Looking for a great holiday gift for that music lover, techno geek and/or pretentious hipster/snob in your life? Why not give them a copy of Aquatic?
If CD's are too old school, you and always gift tracks via iTunes or consider a subscription to emusic, truly the gift that keeps on giving.
Proportional Fish kinda sounds like holiday music, right?
I haven't been particularly inspired to do any music or art lately – November has been a busy month with work, and the two trips to cities named “New…” – and now the extremely cold weather here isn't helping. Neither is the news, both out there in the world or recent tragedies closer to home. I'm not one of those people who finds inspiration for music from pain and sorrow, so hopefully things pick up…
One bright spot today is Luna's birthday. We marked the official occasion this morning with some gifts and treats, and will probably have some more fun on the weekend (and I'll post some photos).
So what to do when feeling cold and blue and uninspired? Buy a new computer.
It's one of the new Mac Books, the black one of course. That means that I will probably be selling my trusty little iBook soon. If anyone reading this has interest before I list it, please feel free to contact me.
In the department of unloading money, there also the charitable and public organizations I support that could probably use some help.
This is also an opportunity to reflect on what's important and/or precious to me – Luna of course, my music, my home, artistic and intellectual pursuits, family and friends, the causes I support…how bad or not bad are things really right now?
I have been viewing on and off a collection of short films by Stan Brakhage. Brakhage was a very prolific and influential maker of short experimental films. Most of his films have little or no narrative, and in many cases are made from images created directly on the film (i.e., not filmed with a camera), as in the case of thethe frame from Resurrectus Est shown to the right. Most of the films are also silent, leaving the viewer to focus exclusively on the images.
One of the films that intruiged me was Cats Cradle, originally done in 1964. Basically, it consists of a series of clips of a black cat interspersed with separate closeups of a man and a woman (apparently there were two couples in the film, but was not able to see this as I was watching). The cuts are frequent and the lighting/tinting is an amazing shade of red/magenta. It really is hard to describe, though you can find a better attempt here. An interesting suggestion is that the film can be seen as the “cat's perspective” on the couple.
The film definitely has a sexual feel to it, though there are no explicitly sexual images (discounting the fact that juxtaposing images of a woman and a man usually adds some sense of sexuality). How does the cat fit into that overall sense? Juvenile word-associations aside, cats have a history of association with (female) sexuality and fertility, most notably through the Egyptian goddess Bast. Bast is definitely a goddess for my personal pantheon, and I've been looking for an excuse to use her in a post on this forum. Bast has quite a resume, as the protector of cats, women and children, also associated with perfume, fertility, love, music and dance. It is interesting to consider Cat's Cradle in the context of Bast, even as a tribute of sorts, although I have no basis to assume Brakhage had such an association in mind. Though looking through his filmography, i think he was fond of cats.
brakhage
experimental film
cats
cat goddess
bast
worthless kitty
All Hallows Eve is again upon us as it seems to do just about once every year. Of course, the theme this year is on a happy and safe Halloween for black kitties, but that doesn't mean not getting more into the spirit of things.
Here I am attempting to provide a little Halloween spirit at the office, yet remain fully productive and engaged:
The astute observer may recognize Lotus Notes on the screen. Talk about scary…
Want to hear something else scary? Check the latest report on climate change (aka global warming) as a human and economic crisis. Nothing new for anyone using their eyes, ears, and a fraction of their brain. But once again we see our leaders downplaying the dangers, calling for more science and questioning the costs of working to reverse the problem. Funny how they have all the science they need to ban stem cell research or deny the theory of evolution?
Forget the war. The biggest crimes against humanity by Bush, Cheney and their cronies are the failure to act against global climate change and the crisis already upon us, and their general dimissal of scientific reality and its benefits for all human-kind in order to support their narrow interests. Big oil, big outdated industries, big religion.
Close to home, this is yet another reason to oppose Richard Pombo (did we mention that he is California's worst representative?). Recall that he is the person who proudly tramples any attempt to preserve land and air and natural treasures and acts like polluting and plundering are divine rights of his friends. What amazes me is that the people of his district need other incentives like the war, corruption and general anti-Republican sentiment to vote against him. Isn't his shameful record on the environment enough?
