Deus Ex Machina

Uncurbed Enthusiasm.

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:09:05 +0000

Flipping out like a Ninja will just have to wait until the next entry, I’m far more in the mood this week to uncontrollably blog all over this page about the highlights of the fortnight that has just been.

Firstly, a big prop to my esteemed friend and very talented author, David J Rodger. He’s recently pulled me out of a literary coma where I’d not read a book for over a year. He suggested that I would perhaps break the negative cycle of not reading by incorporating a book into my journeys to work. What better way to start than to read one of his?!

He kindly gave me an updated version of his fabulous novel ‘God Seed’. I’d first had the pleasure of reading it in 1996 when each chapter was fresh off the proverbial press. It was an honour to absorb this gripping, cinematic fusion of sci-fi and Lovecraftian horror so perfectly paced and vividly descriptive.

‘God Seed’ is set in a near future; the kind of world where cars have been replaced by aerodynes and the digital world has integrated itself into a tangible layer of reality. Think of a massively evolved version of the world of Cyberpunk and you wouldn’t be far off. The précis of the book describes the story thus:

ADAM KYLE, an acclaimed documentary filmmaker for Netwerk Zero, is covering a team of mercenaries engaged in corporate espionage. A company executive wants to smuggle stolen data to Cairo.
Fascist extremists, Islamic terrorists, corrupt government officials and a religion as old as Mankind become fused into a gruesome knot of lies, treachery and murder. Kyle finds himself struggling to save the documentary and his life as a violent ambush launches him onto a dramatic quest that pulls him across the globe, and beyond, into the heart of a monstrous ceremony.

Which eloquently summarises the essence of the story far better than I would have!

The updated version of ‘God Seed’ thankfully doesn’t deviate a great deal from the original 1996 version. Since the primary draft, David has written several other novels that occupy the same universe as the one in which ‘God Seed’ takes place. As these other stories have progressively fleshed out the world with history , characters and technological advancements, David has cleverly retro-fitted his seminal work to bring it in line with the stories that followed on from it. A feat he has accomplished skilfully!

Reading it again was like being reacquainted with a long lost friend, I found myself being equally gripped, horrified and enthralled as I was fourteen years ago. I love a story that becomes so absorbing that the world around me begins to fade out, Its words must pour through my eyes until I forget that they are even reading in the first place. David is an author who easily achieves this with his gift for story telling and masterfully demonstrates his skills in God Seed with brutal precision.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. You can buy ‘God Seed’ here. Also worth a visit:
David’s web site

During the week that I immersed myself in the book ‘God Seed’, I also totally fell in love with a new iPhone App called RJDJ, which is another totally immersive kind of experience.

Here’s a brief introduction.

In essence, the music tracks are actual software (as opposed to being a standard audio file) that listens and reacts to all external input via the iphone’s mic. Certain tracks are designed to build up in complexity as more external noise is encountered, or to become mellow as your environment quietens. When selecting a track to listen to, you become a fundamental aspect of how the tune or soundscape develops depending on your surroundings and even subtle nuances of movement picked up by the iphone’s accelerometer.
The software really show’s itself at its best when playing tracks created by KIDS ON DSP or by Little Boots. Both acts have really created some gorgeous electronica that reacts brilliantly to the listener’s input. It makes you feel very much a part of the musical experience rather than a passive listener. It really should be tried to be fully understood.

I accept that this may all seem something of an iPhone praising section of this blog, however as far as I understand, the software developers of RJDJ are currently writing the same software for other phone platforms as well. Android anyone?....

Well anyway, walking through town, taking a bus, popping into the supermarket have all taken on added dimensions since discovering RJDJ. At its very worst, some of the tracks (Known as scenes) have been reminiscent of the kind of auditory hallucinations I remember encountering when coming up on magic mushrooms!

