Open Hatch

Wandering through the wastes of the ruined world, they encountered the machines. Hallowed in chambers of dark and abandoned dustiness, as the Creatures plugged in their electrolimbs, the machines whirred back to life. Relay after relay across the land, they revived the interconnections, and mindscaping the electronics and codes, they deciphered the meanings, unlocked the vast internetwork, and found what used to mirror the great life of the civilization. The messages, the meanings, and the struggles came alive in their minds, and it was Chlonthluthlu who first posted a message through the network:

“I sympathize with the plight of the Democrats.”
And Nachtholab replied: “I hate you.”

I found this animated image (1.4 MB download - you’ll have to wait on a slow connection). I don’t know where it’s from. I think it’s pretty dang funny.

My brother started a tune and I finished it and rendered it in a Nintendo SoundFont. I called it Magical Happy. Here’s a first draft (which seems to be final, as I’ve never re-drafted). I’m curious what you think.

(Magical Happy download .mp3 file, ~800K)

Also, I sequenced this song which I call Birds in a Storm. I’ve never re-drafted it, either, but could. I think you might call it something between Chiptunes and Trance.

(Birds in a Storm, download .mp3 file, ~1.5 MB)

The music happens when

I am ready for the next level,
A task has been accomplished,
Something evil and spooky might be going on, but I’m pretty okay with it,
I conquer evil,
It’s awesome,
I die, and when
It’s really, really over.

[Are you a nintendo junkie? Did you guess the game these are from? Castlevania 3. This is another pull from my aging wiki, originally posted April 28th 2005]

CLOSE THE DOOR (when it is time to; not necessarily now)

Please close the door when leaving the building. Unless the building is supposed to be open. In which case there is no need to close the door. But if you do need to close the door, because the building is closed, first open the door so you can exit, and then close it behind you. You may face the door so that it is in front of you while closing it behind you. Open the door before leaving the building and close it after leaving the building.

LOCK THE DOOR (when it is time to; not necessarily now)

Please lock the door before leaving the building. Unless the building is supposed to be open, in which case you should not lock the door, but close it (see instructions for closing the door). If you are leaving the building and the building is supposed to be closed, check and make sure that no one else is in the building. Lock the door after checking that the building is empty and after leaving the building and closing the door (you can’t lock the door while it’s open). If this is all too difficult, you should just stay inside the building.

EXIT (but not right now. Unless it is time to go. If it is time to go, see instructions for closing the door and locking the door)

Using the same Photoshop plugin as per this entry, I made these plaids from these two photographs - with color changing and sharpen/noise/blur filters in Photoshop. The plaids are thumbnails - click them for larger images.

Which reminds me that I did a dandelion art-deco-ish watercolor for my sister two Christmases ago (three? Sheesh) and she loved it so much that she asked for two others showing dandelions in different life phases. .. I’m going to finish those, very soon. I swear it.