More Halloween-and-politics convergence. With the election only a week away, here?s how things currently look (actually, this will always be current no matter when you look at it, at least through November 7):
This is where we start have to worry about the ability of Republicans to ?raise a zombie army? of voters, as I heard one commentator describe their get-out-the-vote effort in 2004. Actually, the phrase Republican Zombie seems to be quite common ? you can check that yourself with a quick Google search. Then again, any good republican zombie will tell you that Google is liberally biased. If that were the case, I would expect to see more amusing images on this topic. The best I came up with was this old movie poster:
If I had more time this week, I could easily put something together in Poser/DAZ-Studio, but I already have an incomplete Halloween image in the queue as November 1 rapidly approaches, so maybe an update later on?
There are real catsynth photos, and then there is this submission we received this week:
It came from a rather odd site with copies of the same picture over and over again, with long biblical quotes. The trackbacks were rather suspicious, indeed the whole thing seems kinda sketchy. Thus I am not providing a link to the original source to order to protect you, my loyal readers (hey if you're reading this post you must be pretty loyal).
Speaking of biblical spam, this seems like as good a time as any to note (as so many have already) the resemblance between the new Pope Benedict XVI and the Emperor from Star Wars:
You can google “pope star wars emperor” for plenty of earlier and more authentic references. While the metaphor for the imperial past of the Church is obvious, I wonder what it says about the future? Perhaps the ultimate fate of the Church is to be overrun by dancing ewoks…
We'll have to wait about the ewoks, but in the meantime, the cats are invading the Holy See. It turns out that the new pope is quite the ailurophile. If he loves cats, he can't be all bad, though I still don't like this “the dictatorial relativist Left is apoplectic” thing.
Yub dub, erub yub
worthless kitty
christian
pope
emperor
star wars
ailurophile
cats
ewoks
Well, like the United States, we hit our milestone of a number beginning with three followed by lots of zeroes…
After 3000 visitors, though, you think a few of them might go and buy the CD or download tracks from iTunes or eMusc. But it seems very few visitors even bother to listen to the free samples.
I take pride in keeping this site and my personal/professional site free of ads save for clean and tasteful promotion of my own work. I would like to keep it that way…
…so, time for a Guilt Trip?. If you enjoy this site, would it really hurt to check out the music, maybe buy a 99-cent track or two? If you're an emusic subscriber, add us to your download queue. And if you like anything you hear (heck, even if you don't), please consider writing a short review at one of these sites. Consider this review from Gloria in Toronto at CD Baby:
Amar has done an amazing job in putting together a very creative ensemble of various electronic instruments. Each song in the CD tells a story. Just close your eyes and you can visualize and hear the stories of love, passion, suspense, and anger. It's almost as if I'm watching a movie. The songs made me feel, and every time I listen to the CD, I get more out of it than before. Amar brings forth what I consider to be an exciting new genre of music.
OK, I better wrap this up before it turns into an NPR pledge drive…
Pyramid
September 19, 2004
Red
It was a red triangle
That formed on the side of the black pyramid
It was the red light curving from the source
Bent around the invisible smoke
It is hard enough to keep things straight
Without adding an extra dimension
But I string them all together
In hopes of something beautiful, something fantastic
For which I will find myself forever grateful
I thank my geometric farm
And turn all of my eyes elsewhere
It is maybe five in the morning,
I look over towards the window of our New York apartment
The dawn of early summer meeting the waning glow of city lights
And see her rising from the bed
In her T-shirt and boxers
Her indefinite-length brown hair irrelevant against her own shadow
This is a safe place
It is us against them
And I think we might still stand a chance
© 2004 Amar Chaudhary
It's been a rather pleasant October afternoon, warm, breezy, with a clear sky. The mobile sculpture Airborne catches both the wind and the waning October sun:
The garden plants are doing about as well as they have all year. Admist a recent burst of flowers, I noticed this rather impressive spider web:
…not to mention the rather impressive spider that inhabits it:
The peace of the backyard was briefly interrupted by the sound of cats fighting. More worrisome was the sound of an angry dog barking in response. After peeking over the fence to investigate, I was assured by a neighbor that it was “just some crazy cats.” One of the “crazy cats” wandered into view and I immediately recognized him as the friendly grey tabby that often visits my yard (I jokingly refer to him for a while as Luna's “boyfriend”). Foruntately, he seemed to be none the worse for wear.
