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::Friday, May 28, 2004::
㊚
Wow - look at that queue!
That's out of my kitchen window that is. Those chumps, all queueing for "Less Than Jake".
:.
6:48:09 PM :: permalink
Keywords:
㊢
Breezing Preload
Whaddya think of this?
It's kinda messy still, but I think it has a certain amount of soul...
Peea peea peeano..
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4:29:10 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk
::Thursday, May 27, 2004::
㉾
Cinestatic
I've been developing Cinestatic. It's still in progress, but CHECKIT! (HERE)
:.
7:18:52 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Cinestatic
㊛
258 Posts Categorised
I'm going through the entire Smunk Pad archives this morning. Giving everything a category. The categories are listed on the right. Click them, and then navigate with the << Prev and Next >> links that appear.
You might also want to note the Tracks (might rename it to "Jukebox") link to the right - click for some streaming Smunk.
I seem to have been blogging for an awful long time...
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11:39:22 AM :: permalink
Keywords:
::Wednesday, May 26, 2004::
㊦
Cups
From an email sent round the whole department a minute ago:
Please may I remind you that....
- Meeting Rooms bookings and accompanying refreshments are 'our' own responsibility. The Rooms are only booked via the Pa's. Unfortunately, we do not have Catering Assistants on site to cater for this for you.
- Our Pa's are not individually responsible for the cleaning of rooms after refreshments have been served or for reconfiguring furniture to suit your individual meeting style requirements.
- Please remember when changing meeting layouts to return it to the 'original' setting on leaving the room.
If you have any more questions please feel free to ask.
Yeah. I got a question. Who the fuck says "reconfiguring furniture to suit your individual meeting style requirements"? Who?
Oh yeah - I know - people who are trying to hide the fact that their job is to write annoying, petty notes to everyone, by burying their point under mounds of illiterate prolix.
How about: We FIRE YOU AND ALL YOUR KIND, and get a fucking TEA LADY instead?
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12:56:20 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Rants
㊣
Anti Politic?
Just found this, and am inclined to agree so far. What do you think?
ANTI POLITIC Analyses by some geek based on mere heresay and (fu)c(k)onjecture.
- Political Debate - nitpicking oneupmanship between impotent public schoolboys more interested in bolstering their own status and looking for petty details on which to disagree with the opposition than reaching workable compromise, either short- or long-term.
- Democracy - A system whereby individuals come into a position of power, judged by voters on the quality of their propaganda which usually revolves around what 'needs to be changed' and results in bursts of inevitably flawed superficial 'policy shifts' every four years that function merely to undermine the experience of the inept civil servants whose charge it is to actualise those policies. The media's petty scrutiny of the leader's every public and private action dilutes that leader's enthusiasm and reduces them over the course of their term to fatigued husks of humanity, causing them to make increasingly simplistic judgements and ever more stupid mistakes, thus inciting further, escalating criticism. The long-term plans that are really needed can never be instituted due to the focus of propaganda on change and the impatience of the ignorant public.
- Politics - an itchy phenomenon caused by the un-noticed conflict between rational thought and emotional attachment to idealism or work already undertaken. The winners of (any kind of)politics are usually those who are capable of getting the most offended or angry over the most insignificant of matters. They are the people who most effectively use this system of
operant conditioning on their more reasonable peers - usually passively, because in general the most successful are not capable of empathy, are utterly untrustworthy whilst giving the opposite impression - somewhere between pathological and psychotic.
Hugh Spunting (BSc.)
