Sleepy Orange and Friends

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Sleepy Orange Sulphur, Abaeis nicippe, Family Pieridae, Subfamily Coliadinae. Thanks to Ray Simpson and David J. Ferguson over at Bugguide.Net for ID and confirmation.


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According to the species info page, this butterfly's slow flight earned it the "sleepy" moniker. It ranges from Central America through the southern United States and is common in the southeast, though to my knowledge this was my first encounter with the species after 6-1/2 years of living in Florida.

I took these photos back on August 21 (the ID confirmation's just come in). This individual was nectaring in a small wild patch between a strip mall and a housing development.

A few nights later I bumped into amphibians hanging out at the post office. Doing some photo catch-up here.

"You've Got Mail!"

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I think this is either a green treefrog or a squirrel treefrog. The frog at lower right is the same individual as in the other shots; I lightened the photo considerably to bring out the contrast.


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Oak Toad, Bufo cuercicus.

Mary spotted another oak toad next to the side lot:


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Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Free downloads of both volumes here.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant and Appetite in even more formats!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. [end of entry]

Stowaway

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I was about to enter Dollar General on Sunday when I realized I had a stowaway on my cart. This is a female anole.

I still have trouble telling brown and green anoles apart (for one thing, green anoles can turn brown, though the reverse is not the case). But the slender build makes me think this might be a green anole (Anolis carolinensis, Family Polychrotidae), the only anole native to the United States. Unfortunately, green anoles are losing habitat to the brown anole (Anolis sagrei).


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Our photo shoot lasted for several minutes, during which time I explained to a few inquisitive boys why I had scooched down on the walkway. The anole eventually decided she could do without the attention and leapt onto another cart.







Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Free downloads of both volumes here.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant and Appetite in even more formats!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. [end of entry]

Suicide Solution, Vol. 1 - A collection of suicidal, depressive, and atmospheric black metal.

Genre: Suicidal, Depressive, Atmospheric. Mostly Black Metal with a few exceptions (noted below)
About: Depressive music, for me, is the soundtrack for particularly frostbitten days. Be it the weather, or things that happen to me, or who knows what. I am a believer that you need music that resonates with any mood you may have. If you are angry, you want some death metal, if you want to punch someones face in, you want hardcore... if you are feeling the frost climb up your back, you want this.

I truly do not understand why bands that perform this style of music are not popular worldwide. Especially in the US. Depression is practically an epidemic here, and if this music was prevelent, maybe we could cut down on that? And, even if you are not depressed, it is just great music once you tune your brain to it.

This is not my favorite genre, but I have listened to quite a lot and am familiar with enough bands to consider this a decent collection. I have included what i consider the "essentials", and also some unknown bands, some of which I discovered just now. If you have never listened to these genres, this would be a good "Starter Pack" for you. If you have, maybe there's a few in here you don't know and would like to hear?

I may do more volumes... This one is a starter pack, and includes some non-"suicidal" songs but they give off the same general feeling... further volumes would likely be strictly bands classified as "suicidal". By the way, the album name is the name of a Ozzy Osbourne song... not a big fan of the song, but the title seemed appropriate ("Centre of Eternity" is awesome though, as well as most of his big hits). Anyway, hope at least one person stumbles across this and enjoys it! I'm more likely to make more if i get a comment..

So... It took a while to find/remember the bands i wanted, but it is epic. Also, epically long, it came out to the completely arbitrary number 31 tracks, and nearly 4 hours. But it's a pretty awesome playlist IMO. (Apoligies for the volume equalization issues. Seems demos are very quiet.) Hope you enjoy :)


