Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Three hundred, sixty-six.

On New Years Eve, there are many types of posts one could make. Ponderous, looking back, hypothesizing about the future, and the obligatory angst-ridden "where-do-I-fit-into-all-of-this-mess". But instead because I don't have the patience nor time to do any of those, I'm going to do a quick ramble about a challenge I accepted early this year. Frank challenged me to do one sketch for every day of 2008. Starting out it was a pretty intimidating task. Insult was added to injury when we discovered it was actually a leap year and oh yeah I guess that means we need to do one more.

I technically accepted the challenge and started one week into 2008. I needed to do a wee bit of catchup to be on schedule, but on January 7th I did my first sketch:



Over the next dozen months I produced a plethora of horrible sketches, but sprinkled in were the odd gem. Some I really had to work at, some that simply surprised me. It's hard to believe how much is there now that it's done. Going back and sifting through I find myself going "oh yeah, I remember that one."

In any event, I've now arrived at #366 - the very last sketch of the year.



Do you see improvement? Is it better? Worse?

Personally, it looks like it's more realistic. I'm not sure if I'd be confident it labeling it under the 'better' category, but I think it's certainly seems like 365 small steps up from #1. I do, however, lament a certain loss of... Style. Perhaps, rather, I should be looking at it as a development of a new style and ability instead. But you can't deny that the first sketch has its own charm to it.

And so that's it for now. I will, without a doubt, keep doing this in 2009 - I can't believe I haven't been doing it much much longer. It's something that I think about and has become a valuable part of my day-to-day life. If I were to go without it, I just don't think it'd nearly be the same.

So when you read this, Frank, I want to say a huge THANK YOU. I had no idea it'd be such a positive impact. Thank you for getting me off my arse and commit to regularly developing my skill. I couldn't have done it without your efforts as well, I truly enjoyed sifting through your sketch dumps on Flickr. Cheers bro, we made it. Congrats.

The whole set of sketches from 2008 can be found right here. Curious about the reference I used for sketches #1 and #366? That's right here. As for 2009, well... Give it 24hrs. There'll be a link in the next post for sure.

Happy New Years everyone. Keep your pen, pencil, brush, stylus or whatever weapon of choice busy in 2009.
-Cril

Ramsey Lewis - What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Monday, December 29, 2008

Icy works of art

Whelp, I'm back. Hope everyone had a good Christmas or whatever it is you celebrate. Mine almost didn't happen - the weather was pretty vicious. Flights were delayed and canceled, but luckily I didn't get intertwined in the latter.

But I got where I needed to go, and I had a great time staying with the family and relaxing and getting a whole lot of nothing accomplished. We messed around at Harrison Lake - the weather was so freakishly cold that the lagoon had completely frozen over. Although we probably could have walked straight across it, we were a bit more cautious. Didn't stop us from slipping and sliding and examining patterns in the ice a few meters from "shore". On the outside of the lagoon where the lake hits the rock was spectacular. The wind coming of the water was bitterly cold, but all the rocks had been frozen over by the waves. Who knew there could be a winter wonderland in our own backyard?

On Christmas Eve were were supposed to go visit my sister/brother in law's place, but the snow was so thick that we could barely see beyond the car in front of us, and our wipers were collecting ice faster than discarding it. We had to turn back for home while there was still light out, the usual 30-minute drive lasting closer to an hour. By the time we got back it was indeed dark anyways, but we went sledding in the parking lot. We brought two sleds and rope and tied it to the back of the car while our Dad whipped us around the powdered parking stalls. Good times - 20km/h seems infinitely faster when you're holding onto a plastic sled for your life before tumbling into a snow drift. The powder was so thick that you totally got blinded going through it, and just had to hope for the best. Good times.

Alas, it's nice to be back. But it sucks to have had to leave.

The Christmas haul didn't include anything over-the-edge spectacular. I got a comic, a few interesting books, some new music, old movies on DVDs, and two games (one of which is GTA4, more on that later). Oh, and $80 too, but I have no idea what to spend it on. Steam has a massive crazy-go-nuts awesome sale, so I may spend ~$25 and pick up a few odds and ends.

