Arfink Gets Random Part Two!

[arfink]

http://weaselsgonarf.blogspot.com/2013/05/daily-draw-dec-vt78.html   <-- See pic bigger

 

So, this is a DEC VT78, made by Digital Equipment Corp. in 1977. It was designed as a word processor, but ultimately was unable to compete with the IBM PC and it's successors, despite its ability to run PDP-8 and CP/M software.

[arfink]

Link in the previous post was wrong!

 

Try this

http://weaselsgonarf.blogspot.com/2013/05/daily-draw-dec-vt78.html

 

[arfink]

I am very disappointed in the new supplier I decided to try for my craft wood that I use for engravings. (Inventables) I was tempted by their wider selection of species and attractive prices. It was not worth it though.

The wood is out of spec. I purchased a 24 inch by 12 inch piece from them, and received a piece that was nearly an inch short in each dimension. The edges of the boards were a bit ragged, and some of them were flaking along the grain. It was also supposed to be 1/4" thick, and was not actually that thick. It was more like 3/8" thick.

I was also disappointed in my selection of birch as a species, the color when engraved is not beautiful, it's dull and color ranges from gray to black.

The wood I usually purchase from Midwest Products is always to spec, and has a much nicer color, in part because it is not covered over in a thin veneer, but is made from a 3-ply of thicker wood.

I would probably order from Inventables again for other products, but not the 1/4" birch plywood.

 

[arfink]

Well, the local hardware store carries the wood in the correct brand, thickness, and species for my purposes, so I bought 3 sheets from them. Overpriced, but I've learned a valuable lesson. The price was worth it for that.

[arfink]

 

Starting work on a new engraving design today, in honor of the Holy Spirit.

 

[brianthephysicist]

Wow nice!

[arfink]

I'm getting faster at this. That dove vector there probably took me 3 hours to do. Compare that to a few months ago when I was working on the first serious Marian image I did, which took over 16 hours to get to this point and which I never did manage to satisfactorily finish.

[AnneLine]

You're getting faster because you are practicing more.  Way to go!     :winner:

[arfink]

Uuuuuuuugh, why can't I just make myself sleep? I mean, I know why. But why?

 

Phooey!

[AnneLine]

phooey?  Frustrating.   Hope you have long since dropped off to sleep....   :console:

Edited May 22, 2013 by AnneLine

[arfink]

Aaaand up early again. :yawn:

 

But I had a decent breakfast. So I guess it's worthwhile. Hopefully I don't fall asleep during my meeting today.

[brianthephysicist]

I always bring food to my meetings and as long as I don't run out of food then I can stay awake.

[arfink]

 

I wanted to take a break from the really methodical and mechanical approach of the realistic style I'm trying to learn. It's a good thing to learn to work in that way, but I needed time to just do whatever I felt like for a bit. So I drew this.

 

In other news, Boards of Canada has a new album coming out on June 11, and I want it. Very badly. Today they released a music video preview of the album, which is simply breathtaking.

 

[media]http://youtu.be/2jTg-q6Drt0[/media]

 

 

[AnneLine]

ARFink, that looks like a neat album.  What does the video say to you as an artist?  as a man of God?

[arfink]

ARFink, that looks like a neat album.  What does the video say to you as an artist?  as a man of God?

 

There is an awful lot of deep significance buried in that for me.

As an artist I am actually most impressed by the music. I am of course in awe of the technical brilliance Boards of Canada has for sound production, but it's also just plan beautiful. It evokes the feeling I get when I'm remembering something beautiful in a difficult time. The past echoes and rings in my ears, cycling back on itself, changing keys, seeping back into the cracks in my heart. And then after a while it suddenly changes. Accidental reminiscing becomes a hunt, with percussion like quickened footsteps, or the pieces of a new realization clicking rapidly into place. And as soon as it has begun, the memory recedes with the music. The piece I was looking for was there where I had left it, and I put the memories back into the dusty place I found them, where they lie at rest until they are needed again.

 

And the video itself reflects this audible reality too. A dusty desert, with charred and gutted buildings, a representation of half-memories. The viewer searches for something, the good, the beautiful. The blinding desert sun makes it hard to see, and when things are clear, only decay seems to remain. Then when the percussion sounds, the viewer takes to the road. The beauty I was looking for was not in the crumbling buildings. Those were only built so that the previous occupants could dwell near the real beauty; the mountains, the trees, the roses, the sky and the sun. And in the end there is this really lovely and surprising trinitarian reference, as the camera's view of the beautiful sky is blotted out by the sun, which splits into 3, and then fades to black.

 

This is the kind of stuff I come back to when I'm in prayer, believe it or not. Ever since seminary, this kind of music has been part of the soundtrack of my spiritual life, with the likes of Vangelis and Jarre and Mosaik and Planet Boelex and all the rest. Back then I didn't even know about Boards of Canada, but I have found that many of the artists I have called my favorites took their inspiration from Boards of Canada. It feels a little like coming home to a place I didn't know about to listen to this. Really beautiful stuff. :)

Edited May 24, 2013 by arfink

[arfink]

Lookit! Preorders!

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CISC2DA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CISC2DA&linkCode=as2&tag=boingboing06-20

 

 

[arfink]

More great tunes!

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT0gRc2c2wQ&feature=share&list=RD02A2zKARkpDW4[/media]

 

[arfink]

I was thinking about writing something super profound and such about going to an ordination of a few of my classmates tomorrow. But the more I think about it, the more I realize there isn't much left for me to say. I am also having the pleasant realization that thinking about this really doesn't hurt me like it did before. That's a good thing.

 

I mean, I'm not exactly super excited about being in the most uncomfortable pews in the whole darn diocese from the hours of 9AM until nearly 1PM, wearing my Sunday best including a tie, and sweating a bunch. :P But that's normal I think.

 

A far cry better than the precious years where it's just been emotionally crushing. :) Huzzah for small victories.

[arfink]

Ordination moments:

 

That moment when they're singing a song I really like, but I can't sing along because I'd start crying all over the old lady sitting in front of me.

Or when I realize I'm an hour early for mass, and the mass will be 3 hours long, and the seats are already making me cry tears of butthurt. Literally.

Or when I see someone wearing a Roman collar, whose face I vaguely recognize, and I cannot remember his name, or whether he's a deacon or just a seminarian or maybe he's a priest? Yeah. That one happened a lot today.

Or when I suddenly see something go flying away and goshdarnit that was one of my vest buttons!

When that happens a second time.

 

And of course, feeling happy for the guys laying on the floor and being VERY JOYFUL that I am not one of them! And even more joyful to know I'm made for something else. I never thought I'd get to this place. And here I am. :)

Edited May 25, 2013 by arfink

[TheLordsSouljah]

Beautiful vid Fink. I grew up on Vangelis, and loved it. I lived on a hill near a lake until I was eight and the sunsets were as dramatic as that last scene... with mountains.... and storms. It takes me back.... thank you!