At this rate I should be finished right before the 2010 list needs to be compiled.

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Man this is so not going to get finished this year…

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Oh shit children, it’s that time of year again.  Like last year, I am going to attempt to listen to and briefly review everything in my collection released in 2009.  My first attempt at this took nearly a month straight, and I wasn’t even working.  God knows how long this will take.

On the bright side (for the sake of my sanity while finishing this project, at least), I listened to a lot less new music this year than last.  There are several reasons for this.  For the first part of the year I was lazy. For the second part of the year I was miserably depressed and borderline alcoholic and only listened to early Swans and Joy Division.  For the rest of the year I’ve been out on the town more than pretty much any time ever and haven’t had the downtime to explore this year’s releases as much as I would have liked.

For all of this year my hard drive has been full, an I’ve been too cash strapped to splurge on a new one.  So everything I ripped myself or “acquired” came at the expense of something else in my collection.  Thus most of my selections have been somewhat conservative.  For me.

But whatever, let’s get down to it ok buddies?

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Nadja – Under the Jaguar Sun

2xCD, Beta-Lactam Ring Records mt175a

Under the Jaguar Sun (CD version)

Okay seriously, this is pushing it guys.  The new Actec-inspired Nadja album (well, this incarnation of it) comes spread across two discs of roughly an hour each.  Disc 1 (“Texcatlipoca (DARKNESS)”)is your familiar plodding shoegaze metal that Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff have refined so well, but disc 2(“Quetzalcoatl (WIND)”) is composed of mostly atmospheric drones and ambient textures.  The somewhat annoying part is that the disc can also be played simultaneously to produce an entirely new experience (the corresponding tracks on each disc are the same length).   While not exactly Flaming Lips level of annoyance, it’s still kind of aggravating.  Don’t have two stereos handy?  Don’t worry, you can pick up the double vinyl version (which has been pushed back many months for various reasons), which contains a condensed mix-down of both discs on three of the sides and a side-long remix by Edward Ka-Spel (??!!!) on the last.  If this wasn’t something I’ve become accustomed to from Nadja and Beta-Lactam Ring I’d think it was an interesting idea, but my wallet has been slapped around so much by this sort of multiple-format crap that it’s starting to get tiring. BLR is especially guilty of Pokémonizing their releases with “artist editions”, multi-format reissues, and skirting the letter of some of their claims, i.e. “this will not be reissued _{in this format but we’ll put it out on CD later}“.  Most recently they caught me on the Nadja LP “Belles Bêtes” from earlier this year, which surprise surprise will soon have a CD version containing more tracks!

However, like so many battered spouses out there I know I’m going to be back in the morning.  The dangling carrot looks just tasty enough for me to keep chasing. Sigh. Read the rest of this entry →

Protomen – Act II: The Father of Death

Sound Machine Records SMCD07

Act II - The Father of Death

Ah, the Protomen.  Easily one of the most unique bands in the world, if not in sound than easily in concept.  When you first tell someone about a rock opera about a twenty year old video game about destroying robots and stealing parts from their sparking corpses, the world is quickly divided into two distinct camps: those who say “that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard” and those who say “sweet Allah this is clearly the greatest idea in the history of mankind”.  Read the rest of this entry →

Nadja/Black Boned Angel

20 Buck Spin – SPIN028

Nadja/Black Boned Angel

Another month, another Nadja release.  There’s really no snap I can drop about their release schedule that hasn’t already been said a hundred times before, but for the sake of dry boring context this is their 7th new title of the year, including splits but not including re-issues.  Yeah.

Black Boned Angel was a name I was only familiar with through a different collaborative EP they’d done with Nadja last year, but I soon found out it was a project involving Campbell Kneale aka “Birchville Cat Motel” (who is no stranger to prolific release schedules either) and that both of these releases were taken from the same sessions.  It just took them two years to get around to finalizing the mix, I guess.

20 Buck Spin has their own wonderful write-up of the album with information about the artists and just why it took so dang long.  It’s seriously good. Go read it.  This is how labels should do press releases.  Hanson, American Tapes, Beta-Lactam Ring, take notes because you guys suck at this and I shouldn’t have to feel like I’m reading Naked Lunch whenever you send out an e-mail.

