katu01

A brief update since I'm ages behind in saying thank you to the generous and kind comments and favs received over the past few months. Never been busier with the transition to MAC OS 10.7. So my apologies for missing the usual social graces and selecting favorites from among the amazing art that's recently been posted. With a work schedule just beyond manageable, learning new software, keeping up with a couple of classes - always in school - and other WebSites, a paragraph is all I can do right now. It may be time to move much of the photography work from DA to a new account on Photo.com and post more Wacom work here. Still preparing content for a couple of new sites: KatuStudios.com, DCToons.com, and a political blogging site. Going to ASCAP in April to their "I Create Music" shindig and that was the reason for moving to a stable OS so that work wouldn't be lost to blue screen events.

Apparently, a sufficient number of production studios have moved to Linux or MAC and AutoDesk has responded by making all of their software available for these systems. AutoCAD, MudBox, Maya, 3ds Max, and SketchBook are now available for MAC and Linux as is most everything from ToonBoom, Pixar, and Lightwave. Music sequencing and sampling remains predominantly with MAC and Windows. It appears that the makers of other operating systems have heard that creative people can only create when they're not having to work full time at information systems in order to keep things going. The latest Windows problems: Storage drives formatted by XP and migrated to Windows 7 are likely to experience corruption of Smart data and sector loss until the drive shows as "failed". The other problem: right clicking over a folder in Explorer will cause Explorer to drop out. For now, keystroke commands have to replace the right click until this glitch gets fixed. Microsoft has at least come up with some very helpful support and user sites that were sorely needed years ago.

Anyway, sincere thanks to those who have faved images, sent comments, and waited patiently for me to respond. The Linkedin accounts are in the same state of neglect so DA isn't being singled out. BTW, I stopped by the Caesar's Palace Forum Shops when company came to town and saw a really nice art gallery of landscape photography where the works are apparently printed on silvered paper that gives the images a "lightbox" effect and prices that are high enough to pay for the silver and rent at Caesars. Enough said . . . until the next update.

Cheers

OK, so it's time to update the Journal with something new. Yes, at the last minute I did get tickets to do the annual Burning Man thing and it was - as always - worth all the effort. Spent this year working a couple of shifts at the airport at Black Rock City. 2 days of wind storms proved how lethal alkali dust can be to the surface of eyes - even with goggles. This year's art was even more spectacular and the technology impressive.

Remote helicopters (models) with cameras flew around the many attractions at night and RC aircraft - also models - flew around the skies over Burning Man while showing off some spectacular lighting displays - some made it to the news as potential UFO sightings. Of course, UFO sightings are not exactly a rare thing over the Black Rock Desert - but few were ever filmed until the advent of digital cameras capable of low-light video photography.

Because of job demands and time involved in setting up website content, I've been scarce at DA and have felt the pangs of guilt at not responding to every comment and saying immediate thanks for every favorite so generously given. No doubt I'll lose a few watchers just because my social graces are far from what they've been in the past. This is not to say that I'm going to mend my ways. I'm still working on copyright music that needs to get published and set up distribution. Finally became a member of ASCAP (Association of Composers and Performers) and looking forward to updating arrangements after moving from Windows to MAC and Linux. Why the move? Well, not just to avoid Blue Screens and endless operating system updates - the most difficult of which was to Windows 7, but to use a system and software almost universally shared within the independent producer community. Like everyone dabbling in the media, the hope is for recognition. Unlike everyone in the content creation community, my survival doesn't depend on it, but the goal remains to learn from the inspired and from that derive my own inspiration.

Well, keeping it brief, this update was to remove the ancient Journal material and replace it with an "I'm sorry" for being so slow to respond and a little background info on the whys. So, for those many kind comments, generous s, and visits to see if I still show up, I say sincerest thanks and hope you won't give up on me.

Thank you

For those who watch LinkTV and occasionally use Twitter, @AJStream is a talk program about current events and is one of many programs produced by Al Jaziera. On this morning's talk show, their discussion dealt with the "addiction" to the Internet and more specifically to social media. There are now enterprising individuals who offer professional services to order to wean people from the social media scene so that they can get their lives back in order. Most obvious among the consequences to an addiction to Face Book, Twitter, instant messaging, email, and many other electronic diversions (including DA) are late payment of bills, the house turning into a hoarder story, pets pleading for food, and a failure to notice that after taking a seat in front of the screen that the rising sun has already set and the kids have grown up.