Track List:
1. Sad Legend - Searching for the Hope in Utter Darkness...
2. Xasthur - Cursed Be The Memory Of Light (Old Xasthur >>>> new Xasthur)
3. Desire - Funeral Doomentia
4. Daemonolatreia - Misanthropic Symbol Of Infernal Abyss
5. Lunar Aurora - Der Morgen (This album was a big departure from their previous and subsequent work, but i love it just the same, possibly more.)
6. Deep-pression - Pain... Is Everywhere...
7. Oathean - The Last Elegy for My Sad Soul
8. Dead Raven Choir - A Rosebud In June (officially "dark folk"... this is some neat stuff)
9. Drudkh - Glare Of Autumn (Not "depressive" but it has a dark melancholic feeling)
10. Life is Pain - Oppressive Nights in Mental Asylum
11. Life is Pain - Bloody Melancholy (brilliant ambiance, reminds me of Burzum - Rundgang um die transzendentale Säule der Singularität)
12. Sad Legend - Nocturnal Cries Of Agony (this song got me into depressive black metal)
13. Anti - Invocation
14. Nyktalgia - Cold Void
15. Daemonolatreia - One More Soul For Satan (makeshift Interlude... quite creepy)
16. Lurker Of Chalice - Piercing Where They Might (best atmosphere/droning in any song ever)
17. Sad - Mass Annihilation (no relation to Sad Legend)
18. Darkspace - Dark 3.12 (Part of a massive story spanning 3 albums and one demo. Last i checked they can all be downloaded for free from their website)
19. Defaillance - Oublie De Tous
20. Leviathan - Sacred Scars (Warning: face-melting is likely)
21. Make A Change... Kill Yourself - Fooling the Weak (Xasthur side project... better (than more recent xasthur at least))
22. Oathean - River of Sadness
23. Secretly In Pain - Le Chemin
24. Corpus Christii - Heavenless Bliss (again, technically not depressive but it has a nice feeling)
25. Be Persecuted - Revolves Weakly Falls (rawer than raw)
26. Rapture - To Forget (Technically doom, but nice feeling)
27. Anti - Mourning Soul
28. Alcest - Elevation (This Black Metal artist now does Shoegaze. I don't know why, because this song is f'ing brilliant! Again, not sure how "depressive" it is but i like the atmosphere)
29. Desire - (Love Is) Suicide (The past 3 hours were just foreplay for this song. Seriously, this song is orgasm.)
30. Wormphlegm - Epejumalat Monet Tesse Muinen Palveltin Lauran Ja Lesse (30 minute epic DSBM masterpiece. 30 minutes flies by, then i want more.)
31. Corpus Christii - All Hail... (Master Satan) (for the lulz. Heh, seemed appropriate to match my interlude. Good sing-a-long tune (for small children :3 ))

(1/9/2011 - Part 3 was broken, this is a re-upload of two 200-mb files instead of four 100mb files!)
Download pt 1
Download pt 2

Wormphlegm - Tomb of the Ancient King (2006)

Genre: Suicidal Funeral Doom/Black Metal, Atmopsheric/Drone
About: I've had a seriously terrible day, so this is just what i need right now. I believe that music that fits your mood will help you the most. This is why angry people listen to hardcore, emos listen to emo all the time, etc. But I am not a robot, my moods change, hence i need different genres of music.

Anywho, this is some seriously dark music. The ambiance is set by simple low piano notes, and then you're sucked into a vortex that leads straight to hell. Enjoy :)

Current line-up
Maggotworm Incinerator Abscess - drums, vocals
Grubgorge Pestilent Diarrhoeator - guitars, bass, vocals

Track List:
1. Epejumalat monet tesse muinen palveltin caucan ja lesse 30:15
2. Tomb of the Ancient King 13:18
3. Return of the Ice Age and the Tortyrant 17:32
Total playing time 01:01:05

Download pt 1
Download pt 2

Malevolent - Demo (2009)

Genre: Death Metal, Hardcore, Deathcore, Grindcore?, Black Metal?
About: I'm doing a few posts today to protest my school's anti-freedom of information ideals. Youtube doesn't even load properly because they restrict the internet so bad here. Anyway, this is an album I bought (yes, BOUGHT, so if you like it please refer to the Buy link below)

This is a very interesting combination of grind, death metal, and hardcore. Difficult to categorize bands are always better IMO. The breakdown in track 1 is heavy as f*ck, and then is followed by a guitar solo 0_0. I am very glad i bought this, because this band from Southern California has a lot of potential. Even as they are now, the playing is spot on, and the composition excellent. The production is crystal clear, not demo-like at all. They remind me of the band "Winds of Plague" except with a more unique approach. Please download this, and if you like it send them a message to buy or at least thank them for a job well done!

