Recent Posts

The Whole World Is Watching…

… and it would seem that the US (almost said “we”, but I hardly feel that way anymore) is headed for the wrong side of history. How that course could be changed is subject to debate, but the following offers some ideas.

“This is a summary of what citizens can do to dislodge an oppressive dictator. It focuses entirely on nonviolent action, because the state almost always has overwhelming superiority when it comes to the use of force. Violent opposition most often leads to prolonged stalemate or prolonged civil war.”

~~ from the text of the link below:

How to Get Rid of a Dictator
https://citizenshandbook.org/get_rid_of_a_dictator.html

“… that which once was.”

I’m getting really tired of Suckerburg’s tiff with Canadian news sources… while I didn’t particularly notice while in Europe, now that I am here, it is a constant annoyance. I have taken to obfuscating the URLs, but this has meant that images, which are always more potent, were also unable to be displayed. So it looks like the blog will be getting a workout… today’s treat follows.

Take some time to drift through the images of Palestine before the nakkba of 1948. It reminds me of the stories of an earlier time further to the west, of Alfonso el Sabio.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/5/15/palestine-before-the-nakba-in-100-photos

Image of Druze family members in Palestine.

“The Hubris of The DAW”

So another release on Bandcamp just went live this afternoon. Messing about with Wotja as a generative source for MIDI sequences, playing with a stochastic sequencer (I’d forgotten how much fun THAT was), a bit of live performance on the Seaboard and a lot of long delays with a touch of Valhalla reverb.

I continue to find Arturia’s Pigments and Roli’s Equator 2 to be good tools to work with, especially when using Plogue Bidule. They all play nicely together.

So here’s a link and I hope you enjoy:

https://audiozoloft.bandcamp.com/album/the-hubris-of-the-daw

… you might recognize the artwork :).

“The concept of privacy is completely different when you enter the United States.”

And so the Canadians are warning, not just Canadians, but Americans returning to the US. Here’s a link to a CBC article interviewing several immigration lawyers and consultants about travel between the US and Canada —

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/canadians-travel-to-united-states-advice-1.7498326

In the meantime, a bit of sky.

Rabbit, rabbit

Wherein, a day we dare not trust what we read…

April has come. And with it, perhaps a little warming, altho’ here it is snow broadcast for tomorrow. 

I once read that sheepherders hate April, for that is when the lambs are usually born and the weather is usually so unpredictable that there is a great risk of them being born “in the wild”, not found, and freezing to death. A terrible month of extremes, especially for sheep.

And then, of course, the pranks of April Fool’s Day — I learned of a new one: wrapping the toilet with clear plastic wrap, then leaving the seat down. Surprise!

With this, we enter the second quarter of the regime’s madness. Tomorrow promises to be interesting, although perhaps no more so than the previous two and half months have been. In like a lion and out like a lamb?

All I know for sure is be sure to check the toilet first.

 

On Reading Orbital Operations by Warren Ellis

Writer Warren Ellis publishes a weekly newsletter called “Orbital Operations” and I do recommend it, if you have any interest in writing, reading, comics, the wider world at large. It offers a small window into the creative mind of a writer who has been involved in a number of multi-facted projects, ranging from traditional story-telling and comics (“NORMAL”, “Transmetropolitan”), televisions (“Castelvania”) and radio drama podcasts (“The Department of Midnight).

Here’sa referral link to get the newsletter, every Sunday:

https://orbitaloperations.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=FhPBjOzXlm 

… and here’s a recent image to amuse in the meantime!

Université de Montréal publishes travel guidelines for students, staff heading to the U.S.

Quoting part of the story so my friends can read it on Facebook — due to the spat the Zuck has with the Canadian government, it isn’t possible to directly link to “real” news stories. Which is pretty interesting as to what their algo defines as a “news story”.

“Université de Montréal has issued a series of guidelines to students and staff who will be travelling to the United States for academic purposes.

Rector Daniel Jutras says the guidelines were issued on Thursday in response to numerous questions from students and staff about U.S. travel concerns amid a number of reports of detentions and denial of entry into that country in recent weeks.

Jutras says while there’s no specific incident involving the university community, it felt the need to respond to concerns raised.

The university advises students and staff to tell the institution when they are travelling and discuss potential risks before leaving to the U.S.”

Link to the full article here:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/udem-guidelines-travel-to-u-s-1.7497089?cmp=rss

Bird Flu Rising

Must give us pause…

Bird flu continues to quietly (?) evolve and remain a concern to be watched carefully. Mutations are happening quickly.

https://scitechdaily.com/the-bird-flu-virus-is-mutating-fast-and-scientists-say-our-vaccines-may-not-be-enough/

It is mutating quite rapidly and there is concern that it might become human-human transmittable.

Data, Information, Knowledge, etc.,

Raw data => Structured data => Information => Knowledge => Wisdom

The levels of pretense from certain composers, talking about new collections of sound samples, is breath-taking — as well as depressing. Of course, marketing only feeds the fetish and GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) plays its part in the process.

We are constantly searching for the new, the novel, the not-heard or seen before.

But the hyperbole about the “spaciest synth of all” — is it really necessary? I am increasingly inclined to applaud the “No talking, just the samples” videos that showcase the newest sound libraries.

#GetOffMyLawn #YourMusicSux #ProveMeWrong

But here’s an image to amuse you in the meantime:

05AOUT2021 bb.