Aerik's Anarchy

Photo Editing FTW

2009-01-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

So I've been lost in The GIMP my Absolute favorite Art program. I've made a new banner for the blog here and of course will continue to tweak and play around with it, I'll be making a few more images for public consumption soon. While playing around with a few other projects I have gotten some interesting assets and ideas to play with.

So for now I've been hanging out and listening to music in Second Life with my friends from Wellstone Cafe and Dancing Liberally. Patriotboy, Jackson Street Books and a few others have kept me company and indulged in my antics.

EDIT: so I forgot to set a publish on this, so here it is time travel in the digital age!

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Concert in Second Life

2009-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had the GREAT pleasure to go to a concert, it was my first large concert in the virtual world Second Life.

The Band, Evanescence, from what I understand about the event it was the audio from a live concert somewhere out there in RL, the Avatars in the crowd were treated to an on stage enactment of a live show.

I spent my time alternating between dancing with friends, and taking many photographs of the crowds and the performers.

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Random Thoughts

2008-12-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

The Proteus Without Lifering

While scrambling in RL and SL to get things done for the Holidays, I've been steadily working on The Proteus.

Cool Yule and Happy New Years to you and yours, here is another musical interlude to soothe a seared psyche.

Assemblage 23 - Lullaby

May you find solace in the gentle arms of sleep
Despite the wolves outside your door
In time you will see them all as harmless
And their idle threats easy to ignore

And if ever fate should choose to smite you
Stand your ground, never walk away
Please don't ever let the world defeat you
Don't get buried in its decay

As you drift into the gauzy realm of dreams
May you take comfort in the thought that you are safe
For it only takes a fraction of a second
For all of this to change

CH
Return to me
When slumber's fog has lifted
Return to me
Stronger than before

As you sink beneath the soothing streams of time
May you be thankful that you had another day
For there comes a time when each of us will enter
A sleep from which we will never wake

And if ever fate should choose to smite you
Stand your ground, never walk away
Please don't ever let the world defeat you
Don't get buried in its decay

Close your eyes now, if only for a moment
For it's time you get some rest
The wolves are gone and nothing here can harm you
Let go of your fragile consciousness

(CH)

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Connect The Dots

2008-12-20T01:50:00.000-08:00

Now for a musical interlude,
you know who you are.

By The Spill Canvas.

If your feet hurt from walking too much,
then I will tend to them, with a velvet touch.
If your lungs just don't want to work today,
then I'll perform a mouth to mouth until you're okay.

Don't you just love the feeling of my fingertips,
circling your lips.
Don't you just love the desire taking hold of you,
I can tell you do.
I know all your favorite spots,
and tonight we will connect the dots.

If your muscles are wound up and tight,
then I will loosen up the knots until it feels right.
If your ears just ache from listening,
then I'll supply the remedy in the melodies I sing.

Don't you just love the feeling of my fingertips,
circling your lips.
Don't you just love the desire taking hold of you,
well I can tell you do.
I know all your favorite spots,
and tonight we will connect the dots.

Don't you just love the feeling of my fingertips,
circling your lips.
Don't you just love the desire taking hold of you,
well I can tell you do.
I know all your favorite spots,
and tonight we will connect the dots.

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Teh Thundersnow

2008-12-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

This morning at 5 we got a rude awakening, the walls of our concrete building rattled as an enormous boom resounded through the skies, before the second of the only two booms came to us, The second Boom came while I was getting dressed and I raced to go out and investigate. Fire trucks came down our steep little hill and headed a block over to a building whose fire alarm could barely be heard over the clamor of Seattle's collective car alarms going of at once.

I headed down the street to find that there were actually two buildings whose alarms were screaming their distress into the air, I'm not sure if the booms set them off or not, but upon heading back to my building I watched a metro bus slide back down the hill and crush a pick-up truck against a tree.

Every time there is snow we get a show out the window of our apartment as the idiotic drivers of our fair city try to drive up the short but steep grade on the ice, it rarely ends well.

So far today we've seen the bus hit the truck, and while I was passed out I am told that several fender benders occurred, culminating in the closure (FINALLY!) of the hill after a box-truck slid down to crash into a cop-car attending another accident. ( I really wish I'd be awake to get THOSE pics)

During the day the 27's piled up at the bottom of the hill because once down in our little "valley" the couldn't get out even with chains!