Buy CD and Shirt for 15 dollars! (or just CD for 5) (Send a message on myspace with mailing address and paypal the money) (Note, the shirt is the lower image at the top of this post, but both are off their official myspace :D)

1. Engorged in Skeetsuit
2. Sex Panther
3. Inner Unravelling of an Ocean
(side note - itunes made this read-only? Dont know why. Read-only annoys me, will look into)

Download

DJ Smooth Denali - Hip-Hop Classics, Vol. 11: The Streets Of New York (2006)

About: Time for a rare non-metal post. This album is just so smooth... it's like a good beer. If this music does not make you move, you should get your head checked. This is quite simply the best [old school] rap/hip hop to come out of New York City (all of which from the good ol' 90's). All mixed together in a non-stop mix by the genius DJ Smooth Denali. I just got a notice about illegally sharing copywrited material (torrents) on my school network, and this album is making me feel better, so i thought i'd share copywrited material! (mediafire) :D

It includes all the classics... Fat Joe, Big Pun, Big L, Notorious BIG, Kool G Rap, Gangstarr (who i had the chance to see live but didn't, grrrrr..), and even old school Jay Z and Nas (when they were a lot better), and a lot of good stuff i never heard of.

1.Theme From New York - FRANK SINATRA
2 Walk In New York - ONYX
3.Firewater - FAT JOE RAEKWON & BIG PUN (SMOOTH MIX)
4.True Confessions - TRAGEDY KHADAFI
5.Blood Money - CNN
6 Front Lines - MOBB DEEP
7 Microphone Fiend - ERIC B & RAKIM
8 Microphone Checka RMX - DAS EFX
9 Ice Gold Medllions - ROYAL FLUSH
10. Ebonics - BIG L
11. Next Level (PRIMO RMX) - SHOWBIZ & AG
12. Mind Spray - JERU DA DAMAGA
13. Mecca & The Soul Brother - PETE ROCK & CL SMOOTH
14. Question Remainz - GANGSTARR
15. Outta Here - KRS ONE
16. Dream Shatterer - BIG PUN
17. Drop A Gem - MOBB DEEP
18. Flava Of The Month - BLACK SHEEP
19. Punks Jump Up - BRAN NUBIANS
20. Machine Gun Funk - NOTORIOUS BIG
21. Fakin Jax - INI FT PETE ROCK
22. 4th Chamber - GZA FT GHOSTFACE RZA
23. Ill Street Blues - KOOL G RAP
24. Shut Em Down (Pete Rock Remix) - PUBLIC ENEMY FT PETE ROCK
25. 10 Crack Commandments - NOTORIOUS BIG
26. Memory Lane - NAS
27. One In A Million - PETE ROCK & CL SMOOTH
28. D-Evils - JAY Z

Download pt 1
Download pt 2

Wildpath - Non Omnis Moriar (2009) + Bonus Tracks (320kbps)

(If you have a deviant art account, here is the artist's page, so you can watch or favorite or whatever: http://somnyum.deviantart.com/)



Genre: Female Fronted Melodic Symphonic Power Metal
About: After over two months, the world outside of Japan finally gets to hear this glorious album. If you have never heard of this band, please proceed to click the "Wildpath" tag at the bottom and download the other album as well.

If you have, you should have been anxiously awaiting this since it's July 15th release date. That's right, OVER TWO MONTHS AGO, and exclusively on CD in Japan (Yet the band is from France... go figure). It took that long for it to make it onto file sharing sites, leading me to believe the internet has not been invented in Japan yet. I was to the point where I almost paid 50 dollars to import, and even so the import site was out of stock!

Anyway, download this if you are a fan of any of the genres. They've taken their proven unique yet traditional power metal, added an even more beautiful singer, and added some progressive and symphonic elements. They also seem to be using the death-ish screams a bit more, but definitely is not excessive.

My favorite is "Secret's Case". I was fortunate enough to rip that off myspace to keep my sanity over these past two months waiting. "Non Omnis Moriar" and "Sanctuary Part 1" are quite good as well, and if it's at all like the first album, every track will eventually grow on me and i'll be addicted.

According to the website, this "is a concept album that tells the story of a young woman trapped in a strange house full of secrets".

