Tertiarymatt

A typography test for an upcoming project, using my favorite poem-in-translation for the season. The design inspiration was the handwriting of Elizabeth I, sampled from a letter she wrote begging her sister, Queen Mary, not to throw her in the Tower of London. 

This is the first time I’ve created a font by myself, as opposed to just coming up with a style for hand-lettering or having a friend digitize it.

This needs a few tweaks, but it’s very close to what I was hoping for! So exciting.

Or is it the other way around? “Lady Gaga & the Muppets’ Holiday Spectacular” is a thing (I hesitate to call dignify it with another more precise term) that is airing on Thanksgiving.

“I was so excited when ABC called me about doing a holiday special this year,” Lady Gaga said. “I knew it just wouldn’t be a complete night of laughter and memories without the Muppets!”
“Can’t wait to see the gang again, and I hope Miss Piggy’s still not mad about Kermit,” she continued. “We’re just friends!”

I truly never thought I’d end up writing a head line like this one. That was because I assumed I was living in a logical universe. Not necessarily a universe guided by a supreme and wise being, but at least a universe where things made sense if you studied it enough. The people who came up with this must be taking drugs on a Keith Richards scale. That’s the only explanation that makes any sense.

I understand Muppets hanging out with entertainers. That was pretty much all of The Muppet Show. I even understand Muppets holiday specials with famous people because I’ve seen John Denver and the Muppets. I just don’t understand why Lady Gaga. I have no opinion about her one way or the other, but I refuse to believe that she is this generation’s John Denver.

Okay, I do have a lingering resentment about that Kermit dress.

According to Tough Pigs, also starring will be Sir Elton John, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, RuPaul, and Kristen Bell. Between Gaga, RuPaul and Elton John, that is going to be a huge amount of wildness and creativity, which is half of what the Muppets are all about. I assume that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kristen Bell are there to balance out and bring out the Muppets more sentimental side. At least, I hope that’s the intention, otherwise it’s back to my massive amounts of drugs theory.

This astounding spectacle will air November 28 at 9:30pm ET. I, along with other Muppet fans and Gaga’s Little Monsters, will probably be watching and maybe things will make more sense then.

‘This mix is a small selection of the music I was listening to as the idea for the Submit label solidified, plus a few tracks from the first two releases. Like Perc Trax, Submit will focus more on an identifiable sonic aesthetic than aiming for a particular genre or demographic. It is hard to describe what I want for Submit, but I instantly know if something does not fit with my vision for the label.  Expect rhythmic tracks you can drop out to, noise tracks that make you want to move and the kind of music you dream of hearing in a club but which is a world away from what you hear in most clubs.’ – Perc

The 1st release on the Submit label comes from ‘Perc & EinstÜrzende Neubauten‘ with an EP titled – Interpretations (Released: Oct 2013 – Catalogue Number: SUBMIT001)

(Words: Boomkat) Avowed Einstürzende Neubauten fiend Ali Perc gives his favourite band a noise techno makeover. Interpreting tracks from the group’s 1982 release, ‘Stahldubversions’, he submits four tracts of grotty, clanking rhythmic noise faithful to the original material. On top is an infectiously noisy, steaming overhaul of ‘Sado-Masodub’ cutting between coruscating, white hot rhythms and teasing slivers of pitching synth pads beside a brittle but roiling rework of ‘Riveradub’ that comes off like the most brutal Caustic Window sessions. Down below, the sparse, corrugated rattle of ‘Liebesdub’ is reworked with additional subbass pressure and deft spring reverb to darkest effect recalling recent Ekoplekz mutations, whilst the highlight, ‘Lünebest’ locks into a tunnel of gutter bass effluence and malleable white noise strafed with glimpses of positive, futurist synth. It’s arguably one of the best, and most apt, noise techno statements from the current resurgence. Big tip!

 

I figured out your sexy halloween costume for you

I warned you the comics would be getting dorkier over time. I WARNED YOU.

Also, have I mentioned lately that my choose your own adventure book is available in APP form?

(via Hark, a vagrant: 351)

So perfect.

Some Rules On Comments: please refrain from commenting on theories you develop, details you notice, etc which may be viewed as spoilers. This story is a mystery, and so being clever and “figuring something out” is cool, but posting it is not, it’s a potential spoiler.

Monday I did tech work for my sweetie who was setting up a new computer system. Ah well, despite it being me it still might work.

Tuesday went to open drawing studio again.

And Felix Baumgartner fell from the Stratosphere (link in case the video isn’t showing). I get queezy just watching it. The spinning! :-/

Permission to be nerds here? Hell with it, I'm giving myself permission.

I made I WANT TO BELIEVE because I still really, really love RSS no matter how many people say it's dead. You will want to grab this one quickly, as I don't think I'm printing any more.

Also! A bonus shirt today, from Warren Ellis and Ariana.

It's almost Goth Xmas! Are there BLOOD WORMS in your stockings yet??

This beautiful creature photographed by Andrew Hogg is not actually a “blue wasp” but a great black wasp, Sphex pensylvanicus. According to John Ascher of BugGuide.net, only the wings are blue. It belongs to the family Sphecidae, the thread-waisted wasps, and if you look carefully at the photo, you can see the very thin connection […]

Tonight's comic may be too sad for 80s video game fans.a

HONEY SOURCED FROM AN AUSTRALIAN native myrtle tree has been found to have the most powerful anti-bacterial properties of any honey in the world and could be used to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections that commonly occur in hospitals and nursing homes. See the full story

We see hundreds of bees on these, what we call, yellow tea tree blossoms.