   6 months ago, the signs that everyday things weren't getting done were obvious. Piles of un-filed paperwork on most horizontal surfaces, weeds surrounding the house, and notices that the car was past-due for service had to be balanced against saying 'thank-yous' for s, watching the DA 'inbox' for new creative works that deserve recognition, answering messages, doing homework, paying bills, and all the other daily chores. It was turning into a guilt trip and one of the most obvious signs is not seeing the outside world in daylight. Yes, I feel guilty about not being able to properly respond to the remarkable creativity of individuals on my watch-list, but I also feel guilty about falling behind the curve on self-paced classes, abandoning illustrations that were started, and not learning everything I can about this very impressive device that arrived 4 months ago: The Maschine.

   Into trance, electronica, progressive jazz, debstep, and more, storyboards and standard notation sit with ideas sketched out, but not yet executed. Rhythm lines, instrument samples, and synthesized sounds from NI's Komplete software populate tracks in Pro Tools and Studio One awaiting their final arrangement into tomorrow's blockbusters. As a retired keyboardist who once played 'fill-in' stints in lounges and pizza parlors as a fun hobby, the Allen's and Wurlitzer's live on without me. As for those arrangements that led to permanent job offers, they still play in my head and at home on a midi-Allen. I grew up at about the end of the age of music containing such greats as Quincy Jones, Robert Farnon, Percy Faith, Ken Thorne, Nelson Riddle, John Williams, and many more you've probably never heard of - except for poor Muzak imitations in elevators.

   So, what ajsteam said in their morning show about the Internet expanding to consume all time in your life really hit home. Nobody ever accomplished anything by sitting in front of a diversion - even though a small part of that time might be justified on the grounds that you're doing research to win an argument, support a premise, or discharge a social obligation. I still have a mountain of thank yous to send out, an in-box full of great writing and art to review and give deserved praise where time permits, but now comes one of life's lessons. If anything creative is going to come from me - beyond taking pictures - it will only happen through determination and focus. Bear in mind that DA is a business that depends on you being here and providing support to each other. The key to success is not so much the kindness and mutual admiration shared among others showing their stuff in a public forum, but rather on what you can market as an entrepreneur who is also a talented artist. On DA, your best ideas are as likely to 1.) be garnered for successes by others in the industry as they are to 2.) drop that stairway for you to ascend to fame and fortune. As @AJStream hinted, you have a finite amount of time and as a limited resource - like money - only the correct distribution will result in the kind of return you can take to the bank.

   Diversions are not new even though the latest age of the Internet offers everything that existed previously with new embellishments. Books, movies, old TV shows, card games, war games, Face Book FarmVille , news, stock analysis, classifieds, to just scratch the surface. How can the least productive of these be avoided and how can a balance be struck between investing in your own future and maintaining a reasonable social life? Where is the effective balance? Do investments in DA friends have the potential to result in your success?

Well past due with an update, here's my temporary vent over the recent ticket debacle for this years Burning Man festival.

While it's still many months from now - at the end of August - the trip to Burning Man won't happen this year unless I hand over a fortune to scalpers or get lucky on the resale program. This years ticket sale was a huge failure as it was supposedly redesigned and exclusively managed to protect the system from scalpers, but according to resales, Stub Hub is marketing tickets at many times their original price and has a large supply to offer. Scalpers evidently figured out a way around the system.

