Agora Road Travelogue (August '24)

[nakadashi]

Welcome to the 13th mensual Agora Road Travelogue!
Initially inspired by the Bring Back Blogging movement, this is an Agora Road version to encourage y'all to WRITE STUFF!

1. Commit to writing 2 blog posts in this month of August.
2. Indicate, in some way, that you are participating in the Travelogue on the blog post you are submitting.
3. Upon publishing your post, you must comment in this thread your 1) Article's title 2) Link to article.
4. Consider joining ZinRicky's RSS feed like a baws

Q: What if I don't have a website to publish on?
A: Feel free to submit blog posts here on the forum. But its BIGLY encouraged to make one! It's not too hard to start, don't let perfect get in the way of good, let your crude initial aesthetic be, let your content shine. The Personal Web thread may be able to point you in the right direction.

Q: Am I limited to 2 posts?
A: No, but you will need to submit at least 2 otherwise you're a poser and will be publicly shamed

Q: Any restrictions on content?
A: Other than the content being one's own, no, but please do not abuse this.

Thank you to all who participate, write away!

Previous Threads: August '23 | September '23 | October '23 | November '23 | December '23 | January '24 | February '24 | March '24 | April '24 | May '24 | June '24 | July '24

Prior Participants: @Voicedrew | @Some_porcupine | @RisingThumb | @andreixyz | @shrapnelnet | @HammerKoopa | @whiteVHS | @imacop | @grap | @Jade | @no_chill | @microbyte | @agoratoad | @nakadashi | @ZinRicky | @niuenso | @Devastatia | @Noxy | @Alixie | @manpaint | @Ashman | @eyes

Helpful Articles: reasons to write and publish | How I approach crafting a blog post | Blog about what you want | Some blogging myths

 

[Jade]

I'm still sick. I hate being sick so much. Maybe I'll do a blog post about the experience once it's over...

 

[nakadashi]

Reasons to Blog

#1 IndieWeb Carnival (Deadline: August 31st)
Steve Ledlow is the host for the month of August 2024: Rituals. Follow the theme, get it to steve@ledlow.me, and he'll include it at the end of the month in the roundup post.

#2 Tales of Agora Road - Ezine #4 (Unknown)
Click on the link for the thread details, but basically @IlluminatiPirate collects submissions from travelers about: Nostalgia, Internet Oddities, Album Reviews, Aesthetic Galleries, Opinion and Short Stories! Consider participating!

#3 muse ariadne (Weekly Writing Prompts)
"i'll post a new prompt for members to write anything they'd like in response to and post on their personal websites. if you can't make it to every week, that's totally alright-- this is low pressure. we encourage regular participation, but the joy of this club is to inspire creativity and a reasonable amount of accountability"

#4 Lainchan Web Festival (PENDING)
The Lainchan Webring [#1 & #2] has officially started their own blog festival! The second iteration is currently awaiting a host.

 

[nakadashi]

I'm still sick. I hate being sick so much. Maybe I'll do a blog post about the experience once it's over...

Usually when I'm sick I get fever dreams that serve as a great experience to write about. It is like being on drugs IMO.

 

[shrapnelnet]

Louis Wain and his cats

I write a little about famous victorian era painter Louis Wain, his contributions to art, and how mental health affected his style.

blog.shr4pnel.com

this is my first entry this month, a medium length write up about the life of Louis Wain and his amazing drawings of cats

reading about his life was quite sad sometimes but it made me happy knowing he still had joy in him even until the end

 

[nakadashi]

Louis Wain and his cats

I write a little about famous victorian era painter Louis Wain, his contributions to art, and how mental health affected his style.

blog.shr4pnel.com

this is my first entry this month, a medium length write up about the life of Louis Wain and his amazing drawings of cats

reading about his life was quite sad sometimes but it made me happy knowing he still had joy in him even until the end

I knew of Wain's work only tangentially while reading about schizophrenia and its influence on art. I am baffled, however, at how tragic his life was, of which I had no idea until I read your entry.
I am deeply interested in mental conditions and how they manifest themselves, which in turn made me appreciate Wain's drawings, although I believe the currently widely accepted view is that his schizophrenia didn't influence his drawings as much as once was believed, like you rightfully so pointed out in your article.
Overall, a sad read, but quite enjoyable!

 

[shrapnelnet]

I knew of Wain's work only tangentially while reading about schizophrenia and its influence on art. I am baffled, however, at how tragic his life was, of which I had no idea until I read your entry.
I am deeply interested in mental conditions and how they manifest themselves, which in turn made me appreciate Wain's drawings, although I believe the currently widely accepted view is that his schizophrenia didn't influence his drawings as much as once was believed, like you rightfully so pointed out in your article.
Overall, a sad read, but quite enjoyable!

thank you so much for giving it a read and taking something away from it. it means so much to know someone is reading

 

[Eden]

VHS to Digital

Been converting tapes recently and decided to write about it. It's tied to 32-Bit Cafe's 'Back to School' code-jam and the IndieWeb Carnival 'Rituals' themes.

