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Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
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11:33 pm - 2010 already? Where are the space ships?
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Believe it or not, I'm still around. I don't post here much anymore, but I do check my Friend list every few days.
I have spent the past year accomplishing very little in terms of making new recordings, but I did get a Youtube channel up and running, with a growing number of videos made for past classics among my recording projects. Here's the channel, and if you are into my work and have a Youtube account, I encourage you to add me as a friend or at least subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/user/webbedhand
Facebook has become my main social networking site. It would be nice if LJ and Facebook would merge and bring the best features of either into the mix, but that'll never happen. Facebook is turning into the better place to network within my creative field, and also, more of my close personal friends are there, so LJ is becoming increasingly neglected. If you want to add me to your Facebook, I'm here: http://www.facebook.com/cpmcdill
I have also gotten into Tumblr. A really interesting blogging resource which has attracted a lot of visual artists, photographers, and people who like to re-blog other peoples' work. I made an account for myself, and there are linked accounts for Webbed Hand and several of my recording projects: http://cpmcdill.tumblr.com/
I deleted my Dreamwidth account, because that whole realm is useless to me, and my Myspace pages are basically a museum of 2007, but I do still really like last.fm. That is a terrific site for sharing and discovering music, and it's much easier on the eyes than Myspace. Here's me on last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/cpmcdill
And last but not least, I have a blogspot blog for my poems: http://pluviculture.blogspot.com/
My plan for the new year is to get some more recordings made as well as return to making real (ie. not digital) artwork. I think I may stated these plans at the beginning of last year, but I've got more resources now to do these things than I did then, so the prospects look better.
Oh! And lest I forget, I did also create a Twitter account, which I post to on average once a day, not including retweets: http://twitter.com/webbedhand
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| Monday, November 30th, 2009
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4:42 pm - The Owl & the Pussycat
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A new music video for an older recording by Saluki Regicide. Despite the title, there are neither owls nor pussycats in the video. But there are camels.
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| Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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12:41 am - The Meta Meta Matrix
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| Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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5:18 pm - Mystified - Engine Room Glow
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Here's a music video I did for Mystified. The audio track will be released on a split single with Nigel Ayers (aka the dark ambient/industrial artist Nocturnal Emissions).
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| Monday, September 28th, 2009
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11:22 pm - still here
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I have not posted to LJ since July 21. The gaps between my posts grow longer and longer. But I do still read my f-list.
Despite an impression I may have given from an earlier post, I did not move over to Dreamwidth. I merely set up an account there, thinking I might find a use for it. But Dreamwidth is just a lamer version of LJ.
Where I am most active is Facebook (facebook.com/cpmcdill) and to some extent Twitter (webbedhand).
The Webbed Hand netlabel is not as lively as it once was. Partly because the computer I use for creative projects needs some hardware replaced, and I'm too impecunious to get it done. And partly because a lot of ideas I have, I do not yet have the skills or resources to realize them. But I'm working on that.
Here's a music video I recently created for a rock band from Maryland called SOUL:
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| Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
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4:00 pm - The World Egg, by Aria Nadii
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A new piece by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) arianadii, a framed miniature only 3.5" high.
“The ancient symbol of the Orphic Mysteries was the serpent-entwined egg, which signified Cosmos as encircled by the fiery Creative Spirit. The egg also represents the soul of the philosopher; the serpent, the Mysteries. At the time of initiation the shell is broke. and man emerges from the embryonic state of physical existence wherein he had remained through the fetal period of philosophic regeneration.” (Manly P. Hall)
etsy shop link
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| Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
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9:38 pm - That 15 books meme from Facebook.
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I posted this over in my Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/cpmcdill) and I'm putting it here just to share with you. No need to pass it along unless you like the concept. Since a number of you also have me friended on Facebook, you might have already seen it.
