Thursday, August 28, 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

overheard...

...while at a record store:

"I've told you the story about how ketchup drove me over the edge."

How does one reply to that?

Sunday, August 24, 2008

five maxims to live by v

Life is one big joke. Laugh along, or else the joke is on you.

No one deserves to go to heaven, and very few deserve to go to hell.

Misheard lyrics often make more sense than the actual ones.

It's good to fall down--it reminds you why you're standing up.

If life hands you a lemon, squeeze it 'til the juice runs down your leg.

Friday, August 22, 2008

embrace the random xxvii

Musician Peter Chilvers has created a generative music website using multiple Flash players. The players run random loops of varying lengths so that the melodies and soundscapes shift constantly.

There are four pieces on the site currently. Alpha drifts along with dobro, cello, marimba, female voice, and a healthy dose of silence. Claude incorporates flute, piano, clarinet, and cello to establish moods that flow from peaceful to suspenseful to mysterious. Droplets combines a sparse collection of electric piano notes with a mutating Flash animation to accompany the music. Pentatonic sounds a bit thicker, using electronic drones and a shifting bass line.

My favorite piece so far is Alpha--very meditative and calming without fading into new-agey wallpaper pasting. I find myself engaging with it both consciously and subconsciously, depending on what else I am doing at a given time. The music is rewarding whether I actively pay attention to it or not.

For uber-randomness, try opening the same piece in two separate tabs, or do the same with different pieces. Alpha and Droplets merge quite nicely.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

quote of the day

Welcome Back, Kotter jumped the shark when Gabe Kaplan told his first joke. -- my older brother

Saturday, August 16, 2008

arc of the curve ii

billboards in outer space

A while back I posted a decent photo of a billboard from a worm's-eye perspective. Check this site out--these photos look like spaceships docking with orbiting satellites. Very nice.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Sunday, August 03, 2008

cleared for landing

Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco

Friday, August 01, 2008

dork night

Be very grateful that the new Batman movie was not produced and directed by my subconscious. In last night's dream, Christian Bale was wearing Adam West's old costume, and Alfred was played by Arthur English.