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10:29:07 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Politics
::Monday, May 24, 2004::
㊕
Restless now - work work workish
The weekend was good. (By 'weekend', I may subconciously be implicating last Thursday and Friday as well as the days that are conventionally referenced by that term - PART TIMER!) I'm still pleased that Non introduced me to that Headset thing - some of the best new music I've heard in ages. My brother came to visit, Seb made a stew, I got some of Peter's beatboxing recorded before we headed out to Whitechapel where a fun time was had by all, without anybody needing to resort to any of the usual chemical crutches. Foz's set went down a storm and he got plenty of chatting done to the other (higher billed, but not nearly as creative) beatboxers (I was worried that they'd be twatty and was reassured that they were all nice to each other - it's important to me that idiosyncracies and standards are respected by the 'mainstream' - that is - hold on - I'ma have to break this out of the brackets and continue further down the page...). The process of getting home was extremely drawn out, but everybody kept their cheer - did I mention my sister was along too? To top it all off, I managed to nail a WIKKID intro to my live set on Sunday afternoon after Peter had gone - sparsely rhythmic, emotionally intense, simple enough not to fuck up when I'm shitting myself going out in front of a crowd, pretty slick and catchy - a major milestone. Will I do an mp3? Mmmmm..... What do you think?
Back at work again now and it's a world of weird lameness. I made some really good graphs a while back - simple to understand and containing a LOT of information. Now I'm supposed to be making similar looking graphs so that the council can use it in court to fight a legal challenge. Except there's much less data this time. You can't really do a standard deviation if you've only got one value data point... I said "the best thing to do would just be to take an average over all the time and just say a number" ... "but, but.." and I realised that the form was too important to sacrifice - we need to "blind 'em with science". So I'm working on inventing some sort of graph to show defensibly accurate information in a simple-looking but overcomplicated form... Don't really mind - might be cos I'm leaving here soon so it has the 'just this one last time' feel.
FIVE WEEKS TO GO BEFORE I'M UNEMPLOYED...
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1:50:27 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Life
::Saturday, May 22, 2004::
㊑
Headset - Space Settings review
Now THIS is the shit. A Plug Research (Allen Avenissian, Jimmy Tamborello) collaboration featuring nonGENETIC from Shadow Huntaz, Metalogic, non's cousin Rocmon, and drum and bass project collaborator Japanese singer-rapper "Lady Dragon". There are more people on there, but I'll leave it to the ~scape website to explain who they all are.
As soon as this album starts a smile starts creeping onto my face... A looped hiss, the clearing of throats, glitches, then non's rhymes set against a wonderfully restrained bongo loop - you're placed in a wide open space grooving along before you even know it. The saw wave and chime call and response works perfectly, then strange percussive breathing amplifies your smile to a grin. There's seldom more than two notes at a time, yet it's full, rich, with hooks easing in and out in just the right places. A restrained and detailed introduction to the overriding concept.
Track two "Back Before" is CRAZY! The simple bass riff, occasionally detuned to ludicrously entertaining effect, a tight little beat builds up, then we hit the rhymes (non again) and a fantastic rhythmic (yet strangely woozy) response sets up against that bass riff. Psychadelic electronic hits punctuate the rhymes, adding to the irreverent vibe. The chorus ("If I only had a brain, I could see the games played, if the shadows [something something] big shade, you could see it's all man-made") could almost be Jurassic 5 if it were not for the hilarious glitchy synth scratch that hyperventilates behind the vocals - these guys are a few quality-notches up from the J5 and the comparison is short-lived. Then we get to hear that hyperventilaty synth do a little solo, there's a break and we're back into the rhymes. Perfectly formed, evolving thoughout, tight, clean and funny.
Next up is an odd mix of arabic sounding flutes and thick jazzy drums and piano. Not sure about this one. I'm reminded of Madlib's forays into Jazz with Yesterday's New Quintet - it's kinda freeform, not catchy in the least - I think this comes from a mistaken view of jazz as being an incoherent form. There's not virtuosity on any instrument and I soon skip forwards...
Then we come to "Grasping Claw". A perfect beat, cut up, with epic swelling strings, subbasssawwaves, and then another perfect call and response tune on a simple synth, backed up by evolving electronica and string loops. I think that's 'Subtitle' doing the intro sample - more on him later... Lady Dragon says "are you recording? okay.." and then we're treated to some Japanese female rapping. I don't know what she's saying, but the guys clearly loved it ("such an impressive flow 'that made us all feel like we actually understand the lyrics.'") By far the most accessible tune, this brings an unexpected pop flavour to the proceedings. She sings and it's compelling, if a little sweet for my tastes. Beatless rhyming (from ?) kicks off and we're treated to another epic buildup with nice but straightforwardly Trance synths and bendy singy vocals. The beats have a brilliant crunch to them without being Kick-drum/snare-drum simplistic.