I'm super stuffed-up right now. I think it was being around the cats at home that did it, but I cannot breathe through either nostril at the moment. They're dammed up real good, ain't nothing getting in or out. I've been blowing and wiping so much that I suspect my face will soon take after the Sphinx. Between that and the traveling around, I'm not really in tip-top shape at the moment.

On the good side I get Thursday and Friday off this week, so I'll have four straight days of get-stuff-done goodness. I have to work on a commissioned (!!) poster for the library in my home town, which needs to be done rather quickly. It's not really as impressive as it sounds, but it's a few extra bucks and something fun to do.

The rest of the long weekend I will likely spend a large portion of time playing GTA4. Let me try to keep this short, because I know it's something that can get me really riled up and long-winded.

Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC is the very definition of what's wrong with PC gaming. I had to download and install three separate updates, two of which had nothing to do with the game itself. There is something wrong when you need to create two separate logins for two separate programs so that you can play and just save a single player game. Games for Windows Live is a clunky, poorly implemented and useless tool that does nothing but bog the experience down. There is absolutely no need for the Rockstar Social Club. The CD key had one too many sets of digits, the game took WAY too long to install, it's optimized very poorly (40FPS @ 1280x960 with low settings on a duo core 3.33GHz, 4GB RAM, 9600GT. SERIOUSLY?) Okay, there's a lot more to be said here, but I need to move onto other things tonight. Suffice it to say that if I could I would have Steam's babies - this whole debacle makes me clearly see how incredibly superior it is in every way.

In appreciation for Rockstar and Microsoft's efforts, here is something I'd like to plant squarely in the middle of their collective face.



You may notice that that image number is 363. I've since done 364 and 365. One remains. Stay tuned for a special New Year's Eve edition.
-Cril

Silence of an airborne night
Push high above the roof
Daughters of the Red lights blind
The icy works of art
The city lights and restless nights
Go once upon the Lord
You and I will lie beside the fire sparked from boards

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas Music

There are many many reasons I'm not fond of Christmas music. Especially the kind which you hear in 95% of public places. Radio stations, store playlists, TV shows, stereo/sound system demos... The problem is that so much of this music is absolute crap. It's a cliche cover of a tired and exhausted song that lost its appeal far too long ago. But hey, if the artiste can turn a quick buck by rehashing old into something incredibly unremarkable, why not?

Why not? Because that isn't what music should be about. I don't want to hear your song unless you're trying to prove a point or exercise unique skill and talent or if you personally feel that there is some degree of merit to your creation. If you're the twelfth person I hear that day belting out "Rudolph the Reded Nose Reindeer" in that frikkin' annoying warbly voice that's so common in Pop these days... Guess what? You have no artistic integrity. You are a waste of my time. If you're not going to make an effort, why should I be subjected to your pathetic excuse to expand your bland and featureless repertoire?

Right now in my music library I have 173 Christmas songs. Four of which I have ranked a 5/5.

Elf's Lament by the Barenaked Ladies feat. Michael Buble
The song earns points for being a) original and b) not consisting of the sired and overused Christmas themes. It's essentially a song about Elves unionizing against Santa. Musically I guess it isn't anything truly spectacular. Although the trio of vocals are well balanced (Page, Robertson, and Buble) and the song is full of jaunty energy, it's relatively simple and repetitive. But as with many of the Barenaked Ladies songs that I obsess over so much, it's the lyrics that really get to you. The rhyme scheme keeps you on the toes and the subject matter is hilarious.
And I quoth:

We're used to repetition, so we drew up a petition
We, the undersigned, feel undermined
Let's redefine "employment"

We know that we've got leverage, so we'll hand the fat man a beverage
And sit back while we attack the utter lack of our enjoyment

It may be tough to swallow, but our threats are far from hollow
He may thunder, but if he blunders, he may wonder where the toys went


It's quirky, it's amusing and it's so utterly *different*.

Carol of the Bells by The Barenaked Ladies
Yes, I am quite a Barenaked Ladies fanboy of epic proportions. But you know how I said part of the reason I liked the group was for their lyrics? Well, this song ain't got none. They really are versatile musicians - this piece leans heavily on the old type of keyboard organ that your grandmother has in the basement. You know, the one with all the switches you'd play with as a child pretending your were doing something extraordinary because there's nothing else at grandma's house to do. It constantly replays the four-note melody of the piece, accompanies by the slightest percussion - nothing but soft hits of a cymbol. But as it progresses...

