Thursday Thirteen (V19)

1. I thought I'd show a picture of the original blogger machine I used when I started this blog.
2. That was nearly a year ago and in that time I've published around 500 entries.
3. I've had about 5 different 'looks' for the blog.
4. I ran it for the first two months without getting any comments and only about 2-3 readers.
5. I didn't know anything about blog formatting and had to work it out by typing enquiries into google.
6. I've got a couple of other minor blogs I sometimes use to test new ideas and where I needed something in order to get userids, but everything points back to this one.
7. I've probably tried most of the weather pixie, sesame alert level, clocks, pet animal animations, counters, and so forth and have the majority of them retired into an old entry date on the blog, where they live happily on.
8. I keep my photos on flickr and have a separate domain where I park special files and little snippets of javascript.
9. Having helped get the Christina Nott site started, it still has my layout and blogroll. One of these days, I'll fix the sidebar so that Christina gets her own stuff instead of a copy of some of mine. And then there's the use of my flickr account which still needs fixing!
10. I've been tempted to look at other blog software, but remind myself that I do this for the content and interaction rather than lots of computer hacking.
11. Is still my favourite number;
12. I started my comment system with the blogger system and then moved them to haloscan. This lets me manage comments and trackbacks in a simple way.
13. I'd originally set myself to run the blog for a year as an experiment and then to stop. I suspect I will continue!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
Leanne, Chickadee, Judy, Raehan, Janne, Andrea, cq, amanda, venus, elle, mar, tnchick, kimmy
(leave a comment, I'll add you here!)

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Tag: Thursday Thirteen, free link friday

Zwitschermaschine

So here, find the final mix of Wind - the Twittering Machine remix, from Simon.

This mix is neither ironic or idealizing, but rather a product of the imagination, which Simon's art affirms at every turn. Crank it up, and between the main verses, strange birds start to sing their hearts out against a vast, atmospheric wash backdrop that opens up a space beyond measure.

The strength lies precisely in how the subtle guitar riffs reveal vulnerability in small-scale sonics that are nonetheless vast and deeply profound. Somewhere between nature and the mechanical, between the comic and the tragic, the birds twitter with a music that expresses how frail and vulnerable existence is, especially in the modern world.

The song taps the primitive inner child in all of us with a sophisticated wisdom and wit. "Something's coming," sings Christina, "I can hear it." There is a combination of the intuitive and the mechanical, the rational and the fantastic in an art that defies stylistic reduction or categorization.

There is no "ism" that can encompass this vision; This is more than taking a walk with a beat, which is exactly what Simon does in limitless variations on the theme. In "Zwitschermaschine" we hear a different version of the machine aesthetic, suggesting how the machine can stimulate fantasy and the imagination. Though working at an intimate breathy scale, this art is capable of addressing both the comical and the tragic. The focus is always on the creative process. "I am not at all graspable in this world, for I live as much within a parallel universe. Somewhat closer to the heart of creation than usual. But not nearly close enough."

Simon is a member of the esteemed faculty of the Holy Hoses (corrupted from the original German Heiligehaus). Part of the utopian celebration of a machine aesthetic, the Holy Hose slogan says it all with: "Polymath thought - A New Xinssxz." But the curriculum of the Holy Hose was well-rounded and interdisciplinary: they study everything from crafts to architecture, sculpture, painting, stage design, typography, music, dance, and eastern philosophies and religions. For the members of the collective, there is "no essential difference between the artist and craftsman," and technology and spiritual growth are not only compatible, but co-dependent. Teachers were expected to exercise creative flexibility outside their "expertise."

Students work alongside their instructors according to a collaborative group model rather than the traditional academic hierarchy of the "expert" handing down information to the lowly students who dare not question authority. Taking on real-world commissions in design problems, the school is self-sustaining, teaching through creative problem-solving and collaboration. The art is socially oriented rather than art for art's sake.

The members are part of this positive, communal approach to the problems of the industrial machine age, but what is offered is an art that focuses on the imagination and the creative process as that which makes us most human. "The work of art is above all a process of creation," it reminds us, "it is never experienced as a mere product." Many members fit into the transcendent, visionary side of the Holy Hose philosophy: 'Art does not render the visible," it tells us, "rather, it makes visible."

Enjoy the tune - truly the sound of painting.



Tag: music, guitar, Christina Nott

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alice in chains?

A rather amusing music quiz across on Jo's site. I fell into trying it, tricked by the simplicity of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and Scissor Sisters, but the finding some (like the white people) - could it be average white band? - and the yellow person standing outside the shop?

Click the picture for a full sized version or hop to Jo's site where we are gradually constructing the answer comprising circa 72 band names. And what I thought was the Small Faces is, of course, the Lemon Heads. Blur was easy and the spilled packet of m&ms was also straightforward...A couple I didn't suggest included Pet Shop Boys and the Scorpions, because I inadvertantly cut off part of the picture!

Tag: music

egging me on

Today I've had a break from normal things to pause to admire some easter eggs. Smashing, really.

I'm not sure about the chocolate overload however, I may need to lay down for a while to recover.

Chocolate sandwiches, anyone?

Here's an interesting recipe for toasted bread with chocolate in the middle. Enough to scare the Easter bunny away!
Grilled Chocolate Sandwiches

Serves 4; Total time: 15 minutes
Brace yourselves for this one...