Directions:
"Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag 15 friends, including me." ["tag" in the FB sense, since you can't do that on LJ; ignore that]
01 Ray Bradbury - The Halloween Tree
02 Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland
03 C.S. Lewis - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
04 J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit
05 John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
06 Richard Brautigan - Trout Fishing in America
07 Anatole France - The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard
08 Herman Melville - Moby Dick
09 Bruno Schultz - Street of Crocodiles
10 Jaroslav Hašek - The Good Soldier Švejk
11 John Crowley - Little, Big
12 Colin Wilson - The Mind Parasites
13 Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian
14 Ben Hecht - Kingdom of Evil
15 Joris-Karl Huysmans - Là-Bas
I suppose this list says a lot about me. Heh heh.
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| Monday, June 29th, 2009
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11:03 pm - Star Trek speculations
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My dream plot idea for the next Star Trek movie.
Given that one of the premises of the new (alternate) Star Trek universe is that although history may be changed, destinies still resonate from the original universe, thus there will be some parallels, but also great differences.
So, here is what I'd like as a story in the next movie. As a preamble, I'd like to point out three things. One, that a scene involving Klingons was deleted from the recent movie, likely because the writers want to save them for the next, allowing for more surprise. Second, the writers have been hinting that Khan is "definitely out there somewhere" in the new universe. The third, that the actor who played Christopher Pike mentioned that he's on contract for the next feature.
Here is what I envision: It starts with a flashback to ten or fifteen years prior, when a ship captained by Pike encounters a vessel called Botany Bay. Reviving Khan Noonan Singh(played by Naveen Andrews) and his crew, he realizes what an ugly can of worms he'd opened, but unlike Kirk in TOS, instead of marooning these people on Ceti Alpha VI, Pike puts them back into cryostasis and sets Botany Bay adrift again on the edge of Starfleet-controlled space. [Incidentally I envision fashion designer Rick Owens being among that crew, and also designing their apparel. Darker and edgier than in the original series, perhaps a bit like the renegade telepaths in Babylon Five.]
Not long afterward, the vessel is captured by Klingons, who take them prisoner. Learning that Khan & Co are a group of super-geniuses and eugenic scientists, the Klingons take them to a secret facility on the Klingon homeworld and assign them to develop technology to manipulate Klingon DNA to make, effectively, a Klingon master race, just as Khan and friends are "superior" humans. One of Khan's scientists (played by Michael McManus of "Lexx") develops a virus that can rewrite the Klingon DNA and make them super-warriors. Unfortunately, upon being released, the virus mutates, as viruses are wont to do, resulting in the added side-effect of cranial deformities (aka "the event" which Klingons don't like to discuss).
It is as a consequence of this event that Starfleet learns that the Klingons have Khan and his people, and the Enterprise is dispatched to retrieve them, by any means necessary, before they can make any further trouble.
With Kirk and Spock at a loss for how to get into Klingon space without being intercepted, it is McCoy of all people who has the solution. He has an old buddy, a smuggler, who used to provide him with exotic bootleg hooch from all over the galaxy (Harcourt "Harry" Mudd, played perhaps by Jack Black) who happens to have connections to a disgraced but very dignified former politician in exile from Klingon (played by André Leon Talley) who can hook up Kirk with a cloaking device and security codes to get him onto the planet, but for a great price. What that is should be one of the plot surprises*.
This second Star Trek movie should include characters Yeoman Janice Rand as well as Nurse Chapel (I'll let you vote for the actresses to play their parts!). The presence of Nurse Chapel, and her crush on Spock can complicate his relationship with Uhura.
Getting Khan's people off the planet without triggering a war between Klingons and Starfleet will be only half the struggle, since they won't want to leave. And when they are captured, they cause big trouble in the Enterprise on the way home. It is only then that they are dumped on Ceti Alpha VI, thus bringing things full circle with the original series.
*Hint: Because, being in exile, he was isolated from the rest of Klingon society, he did not get exposed to the virus, and thus has the "old" Klingon appearance.
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3:51 pm - Art of Aria Nadii
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Aria arianadii has some work available now through her etsy shop, including pieces with alchemical and astrological themes. The "Radha and Krishna" image above is the last of that series. After this one sells there will be no more with that theme. I think of all the Radha-Krishna pieces, this one is my personal favorite.