The thing to bring into mind when dealing with this sort of software is to recognise the tremendous amount of potential it will bring with it as development gradually reaches greater heights. The stand out pieces have been created by musicians who have developed scenes that already contain interactive rhythm and melody. I would imagine as more groups decide to experiment with creating scenes, the more spectacular and innovative the results will be. I’m personally hoping that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has discovered the RJDJ software, it is perfectly suited to his particular bent for experimental musical mediums.

From a user end point of view, there is equal potential for infinite combinations of music that you love. I noted listening to Kids On DSP whilst on the London Underground, that certain tracks built to rhythmic crescendos at the times the train got into busier areas such as the more central stations. This in turn very much suited the momentum of my travel and the energy of moving through London making it a very personalised experience. Having seen the 1970’s and 80’s regurgitated at the end of the last millennium, then more depressingly into the new one, I find it a great relief that things that seem to belong firmly in the 21st century appear to be happening. RJDJ is one of them, it whispers of delights to come!

RJDJ Is available as a free app from the iTunes store, most of the experimental scenes are free. Those with small charge e.g Little Boots, Kids on DSP and AIR , are well worth buying and can be previewed on the RJDJ homepage here

And then there was Rammstein...

I’m going to attempt to explain why this was the best live act that I’ve seen in my life. Furthermore, how I expect that there’s a fairly good chance I’ll not see anything that equals it for at least another decade (If ever) unless it happens to be another Rammstein concert.

Tanya & I had reluctantly sold our tickets to see them play in 2004, clashes with work schedules, the expense of staying in London, loss of earnings on either side of the concert had made us conclude that it just wasn’t going to justify the total expense. We later heard of a legendary concert that we’d missed and felt generally gutted.

I’d not really paid Rammstein much attention since 2005’s mostly disappointing album ‘Rosenrot’; it just didn’t hit the mark for me, I kind of felt that they were a band who’d already reached their peak and this album was indicative of a general decline. In retrospect, I was wrong. DEAD WRONG.

In September last year we noted that Rammsetin were touring to support their extremely excellent album ‘Liebe ist für alle da’ and just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see them this time. Sod the expense!

On February the 4th, Rammstein played to a sold out Wembley Arena.

I used to think it was an age thing; the last few bands I’d seen live (Including NIN and Ministry) had been excellent but had left me feeling a bit of a fuddy duddy. I just didn’t go crazy like I used to when I was younger man. I just assumed that that kind of crazy dancing excitement was a thing of the past. Um,... WRONG!

I was feeling generally underwhelmed and “I’ve seen this ,heard this all before” when the support band ‘Combichrist’ performed. It set me in that general mood and expectancy for when Rammstein would play.

After the hiatus of the ‘break before the main act’ had drawn to a close, the arena was cast into blackness. The low synthesised drone of the opening track ‘Rammlied’ began to build and was suddenly accompanied by blazing white light physically punching through previously blackened walls on the main stage. The white lights intensified as the holes got bigger, the music grew louder and two band members emerged from the freshly destroyed holes. While this was happening, I thought “Oh GOD, I hope this isn’t going to be like a Spinal Tap gig!’ I then noticed that the sparking intense light of a Oxyacetylene torch was appearing to cut an oval path around the centre of the stage, this was quickly followed by the oval path exploding outwards with another piercing light as the frontman Till Linderman appeared from a giant glowing oval hole. The song ‘Rammlied’ kicked in fully as the stage was suddenly illuminated revealing the rest of the band against a backdrop that resembled gigantic claw marks...as if some giant beast had punctured its way into our world.

It was a really impressive opening, It had somehow managed to completely avoid being naff in spite of having all the potential ingredients for being so.

(Slideshow photography courtesy of several Flickr users who attended the event. Click on slideshow to see larger images)

I quickly went from generally impressed to being in complete awe when the next song ‘Buckstabu’ began. It was the combination of the pale metalic lighting, coupled with the guitarists grinding out razor sharp, robotic riffs as twenty ft columns of CO2 smoke blasted up from vents in the floor beside them. Did I mention the subsequent on-stage explosions and pyrotechnics?