There's a subtle oppressive tone. It's the very last thing you'd expect from a rehash of a Christmas song, really. Then the simple vocals and guitar come in creating this wonderful polyphonic immersion. The guitar trades off for a stand-up base, the music swells... And slowly unravels into a dark ending.

It's this kind of dissonance and cacophony that completely draws me in. Sure, it's a Christmas tune... But it feels heavy and bleak. But it's not too strong - you don't come out feeling depressed so much as a slight shade of melancholy. It's so subtle and gentle. You can't quite be sure that it's there, but it silently intruiges the darker places of your mind.

God Rest Ye Marry Gentlemen by the Starlite Orchestra
My brother got a 'Big Band Christmas' CD album many years ago from one of those discount bins in Wal-Mart. Sure the style itself isn't as popular or common as it once was, but the majority of the tracks cater to a stereotypical swing-era rehash of classics. The blazing woodwinds, the strong belt-out female vocals... It's all there. A few of 'em have the allure of just being different from your everyday Christmas cover, but God Rest Ye Marry Gentlemen stands out on its own. This piece has two things in common with Carol of the Bells above. First is that it's the only other cover in my top four and second is that it likewise has no lyrics.

Being a fast paced, energetic big band piece it should be no surprise that the track only lasts 1:42. But it hits all the right movements - building up beginning foundations with trombones, a smooth and stylish saxophone section that picks up at the second verse, the blazing trumpet counter-melody that seamlessly swaps out with the saxes for melody itself. The drums cease while all three pound out their part to finish a movement, and come back in for a thick climax that lasts right through to the end with classic big band long. Slow. Single. Notes. Complete with timpani and all the trimmings.

The arrangement is done so well and the song itself is such a excellent fit for a swing rhythm. It comes together and meshes flawlessly, and no matter what section your pick out to listen to it all sounds tight, on time, and punctuated. A really talented group of musicians. The rest of the album reeks of fitting a specific criteria, but this one captures all the element of how big band music should feel.

Christmas Dreams by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
This song is an intriguing hybrid of mesmerizing lyrics, a catchy tune and unique styling. You're hard pressed to find any kind of symphonic rocl Christmas music that isn't the Trans Siberian Orchestra. And even though this may be a well populated genre for other themes the TSO certainly has their own unique edge. Every album has a story, quite literally. All the tracks fit together to form a larger picture and it's designed to be that way. Go ahead, pick an album - each one has a written plot to tie all the unique tracks together.

But what about Christmas Dreams in particular? It's hard to say, really. A good part of it comes from the vivid and driving lyrics. Without reading the whole story or listening to the album as intended it's probably pretty hard to decipher just what the song's trying to get at. But you know it's something good:

While she awaits ever patient
She awaits rarely seen
Still her moments are taken
For in the dead of the night
Gathering light
Christmas dreams

And a tear falls upon her snow-white hair
And it runs to the end where it lingers there
Then it falls through the air of a winter's sky
Till it captures a dream and it's crystallized

Let it go!
Let it go!
This old world that I know

For soon everything will be changing
In a single glance
Where it all enchants
And every hope is worth saving


Yeah, parts of it are kinda Christmas-cutesy that make you want to roll your eyes, but the delivery is just so well done. The male vocalist has a very bold and harsh style that might come off as rather overbearing. But the inflections and stresses rise and fall with the melody to match what's taking place in the words themselves.



And that's about it, really. There are plenty of original/less-traditional Christmas tunes between the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and the Starlite Orchestra that are actually pretty solid. Finding new unconventional or innovative songs can be pretty tough - we've been so bombarded by more of the same that it feels a bit uncomfortable to look for something new or fresh to listen to. It's out there if you look for it, but you definitely would find it while strolling the isles of any given department store in December.

If I don't come 'round these parts until then, I hope everyone (re: my readership of 1.5) has a good Christmas.
-Cril

Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - John Denver & Ralph

Sunday, December 14, 2008

There’s an ancient hotel, where shadows they do tend to wander

You know all those posts I said I'd do during the week? Yeah, they totally didn't happen at all.