Cats, or more specifically, cat allergies, have been much in the news this weekend. The New York Times featured an article on a California biotech company that is breeding hyperallergenic “no sneeze” kitties, two of which are pictured to the right. The market for the hypoallergenic cats, which the company says will cost about $4000 USD each, is people who love cats in spite of their allergies. It is certainly a high price tag, but I gather so are the medications for the most severe allergies. Those who seek a more affordable feline companion and want to continue to adopt shelter cats can take heart in a study supporting the theory that having pets cuts allergy risks. Finally, there is this story from Wales about a hospital fighting to keep their cat Tibs, who has chearing up patients for years. While I do my best to avoid hospitals, I know having a cat around would help me during a health crisis.
I had an opportunity last night to jam with some friends and acquaintances I have not seen in a while. I played keyboard, with primarily piano, electric piano and organ sounds, though I did add a Moogerfooger pedal to the mix. Musically, we did a mixture of jazz standards, some 12-bar and 16-bar “headless” jams, and several trippy free-jazz experiments with keyboard, guitar, bass and drums. The latter reminded me of how I would like to get together a standard “quartet” at some point that freely moves back and forther between jazz/funk and experimental improvisation. It would be quite a contrast to my recent performances, but still consistent with my musical vision and sensibilities…
…in another example of slipping back and forth between disparate musical styles, I was listening earlier to alternating tracks from Ethiopiques, which I described in an earlier article, and the rather dark, political, and vaguely Middle-Eastern electronic music of Muslimgauze. The two albums could not be more different in geography, style, production and social context, yet they seemed to work well together. The dark electronica of Muslimgauze worked for me, dispite an implicit political view I probably don't share, and the gritty funk of Ethiopiques brought me back to reality. Perhaps here is the seed of another musical project…
…or just idle thoughts on a warn autumn day…
autumn
garden
spider web
cats
cat allergies
hypoallergenic
funk
electronica
free jazz
jam
Just a random little code-generator I encountered this evening. It seems harmless enough and is too cute not to post, so here it is. Enjoy:
| adopt your own virtual pet! |
Meanwhile, of course, the real Luna wants in on the action, and no virtual imitation compares to the real deal, so over and out.
Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement has ended with the setting sun (which actually appeared out there for a moment this evening). Most people know this holiday as the time when their Jewish friends fast or disappear altogether. As someone who is not religious or all that observant, I have fasted only a fraction of the 33 times this holiday has come around, and then primarily for “tribal” and identity reasons. Fasting is only a part of the holiday, the primary focus being the reflection upon and owning up to the good and bad from the past year, letting go, and resolving to do better for the next year. For the most holy day of a major religion, this is remarkably reasonable and realistic, and something worth doing.
However, this year it is the idea of “fasting” itself that perhaps suggests my atonement for the next year. I didn't really think about fasting per se when I ate nothing except a small bowl of cereal Sunday morning, before going out on a major hike in the Santa Cruz mountains in the afternoon.
The hike was a wonderful experience, physically, aesthetically and socially. I left ready to enjoy and quiet, restful and reflective evening. However, on the drive back I started to feel quite nauseous, and then noticed my limbs shaking, and soon found myself in tremendous pain, unable to drive or do anything except complain about my situation. Fortunately, my friend was able to drive the rest of the way, and also recognize the symptoms of extreme low blood sugar among other issues – and eventually I made it home safe but quite ashamed and embarrassed. Needless to say, I did not fast between sundown yesterday and today – indeed, I have found myself eating even more than usual and feeling merely sated.
If such breaking of fast is met with scorn by the more orthodox, I really don't care, because it has been an opportunity to explore the deeper concepts of holiday. This experience in retrospect seems like a serious wake-up call, a “Katrina moment” if I may wax popular-media for a moment. I have considered myself healthy, and indeed in increasingly better shape in mind and body over the past couple of years, but there is clearly a lot of work to be, and indeed I've probably slipped a bit in recent months.
Thus, it seems a renewed focus on body and mind are in order for this new year 5657. I expect such a focus to not only allow me to get in better shape and enjoy improved health, but to spill over into the other areas of life in which I usually spend my energy, such as music and creativity, work, and my relationships with the people and animals important in my life.
I think it is quite fitting that Luna is here sitting on my chest and purring as I type this piece.