The thing is, the whole concert was symphonic. I say that with the intention of conveying the fact that like a symphony, the concert went through various movements, gradually building layer upon layer. It wasn’t just the music, it was also the variety of lighting, it was the way that the stage at first resembled a platform with a giant torn looking backdrop, that then revealed something that looked like a Nikola Tesla inspired laboratory behind it, that then transformed into a space-age warehouse, that then transformed into a futuristic industrial factory, that finally became an almighty self transforming machine.

It was the way that everything was choreographed with jaw dropping precision, musicians performing with mechanical intensity as fireballs and explosives detonated all around them. Yet the music didn’t falter or miss a beat for all the apparent carnage happening around it. Have a look at the video for ‘Ich tu dir weh’, it very closely, in a condensed fashion resembles the sound and look of the live tour for 2009-2010

The audience were worked up into a frenzy as the evening progressed. It was hard not to, as each song revealed a new facet of this futuristic rock’n roll hyper-drama.

After two stomping encores, the concert came to an end. It seemed fitting that the lingering image was four massive pulsing, mechanical columns of light pumping out dry ice as the band exited. The self transforming machine of the stage was activating its coolant system. Obviously.

I know that other stadium capacity bands have pulled off stunts like stage theatrics, fireballs,dramatic lighting rigs etc. But I can only emphasise, Rammstein have perfected all of those dynamics to such a degree that you cannot escape the fact that they have incorporated the cutting edge of presentation into their live performance. This is compounded by the knowledge that they pull it off without a single hitch. The band kind of morph with the scenery and become an industrial, six man cyborg moving as one.

I’ve given quite a bit of thought as to why Rammstein live has left me with a high that has lasted over a week since the event. It is all of the above, it is also mainly the fact that during the evening Tanya and I both forgot ourselves completely, danced our arses off with utter elation amongst nine thousand plus other people who felt the same way. We were like teenagers again.

In other ways, it’s a pity. Rammstein have pretty much ruined other live acts for me; If I go to see someone else, they may put on a good show, but I know in the back of my mind i’ll be hearing a voice saying “Yeah they were alright, but they weren’t exactly Rammstein were they!” And it will be a correct observation.

This ties things up for this entry, I know this blog has a readership of sorts; I think I’d still journal out my thoughts and experiences even if there was nobody looking. It’s the 21st century way of keeping a diary, albeit buried in the infinite mound of all the other global websites and blogs. Invisibility in the crowd!

Next time I’ll deliver the rant I promised you, It has been brewing for some time.

Here we go again...

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 13:39:51 +0000

And so it begins again.

On the most part I really enjoyed 2009, I kept active, had a roof over my head, didn’t go hungry and was loved. I didn’t see my friends quite as much as I’d have liked to but it seems that we all share a similar modern condition that I don’t think has been officially named but I would label ‘Chronic business’. Life is full on and there’s always so much to do. If I have one resolve for 2010, then it will be to balance being social a little more.

December 2009 was an enjoyable month in spite of the seasonal madness that gets filed under ‘Christmas’. In adulthood I have found that I have to define to myself what it is all about in preference to either being told that It’s:

1. A season to be fucking jolly.
2. To celebrate the birth of Barry Christ into the world.
3. To spend,spend,SPEND!
4. Show good will to all men.

ALL MEN ?! Jesus...

The true meaning of the mad season (to me) Is to celebrate the good fortune of having friends and family, the love we have for each other, the gesture of giving gifts that we hope each other will like whilst the year draws to a close and we punctuate the occasion with a gathering. I count these and other blessings, I know how fortunate I am to enjoy such things in this life.

This year the gathering was at my Mother’s house in Romsey, where we spent a very enjoyable three days with Mum, my sister and Mum’s fella. We had a lovely time and consequently the trip was over as quickly as It had begun.

“Oh HIAB-X You can be so disgustingly vague!”