"Dunno" brings back those rich chiming sounds against bongos, with a very nice reinterpretation of the old 808 "Handclaps" sound - slowed a little, subltly distorted - crunchy. Fractured vocal samples add some more depth and the bass is smoothly subsonic.
Then it's another cracker - "Jaw Modulation" - a bubbling pulse playing with backwards bass and an acoustic guitar loop. Once again we're in richly spacious territory. The hip-hop hooks kick in with a glassy top-of-fret-board guitar sound. The arrival of the rhymes verges on euphoric - an incredible achievement given the sparseness of the sound. The chorus is cracked with ring-modulated vocals that work okay, but seem outside the otherwise flawless mix(is that a Zoom 1201? It's somehow familiar to my ears). There's a long outro flexing some quiet glitchy vocal effects, smoothly easing us into the next...
"Breath Contrails" features Subtitle's brilliantly abstracted, matter-of-factly delivered rhyme style - so much character, with rhymes about things like "recombinant RNA-slash-DNA". The music periodically swells up and over the vocals - things fracturing and new hooks introduced. The sounds frequently sound like they've been wrestled from broken equipment - there's a defiance to the slickness of the arrangement - glitches used to full effect.
"Previously Smooth Sophistication" sounds like the Cinematic Orchestra / Mouse on Mars crossover that I feel I've always wanted (and have been striving to produce myself for some time). The sounds are rich, the beats tight and straddling a perfect balance of complexity and restraint. This track goes further than my descriptive faculties are capable of expressing, I'm afraid. I'm awestruck and intimidated. You gotta hear it. It's one of the tracks on the ~scape website. Go listen.
Finishing the album comes "Sound Of A Squint". Epic (but not TOO epic!) synths, a droning pulse (in a good way), but that obnoxious flute is back. And some dubious warm-pads and cheesily echoey monk-singy sound. I'll forgive them of course, in the light of the overwhelming quality of the rest of the album, and the impossible-to-follow previous track.
In summary then... this album contains everything that I've been striving for as Smunk, and more. Deeply inspirational and aspirational, particularly production-wise; quality sonic depth and a sense of humour. Lush.
UPDATE: Since my commentary on this release is now the number one google search result for headset space settings, I think I ought to include a link where you can get it! So for the uk, buy at Boomkat or for elsewhere, check Amazon I s'pose...
Another update: [from nonGENETIC] "Lady Dragon is lead singer of a Los Angeles live Drum&Bass band called Departure".
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12:48:10 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Music
㊣
Shadow Huntaz - Corrupt Data Review
I'm gonna attempt a review.
CDC - "Centre for Disease Control" kicks things off - grabbing your ears with some nice brass stabs and straight hip-hop beats. A couple of verses later, the Shadow Huntaz having established their technophile-post-apocalypse-rapper-credentials (with lyrics sadly closer to Deltron 3030 than Company Flow - it's cultural breakdown stuff rather than nanotechnology powered extropian visions) the sound fractures for a couple of bars and you're aware that this is more than your average hip-hop album - the brass receeding into the background and the cracked beats easing to the forefront, the rappers comfortable throughout.
Like many of the tracks, the central concept is a little over-egged, but the electronica tends to take over just when you're starting to notice, so you're never short of something to chew on.
Track two "Figure of Speech" is made from figures of speech ("It does exactly what it says on the tin")... "I went for broke, let the cat out the bag, had a fit, shit hits the fan, now I've got a bone to pick" The novelty value makes you prick your ears up. Hitting you early on with "Hunky dory heavens to Betsy" in solemn hip-hop tones can't help but raise a smile.