Enjoy your Winter Wonderland where ever you are and Merry X-mas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule!

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Troubles in Puterland

2008-12-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hey All!

So while I was down in Hoquiam helping JSB I wasn't here with my machines, Stupidly before leaving I was doing some serious muckage, I messed up my whole network here in our little apartment.

I messed up BOTH of my RAID arrays in my main machine and and didn't have time to fix it, meanwhile CK's computer was out of commission due to a messed up HDD (courtesy of XP SP3) so when I left only my small renderfarm was operational. If you don't know anything about computers a "Farm" is a group of computers configured to work together to achieve LARGE scale operations that would take a single computer a really long time to complete.

My little farm is made up of 6 "broken" PS2s, they don't play the games anymore but instead have PS2 Linux installed on them, sadly they are NOT user-friendly they don't even have a GUI (Graphical User Interface) so my home was "dark".

On my weekend trips home I would spend some of the time alternately working on CK's puter and getting mine ready for the FUN task of data recovery, since my RAID arrays have a total capacity of 1.5 Terabytes this has been a daunting task.

SUCCESS! I am now writing to you after spending all day busting my ass working out bugs and dumping data onto DVD discs so that I could reconfigure, reformat and reinstall BOTH windows XP and Ubuntu Linux.

FAILURE! Sadly without a GUI or an interface terminal I was unaware of the fact that my farm had tanked sometime in August! So currently I am looking for "Broken" PS2s to replace a couple that finally gave up the ghost and cooked the proccessors. YARG!

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Back to Second Life

2008-12-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hey All!

So I've been out in Hoquiam since June, while there I spent time working to get my friends over at the Jackson Street Books Blog, open for business. Success! JSB opened it's "doors" last week, they are now open for sales online at their website.

At the going away party for JSB at their old location I found to my great delight that the owners also spent time on grid in Second Life, so while I was down at their house working (see JSB for details, honestly why cover the same ground right?) I spent time on grid more than I had for a long time, I've made friends and found some wonderful things.

I'm not going to go into terribly complex detail here, after all if you want to know you should join us in SL. The time leading up to the election of President Elect Barak Obama was incredibly passionate in the political groups that Bookem and Dano introduced me to, from those roots in political discourse I have recently branched out into the purely social aspects of SL.

Now, I'm home and trying to pick up work up here in Seattle, more fun for me right?

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The Web

2008-09-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Tim Berners Lee on the Semantic Web

As a digital artist I find the idea of a semantic web as something only dreamed about, a collaborative greenhouse where ideas can be grow and be shared, freely and securely.

Like an ecosystem of Data, Data-miners and Datavores information moves and develops like a living thing. Evolution of ideas and cross interaction leading to never before seen collaborative efforts leading to philosophical, spiritual, economic, scientific..... Okay so pretty much anywhere you can imagine.

As a science-fiction junkie I am reminded of the interesting Earthweb by: Marc Stiegler

Humanity under attack from aliens, Shiva's massive juggernauts single minded on the destruction of earth. Our greatest weapon is the Web where the collective ideas, observations and interest of the entire human race focus on one thing, survival. The book is an interesting read and a wonderful posit of what the internet could be.

There are of course heroes, tragedy and intrigue, but where the author shines in my opinion is in the intricate detail given to the structure and history and development of the web in it's "current" fictional incarnation.

Through the use of the pressure provided by the impending threat of the looming Shiva's Earth, while still politically, economically and social fragmented, has united in will under a common purpose.

Check out the Jackson Street Books Blog
Or order by Email: info@jacksonst-books.com

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Real Life

2008-08-31T16:20:00.000-07:00

My Friends, Tammy and Dan, have moved their bookstore. I have been at their new location helping with the renovations in preperation for the store opening for online sales.

check out their blog at Jackson Street Books

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Anathem by:Neal Stephenson

2008-08-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Anathem

By: Neal Stephenson

Anathem establishes a unique and complex history divided between The Saecular World; what we refer to as Pop Culture and Religous Theology, and The Mathic Concents; Scientific Advancement and Theoretical Proof. A history in which scientific development outstripped the pace society grudgingly set, resulting in a series of "Terrible Events" that almost destroyed humanity.

From these events a spectrum of "Iconographies", or characteristics that the Avout, those of mathic theoric mental discipline, are seen as having, became a predominant form of stereotyping used to disturbing ends in some cases. From a God like love of, to a Satanic hatred for, the avout are fish out of water in a sea of human chaos.