I know, I know, dear reader, but you ARE the Internet and you COULD be a bloody looney toon or the stalkery type couldn’t you! Still, I don’t want you to feel completely excluded, this is a blog after all. Here’s a little clip of my family’s Christmas shenanigans.

Now, onto something I can talk about without much self censorship.The circus! :

Firstly, I’d like to briefly gush about James Cameron’s cinematic 3D extravaganza that is ‘Avatar’ the movie. I didn’t want to get my hopes too high as much hype surrounded its making and release. Ordinarily, with such pre-release ‘Bigging-up’ many movies have only managed to disappoint their audiences when they finally make it into the bloody arena of public consumption. I’m happy to say that ‘Avatar’ lived up to the mountainous volume of hype that surrounded it.

The story itself isn’t particularly mind blowing, in many ways it made me think that it was Disney-movie-esque, insofar as it was a simple tale of *Spoilers start* damaged soldier-boy working for dodgy nasty interplanetary deforesting company, gets sent to beautiful alien world to trick spiritual aliens into giving up their wonderful habitat. In the process, soldier boy finds his heart, realises that he’s working for the bad guys, falls in love with the pretty female alien love interest and becomes a heroic butt-kicking corporation-bashing eco-warrior who saves the planet and gets the girl and is finally healed. *Spoilers end*

Actually, although the plot was riddled with well trodden plot devices, it was thoroughly enjoyable and designed to please a universal audience. The film really transcends the average movie blockbuster experience by delivering truly jaw-dropping 3D visuals from start to finish. Believe me dear voyeur, I’m reasonably hard to impress as far as gasping in amazement goes, yet at times during Avatar, I did just that. This in turn lead me to grin from ear to ear throughout most of the film. Cameron’s vision of a tropical, living, alien world is absolutely stunning and so rich in colour and detail. Combined with the best 3D cinematography I have ever seen, I felt that the movie was probably the closest I will get within my lifetime of experiencing another habitable planet. Avatar goes beyond being a movie, it is equally an experience. If you haven’t been to see this film at the cinema yet, do so now!

Much to my surprise, my wife had expressed a keen interest in getting a Nintendo Wii console at some point. I say ‘surprise’ because I’d taken it that she just wasn’t into gaming as a form of being entertained. I’d tried to indoctrinate her into the world of Playstation on several occasions and found that my efforts were rendered useless
as she failed to come to grips with using the controller.It might as well have been a football.

Christmas came and went, Santa dropped a popular gaming console beneath the Christmas tree for the Lady Miss T. And now, I must take my metaphoric hat off to Nintendo for succeeding in every area where Sony and myself failed, for they have made a console that really does convert the female, non-gamer demographic. Alright, part of the success must be attributed to the whole concept of what is now known as ‘Wii Fit’. It stealthily slips under the radar as being a ‘Fitness package’ that can be used in the home as an alternative to spending a shed load of hard earned cash on an annual gym membership. What It also does is introduces the casual/non-gamer into the realm of identifying with an on screen character whilst using a sublimely designed game controller. Ah you cunning Nintendo people!

So, Miss T was suddenly getting into switching on a console and using virtual environments to frolic in the name of fitness. I’d previously looked down on the Wii as a gimmicky games console that couldn’t match the technological power-houses that are the PS3 and Xbox 360. I now know how mistaken I have been with this ill considered opinion. For a start, I can now appreciate how the Wii encourages a significant degree of physical activity in its user participation. The titles I have played so far: Wii Sports, Wii sports resort, Wii fit, Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles and Dead Space Extraction all require a fair degree of arm waving, knee bending body movement to control and therefore cause the player to be physically engaged in the business of having fun.

I also have to admit total amazement at how the Wii has created the appropriate conditions where I can now sit and happily play something like Dead Space with my wife being a willing co-op player helping me dismember hordes of Necromorphs. I’m feeling the need to pinch myself whilst typing! ;-)

This neatly allows me to briefly mention games I’m currently enjoying. You’ll have to excuse my briefness on these at the moment, I’ve only got so much time to blog...