2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
4 large slices granary Bread (cut 3/4 inch thick)
4 ounces thin semisweet chocolate bar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Icing sugar, for dusting

1. In a large, shallow dish, whisk together eggs and milk; set aside.
2. Form two sandwiches with the bread and chocolate (break chocolate as necessary to cover bread without extending over edges); dip both sides of sandwiches in egg mixture to coat.
3. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat; transfer sandwiches to skillet. Cook, pressing occasionally with a spatula, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate. Cut in half, and dust with icing/dusting sugar before serving.

Yum?

Tag: chocolate, calories, recipe

new earth

Ceremoniously watched the new Dr Who this evening as a kind of Easter event, which plays to the BBC's intentions. A condensed plotline of Burning Chrome meets Matrix meets a feline NHS. A new Doctor, a body-swapped Rose, some cringeworthy 2000's references (Chav, anyone?) a meeting of lips and some chain swinging in improbably deep lift shafts complemented the sonic screwdriver appearances. Glossy and well-executed, it will be interesting to see whether the BBC can sustain this as a quirky British Sci-Fi institution. Others seem to think so and I hope so, too.

My campaign for Dylan Moran as the next Dr Who continues, although I am told it is to be a woman.

Tag: Dr Who, Dylan Moran, sonic screwdriver

asparagus at the castle

Thursday evening was the blog party at craziequeen's castle and the first chance to try this season's asparagus. Dawn seemed particularly entranced by the heady blend of this char grilled seasonal specialty with a hollandaise sauce and washed down with a glass of Kristal.

And then the next morning there was time for a croissant and cafe au lait with cq before launching into Easter.

Tag: asparagus, party, blog

Green Man

Well I went for Extreme Wordless Wednesday yesterday by not posting at all.

This evening is the start of Easter which is apparently named after the pagan goddess Eostre (Latin: Oestre), an Anglo-Saxon maiden-goddess of fertility. I was chatting about this today and how so much of the season has pagan derivations (the hot cross buns, the bunny and so forth).

And we are on our way towards the mystery of the Green Man appearing as a lord of mis-rule alongside the sprouting of new leaves.

cup of sugar?

ornamental poultry

With all of the talk about H5N1 chicken viruses and so on, one 's mind can't help but turn to ornamental poultry.

I can't quite remember what its for, but this suitably extreme example should help other people realise the potential. For more examples, where else to turn, other than (ahem) chickscope. And how do you mail chickens?

Why, in an hen-velope, of course.

zoom

I've been using zoom clouds to generate a cloud of tags based upon my most frequent posts, for a few days now. However, the tag lists it creates seem to be somewhat unpredictable.

I'm sure there is logic in it somewhere, but I'm finding the results somewhat puzzling. I shall leave it in my page for another couple of weeks to see whether it tunes itself and gives a more rational set of tags than at present.


How sweet to be a cloud, floating in the blue.
Lying awake, late the other night
Heard above me a trembling,
I looked up, it was a little cloud,
From which a gold string was dangling;
You know, I gave the string a little pull,
Just to see what was on the other end.
Just then a voice came down to me, says,
"Hey, now, don't you want to be my friend,
And float with me to distant lands,
wondrous and fair;
Float with me to distant lands wondrous and fair?
You see I'm just a happy little cloud,
I laugh and float and sing my song,
But the other clouds don't like me none.
They say I am behaving very wrong.
You see a cloud's supposed to be sad,
To cry and weep and tear its hair and all,
And don't matter how hard I try,
I can't get the first little tear to fall."
And float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair;
Float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair;
I said, "Hey, I like you little cloud,
You are a nice little fellow, yes."
You making some, kind of a joke?, said the cloud,
Now can't you see I'm wearing such a pretty dress?
You see I am the prettiest little chick cloud
That you'd find anywhere up above.
I just dropped in on you awhile
To see if you could give me some kind of love.
And float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair;
Float with me to distant lands wondrous and fair;
Just then the chief cloud come into view
And says, "Hey, girl, now what you think you're doing there?
I told you so many times before
You just don't seem at all to care.
You know you should be floating up above, now
Don't let me catch you down here again."
And as my cloud pulled out of view,
There come failing down a gentle shower of rain.
Happy rain come failing down,
Red, green, blue and golden.
And every drop, as it fell, it smiled
And, throwing back its head, began singing,
"Oh float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair;
Float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair. "
Incredible String Band

Hot Cross Buns

I'm sure this post title may confuse Americans, but we Brits are coming into the period where we eat Hot Cross Buns before Easter Weekend. I have seen the American varieties of these with icing/frosting/chocolate for crosses and various additional surfaces, but only a proper candied peel version which has been toasted and then drenched in butter will do!

The origins of hot cross buns are mixed with pagan traditions with Saxons offering them as sacrifices to their goddesses.

The cross represented the four quarters of the moon to certain ancient cultures, while others believed it was a sign that held supernatural power to prevent sickness.

To the Romans, the cross represented the horns of a sacred ox (bun/boun means 'ox' in ancient English). The Christian church adopted Hot Cross Buns as part of their missionary conversion of pagans.

It is popularly dated back to the 12th Century that HXBs were first linked with Christianity, using small spicy cakes stamped with a cross. It is said that families hung the buns from their kitchen ceilings to protect their households from evil for the year to come. Then during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign in the 16th Century, ‘backward - lookers’ were reportedly tried for Popery for signing the cross on their Good Friday buns. The accused often claimed that it was necessary to mark a cross on the dough, to ensure that the buns would rise.

Me, I'm just about to pop one in the toaster!

saxy

Looking forward to a visit from Ray the Sax at the weekend. I suspect a little Jazz may occur.