On to the history of Mathic Concents, where those of scientific aptitude are segregated from the Saecular tides of humanity washing against the walls of their fortress-like monastaries. Neal Stephenson introduces our Mathic protagonist, Fraa Erasmas or Raz for short, who proceeds to take the reader along as his life of ordered rote ceremony and contemplation in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, is shattered by events beyond either mathic or saecular control that threatens all of Abre. Raz finds out just how much both sides of the Mathic divide knows or doesn't, about each other, themselves or the rest of the universe.

On first blush Anathem is a daunting task, thick at 935 pages, it presents the reader with the sometimes difficult task of interpreting the language and formulaic ways of Abre. consulting the glossary in the back will help this phase passes very quickly. An intricate clockwork arrangement showcasing, in my opinion, awe inspiring skill by Stephenson. In most cases the names and concepts are not very difficult, I do however recommend that when the narrative refers to a Calca do take the extra moments to read the included short story Calca in the glossary. Each chapter has a helpful definition from the glossary often pertaining to the coming chapter at the beginning, while maintaining a sometimes steep but fulfilling acculturation curve.

There really is so much going on in this book with plot lines masterfully woven that trying to encapsulating the essence of Anathem is difficult. Neal Stephenson leads the reader down detailed Theoric paths of logic that are adventures unto themselves, while maintaining consistant and detailed human interactions. Using formulaic interactions as a strong cultural element in the Mathic Concent generates a very pronounced feeling for me that rides the line between theological refugee and prisoner. Where the gates to the various maths of the concent associated with one, ten, one hundred and one thousand year intervals, only open each cycle for ten days. (I.E. Erasmas's Decenarian Maths gate opens to outside contact every decade.) In opposing contrast is The Saecular World outside the walls, where government, religion and ever refined familiar and unfamiliar technologies wage war on the allegiance of the human slines, derogatory for baseline, meaning average in every way with no hope of anything more. In this sea of humanity laced with mega stores, casinos and just about anything a sline could possibly want, are flung Raz and avout who are tasked with preventing a mysterious disaster to Abre itself.

Underneath the hood of this wonderfully engaging narrative lies the structure consisting of a detailed history allowing the author and readers to easily access details of 6989 years of history. Spanning -3400 to +3689 is a timeline giving rough date ranges for the history of Abre that helps to tie the intricate glossary and storycraft into a thought provoking excersize in mental gymnastics.

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Outer Space!

2008-08-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

WIP Proteus, Playing with shadows.

Greetings!

I've been playing with my shadow settings and the materials, I found some interesting information on textures and shadows and all kinds of cool stuff. I might be able to get better results from these new tuts, as soon as I can go through them.

www.blender.org
www.gimp.org

I'll add more pics and stuff later, I'm going out to Hoquiam so I'll get an update in among these cool scheduled posts when I can.

Wish-list Book: Introducing Character Animation with Blender.
http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/product_info.php?products_id=95

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Outer Space

2008-08-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

The Above is WIP Proteus, Step 2, mesh detail added, Preliminary textures added.
The Below is WIP Proteus, Step 3, mesh detail added, Preliminary textures added.

Greetings from Outer Space!

I'm going sci-fi geek with my renders of science fiction space ships lately, my current WIP Proteus, is my latest and greatest effort and a near-photo-quality spaceship.

WIP Proteus, Step 3, mesh detail added, Preliminary textures added.

I'd love some feedback to know just how much rambling about any given subject I provide, I can be verbose and have been accused of having "Logorhea" or Diarhea of Words I suppose. so let me know.

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Welcome to the Show

2008-08-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings and Salutations!

I am Andy/Aerik Forager, I am a 3-d artist. I have many other interesting bits about me that you'll probably pick up along the way.

The above image is the first render of my new Work In Progress, WIP henceforth, Proteus. At this point in the modelling proccess it isn't much more than a simple Earth, Moon and Volume Mesh stand in for the ship.

I'm using the WONDERFUL OPEN SOURCE 3D MODELLING SOFTWARE! Blender 3d and The Fabulous GIMP, an open source photoshop superior. I'll post more renders and modelling stuff later, doing the guest book report for Jackson Street Books on Anathem By Neal Stephenson!

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