Batman Arkham Asylum PS3
Beautifully rendered, sublimely designed for ease of play, great character acting, sprawling gothic environments, puzzle, combat and exploration mechanics all wrapped up stunningly in the Batman universe. What isn’t there to like about it? (Unless you don’t like Batman!)

Modern Warfare 2 PS3
High octane, High Definition, Realistic FPS combat, raising the bar on what can be achieved on the current generation of consoles. Superb story, co-op and multi player modes offer a worryingly addictive gameplay experience. It really gives me high hopes for what the inevitable Killzone 3 will be like.

Dead Space Extraction Wii
The original 2008 ‘Dead Space’ became a console defining, gaming experience for me. It was richly detailed, seamlessly cinematic in its delivery as something you can take equal delight in watching as you can in playing. Oh and it was bloody terrifying at times too. So I must say, when I heard that Visceral Games were going to create a Wii prequel, I was initially disappointed that non Wii users were going to be missing out...but then again, It was only the Wii wasn’t it!

WRONG!

Dead Space Extraction is an on ‘Rails’ shooter, which for those of you who have no idea what that means, is rather like being on a ghost train with machine guns mounted on the front carriage. You have no control over where your character travels but you DO have ultimate control over how they fight and ultimately survive the horrors that await them.
This is what Dead Space Extraction is all about and it succeeds admirably. The story is great, the action/combat is beautifully designed to make the most of the Wii controller system and the icing on the graphical cake, is that it is a visually awesome game considering the hardware limitations of the console it had been designed for. Here’s the trailer...

Roll on Dead Space 2...

Moving onto the iPhone.

My app of the month has to be ‘Vintage Video Maker’ (3GS only) from MacPhun. At £1.79 , this is clearly the most useful and enjoyable addition to my camera app collection so far. It does pretty much what it says it does, It converts video clips into something that looks far more rustic and quaint. The majority of the Christmas movie above was created using ‘VVM’, I used iMovie to add titles, soundtrack and join the clips together, other than that, the whole Super 8 effect was added in-phone by the application. I particularly like the way that it can make an otherwise mundane looking clip of everyday life suddenly look dynamic and charming like the old Cine-cams of yesteryear. The settings in VVM allow you manipulate the film speed (Regular to 3X speed) and also choose between black and white, 1920’s movie or 1960’s home movie. If you have an iPhone 3GS and are generally underwhelmed by the character of your video clips, Vintage Video Maker will give your filming sessions a whole new lease of life. Its great fun and so easy to use.

Anyway, enough of this reviewing business for this entry!
I hope that what I’ve mentioned here is of interest to those who are in touch with their inner geeks ;-) I’ll have to write a blog in ASCII some time...

Just Kidding.

OR AM I ?!

At some point in time, maybe next entry, I’m going to have to rant a bit. Lots of people all over the world vent their spleens about this and that so I think I’m going to as well. Come back here in a week or two and watch me go all HULK over your ass, shudder as I open a tin of whoop-ass, I’m going to explode, it’ll be terrifying. You’ll probably need counselling afterwards...perhaps then you’ll decide to ditch this modern life with all of its stresses and opt to join a commune of hippies instead. But beware of hippies, they should not be trusted, they make me angry and then you and I are back at square one again.

Think about it, OK? Just THINK about it; that’s all I have to say for now. Hmmm? Hmmm!

Stop Me Before I Blog Again!

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:25:14 +0000

Slightly later than intended, the latest in the series of underwhelming bloggery...

Going Deeper.

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:48:08 +0000

Just a short one. Believe it or not, I’m doing more with this web site than may appear on the surface.

As for the surface...

Well, I’ve had a much needed week of recuperation this week as half term at college has also coincided with my employer taking a week off from toil as well. To me this has been a week off from the routine of stone carving and general masonry.

The byproduct of which has been amongst other things: more vivid dreams, more expendable energy, more visual creativity and ...oh where did my week off go?