Above IMAGE and more botanical information at Noosa's Native Plants.

Beautiful blossoms of the lemon scented tea tree from Trees in Newcastle

How sweet it tasted!

Today, we take a look at the third installment in Vin Diesel’s sci-fi franchise. Not a perfect film, but not exactly horrible either.

Neill Blomkamp might be the next big thing in the science fiction genre. The South African director exploded onto the scene in 2009 with District 9. The quasi-documentary about aliens in Johannesburg topped $100 million at the domestic box office and worked its way into IMDB’s rankings of the top 250 films of all time (#230 at this writing). In an era starved for originality, Blomkamp’s unique style and storytelling was a ray of light.

After four years behind the curtain, Blomkamp re-emerged this summer with his sophomore effort, Elysium. But despite the buzz leading up to the film and the casting of a bonafide star in Matt Damon, to this point, Elysium hasn’t elicited a huge response. Sure, it’s made its money back at the box office (even if it trails District 9 in total receipts) and critics have given it a pass. But it’s certainly not the mainstream breakthrough that some might have anticipated for Blomkamp.

Still, in the aftermath of Elysium, the sense I get about Blomkamp is that despite being underwhelmed, the public has not soured on him. There is still hope that greatness may be in his future.

But I have to question whether Blomkamp really has that much more to say. As distinct as Blomkamp’s style is from other directors, District 9 and Elysium have an eerily similar look. Sci-fi robotics in the shantytown. And there isn’t much divergence in the several short films Blomkamp made before being discovered by Peter Jackson either (robots and aliens as metaphors for the marginalized in society).

And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Scorsese makes a lot of mob movies. Judd Apotow makes a lot of white-people-problem movies. But how much more shantytown sci-fi does anyone really have an appetite for? Sure, it was original in District 9, but in Elysium it already feels familiar. That’s why I’m keen to see where the chips fall with Blomkamp’s next project . Blomkamp plans to follow-up District 9 and Elysium with Chappie. Entertainment Weekly reports that Chappie will follow the story of “a robot that gets abducted by a pair of gangsters, played by Die Antwoord’s Ninja and Yolandi Visser.”

Robotics? Check.

Poverty? Check.

And who or what is Die Antwoord? I’m going to have to defer to the picture here.

And here is a video. But as strange as Ninja and Yolandi Visser (who, like Blomkamp, both hail from South Africa) appear to be , their vibe seems a pretty natural fit into the Blomkamp universe.

I’m intrigued by Chappie. And I’ve certainly enjoyed tracking Blomkamp thus far. But I do wonder if the conversation on him is about to switch from “next big thing in sci-fi” to “really strange niche guy.”

Sand Prints is a series of ephemeral art created by environmental artist Ahmad Nadalian. Each site-specific piece is a small sculpture naturally blended into a beach or desert landscape. The sculptures become a part of the surrounding land and provide viewers with the opportunity to explore, touch, and even disrupt the final images.

In all of his work, the artist redefines ancient rituals and symbols in contemporary ways. This project is inspired by an ancient printing technique that used carved cylinders to create repeating patterns. Nadalian's modern-day carvings include living creatures like fish, snakes, and crabs, as well as floral patterns that he rolls along the surface of the sand to produce the long rows of repetitive illustrations.

The beauty of each piece is that the loose earth can hold the designs for only so long before the wind disrupts the arrangement or the tide washes it away. Through this fleeting process, Nadalian believes he is making an offering to the Earth, hoping to heal the spirit of our neglected environment. He says, "Art offers a blessing and hope for harmony with the past, with the earth, and the heavens."

Ahmad Nadalian's website
via [I Heart My Art]

Talking About Black Sabbath in a Time of Feckless Vulgarity | Hazlitt | Random House of Canada:

Of course, there are always those people who think any discussion of anything other than the music itself is just a component of the mindless vulgarity that comes along with this feckless age of ours. To them I say, “Yep.” I live in that vulgar, feckless age, and thus I like a bit of context. Music is swell, but it exists within the culture that surrounds it—a more banal sentence I hope to never write, but for some it must to be repeated. Look, I too wish the music of Black Sabbath were hoof delivered to Tony Iommi by daemon steeds snorting crimson flame, but it’s not. It’s music made by men—men who live in this world—so we discuss it accordingly. Part of the pleasure of not being badgers or rocks is that we can argue about a bunch of shit that “doesn’t matter” (ugh), so if you want to have a three-hour debate about the shifting sands of Dio vs. Ozzy favoritism equaling varying degrees of poseurdom, I’m with you, kid. But you have to let me care about Mr. Osbourne’s predilection towards sunglasses and slurring, too. One thing I will say about the music is, right off the bat, thank god this album isn’t atmospheric. There’s no atmosphere. Fuck an atmosphere. Doom in the last few years has been so far removed from the concept of, you know, actual doom it’s been essentially agnostic. I’d rather listen to Stryper than open-minded dudes who don’t at least dabble in Satan and/or methamphetamines. Just smoking enough grass that playing slowly seems like an existentially necessary idea isn’t the same as knowing perdition is real, and we’re all going. This is music that isn’t interested in just being the background noise on your headphones while you’re working on your Hentai Tumblr (full disclosure: I’m listening to 13 on my headphones while typing this, but I’m a professional).