I mentioned that the constant and rhythmic disruptions in my work day were driving me kinda nuts. I had no idea just how nuts I was being driven. I kid you not, when Friday arrived I was convinced it was Thursday. And I'm not talking about the casual "What day is it today? Oh riiiight" or the less casual "I thought it was X day. Oh well, Y day makes more sense anyways". No I'm talking about being so freaking convinced it's one day, that you honestly don't believe when you're told what it actually is. And then bringing out your iPod and checking the date to be sure he isn't messing with you. And then wondering when the last time was that you updated your iPod, and whether or not it could somehow be messed up. Totally. Convinced. All of the sudden I lost one of the days of the week and I had no idea where it went. It doesn't help when you have so much to do that you really desperately need that day.

Alas, I got to work and checked my journal which informed me that I had, indeed, already worked Monday through Thursday. I checked an online calendar just to be sure.

Most of the week disappeared into nights spent getting odds and ends lined up for Christmas. I stayed late at the office one night to get some extra stuff done. Helped a friend with some artwork on another night. Helped another friend with another artwork on another night. And then I spent about 7.5hrs working up a gift for my Dad for Christmas/his birthday. It was supposed to be just for his bday, but it got so out of hand that there was no way I was going to let it be used for one gift if I could possibly avoid it. But I got it printed and framed to boost the value-to-gift ratio. I think it turned out really well, perhaps my most realistic piece so far. I still kind of like the old one I did a bit more, though. It has a bit more style and flare to it. The new one is rather... Generic.

Let's see... Last weekend there was also Staff Party A. We had it at the historic Heritage Park, where we did brunch and wandered around for a while. It snowed, like, almost a foot that morning. It was sickeningly Christmas-y picturesque. It was pretty neat.

Last night was Staff Party B, however, where we all built Pummer Lanterns. Lots of munchies, a gift exchange, hyper and burnt-out children, some aroma de soldeur, and a plethora of hand tools and LEDs strewn about the tables. A few of the guys got pretty jolly on some of the alki-haul, and I didn't quite get home until ~1AM. Throw in some shopping trips around the various corners of Calgary, some more arting, and another foot of snow... And that pretty much sums up the rest of the weekend.

Looking back I don't think I even got 3hrs of gaming in over the past week (gasp!). I'm glad that I was able to stick to what needed to get done.

Alas, there's more artwork to be done for a friend, gifts to finalize, work projects to finish, and preparations made for Christmas vacation. Which, by the way, starts for me on Friday morning, and not evening. I was hoping to get in a full day of work before coming home, packing, and going off to the airport... But some idiot (me) booked tickets for 8AM instead of PM. Go figure. It's like San Fransisco all over again. But with snow.

A roommate got engaged this weekend.
[insert three obligatory "and what have I accomplished" angst-ridden paragraphs here]
Congratulations to him.

IMAGE!



Ah, right. Another destroyer of time and space for this last week was the uploading of a bunch of old crap I've done. I used to have it all hosted on Allbrand, but they're not maintaining the site anymore, and they're deleting any images that haven't been viewed for x days. Thus, I've thrown 'em up on my Flickr account. You'll find sets for Old Drawings, Misc Art (including my charcoal drawings from a few years ago), and some random Odds and Ends from before the 365-sketch challenge.

Ok, that's about it for now. I'll try to get one more post up during the week, unless my mind eats another day of the week I can't get back.
-Cril

Windows of frosted ice
Prisming candlelight
And somehow we
Start to believe

In the night and the dream
As it cuts through the noise
With the whisper of snow
As it starts to deploy

In the depths of a night
That’s about to begin
With the feeling of snow
As it melts on your skin

And it covers the land
With a dream so intense
That it returns us all
To a child’s innocence

And then what you’d thought lost
And could never retrieve
Is suddenly there to be found
On Christmas Eve

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Lost Christmas Eve

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I think this is what going insane feels like.

Or perhaps something closer to ADD. Something about not being able to concentrate and constantly changing focus.