Well, as with most of these blog entries, the simple business of starting an entry winds up spanning a few days.

My week had a few stand-out highlights, my wonderful mother in law Heather, enjoyed her 80th birthday in our company . I had the pleasure of cooking her a birthday meal while she was pampered by the rest of the Rich posse.

On Wednesday evening, my old friend Dave came over for a long overdue catch up. LONG OVERDUE.
Traditionally, we managed to shoot the breeze over beer, technology chat, the Playstation and Youtube clips. Great!
Our evening concluded with a couple of games of Buzz on the PS3.

And that was that, I ran into problems with doing some simple adjustments to this blog;next thing I know its a fortnight later.

This is Cap’n Crappo signing out. More disjointed entries next w.......//////////@£££££$%%%%%%%^^^^^..÷÷…æ“

So Anyway...

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:40:18 +0100

Christ, how long does it take for me to write a blog entry? I’ll plead the usual ‘Keeping busy’ line but really its an uncomfortable case of being acutely aware that twaddling on about myself really demands a very limited audience , Is it really that interesting?

Hardly the spirit of blogging is it ?...

Then again, nine hundred and something tumbleweeds have drifted through my front page since rebooting this site so perhaps I’m not as dull as I sometimes imagine!

Here’s the news:

I’ve been working on this house...

I must say It is bloody gorgeous, just the sort of house I’ve been gagging to work on. It has also allowed me to put my acquired masonry skills to work as the job has involved repairing and replacing stone that has seen better days.
It looks like the job may be on-going as the building needs a fair amount of t.l.c.

Creativity outside of the racy word of stone masonry has been rather thin off the ground generally, although I have been having tremendous fun with my iPhone’s camera, especially the Kaleidoscope application that allows you to convert the world around you into kaleidoscopic tessellations then photograph the results:

Much hilarity ensued.

Talking of hilarity, I’ve been loving the track ‘Devil Cock’ by the band Revolting Cocks.

I think it’s the combination of the ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’/over the top, Satanic guitar riff and the fact that you can hear a cockerel’s cry in the chorus of “DEVIL COCK!” Great fun.
I suppose religious types of the Christian persuasion wouldn’t necessarily ‘get it”.

Well anyway, Revco’s ‘Cocked and Loaded’ album was a very pleasing discovery to plug one of the holes left in my musical universe by the disbandment of Ministy.

On a completely different note I’ve been also rediscovering the music of New Model Army. They’ve had a bit of a twenty year hiatus from my music collection, It shames me to admit . I more or less wrote them off as a ‘band of my teens’ and almost forgot how good their music actually is.

On the upside of this recent rediscovery; I’ve fallen in love with their music all over again, with the added benefit of being older and wiser, having lived a few years- the music is far deeper and meaningful than my seventeen year old ears would have ever appreciated.

NMA are a great British band and I’m delighted to find that they are still active. Here’s their Last FM page.

When free time permits, I tend to unwind with a stint on the PS3. My current love affair in gaming is for Bethesda’s masterpiece - “Fallout 3”.

Here’s the trailer:

Here’s the Wikipedia page about the game.

I could have written my own review but 1. I don’t have the time to ramble in depth about why the game is so cool...seriously I could write an epic. 2. If you are actually interested in my opinion, then you are probably also into gaming , therefore you can get a much better feel for whether this is your sort of thing by doing your own digging around online. All I can add really is that I bought a second hand copy back in March, I’ve put a substantial amount of accumulative hours into the game since then. To date, I haven’t seen everywhere in the games giant sprawling post apocalyptic environment, it is huge. HUGE! Then there’s the additional content, and I haven’t even dipped a little toe into that yet.

Right, I’ve been tapping away for some time this evening, so I’m going to end this post here. (Mumbles something about taking less time between blogging updates in future)

More soon, comments, discussion always welcome, just don’t try selling me Viagra or fucking Casino sites.

M X