After doing a search for other festivals being held elsewhere across the globe, there appears to be a very popular festival in Portugal, another one in Russia, and a few scattered in the UK, US, and Australia. Much like Woodstock, Burning Man has been discovered and in the past few years a few people have attempted to market services under a "commercially catered" adventure - a packaged tour with prepared meals, air conditioned sleeping quarters, bathing facilities, open bar, and guided Segways to the evenings best events. Compared to the utterly self-sufficient plan with tickets beginning at $240.00 for the week, the catered tours were offered in the five-figure range. From what I could determine, there were not many takers. At some point, the luxury Burning Man tours began to compete with the cost of a stateroom aboard a cruise ship including air fare, transport,  and port taxes. The main difference is that the cruise ship is not nearly so relaxed,  is likely to organize your activities, have you sitting in dining groups with people you've never met, and expect you to dress formally as if that's what people do to relax on a vacation. Some refer to cruise ships as cattle cars of the sea and a place to meet people determined to invade every aspect of your life. This is not to say that all cruises are nightmares of regimentation as some do manage to run aground and leave passengers to fend for themselves. Still others have outbreaks of salmonella that keep you confined to quarters for the duration.

There are also hiking, kayaking tours to unusual places organized by companies who provide porters, catered tents, and facilities nearly as upscale as any 4-star resort. Some offer photo excursions, classes, and seminars in transit. While these sound like an ideal way to collect future Daily Deviations, these trips normally run about 15 days and given the luck of most travelers, the weather may decide not to cooperate. Yes, I know, there's a tinge of obsession in what I say, but unless you've been to Burning Man, you're probably relying on the opinions of people who've never seen it. Oddly enough, most of the misinformation comes from people who have never been there and sound a bit like Rick Santorum by calling it a drug-crazed orgy. In truth, it's generally what you want it to be and finding the drugs or a suitable orgy may not be as easy as one is misled to believe. Yes, it is relaxed and there is nudity, but it's hardly the norm.

What it boils down to is this: things change. Burning Man sold out last year - nearly 60,000 tickets and almost everyone showed up which turned out to be a problem between Burning Man and the BLM whose regulation of public lands kept the gathering to 50,000. The dry lake bed could probably host the entire population of Nevada and then some, but the permit is fixed and apparently not negotiable for many bureaucratic reasons - traffic on 2-lane roads being first. Yes, hiking prices could reduce attendance, but it would also change the character of the gathering. Many solutions to the ticket screw-up have been suggested, and there are proposals to offer more than one gathering per year. This does not solve the immediate needs of regular visitors shut out by this year's nightmare. For those without tickets - especially those who regularly provided construction and facility support, it will have a profound effect on organization and the character of the event. For event organizers, it's a major headache having to deal with the loss of regular staff and trying to plan around all new volunteers who aren't queuing up as in the past. Like the end of Woodstock, it could well be the last year for Burning Man. In 2011, scalpers were stuck with tickets at the last minute and prices dropped from as much as $7,000.00 each to face value plus FedEx delivery. This year may be an even greater rout for the greedy who apparently took a break from Wall Street.

A scheduled, final sale consisting of 10K tickets was canceled last week as organizers recognized they fell short of the expected number and now must distribute remaining tickets to those organizers whose volunteer support teams were decimated by the first sale. What's left now is a remote chance that people will return unwanted / unneeded tickets for resale by Burning Man. Time will tell whether this is the beginning of the end or the invention of survival tactics extending the festival a few more years. In a part of the state (Nevada) suffering from the shut down of mines and communities hit by a contracting economy, Burning Man represents 3 weeks out of 52 in which there is commerce, charitable contribution of solar systems to schools and public buildings, and an influx of tourists who might never see the Black Rock Desert. Towns like Gerlach, Empire, and Nixon will likely be forgotten and the beneficiaries of community bequests from Burning Man organizers will be no more. The overall feeling is that the heavy hand of the BLM has been imposed to keep the public from utilizing public lands - a trust that was never granted to the agency - despite the fact that Burning Man is a "leave no trace" event. At a time when public opinion is turning against government policies that favor banks, Wall Street, and billionaires, the opinion that middle class pleasures necessitating government oversight cannot be tolerated - even when all agency payroll and support costs are paid entirely by the event - does not sit well.

Started an update with extensive edits but it's gone after flipping through tabs to gather thumbnails and icons. The tab disappeared along with the updates. For now I'll just delete the "Gone on Vacation" journal and thank everyone for the kind well wishes. In a few days, A new journal update will follow. Cheers all, and thank you again for your kind and generous support.

Thanks to:

     

for your well wishes for a happy vacation break