First Paragraph:
Do you know what VHS really stands for, traveler? It's: "Various Hurdles and Suffering". That ain't no contemporary definition neither. My father recently spoke to me of his experience with his home video collection from the late 70s / early 80s. He dealt with a big move and, alongside the business of everyday life, had ended up leaving the tapes unattended for over a year. When he finally returned to them, he tried to play each one to no avail. To his surprise, they'd been covered in mold and when he took the matter to a repair shop they told him he'd lost everything, including the player, and that he should throw it all away; out of concern for his, and his family's, health. Naturally, the loss of mementos such as, but not limited to: tenderly captured fragments of my brothers' childhoods, lead to considerable sadness...

 

[nakadashi]

VHS to Digital

Been converting tapes recently and decided to write about it. It's tied to 32-Bit Cafe's 'Back to School' code-jam and the IndieWeb Carnival 'Rituals' themes.

First Paragraph:
Do you know what VHS really stands for, traveler? It's: "Various Hurdles and Suffering". That ain't no contemporary definition neither. My father recently spoke to me of his experience with his home video collection from the late 70s / early 80s. He dealt with a big move and, alongside the business of everyday life, had ended up leaving the tapes unattended for over a year. When he finally returned to them, he tried to play each one to no avail. To his surprise, they'd been covered in mold and when he took the matter to a repair shop they told him he'd lost everything, including the player, and that he should throw it all away; out of concern for his, and his family's, health. Naturally, the loss of mementos such as, but not limited to: tenderly captured fragments of my brothers' childhoods, lead to considerable sadness...

This was an interesting read. As a data hoarder myself I've encountered my fair share of analog to digital inconveniences. Thankfully most of the data I hoard is digital. However, and even though I have backups, I don't have backups of my backups, which by the rule "two is one, one is none" is like just having one copy of my priceless data. I've meditated deeply about this topic and here are just some scattered thoughts.

• Digital media is not perfect either. I oftentimes wonder if, with the advent of quantum computers, there's going to be another form of storage that is going to replace digital. Which would, of course, mean that I'll have to convert all of my data to this new format.
• Even if I keep continually updating the format in which my data is stored, for the sake of argument let's even say that I do so in the most efficient way possible, eventually I'm going to die. Which means that this library I built is now useless to me, which am dead. There is an episode of this great series called Midnight Dinner in which a young man's soul keeps wandering around his mother's house because there was still his porn collection, which is now useless to him.
• I cherish the physical memories we have as much as the next guy, and, being a photographer myself, I am often surprised how poorly illuminated, badly composed iPhone photos are often as appreciated as professional photos do. Of course the thing that's valuable is that there is something which triggers a memory in our brains. The artifacts of any given medium are often ignored when that's the only photo you have of any given precious moment. You touch on this defending the analog format, but I would dare to go even further as to say that the artifacts of a poorly done analog-to-digital conversion can be just as unimportant.
• I am currently reading Fahrenheit 451
  Spoiler: Fahrenheit 451

  and it that novel there is a society of persons who have memorized books as the ultimate medium of storage. I often fantasize of doing so with some books (I have memorized at least one poem) and wonder if, after all, aren't our memories the most precious storage medium we've got?

Good read, I can see you really put your heart and soul in the process of preserving your mother's VHS tapes. However I do not forgive you that you put Technology Connections in the same category as Linus Tech Tips.

 

[Eden]

However I do not forgive you that you put Technology Connections in the same category as Linus Tech Tips.

You know what upset(s) me about 'Technology Connections'? It's the persona / emphasis he places on diving deep into things, and relishing doing so, but that when confronted with the opportunity to do so with VHS (Capture), drew the line. And, ofc, posts that on in his second channel! To hide the shame! But, no, I don't really 100% think they're on the same level, nor am I really mad at TC for drawing his lines. Just... I think we should all be mindful of those e-celebs, ya'know?

• I cherish the physical memories we have as much as the next guy, and, being a photographer myself, I am often surprised how poorly illuminated, badly composed iPhone photos are often as appreciated as professional photos do. Of course the thing that's valuable is that there is something which triggers a memory in our brains. The artifacts of any given medium are often ignored when that's the only photo you have of any given precious moment. You touch on this defending the analog format, but I would dare to go even further as to say that the artifacts of a poorly done analog-to-digital conversion can be just as unimportant.

I love that you brought this up! Because I've thought about exactly this before, during and particularly after this project & post. I agree strongly with what you're saying here, but not fully. I'd incorporate the inconvenience element into this aspect of the experience as well! Do other routes exist to digitize VHS tapes / *insert any other container of memories*? Yes! Are they more convenient? Also, yes! But I proclaim the following:
The very easing / "lubrication" of the process of transferring / dealing with those memories is corrosive to both the soul of the memory, and the soul of its witness, and ofc, by extension the soul of society.
Now, naturally / logically I believe it's important to be mindful of 'perfectionism' and its ilk, but for example, that aspect of Fahrenheit 451 you mentioned:

Spoiler: Fahrenheit 451

and it that novel there is a society of persons who have memorized books as the ultimate medium of storage. I often fantasize of doing so with some books (I have memorized at least one poem) and wonder if, after all, aren't our memories the most precious storage medium we've got?

