Not normally one to get excited by software, but this is cool.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Drupal Rocks.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
How to Write Fiction
while working on the market on saturday i came across a guide to writing a novel in the Guardian (a paper i never normally read) ... this might be handy for a certain class i thought, so i brought it home with me.
Richard Harris, author of Pompeii (a novel i read in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvio) had an interesting piece of advice when starting to learn how to write and that is; write any sort of crap (his word), but just start writing and that a page with any sort of crap was better than a blank page. u can always edit, spell/grammar check later and by polishing up some of it u may in fact be able to use it, if not there and then, possibly later on.
Richard Harris, author of Pompeii (a novel i read in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvio) had an interesting piece of advice when starting to learn how to write and that is; write any sort of crap (his word), but just start writing and that a page with any sort of crap was better than a blank page. u can always edit, spell/grammar check later and by polishing up some of it u may in fact be able to use it, if not there and then, possibly later on.
in other words, just start writing and don't throw anything away.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Punk: Beyond the Wire
A documentary chronicling the punk movement in Northern Ireland from 1975-1983, and its lasting legacies.
This is a human interest archive piece documenting those times in Ulster's troubled history, when the much maligned punk culture was in fact one of the very few positive lights, bringing people together regardless of their background (religious/class etc).
We have no political agenda, and see ourselves as apolitical storytellers, nothing more. The piece itself is aimed mainly at music fans and social history buffs, and of course those who have an interest in the history of this island, particularly the bit with the good roads ;0)
When we talk of 'fans' i am using the term (maybe wrongly) to indicate fans of punk, who may or may not have been involved in running fanzines, managing, promoting, running indie labels, playing in bands, all of which represent the DIY ethos of punk. In other words, the people who got off their arses and did something. We're not terribly interested in talking to SLF, or get into the 'rockstar' bullshit feuds they had with the Undertones. We talk to the guys and girls that started bands and got up on stage just to have a bit of craic, or promote their anarchistic political agendas, or just to relieve the boredom. We wish to highlight that DIY attitude, and indeed applaud it. We also wish to tell people's interesting stories of battle with the spidermen (local hoods), paramilitaries, the army, cops etc. We will be focusing on the Clash's aborted gig at Ulster Hall in 1977, that seemed to inspire people to get together as one of the opening points of the story. We also wish to tell the story of lasting friendships that grew between people in this most improbable of environments across the sectarian divisions, because of punk.
The story will be told using contributions of people that were involved in the beginnings of Northern Ireland's infamous punk scene. We will be interviewing, filming and recording all using digital media. Archive footage and music from the era will also be used to propel the story along all of which will be mixed using a digital editing suite. Research for the project will be almost entirely an on-line effort, using bulletin boards, web sites and email to contact these old punks.
Production will require the use of a data base management system in order to store all data relating to the project; interviewees, time code, index, transcript and the audio files themselves broken down by subject and cross referenced. This will speed up the editing phase considerably.
Animation, graphics, old documents, concert and other archive footage will form the basis of the visual aspect of the project (expand)
A web site will also need to be created for both the marketing of the program and also to provide more information on the bands who's music was played in the show, the people interviewed and further background on the subject. The show should be available either as a vod/podcast, or else streamed from the website.
This is a human interest archive piece documenting those times in Ulster's troubled history, when the much maligned punk culture was in fact one of the very few positive lights, bringing people together regardless of their background (religious/class etc).
We have no political agenda, and see ourselves as apolitical storytellers, nothing more. The piece itself is aimed mainly at music fans and social history buffs, and of course those who have an interest in the history of this island, particularly the bit with the good roads ;0)
When we talk of 'fans' i am using the term (maybe wrongly) to indicate fans of punk, who may or may not have been involved in running fanzines, managing, promoting, running indie labels, playing in bands, all of which represent the DIY ethos of punk. In other words, the people who got off their arses and did something. We're not terribly interested in talking to SLF, or get into the 'rockstar' bullshit feuds they had with the Undertones. We talk to the guys and girls that started bands and got up on stage just to have a bit of craic, or promote their anarchistic political agendas, or just to relieve the boredom. We wish to highlight that DIY attitude, and indeed applaud it. We also wish to tell people's interesting stories of battle with the spidermen (local hoods), paramilitaries, the army, cops etc. We will be focusing on the Clash's aborted gig at Ulster Hall in 1977, that seemed to inspire people to get together as one of the opening points of the story. We also wish to tell the story of lasting friendships that grew between people in this most improbable of environments across the sectarian divisions, because of punk.
The story will be told using contributions of people that were involved in the beginnings of Northern Ireland's infamous punk scene. We will be interviewing, filming and recording all using digital media. Archive footage and music from the era will also be used to propel the story along all of which will be mixed using a digital editing suite. Research for the project will be almost entirely an on-line effort, using bulletin boards, web sites and email to contact these old punks.
Production will require the use of a data base management system in order to store all data relating to the project; interviewees, time code, index, transcript and the audio files themselves broken down by subject and cross referenced. This will speed up the editing phase considerably.
Animation, graphics, old documents, concert and other archive footage will form the basis of the visual aspect of the project (expand)
A web site will also need to be created for both the marketing of the program and also to provide more information on the bands who's music was played in the show, the people interviewed and further background on the subject. The show should be available either as a vod/podcast, or else streamed from the website.
Blake
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is Blake's take on morality, and his satire on organised religions.
Where as the text itself written in poetry and prose in a manner similar to some of his contemporaries, it is the engravings and images he uses to help propel the text along that for me is most interesting part. Here he is using more that one media to tell his story, which would have been very unusal for its time.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Writing Machines
so, the chick digs electronic books ... apart from really annoying me with her life's story, this document proposes a life for books in a digital form. i suppose it's inevitable, as the children of the (digital) revolution grow up with no experience of reading old fashioned paper books, that electronic books will begin to take over. however, i suspect that the move to the digital form will not encourage better plot lines, rather like the move to the digital form in the movie world has in most cases meant a lesser focus on the story and a greater one on the FX.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Writing in the Digital Age
1. The ability to write concise pitty web ready pieces to promote shows or events.
2. Not much.
3. Have designed/managed and edited various web sites from band/dj sites to more complex airline reservation systems.
4. Have written creatively for my BA. Also have published on the web. And also written proposals for grants etcs. Am currently producing a radio documentary on Belfast Punk in the 1970s, for which I have had to write script treatment etc.
5. This course as a whole should serve to bring together my disjointed halves: technology and the arts.
6. Too many chopices really, but lets pick one song - 'Can't do nuthin for u man' Public Enemy ... I'm not sure it is possible to really explain the experience of music where the other person is deaf. If one starts to describe the drums, guitars, horns and synths, those are useless reference points for the deaf..
2. Not much.
3. Have designed/managed and edited various web sites from band/dj sites to more complex airline reservation systems.
4. Have written creatively for my BA. Also have published on the web. And also written proposals for grants etcs. Am currently producing a radio documentary on Belfast Punk in the 1970s, for which I have had to write script treatment etc.
5. This course as a whole should serve to bring together my disjointed halves: technology and the arts.
6. Too many chopices really, but lets pick one song - 'Can't do nuthin for u man' Public Enemy ... I'm not sure it is possible to really explain the experience of music where the other person is deaf. If one starts to describe the drums, guitars, horns and synths, those are useless reference points for the deaf..
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