I would also like to draw your attention to "Undersea Dreaming, Pompeii" - the jpeg conveys many of the image's charms, but to see the actual work in person... it is stunning!
I must admit, I also love the pieces that have lions in them (cat person that I am).
If jewelry is your interest, bookmark the etsy shop and check back regularly. There are some new pieces nearing completion, which will probably be listed within the next few days.
Here is the Etsy shop link: The Chimerical Constructions of Aria Nadii
Speaking of cats, fantasy author Catherynne "Cat" Valente's Pushcart Prize-nominated book "The Descent of Inanna" is now available in e-book and audiobook format. The cover for the original edition was illustrated by Aria Nadii.
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| Saturday, April 18th, 2009
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5:26 pm - ACN - Antikythera part 2
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Took some pictures of the few thing that were coming up in the garden yesterday and made a new Akashic Crow's Nest video with them. The video has nothing to do with the Antikythera mechanism. Just something nice to zone out on...
Here's the link directly to the Youtube page. If you have an account there, I invite you to subcribe to the Webbed Hand Channel. :)
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| Monday, April 13th, 2009
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2:39 am
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| Friday, April 3rd, 2009
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10:46 pm - head scratching time
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I just looked at my stats on Internet Archive, and it appears the Djinnestan album "Selling the Wind" has 17,972 downloads recorded, just from that site alone (not including last.fm, bitTorrent sites, sploggers & piracy sites, etc).
The tracks get played on netradio streams, like Drone Zone and Stillstream, practically on a daily basis. It was recently named in last.fm's "Top 100 Drone Albums" as well. And tracks have been used (with permission) as soundtrack material in assorted art films. From all appearances, it is the most-listened-to of everything I've made.
The mystery of it is, that unlike many of my other releases, this one seems to render people speechless. There are no reviews of it anywhere. Nobody has blogged about it, nobody has left feedback on it at IA, last.fm, webbedhandrecords.com, or any other place it has been featured. I have not seen or heard any reactions, opinions or analysis of it. I have every indication that it is liked, except for the testimonials.
The download statistics are legit, because I've watched them grow naturally, rather than being one of those suspicious spikes. They are still going strong despite the album being deeply buried in the label catalog, so clearly something is steering people to it. I haven't been promoting it, so where's all the traffic coming from?
To clarify, I'm not fishing for reviews here, mainly I'm fishing for theories...
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| Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
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3:34 pm - things to interest you
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Hadean Press has taken the reins of the venerable Equinox periodical, which has been issued off and on since 1909. They have just published issue 9 of vol VII, and will also be reprinting issues 1-8 as a compilation. [edit: also see comments. The new "Equinox" is fully titled "The Equinox: British Journal of Thelema" and does not claim a direct apostolic succession, so to speak, from the original Equinox.]
It is of interest to anyone who is into the so-called "Western Esoteric Traditions" ... the highlight of the issue is a manifesto by Jake Stratton-Kent about "Radical Traditionalism" and the general theme of the issue seems aimed to break free from the orthodoxies that have arisen in contemporary magick as a result of the Crowley cult of personality (as well as the orthodoxies of Kaballah, Astrology and Numerology, etc).
Best of all, it has illustrations by arianadii! So even if you think it's all a lot of dark mumbo-jumbo, there's still a good reason to get a copy.
http://www.hadeanpress.com/bjot/
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And, speaking of arianadii, in case you missed it on Saturday, one of her works was featured as cover art in a new Akashic Crow's Nest album, which you can listen to for free.
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...and last but not least, a new music video for an older track by Djinnestan, which may be of interest to those who don't mind looking at garden pictures. I recommend viewing it in HQ mode if you have that option (for broadband users).
( Youtube video beneath the cut )
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| Saturday, March 28th, 2009
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9:38 pm - Akashic Crow's Nest - Torment of the Metals [ambient/generative]
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Akashic Crow’s Nest ventures into a new stage of transmutation with this soothing alchemy-themed album.