So now that I can assume you all read that (you did, didn’t you?) I can tell you what I think.  Here it is in three words: Grueling As Fuck.

I’ve listened to damn near every Nadja release, and this is one of the most grinding, harsh, and intense.  Listening to the entire thing takes a lot out of you.  Track 1 opens with slow simple guitar notes but is quickly subsumed by rising walls of static grind.  At six and a half minutes things kick into your normal Nadja-style throbbing rust noise riffs, but Black Boned Angel brings an additional level of harshness, a more cutting tone of sonic miasma.  It complements and builds upon the traditional elements Nadja heads are so familiar (and often bored) with.  Eventually all semblance of the glacial guitar stabs give up, saying “ah fuck it” and sliding away behind the waves of feedback, echo, clang, and groan.  And it just keeps going.  Track 2 begins at the nadir of the chaos and grows slowly and inexorably back up to cacophonous levels over the next twenty minutes before again collapsing under the weight of their own sound.

I’d rather not recycle ideas from the album’s press release, but the black hole imagery is nearly perfect.  The two bands have created a tonal singularity to destroy all sound and light and from which no melody can escape.  As the last echoing drum beat fades it’s like I wake up from a trance.  All those ambient room noises rush in to try and fill the sudden void where for forty minutes there was pure monstrosity.  The air conditioner is a freight train and the wall clock ticks away in earthquakes.  What the hell has happened?  Why do I want to immediately play it again?

It would be a lie to say this is cathartic listen.  Nadja listeners are probably used to the flowing atypical structure to their songs with climaxes ten minutes before the fade out or otherwise just dropping out at seeming random, but this album more than most simply deposits you unceremoniously at the end of the journey in a bruised heap with the taste of vomit in your mouth, like that night you blacked out at that frat party and repressed until court-mandated therapy fifteen years later.  The end. Fuck you. You’ll be back.

Wealth

The complex web of Feudal obligations and limitations of ownership make personal Wealth slightly different than in our world.  There are both hard cash and abstract credit systems, which makes the normal d20 Modern wealth rules roughly similar.  A person has a personal Wealth score instead of a mass of gold and gems.  Wealth can be spent and acquired as written in the d20 Modern rules, but each Caste has different ways in which they normally can acquire goods and services.

Nobles

Nobles are most often born into extravagance.  The supports of Terisian society rarely allow them to fall through the cracks, and they rarely want from anything.  Their Wealth base is sustained by the work of the Peasantry in the form of taxes, lease moneys, and raw goods traded to other people or Domains.

As living embodiments of their Domain, the Wealth score of a Noble is also used as the Wealth score of the Domain as a whole.  When the Lord is prosperous, his people are prosperous.  This has many repercussions for those living within that Domain.

Imperial orders and Papal Bulls may dictate trade, levy punishments, or otherwise influence economic policy on a scale wide enough to instantly alter a Noble’s Wealth score.  Though not common, it is one of the ways in which the Throne keeps a strong rein on the Nobility.

Nobles may purchase nearly anything they wish.  Restricted types of the Illegal class are selectively enforced, usually only when a subordinate Lord tries to use them on their superiors.

A Noble need never pay for any domestic item or service while in their home Domain.

Peasant

Personal wealth within the Peasantry is usually quite low.  They are not allowed many financial freedoms, which makes amassing wealth difficult.  However within a Peasant’s home Domain, they have access to communal and civil equipment far beyond their own personal means.  Peasants are also much more willing to lend or give equipment or items to neighbors and friends, as reciprocity is expected within the community.

When making an on-hand check within their home Domain, a Peasant may add the Domain’s Wealth score for their own.  This represents the Noble’s obligation towards them.  Frivolous or luxury items may be denied (unless specifically granted, or if one is particularly wily in their justification), and does not apply to Restricted items or higher.

Peasants have severe restrictions placed upon what they may personally own and use, particularly regarding weapons and travel.  See the Equipment section for more information about Peasant restrictions.

Gentlemen

The ability to freely acquire money and worldly goods is the driving force for many Gentlemen.  It distinguishes them from the Peasantry and allows them some comfort in an otherwise hostile and callous society. A Gentleman has only their personal Wealth score to draw upon, but there are far fewer social obligations upon what to use it.