Then you realise that it's probably not a joke. Most pop songs are composed almost entirely of clichés, but the artists generally don't usually realise this. So my initial reaction of it seeming a bit cheesy is displaced by respect that they are saying something quite interesting after all. Again, there's a bit too much chorus - "Fuck figure of speech" only really needed to be said once, IMHO. It was nice to hear 'five by five' in there (being the Buffy geek that I am - they use "loose cannon", but not the brilliant line from the Mayor "We can't let a loose cannon rock the boat. Is that a mixed metaphor?") The phrases remain undissected, but it's good fun (or not, depending on how you want to listen to it).
By track three the formula is established. Slick rhymes, verse, chorus, electronica break, more rhymes, more electronic breaks. And it starts to seem rather dry. The tone never gets lighter than in Figure of Speech, but also fails to go to the dark extremes that Company Flow so frequently reach. I start to wonder whether the distances separating the artists have coloured the experience with an unwillingness to go too far with anything.
This album was assembled across oceans - the title refers to the frequent error messages produced when transferring the massive files between computers (using AOL Messenger I think). There is a large investment in each part - the time taken to communicate progress squashing the potential for things to be thrown away or small ('superficial'?) changes to be made. They produced thirty tracks (over the course of a year) for the album and then selected the best thirteen. I can imagine that the process must have become pretty tiresome after a while - maybe they would have been better off working the micro-details/nuances of a smaller number...
That said, the production is flawless. The beat science techniques employed are advanced. The rhymes tight and imaginative, the bass booming in exactly the right places.. I'm impressed intellectually, but I'm not moving very much when I listen - there's a resistance - the beats are a bit too dense- the music inspiriring a low amplitude, high frequency oscillation-of-the-ass at best - it's a bit too fast - you're never permitted to relax into the flow - you can't sit in these beats like a comfy chair. There's too much in there, or maybe there's something missing, I'm not sure - there's very little in the way of sparkling hooks - of anything to hum.
"Sick this shit" is already in my vocabulary in that voice (is it Non - I'm not sure who's who, to be honest), a useful phrase in so many aspects of life.
It's a bit long. It's the same colour throughout. It's a very cool colour, but after a while fatigue sets in. Like the greens and reds in The Matrix, it's all very stylised, but by volume three you start to want a bit more range.
The standout track for me is, funnily enough, the final one. "Sown Terror" is the outtro, and the brakes are finally on, there's some space to breathe - and a tune. The shamelessly used "Societal patteren" (with the extra syllable presumably added to make it scan) makes me smile. The progressions span more than a couple of bars now, and you come away from the album, at last, with something to hum.
This is the best new hip-hop I've heard for a long time. It's testament to the unlimited scope and genre-crossing ability of the form. They are genuine pioneers, using computers to their full potential, the artists' experience implicit in every beat and syllable. There's not a second that goes unexploited. But as with all things new, there are teething problems - the data becomes corrupted and colours the music with its own selfish issues.
The computer's a moron. The artists are clearly not. I can't wait to hear the second album.
:.
12:44:13 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Music
㊯
Oggs
Commented on Mark's latest thing commenting on EVIL politicians 'rapping' and 'dancing'.
Just realised Mark had made no mention of the page that Bruce had landed on in the search for examples of the pain.
This page: Green Party CD.
They actually say... hang on - it's all changed! I smell a rat. I smell a conspiracy. A conspiracy of politicians to rob me of my rights to call them stupid arseholes...
It's this bloody page! Look at Darren Johnson's stupid FACE!
I'm going this has all gone wrong.
NO I'M NOT!
It's fucking SICK! They know NOTHING about either the technology they're pedddling (the 'oggs') or the fucking god-awful waste of fuckin space 'music' they're using. "Catchy beyond anything produced by Pete Waterman". Un. Be. Fuckin. Lievable.
They think they're gonna appeal to a 'younger demographic' with this shit? Have they no understanding that there is a bit more to the music that even the 'kids' are listening to - have they not a bean of RESPECT for the people they want to vote for them?
I mean - if this is the best they can do...
Fucking POLITICS, man. Absolute WASTE OF TIME.
:.