1. Two Broken Candles (Introduction) 01:57
2. Unforgotten 04:45
3. Ballroom Doors (Interlude) 00:55
4. Shadows Dance 03:38
5. Grinnin' Sanity 05:05
6. Facing Fears (Interlude) 00:32
7. Ghost Memories 04:50
8. Desire part I - Lust 04:15
9. Desire part II - Forsaken 04:42
10. Light Heart 03:18
11. Secret's Case 05:41
12. Cemetear (Interlude) 01:15
13. Non Omnis Moriar 04:44
14. Hall Stairway (Interlude) 02:44
15. Sanctuary part I - The Cathedral 03:28
16. Sanctuary part II - Death 03:18
17. Sanctuary part III - Acceptation 02:43
Total playing time 57:50

Bonus track for Japan:
18. Norse Legends Come To Life (Remake of "When Legends Come to Life" on their first album in a somewhat different style, and with the new singer of course)

Bonus Track from their Website:
19. Dark Mass

Download pt 1
Download pt 2
(If anyone is wondering why the duplicate post, there was something wrong with the link i posted before so i figured I'd upload it myself and write a full entry. Enjoy! :D)

Asimov's Contributor Copies

My Asimov's contributor copies have arrived. This issue contains my poem "Derivative Work" and novelette "Flotsam." Took this photo at the post office, soon as I ripped off the plastic wrap. :-)

From the intro to "Flotsam": "Elissa Malcohn burst into our pages in November 1984 with her intensely powerful story 'Lazuli.' Although another tale appeared in our Mid-December 1986 issue, we've been waiting twenty-three years for the third. We're delighted that the hiatus ends with 'Flotsam,' a story that was partly informed by Elissa's employment at a government contractor during some of those intervening years."

My story in the mid-December 1986 Asimov's was "The S.O.B Show," a fond spoof informed by five years of volunteer planetarium work. The title took its name from the field's nickname for the "Star of Bethlehem," or Christmas, show.

"Lazuli," a science fictional treatment of childhood sexual abuse and my first professional sale, single-handedly placed me on the final ballot for the 1985 John W. Campbell Award.

---

Mary and I have been hunting for the planet Uranus.



Image courtesy of About.com.

Uranus reached opposition on the 17th, which means it's up in the sky all night -- located just south of the Circlet, an asterism in Pisces. (An asterism is part of a constellation that's recognizeable in and of itself. The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation of Ursa Major.) Here, Uranus is represented by the bluegreen circle with an arrow pointing up.

Here's a close-up of the Circlet and Uranus's position:



Graphic courtesy of the Isle of Man Astronomical Society.

Earlier this week the sky was clear around midnight (enough to see the Milky Way), so we were out with binoculars and our Astroscan. I'm still not sure if I found Uranus, but I think I may have. I pushed the Astroscan to just about its maximum magnification capacity (around 200x) and thought I barely saw a disc, which would indicate a planet rather than a star. Then again, the Astroscan is a bear to focus when the magnification is that high. The night was very still, to the point where I couldn't tell what twinkled and what didn't.

While we were outside, we got in a good look at Jupiter and its Galilean moons (all four were visible, two to either side of the planet), along with the Andromeda galaxy. By about 1 AM some haze had crept in.







Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Free downloads of both volumes here.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant and Appetite in even more formats!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. [end of entry]

Grape Study and The Power of Detail

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(This entry is somewhat germane to Sunday Scribblings prompt #181: "Hungry.")

Yesterday I spoke to the Florida Writers Association's Tampa chapter on "Harnessing the Power of Detail." The groceries I picked up on my way home included grapes. They were so pretty that they inspired me to play with my food.


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Here I've trimmed, rotated, and duplicated/mirrored the original image.

The interplay of solid and shadow intrigued me after the grapes were eaten.


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So I thought I'd create a "rug."


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This image takes the preceding photo and matches its stem edge with that of a mirrored and reversed copy. I then applied MS Photo Editor's "Edge" and "Negative" functions and altered color balance and contrast. The background and frame come from copies of small patches taken from the altered image.

On Saturday morning I spoke to almost 25 people at the Carrollwood Barnes & Noble in Tampa. First, I presented and deconstructed examples of how detail is used in passages from published works in several different genres. The use of detail sets the scene, tone, and pacing of a piece and relates to what the author is trying to say. Which information advances the scene and enriches the story? How and where does the author focus the reader's attention?