At work we're running two kinds of product through some machinery. This requires a tray for each model to be loaded, the machine configured, and the process started. About 2/3 of the way through the machining run you need to go back to the device and turn off a rather loud assist that has finished its cycle. One model takes about 60min to be machined, the other 22. It takes about ~15mins to unload either tray and reload it. So the way I figure it, the constant getting up to either turn off the assist or load/unload/restart the machine means that I don't even get to stay sitting at my desk for more than 30mins at a time, if I'm lucky.

I can really feel it start to yank at some of the plugs in my brain. I don't get to actually concentrate and work on any given thing for more than half-hour periods. Your concentration gets broken, you get up to complete Repetitive Task X for the nth time that day, then you get back and need to figure out where you left off. The whole day. Feels. Very stop. And. Go.

It wouldn't be so bad if either I was doing nothing but mobile odds-and-ends tasks all day, but I'm generally attempting to fry larger fish that tend to take more than 30mins to cook. So I've been trying to break up things into smaller chunks so that I can feel a bit more productive and be able to pickup where I left off quicker. But it's a hit-and-miss type of exercise in futility. It's really starting to get... Tedious and uncomfortable. But other people have way more important things to be doing, and I guess this would be divine retribution for not being able to get the catalogue together in time.

Oh well, I've been at it for two-and-a-half weeks now, that means there can't be that much left.

...

Right?



I'll try and squeeze out a few more updates as the week rolls on in lieu of the traditional weekend post I missed. Forgive that and the numerous spelling/grammatical errors - I'm "not firing on all four cylinders", as they say.
-Cril

Here we are in the pouring home
I watch the light man fall the comb
I watch a light move across the screen
I watch the light come over me

Here we are now going to the west side
Weapons in hand as we go for a ride
Some may come and some may stay
Watching out for a sunny day where there's

Love and darkness and my sidearm
Hey, elan

Moby - Southside

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Winter in Ganymede

Autumn is a beautiful thing. It's like nature fires off one last, brilliant burst of energy that flares into the most stunning colours you've ever seen. But as that old saying goes, the brighter the star the shorter the life. And so once that final putsch to revolutionize the world's palette we're plunged into surroundings of sudden greys and dull browns. After a flaming golden leaf makes it's graceful and surreal decent into the gutter, it stays there. And just like someone bleeding away life, the colour is ever-so-gradually evicted. Grass and shurbs follow suit, shedding into duller suits of appearance.

And it stays this way, as the wind howls around corners, clouds overtake the sky, and precipitation slowly, but surely, pelts a lifeless world below. In mid to late autumn it means that the once-golden leaf sitting in the gutter goes from stiff and rigid to horribly saturated with water. It turns into a pulp and is inevitably ground away to mesh into its surroundings. And this turns into a cycle where the pulp dries and becomes wet again to be mixed in with even more remnants of greenery.

But when the air cools just enough, the pulp freezes. And instead of rain there's snow. Somewhat reminiscent of the vibrant leaves that made their only decent. It's almost like nature took a step back, saw the bland world and mush collecting in the gutter and said "It's not supposed to look like that!" So it blankets the world with glorified white-out. So it snows and snows to cover up the mistake until a break comes. The snow melts and lo and behold, things are still brown and ugly, but not so much mushy as slushy. Natures says to itself "well, crap..." and tries gain. It repeats ad naseum, until somehow on the other side things come out green.

But in the mean time we squint our eyes as we leave warm abodes for the unbearably chilly outdoors. The snow may bring its own surreal coating to the landscape, but we all know it's just that: a coating. And underneath it conceals the same browns and greys that was left there.

But in the mean time, we need to put up with nature and it's "nothing to see here folks, ha ha ha..." More snow, more slush, and back to brown. It may be beautiful while it lasts, but it's just more of the same.



Today they cut down the tree I could see from my desk. It's pretty depressing - sure, we'll get to see the wonderfully vivid horizon of blue skies and sunsets from our office chairs, but it's no substitute for that brief and spectacular piece of Autumn. I liked watching the tree flow in the wind and bloom in the spring. But most of all, I'll miss the outrageous yellows it churned out before calling in quits and waiting for the snow to come gloss over what it had become.
-Cril

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

Michael Bublé - White Christmas