11:59:59 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Music Politics Otherblogs
::Friday, May 21, 2004::
㊧
Yeah - this page
looks a bit different - I've been messing with the template - making it a bit bigger. Not sure though - might just be a bit crap...
:.
1:15:21 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Blogging
㊗
Because
I sent out this beat.
Feel free to have a go with it - rappernosity or whatever. Just make sure you let me know whatcha think!
free beat download track (just putting in some keywords for googling rappers to find!)
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1:07:03 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk
㉪
Headset - Space Settings
Check out this album (when it comes out) featuring nonGENETIC (Shadow Huntaz) and "Lady Dragon" - at the ~scape site. It's a bit of an awkward Flash site, so navigate to |English->|Releases->|scape 022. There's four tracks you can hear - electronical hip-hop - ace synth-meets-rich chimey sounds-meets silence - lots of cool sub bass, tight complex arrangements. "Reality is something you cannot escape" etc...
UPDATE: Check my 'review'...here.
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12:55:11 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Music
::Tuesday, May 18, 2004::
㊃
Nostalgia Time
Hands up who remembers this!
Step this way for a 'Navigation System' that is obscure to Biblical proportions. Many a visitor was turned away because they failed to decipher the system (or so my statistics used to show).
Some of the links may now be broken. What you need to do is to click on the FINGERS (not the spaces nearby even) and then the links will appear. And you can click on the feller's head to tidy it all away again.
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1:02:50 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Flash Cinestatic
::Monday, May 17, 2004::
㊇
My Sister's Release
Here's Ann's thing in full hi-res scanned glory - @Juno.
I just saw it in Brixton Virgin. 'twasn't on vinyl so I did'nae buy it..
:.
5:47:05 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Music
㊥
I want one
It's my birthday soon. Here's what I want. Frickin nice. via boingboing again.
Two or three would be better...
:.
2:02:32 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Music
㊁
Go Cory
I feel I should do my bit to spread this meme:
UK cinema copyright warnings: a call to action
.
If you've been to the cinema in the last couple of weeks you'll have seen the rather cunty little copyright message threatening violence and 'asking' for 'vigilance'.
Cory's been taking obvious flash-photos of the message and has been applauded each time, which is pretty cool. Don't know if I'd be brave enough to do the same (and I don't really have a camera with a flash) - we can all boo it at least.
I shouldn't jump so casually into the piracy debate. There have been a couple of very interesting posts on BoingBoing recently - one about figures showing that P2P file sharing actually IMPROVES sales (didn't read it though - will track it down and comment soon) and another, funnier, one about "Sony's entertainment division is killing sales from Sony electronics section" with all the crapping anti-piracy legislation.
I will work on forming a coherent viewpoint in the near future.
:.
12:58:50 PM :: permalink
Keywords: OtherBlogs
㊝
Had a dream
...last night that I was aware that my 'album' needed sorting out, but found myself playing it to someone important and it getting quite painful at the point where I put on a bad american accent and say some sort of 'cool' nonsense. Damn, I said to myself, damn, I knew I shouldn't have left that bit in.
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10:04:13 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Dreams
::Wednesday, May 12, 2004::
㊑
Breakin Bread
Me bradder Foz is breakin some bread next weekend (22nd May). Get to it.
Breakin Bread at the Rhythm Factory, Whitechapel
:.
7:25:23 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Music
㊣
Antiprolix
I'm starting a new blog.
This place will be archived and sewn up and the 'Smunk Pad' will take on a new form...
Antiprolix
Thanks to johneffay for giving me a good word for the title (during the commenting on the LoTR cull article).
:.
12:21:10 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Blogging
㉭
The Pitch
Maybe this thing from the Orange website is the answer to all my problems...
1. Know your audience
(but draw a line at stalking them)
2. be original
(or copy others inventively)
3. cut straight to the chase
(the only waffle people want comes with maple syrup)
4. sell your idea with passion
(but don't start hyperventilating)
5. think success, success, success
(then think it one more time for luck)
6. don't take 'no' for an answer
(unless it's accompanied by a restraining order)
Contextually it's about trying to get friends to come to the cinema with you. But I could equally use it for musical matters. Interesting to think about drawing the line at 'restraining order' rather than 'I might have been mildly annoying'.
