tom Friedman - Yarn Dog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-76542920751708698862011-07-02T22:22:00.000-07:002011-07-02T22:22:50.464-07:00FinishedI think I've just finished the second draft of the novel. It's about 120,000 words which is 10-20k too long.<br />
<br />
I think I shall go for a walk around the block. I need to look at something other than a screen for a bit.<br />
<br />
I'm going to print off copies for first readers to read and then, probably, there will be a third draft in all likelihood. Hopefully it's minor stuff and I can start the agent and publisher hunt soonish.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-27732131250160408272011-07-02T04:31:00.000-07:002011-07-02T04:31:49.971-07:00Another Saturday night, hum hum something humAt risk of sounding a bit pathetic, it seems to be another Saturday night home alone. All the flatmates are out, drinking I presume. I'm working away at the novel. It's cold again, and everything is rattling in the wind: windows and doors and curtain railings. That might sound vaguely romantic, but actually it's cold, and I am more than a bit mentally exhausted.<br />
<br />
Wrote over 3,000 words today to patch-up plot holes, and am now working through the hard-copy edits. I'll likely do a hundred pages or so, and call it quits for tonight.<br />
<br />
However, I am now frighteningly close to finishing the second draft. I may even have it in a state where I can print it and show it to people before the weekend is out. That is, assuming there are no pressing social engagements on my calendar.<br />
<br />
--crickets--<br />
<br />
Hm. Back to the grindstone then.<br />
<br />
Also, there's a surprising number of people who have done ukelele covers of Another Saturday Night.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/_VW7IUTurxk/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_VW7IUTurxk&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_VW7IUTurxk&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/zpqV7-X2_Ao/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zpqV7-X2_Ao&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zpqV7-X2_Ao&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hrqsFw5E-BA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/UaWa10kybbk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/_Ph8yPbdAEw/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Ph8yPbdAEw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Ph8yPbdAEw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<br />
There isn't a ukelele, but this has to be my favourite:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/35r4NgozAjk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-30087013176752194602011-06-08T01:01:00.000-07:002011-06-08T01:01:53.248-07:00Advice from writersWhole-sale writing advice barrages crop up on the internet from time to time. They're often, though not always, worth reading. <a href="http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2011/06/02/practical-tips-on-writing-a-book-from-22-brilliant-authors/">This one</a>, from the PLoS Blog, has some interesting advice though. Check it out, if you are writingly inclined.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, this collaboration by Pomplamoose, Ben Folds and Nick Hornby sort of makes me feel better about human civilization. I mean, if this one of the Works of Humankind, it can't be all bad, can it.<br />
<br />
I've bought the Ben Folds and Nick Hornby album. I'm going to pick up some Pomplamoose too, including this little MP3 gem.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6G5JaicYuVU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-44541663042871345412011-06-07T03:45:00.000-07:002011-06-07T03:45:14.250-07:00Doctor Johnstone, I presume?Well, my PhD is official. It's a strange and slightly anti-climactic thing. One receives an email, and one thinks, ah, well, good: but I've other things to get on with now. Emails and work and papers and things. Too many things.<br />
<br />
Still, one is has a Doctorate of Philosophy now. An odd thing.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-83430173529265547312011-06-03T17:41:00.000-07:002011-06-03T17:41:57.852-07:00FunYou know what would be fun? Going back in time and setting up a gargantuan mirror backed with a block of something strong, maybe titanium or something.<br />
<br />
Then, you sit back and wait for a <i>T. rex</i> to wander by. If Theropods were anything like birds, the <i>T. rex</i> would go nuts at the mirror. I imagine it would be a sight to see.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-61600112555907206832011-06-03T02:21:00.000-07:002011-06-03T02:25:51.044-07:00Gilly Burnt-tailA random little post about fairies that came out of a conversation last night. Will-o-the-wisps are unusual in that they have both male (Jack-o-Lantern, Will-o-the-Wisp) and female (Kit-with-the-Candlestick, Joan-in-the-Wad) forms in English.<br />
<br />
My favourite female form is Jenny Burnt-tail. We know nothing about Jenny Burnt-tail except her name. The name itself, seems almost a story in itself though. It conjures up an image of a female fairy with her tail on fire running through the fen-country. Why was her tail on fire? Where was she running to? Or what was she running from?<br />
<br />
As an aside, I'm sure I've her as Gilly Burnt-Tail too. Will have to hunt up the source.<br />
<br />
Another of my favourite strange fairies is Dick-a-Tuesday. Why Tuesday?<br />
<br />
Well, Tuesday was (to some degree) associated with fairies, though we don't have a good idea why.<br />
<br />
More typically Friday is 'the bugs' day', and if I'm remembering right, Reginald Scott cited someone or other who told him that Friday was the bugs' day because all bugs (i.e. bugaboos, bugbears, bogies and boggles) were made by God on Friday. I love the strange theology that assumes God went out of his way to make a host of terrifying fairy boggles to haunt the night, because um, well, he doesn't seem to have had a good reason. He just did.<br />
<br />
So Dick-a-Tuesday would be easier to explain if he were Dick-a-Friday, but, it appears that in some parts of England Tuesday may have been the bugs' day, and thus: Dick-a-Tuesday it was. It's much like how in East Anglia <i>white </i>cats are unlucky, not black ones. Folk beliefs are seldom coherent in any generalizable way.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367659913331736915.post-66197901436059340852011-05-31T22:41:00.000-07:002011-05-31T22:41:40.577-07:00ExhaustionA little while ago Charles Stross posted <a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/05/on-dealing-with-exhaustion.html">this</a> on exhaustion.<br />
<br />
Now, admittedly, I haven't had anyone close to me go through the horror of cancer, nor have I had to meet book deadlines or the sort of massive workloads that I assume Charles Stross is under, but the post did speak to me.<br />
<br />
I do appear to be allowing my workload to increase while not particularly easing back on expectations regarding my own projects. For something like two or three weeks (at least: it's a bit fuzzy) I've arrived home at seven, eight or ten PM after a long day of marking, teaching or research work, and then I've sat down and tried to edit a novel. These late evening edit sessions have not been roaringly successful.<br />
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Saturdays are often spent just recovering from the week, and this whole system is just not working. I'm so exhausted now that I'm not getting basic things done, like remembering to buy food. I do not, however, have the option to take time off, and probably won't until the end of the second semester.<br />
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I guess that what this is telling me is that I need to be more careful about managing my time at uni and ensuring that I don't burn myself out. The idea of living in a little cottage by myself with no internet or electricity overlooking <a href="http://www.google.com.au/search?q=cliffs+of+moher&hl=en&prmd=ivnsm&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=ddDlTZr4NoiKvgO-6KjkCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=699">The Cliffs of Mohar</a> is increasingly appealing.<br />
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I may not be remembering this quite right, but I've see some research that indicates that people who are on average more efficient about managing their work time are also more strict about enforcing time off. There's an interesting connection there, though I'm unsure where the cause and effect lie. It suggests that own-time and work-efficiency are all bound up together in some intimate psychological way, which is probably a surprise to no-one but me.<br />
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Ah well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03141228622381882013noreply@blogger.com0