Equipment

Restrictions

Items are restricted largely by Caste, with Nobles having almost complete leeway in their usage.  In fact, Nobles are obligated to train in some form of combat, using weapons which a Peasant may be put to death for even touching.

Licensed items may be purchased freely by Nobles and Gentlemen, but require an actual License to be owned by Peasants.  Often licenses are granted free of charge if the Lord deems it appropriate, but when purchasing a License on one’s own, a Peasant may not use the Domain’s Wealth score as a bonus since it must be acquired through personal means.  Licenses in one Domain do not necessarily carry over into another, as what one Lord decides is acceptable in their Domain may not be acceptable to another.  Licenses can be revoked at any time.

Restricted items can be purchased freely by Nobles.  Gentlemen may be able to acquire them but owning such things may draw unwanted scrutiny.  Peasants can only acquire them by the grace of their Lord.

Military items can be owned by Nobles, usually as part of their military obligation towards their own Lord or the Throne.  Gentlemen are allowed to own them in only the most extreme circumstances.  Peasants such as trained men-at-arms may be allowed to use them under Noble supervision but are never allowed to own them privately.

Illegal items are legally forbidden to Peasants and Gentlemen.  Nobles can usually get their hands on them and use them within their own Domain, but using them against or without the knowledge of their superior, is an invitation to trouble.

Weapons

Weapons are statistically similar, though names differ.  There is a much greater prevalence of “archaic” and personal weapons, especially among the Nobility, as duels, swordplay, and personal combat are still practiced as both forms of art and political tools.

All Ranged Weapons not explicitly listed as Licensed are considered Licensed

All Simple Melee weapons are considered Licensed.

All Archaic and Exotic Melee weapons are considered Licensed.

All Licensed weapons of any sort are considered Restricted to Peasants.

General Equipment

Cellular phones are considered Restricted

Personal computers are considered Licensed

Vehicles & Transportation

Most Nobles provide civil fleets to be used by Peasants as they deem necessary.

Peasants who cannot afford vehicles, or do not have ones assigned (which is most of them) typically use public transportation, which is usually very good within Domains large enough to require it.

Civilian Aircraft are considered Restricted

Peasants may purchase (or be given) Travel Licenses when leaving their home Domain.  Specific Travel Licenses may be granted by a Lord for free, while general purpose Travel Licenses acquired on one’s own usually require a DC 15 Wealth Check (and are still subject to revocation at any point by their Lord).

Crusoe Graphics Gallery Page

Crusoe Graphics is a small cartography and publishing layout company that was badly in need of a web presence to advertise their impressive portfolio and large client base to prospective authors and publishers.

The design emphasis was to create something small and straightforward that was both unique and easy to use.  Something communicating the elegant simplicity of a good map, without needing any bells and whistles.  Just clean lines, simple colors, clear labels, easy navigation.  Working closely with the client we decided on this original layout, an island of information easily accessible to the scholarly, literary, and artistic audiences that Crusoe Graphics regularly works with.

The bulk of the dynamic content was made with PHP/MySQL, with the client list section using a good amount of Javascript.  Because of the large number of expected institutional visitors using older browsers, there was a heavy emphasis on making sure everything was IE6 compatible (despite it being a terrible browser and giving me nothing but headaches).

Uses valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional markup and CSS 2.1

Graphics for the site were created with Illustrator, Fireworks, and Photoshop using either original art or existing Crusoe Graphics works.

Visit the site here.

Beware the mighty Foilasaurus. Tremble in terror at his crumpled and shiny form.

ROAR!!!

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WHEN ZOMBIES ATTACK!: MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF AN OUTBREAK OF ZOMBIE INFECTION

Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually
portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently,
we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie
movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and
their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then refine the
model to introduce a latent period of zombification, whereby humans are infected, but
not infectious, before becoming undead. We then modify the model to include the
effects of possible quarantine or a cure. Finally, we examine the impact of regular,
impulsive reductions in the number of zombies and derive conditions under which
eradication can occur. We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the
doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all.

http://www.mathstat.uottawa.ca/~rsmith/Zombies.pdf

Yes, this is a mathematical study of the epidemiology of a zombie outbreak.  Serious things written for Serious people.