It's difficulty, it's 'inconvenience' restores / preserves the soul of the memory, witness(es) and society. Not new ideas* by any means ofc, just my wording / feelings on why I don't agree with you on the means "can be just as unimportant", not necessarily... And you also touch on how rarity affects cherishment, and on how redundancy / commonality diminishes. Think modern everyday "photography" to back when it was more special. So, kind-of in a way, your lack of:

backups of my backups, which by the rule "two is one, one is none" is like just having one copy of my priceless data. I've meditated deeply about this topic and here are just some scattered thoughts

Might perhaps be enhancing the (ethereal, meta-physical) value of what your preserving?
Man, I could keep going: Like, how the human limits of memory also make curation become a soulful endeavor. But I'll stop. Thank you so much for your response @nakadashi - it means a lot. I will be sure to return, and pass-on, the kindness!

EDIT: I also think it's poetically cute that in the case of VHS, the easing of the transfer currently has the physical degradation to go in tangent with the "spiritual" degradation. But, ofc, that's not a prerequisite for the concept.

EDIT2: JESUS CHRIST I ALSO FUCKING HATE FAKE PLANTS, SOMEONE PLS KILL THE IDEA WITH FIRE- PLS GOD HELP US

 

[Jade]

First update to my site in a while! But it's one I'm happy with.
Game Dev Log August '24

 

[nakadashi]

You know what upset(s) me about 'Technology Connections'? It's the persona / emphasis he places on diving deep into things, and relishing doing so, but that when confronted with the opportunity to do so with VHS (Capture), drew the line. And, ofc, posts that on in his second channel! To hide the shame! But, no, I don't really 100% think they're on the same level, nor am I really mad at TC for drawing his lines. Just... I think we should all be mindful of those e-celebs, ya'know?

I love that you brought this up! Because I've thought about exactly this before, during and particularly after this project & post. I agree strongly with what you're saying here, but not fully. I'd incorporate the inconvenience element into this aspect of the experience as well! Do other routes exist to digitize VHS tapes / *insert any other container of memories*? Yes! Are they more convenient? Also, yes! But I proclaim the following:
The very easing / "lubrication" of the process of transferring / dealing with those memories is corrosive to both the soul of the memory, and the soul of its witness, and ofc, by extension the soul of society.
Now, naturally / logically I believe it's important to be mindful of 'perfectionism' and its ilk, but for example, that aspect of Fahrenheit 451 you mentioned:

It's difficulty, it's 'inconvenience' restores / preserves the soul of the memory, witness(es) and society. Not new ideas* by any means ofc, just my wording / feelings on why I don't agree with you on the means "can be just as unimportant", not necessarily... And you also touch on how rarity affects cherishment, and on how redundancy / commonality diminishes. Think modern everyday "photography" to back when it was more special. So, kind-of in a way, your lack of:

Might perhaps be enhancing the (ethereal, meta-physical) value of what your preserving?
Man, I could keep going: Like, how the human limits of memory also make curation become a soulful endeavor. But I'll stop. Thank you so much for your response @nakadashi - it means a lot. I will be sure to return, and pass-on, the kindness!

EDIT: I also think it's poetically cute that in the case of VHS, the easing of the transfer currently has the physical degradation to go in tangent with the "spiritual" degradation. But, ofc, that's not a prerequisite for the concept.

EDIT2: JESUS CHRIST I ALSO FUCKING HATE FAKE PLANTS, SOMEONE PLS KILL THE IDEA WITH FIRE- PLS GOD HELP US

Yeah, this is definitely a topic in which one could delve indefinitely (I really like the iceberg you provided). Just to conclude, I found it funny, as in the Universe telling us "Fuck You", that every attempt at preserving analog media unavoidably corrodes the master itself.

 

[nakadashi]

First update to my site in a while! But it's one I'm happy with.
Game Dev Log August '24

Unfortunately, I don't know nothing about game dev, but it is definitely something worth reading into. From what it seems I guess it is some kind of RPG maybe? I don't have plenty of experience with them. I really liked Yume Nikki, which is honestly the only one I've played in my adult life. Maybe I should look for some others to play...

 

[Jade]

Unfortunately, I don't know nothing about game dev, but it is definitely something worth reading into. From what it seems I guess it is some kind of RPG maybe? I don't have plenty of experience with them. I really liked Yume Nikki, which is honestly the only one I've played in my adult life. Maybe I should look for some others to play...

you wouldn't guess by looking at it but Pocky & Rocky is actually a Shoot-'Em-Up. What I like about it (other than the super-cute artstyle) is the fact that you can progress at your own pace. In just about every other SHMUP I've played, the screen scrolls automatically and pushes you along at a set speed. But here, you can go as fast or slow as you want, and the level design is built around that, allowing enemies to come from any direction on screen instead of just from the top. So that's how I'm trying to make my game too.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXjinI0gyr0

 

[Ashman]

A short technical post for the last day.

 

[nakadashi]

A short technical post for the last day.

Emacs Lisp?! OK, that's beyond based. Lisp've been on my list of thing to learn since forever. Other than that, I can't really add too much on the topic of .beat time.