Author: Don

Botanica, September 28, 2017

Chrysopsis graminifolia
Water, statue
Missing or hidden label
Salvia
Coleus “Florida Sun Rose”
Anecdote of the bucket
Aster
Asters
Anemone
Unlabeled
Senna alata
Ratabida
Maple
Hesperaloe parviflora “Brakelights”
Colchicum
Anemone
Anemone
Leonotis leonurus
Senna alata
Unlabeled
Chrysopsis graminifolia
Anemone
Tricyrtis
Tricyrtis
Sedum
Sedum
Poncirus trifoliata
Orostachys

Frank and Miku, happy together

So, Frank Zappa’s kids are thinking of presenting holograms of him in concert, just like Hatsune Miku? Holograms of Miku are fine, since she’s computer-generated anyway, but re-animating Frank seems ghoulish to me. I doubt that he’ll ever dance as well as Miku, either, no matter how skillfully his hologram is programmed.

Speaking of Miku: While it’s not difficult to make songs with Vocaloids on your computer, it’s not so easy to perform with Miku live, in real time. Yamaha is making it a little easier with a new “keytar.”

There was also a Miku guitar stompbox released a few years ago.

And now for something completely different: The Lord of the Rings Silent Movie. (Via the Local Malcontent.)

Things that go “Boom”

Gunung Agung on Bali may be ramping up to an eruption. If so, this could be more than interesting on the densely-populated island. Agung’s 1963 eruption was VEI5, i.e., at least as large as Mt. St. Helen’s in 1980. It has some noteworthy neighbors nearby on the Sunda arc. Rinjani is visible from Agung’s summit when the weather is clear. Tambora is a bit further east.

Meanwhile, there is a state of emergency on Ambae in Vanuatu.

Picture this

Helmet, with inadvertent self-portrait

If Flickr decides that there has been suspicious activity involving your account, or if you want to access Flickr from a different browser or a different computer, you need to prove to them that you are indeed whoever it is that you are. It’s a simple matter. In my case, I need only respond to emails sent to either of two long-defunct addresses.1 This doesn’t quite make sense to me; I used a different address, which they have, to launch my account there. But the ways of IT are mysterious and not for ordinary mortals to comprehend.

At this time, I can log into Flickr only with one browser and only on one computer. It’s just a matter of time before I’m locked out of my account entirely. Therefore, I’ve started a weblog for my photography, here. I’ll occasionally post a picture or two on Zoopraxiscope, but the full galleries will be at the new site. You can see the rest of the pictures from yesterday’s visit to the Great Plains Renaissance Festival there, for instance.

Great Plains Renaissance Festival

September 23, 2017 in Wichita, Kansas.

September 23, 2017 in Wichita, Kansas.

Duke Baron Sir Humpk, Master of Apiaries
Duke Baron Sir Humpk, Master of Apiaries, and his wife, with honey

Lenny the Squid

Aelfric
Tuia
SCA 1
SCA 2
SCA 3
At court
After court

Armor

At the Great Plains Renaissance Festival in Wichita, Kansas, September 23, 2017.

At the Great Plains Renaissance Festival in Wichita, Kansas, September 23, 2017.

From the archives: Society for Creative Anachronism

From 20 or more years ago at an SCA event. It most likely was taken at the annual Valor Tournament hosted by the Barony of Vatavia, the Wichita branch of the SCA, but I’m not certain of that. It could have been at Lilies, north of Kansas City.

From 20 or more years ago at an SCA event. It most likely was taken at the annual Valor Tournament hosted by the Barony of Vatavia, the Wichita branch of the SCA, but I’m not certain of that. It could have been at Lilies, north of Kansas City.

The cat and the didgeridoo, or, my, what big ears you have, Grandpa

Can a cat be both a solid and a liquid? That was a topic investigated by one of the scientists honored at the 2017 Ig Nobel Prizes last Thursday. Other researchers receiving Ig Nobels studied such topics as didgeridoo playing as a treatment for sleep apnea and snoring, how exposure to a live crocodile influences gambling behavior, the size of old men’s ears, walking backwards with a cup of coffee, whether identical twins can tell themselves apart, and other recondite topics.

Carp time

This past weekend was the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield. Never believe anything the weatherman says. He promised clear skies and highs in the lower 90°s. Yeah, right. Here’s what I heard at Stage One Saturday afternoon, when The Outside Track were scheduled to perform:

I decided not to bring the real camera along, which turned out to be a good call, given the weather. So, no pictures this year. I did bring my little sound recorder. Here’s a bit of what goes on all night long at Carp Camp. The tunes are “Planxty Fanny Po[w]er,” featuring Amanda Roberts, this year’s hammered dulcimer winner, and “Liberty,” with an unconventional bluegrass instrument toward the end. The sound is mediocre and the recorder cut the second tune short (grr), but it should give you some idea of what it’s like there.

In a week or two, there should be videos with better sound quality on YouTube and elsewhere.

Other highlights of my visit to the camp included everyone joining in on the theme to “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and a couple of guys singing Randy Newman’s “Political Science.”

Update: a brief video of the Friday evening contra dance, shot with my toy camera. It’s not great quality, and it shows why I ordinarily use that camera only for snapshots.

There should be plenty of better videos at YouTube soon.

The longest journey

Pioneer and Voyager, slightly altered

John Salmon mentions the Voyager spacecraft, which were launched 40 years ago in August and September. These, along with Pioneer 10 and 11, launched five and four years earlier, are four of the five spacecraft leaving the Solar System, and are the most distant man-made objects at this time. NASA is planning a quiet little celebration Tuesday.

For the future of the Pioneer and Voyager probes, see the fifth and sixth episodes of Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, which reveal the true reason for the Pioneer anomaly.

Chromium Steel Wind Chimes

It occurred to me that the ideal instrument for playing “minimalist”2 music like Terry Riley’s “In C” would be wind chimes. I spent a few lunch hours recently compiling my own set of wind chime music. It uses five instances of the AAS Chromaphone, covering five octaves. See what you make of it.

Update: Uploaded a slightly tweaked and, I hope, much better-sounding recording. What sounds good on headphones at the office sometimes sounds pretty awful on the speakers at home.

Update II: Let’s drive this into the ground. Here’s a similar piece for heavily corroded wind chimes, featuring three instances of u-he’s ACE and too much percussion. (You might want to turn the volume down.)

I have a notion for one more exercise along these lines, and then it will be back to real music.