My participatory talk included several exercises based on what I've done in my classes. One exercise reversed the dynamics of creating detail to add believability to a story. Instead of writing a narrative in which one invents details, I presented the group with a photograph showing four people preparing to launch a sailboat. I'd been part of that outing, now around 25 years ago, so I knew the people in the photo.

My handout page had two columns: "What is happening?" on the left and "Why?" on the right. I asked participants to describe, point by point, what was happening in the photo, to infer the relationships among the different characters, and then to write those assumptions in the left-hand column. Then, referring to body language, facial expression, line of sight, and environmental details -- those things that they could find in the photo itself -- they would justify their assumptions in the right-hand column.

No matter what the actual situation in the photograph, all guesses are legitimate if one has the details to back those guesses up. Interpretations of the photograph differed among participants, but each person used a different set of details to illustrate his or her assumptions. One participant likened the exercise to different stories provided by witnesses at a crime scene.

I also referenced Jeff Gerke's take on the "show versus tell" dictum, including his section, "When Exposition Works." And I drew from Naomi Epel's book The Observation Deck, one of my favorite writing guides.


After the meeting, several members took me to a terrific lunch at the Red Lobster across the highway.



Here I entertain the group by floating a lamp above my head. :-)

I misread my own directions duct-taped to the dashboard of my car and saw more of Tampa than I'd intended, but if I hadn't I wouldn't have seen a well-muscled, barechested man practicing his golf swing in the middle of a sandy highway construction zone -- one of those shots I wish I could have taken without getting into an accident. And I congratulated myself for finding an alternate route home without having to consult a map, so am getting to know the Tampa area a bit better.

Thanks to Kaye Coppersmith and the rest of the FWA Tampa chapter for a wonderful day!

---

I made two announcements at the meeting. One concerns the National Day on Writing, a project initiated by the National Council of Teachers of English.


Click here to read the flyer.

Also, the Writer's Digest Conference occurred in New York City on the same day as my presentation, but people could follow along remotely, through both the conference blog and Twitter posts.

---

Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Free downloads of both volumes here.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant and Appetite in even more formats!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. [end of entry]

Deep Carnivale

Festival check-in. I believe this and similar umbrella-motif art pieces shown below were done by Ernesto Piloto-Marquez.

On September 12, 2009, I traveled to Tampa's Ybor City for Deep Carnivale, along with Lakisha Spletzer and her daughter Alea. K.L. Nappier and I shared a sales table.

Deep Carnivale was held indoors this year, and none too soon. We stayed dry inside the Performing Arts Building at Hillsborough Community College. (continued...)


Festival entrance. Rain fell fairly steadily throughout most of the day, but cleared up as we approached 5 p.m.



More than just a literary festival, Deep Carnivale also featured dance, artwork, and music, with plenty of children's activities. A hefty crowd braved the weather over the weekend.



I had on display:
1. IPPY Silver Medal-winner Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press), which contains my story "Arachne."
2. Bram Stoker Award-winner Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (Dark Scribe Press), which contains my story "Memento Mori."
3. Hugo Award-winner Electric Velocipede, which contains my story "Hermit Crabs" in issue #14. "Hermit Crabs" is also on the recommended reading list in The Year's Best Science Fiction, 26th Annual Edition.
4. The first edition of Deviations: Covenant (Aisling Press).
5. CDs containing e-books of Covenant and its sequel, Appetite.


K.L. (Kathy) Nappier.


Glenda and Tony Finkelstein.


Kathy's and my table sat opposite this work....


... and below this one.









I believe Mitzi Gordon is the artist. This work was part of a larger installation. Periodically, the arms inflate and raise, then deflate and lower. They had just begun deflating when I took this shot.



Kisha's daughter Alea shows her "chapter book" to author Jane Kennedy Sutton. Following the festival, Alea started typing up her work.

Many thanks to David Audet and the rest of the Artists and Writers Group team that put Deep Carnivale together!


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Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.)
Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite
Free downloads of both volumes here.

Go to Manybooks.net to access Covenant and Appetite in even more formats!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.