The sound of Akashic Crow’s Nest begins with the use of an image synthesizer which turns very long photographic images into audio output, in the manner of a piano roll. The initial part of composing this music is thus designing the picture. For this latest project, the first audio output is converted to MIDI and run through a different software synthesizer, before being subjected to a battery of effects to get to the sounds you hear on this album.
Akashic Crow's Nest - Torment of the Metals [mp3 album download - free!]
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| Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
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6:13 pm - Today's video selection...
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| Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
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10:51 pm - Djinnestan C plus A -- an ambient video
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| Thursday, March 12th, 2009
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8:57 pm - I tube, Youtube, we all tube....
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I recently came across an old installer for Sonic Foundry Vegas 4 that I acquired years ago but never used, and decided I'd like to try to learn how to edit video, which I'd never done before. Actually, I did try Windows Movie Maker once and hated it, so that doesn't count.
Sonic Foundry Vegas 4 is so much like Sound Forge 6 (which I use to edit audio) that it was really easy to get messing with it very quickly. With some bits of video footage that came off a little hp Photosmart camera and some Saluki Regicide samples, I put together a little experimental film within a couple hours of first starting Vegas.
Mostly this is just me goofing around, to familiarize myself with the basics like effects (yes, it's blurry and washed-out on purpose), transitions and how to get audio and text onto the film. And all that without reading the manual yet, which I'll do next. As a bonus, you get a mini-tour of arianadii's studio.
Also, the other purpose was to figure out how to render out a decent compression that still looks good on Youtube. In fact, it worked out pretty well. It looks fine if you set it to high quality (click on the HQ button) and go to full screen.
Here's the page URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JpGb4igwj0
current music: California Ramblers - The Pay Off | Powered by Last.fm
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| Sunday, March 8th, 2009
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11:38 pm - some new free ambient music
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Two new releases on my label which you can listen to or download free! They are both quite relaxing and pleasant (and deep!) so please download and listen.
*wh117 Beyond Absence - Heritage : Mostly acoustic ambient, incorporating some jazz flavor. Very introspective.
*Pavonine - Pavonine : A journey for the mind with layers of ambient drones. Highly recommended for listening with headphones in the dark.
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| Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
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8:00 pm - Is Fahrenheit 451 upon us?
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Across the country, childrens' books are being loaded into dumpsters and going to landfills and/or being incinerated. Very collectible books, some of them. Out-of-print books, some of them.
They are being destroyed because the government (with bipartisan support) has threatened thrift stores, antique stores, used book dealers, and any other kind of retailer with massive fines and prison sentences if they do not comply with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, which was set to go into effect on February 10. Under the act, any childrens' book published prior to 1985 must be removed from store shelves (because they "may have traces of lead") unless they have undergone safety testing. Since most sellers cannot afford to test their books, they are opting to dump them. (see "The New Book Banning")
At the 11th hour, the American Library Association and various lobbyists representing public schools and book retailers managed to get a brief moratorium on enforcement (as it applies to books), but unfortunately nobody gave the memo to Goodwill and other thrift stores and retailers, and many of them have already disposed of their inventory.
Because of the way the law is worded, any book intended for children under 12, printed prior to 1985, cannot be sold (or loaned from libraries) unless tested for lead content. This even applies to vintage, collectible books, rare first editions, precious antiques. Thus, it would be "goodbye" to those wonderful old original editions of Velveteen Rabbit, The Little Prince, Where the Wild Things Are, Fun With Dick & Jane, The Giving Tree, Cat in the Hat, Peter Rabbit, and so forth. You will only be allowed to buy glossy new reprints. It is unclear at present whether the law also applies to pre-1985 comic books and magazines.
Some artisan toymakers (who can't afford the expensive testing) are attempting to dodge the CPSIA-08 by making the claim that their toys are "for display purposes" and marketed to adults, but that trick may be harder for booksellers, and most don't want to risk the consequences.
If the ALA and book-dealers don't succeed in getting the exemptions they seek from the law, I do hope that people will take to hoarding these old treasures, and maybe a nice black-market economy of rare & antique childrens' books will arise somewhere...
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| Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
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3:59 pm - exellent alchemical mixed-media miniatures
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