:.
11:24:32 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Life
::Tuesday, May 11, 2004::
㉼
Big up meself
I've bigged up Cinestatic - explained some of the technical stuff that's going in various places.
Geekly Splendour.
All part of the effort towards my job search - I've got six and a half weeks left at Newham Council. I've handed in my notice and am preparing for something new. Anybody got any ideas where I can get a job that lets me do the stuff listed here? (May have to remove 'Word' from the top of the list. Bit uninspiring!)
:.
7:42:44 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Cinestatic
㉬
Technical stuff is happening
Having a couple of technical glitches that I could sort out much quicker if my work computer wasn't so cack.
Has anybody else ever encountered a problem with Internet Explorer where it stops working after viewing 4 or 5 pages? It's not very helpful, especially when you're trying to use web apps...
:.
12:27:02 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Techstuff
::Monday, May 10, 2004::
㉳
Bloggssspotttt
Ace. It's a complete relaunch of Blogger!
I think this might be time to narrow this blog and start a new one about general things. Keeping this one for music news (god-forbid I should actually have some news relating to music!). And I can test drive all the Moveable Type style template tags. Page per entry and all that! I'm (obviously?) not gonna start using Blogger's newly installed commenting functions because my own comments system has become an integral part of the nu-cinestatic. I'm using it for all-sorts and I don't wanna let go! Nevertheless, I'm sure I can wrench some sort of interesting system by using their comments stuff in a different way...
Lots of new tags anyway - including stuff to 'show recent blogs' (saves me dissecting about six different flavours of XML, which is what I'd have to do to do it myself..).
Four paragraphs in and I'm suddenly tetchy. I'm going. Next door. To probably bloody well end up watching some pap on the fooking tellybox.
[Mental note: install girly emoticon system in blogs to chart my mood-swings]
[Wait - that would be an ACTUAL note. Rather than a 'mental one']
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10:07:21 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Blogging
㊣
Clever Database Marketing
Just a little thing, but it tickled my fancy (not that I have a clue how good the company really is).
Sorta sums up the complexity of producing a housing database - they're just numbers, but there's a world of information contained in each one. Making a good database is difficult; who's to say which information is important?
I might update this post later (or delete it) cos I'm not firing-on-full just yet..
[And the Blogger interface has changed for the third time in the last couple of months!]
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10:11:38 AM :: permalink
Keywords: TechStuff
::Saturday, May 08, 2004::
㊂
The Google Searches
Mmmmmmm..... I'm not so sure about this transparency on the Cinestatic Homepage...
On the one hand I'm tempted to filter out searches containing 'the swears'. But that's just not what we're about here... And the evidence of these referrals tends to vindicate the Cull's mission more than anything else.
If Whorecull is the bait - the trap that is set up to lure the ignorant, bigoted and generally unpleasant members of our society (it is clearly proving to be very effective), or even just those people that are happy to enjoy the teachings of Jamie Oliver and Paul Weller etc... - then how do we spring the 'trap'?
Will people actually READ these articles, or will they just hit the Back button? And the nasty people - how will they read the McGroot pieces? Will they find themselves cured by clicking on the links at the end of the articles (mysoginy / feminazi propaganda, etc), or will they simply adopt the more creatively offensive Adolph-coined phrases? I fear the latter, so maybe we need something a bit stronger to snap these idiots out of their narrow-minded perceptions of the world.
I get an IP Address for each visit now - I can find out peoples ISPs, but it's a shame I can't get their emails. A carefully targetted anti-fuckwit propaganda campaign might be just what the Cull needs to really start making a DIFFERENCE.
SAVE THE CULL! Let's start the petition now, shall we, before the Daily Mail discovers us...
