November 22, 1999

Millennial spirit starting to kick in. A trip to the news stand reveals at least 20 magazines with apocalyptic references, most tongue-in-cheek--like the Futurist mag--"If the world ends this is our final issue." ( My philosophy: Yes, the world is ending, but painfully slow.) If the world can survive Y2K relatively unscathed, there will indeed be a renaissance.

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11/22/2009: We survived Y2K, but failed to see that there can be many Y2Ks could be possible.

November 8, 1999

Warmer--75 degrees.

Dotcom phenomenon--the new bubble.

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Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' was his way of reconciling the physical and the spiritual. In essence he was saying, "I have experienced something in my mind I can't comprehend, but is expressed through this music." (Music is a great way to express ideas that can't be expressed with language.)

October 31, 1999

Warmest Halloween I've ever seen--80 degrees.

Music For Cars

This presents an interesting creative challenge for sound design. It makes a vehicle a new 'medium' that make new messages possible. Many aspects of electric vehicles will be downloaded off the internet. The car will be more of an electronic device, like a smart phone, and will spin-off various accessories and 'apps'

clipped from www.bloomberg.com “We fought for so long to get rid of that noisy engine sound,” said Tabata, Nissan’s noise and vibration expert. With electric cars, “we took a completely different approach and listened to composers talk music theory.”

September 9, 1999

9999! Is synchronicity more probable today?

Interview on NPR with Kris Kristofferson. Surprising that he is a Rhodes scholar, when his film persona is more of redneck. When asked how he accomplished so many things (actor, musician, football player, boxer, helicopter pilot) he imagined doing those things and being successful at it.

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Watched PJ Harvey on Sessions at 54th. She's very theatrical but maybe too much so. (Part where it sounded like guitar cord got pulled out. I suspect that was added for cognitive dissonance effect. This is a good way to get people's attention--"something's wrong here.." (After a while people see only the differences--like a frog's eye.)



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9/9/2009: If I had a choice, I'd choose fortuity over synchronicity. As I like to say, 'pretending precedes becoming'. In this context being called pretentious is not pejorative.

Sonic Memories

Observation: When you hear something for the second time, your mind returns to 'memory landmarks' set on first hearing, and are automatically recalled on second review. Try this yourself: listen to a program with a mobile audio device, such as a podcast, while taking a walk or traveling somewhere. Play the program a second time, and you will recall locations (encoded visual memories) directly associated with various parts of the program. These landmarks tend to fade over time, but if emotionally charged at time of encoding, may become more salient, especially if repeated along the same path. This could be useful for developing memory capacity in general, or for modifying memories by listening to something in specific places, then listening to it again to recall the memories. Apparently places are the 'adhesive' for sonic memory, and could be useful in changing unwanted memories by replacing them with new ones through the process of binding them with specific places.

iPhone Photography

The iPhone is really not a phone--It is a really fun camera. (New photos added 8/21/09)

These are taken with 'Sepia Camera', 'Quad' and 'Photo Sketch'. Sepia Camera applies the same effect to every capture, while Quad and Photo Sketch have more options.

Digital photography allows for endless editing and treatment in Photoshop, but the spontaneity of having the effect printed at capture is creatively inspiring and liberating. Unencumbered with camera settings, focusing, etc. you are free to think about how the camera effect will grind up your subjects and create interesting images, blow-outs and all.