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4:52:21 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Cinestatic
::Friday, May 07, 2004::
㉳
PayPal
I've finally worked out how to do PayPal donations. So you will now see a link on the homepage (and when you download mp3s). It's all completely voluntary - I'm interested to see if anybody decides that this site is worth supporting financially. Though more likely I'm just pissing off my friends by asking for money... Are there any Cinestatic regulars who didn't go to Warwick University?!
MUST DO MORE WORK ON LIVE SET!!
:.
6:06:05 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Cinestatic
㊖
Live Set Is Coming Along!
Okay feelers, I thought I'd stick up a sampler of the live stuff I've been working on...
Click on the play button here:
It should pop up a window with a player that streams a couple of tracks.
Tell me what you think.
(Or if it doesn't work, tell me that too! I can fix it.)
:.
2:47:39 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Smunk
::Wednesday, May 05, 2004::
㉣
PI55
This appeals to me, despite my better judgement:
I can't help but laugh at the thought of having people over and handing them bottles of literally piss-weak beer.
:.
4:55:27 PM :: permalink
Keywords:
㉡
Cinestatic Styling
Here ye here ye! Or summat.
Does anybody fancy doing some design-stylage for this website? The pastel-shaded effect wasn't really what I was going for - it just kinda turned out that way. The wiggly logo:
...is intended to represent a sort of rhizomatic interconnectedness - Cinestatic Research as a hub or focal point to connect various kindsa things. It's filled with sub-hubs too; the whole site is evolving towards a sort of anti-meatspace organisationa structure - the intention is to get to the root of how information really behaves, when not confined to, say, a single filing cabinet or tape. Information in cyberspace is non-localised, but we understand it by presenting it as though it is...
Understand what I'm trying to say?
Anyway - I want the look of the site to be slightly more hard-edged - bolder, but without resorting to the usual embossed blue-greys that user-interface design has always gravitated towards. I still like the deep-red / blue, but I want the whole thing to make more of a statement; I want the form to reflect the content more precisely...
If you want to help, or have any tips, or any links to sites that look really good, then get in touch - through the comments or by email.
Even if you have some visual ideas but find web-design rather mysterious and magical, don't hesitate to send me a hand-drawn pencil-coloured sketch or something - I can make (even though I say so myself) anything happen... Less or more - even a(n interesting) seed would set me off on something big!
I'll buy you a pint... Go on!
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2:57:32 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Cinestatic
㊤
A man after my own heart
Reckon I could learn a lot from this webmaster: gta-sanandreas.com.
That said, looking down the bottom of the page, it looks like he's used a lot of readymade code ("php-nuke", "phpbb2 style by Daz" etc...) whereas Cinestatic is all hand-coded by myself... ['cept Blogger!]
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2:49:10 PM :: permalink
Keywords:
::Tuesday, May 04, 2004::
㊊
More Smesserisms
Nice link on BoingBoing today - somebody has written a program to work predictive text 'dictionary clashes' - what I call "smesserisms" (see this post).
"Conclusion: The worst dictionary clash is the eleven words:
ACRES, BARDS, BARER, BARES, BASER, BASES, CAPER, CAPES, CARDS, CARES, CASES"
Here's the link
Can anyone make a sentence out of that (s)mess? Text it to me (07816 649 256)... Or something.
BoingBoing have also mentioned that the Ars Electronica results are out - you know - that thing that Non told me about a couple of months ago. Unfortunately I was too late to enter, but I am considering contacting the winners...
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1:25:46 PM :: permalink
Keywords: Technology
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Google Referrals
Check the Cinestatic Homepage (homephage?) - for another NEW FEATURE. I did something to show the Google search referrals, so now you can see lots of funny reasons that people have ended up on this crazy ol' website. See the bottom right. It won't normally show ALL of the results, but I've put in a link that defaults proceedings to "Show All".
In other news, the server keeps getting rebooted (I had no idea how often it happens), so my 'maximum visitors online at once' isn't really working. I have been checking it compulsively, however, and so far it has (suddenly) peaked at 46 simultaneous users. Average visitors per week is still over 2000, so that's good.
What to do with all this traffic?!
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11:05:34 AM :: permalink
Keywords: Cinestatic
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Care to comment?
