I’ve decided to start putting all of the Gaming videos I make in a single playlist. It’s curious that as a result of my review project, I’ve found interest in and comfort with the “let’s play” method of going through the game. The terrible thing is that I’m terrible at it, and my microphone is awful, and, well, it’s just really rough. But why not contribute to the swamp of video content with my own, rough and weird recordings? You’ll find them in the playlist below. So far I have the original Call of Duty project description, the Call of Duty let’s play, and (uploading now) the Call of Duty: United Offensive let’s plays (parts 1 and 2).
In other news, I have yet to start Call of Duty 2. But it’s coming. I promise [myself].
In 2020, I will be reviewing all Call of Duty games (for the PC), using a set of criteria that reflects my personal interests with gaming. I’ve described the project in this introductory video.
The 2020 MLA Offsite Reading, which featured mostly poetry, occurred at Town Hall Seattle yesterday. There were many readers, and most of them read for 2 minutes or less. The event was broken into three parts, with three hosts. The recording, which I made happen with my new H6, is below. Audio is minimally edited, as usual, but at least complete. I have listed all of the poets along with the host. The event is added to my Recordings archive page as well.
Host: Jeanne Heuving
Readers: Kazim Ali, Prageeta Sharma, Diana Arterian, Cameron Awkward-Rich, Woogee Bae, Quentin Baker, Amaranth Borsuk, Rebecca Brown, Amy Sara Carroll, Sarah Chavez, Ken Taylor, Richard Chiem, Kate Colby, Michael Cross, Zhang Er, C. R. Grimmer
Host: Amaranth Borsuk
Readers: Stefania Heim, Rae Armantrout, Jeanne Heuving, Ted Hiebert, Ever Jones, Douglas Kearney, Larissa Lai, Donato Mancini, Natalie Martinez, Nadine Maestas, Sarah Mangold, Joe Milutis, Robert Mittenthal, Paul Nelson, Aldon Nielsen, Katelyn Opegard, Bob Perelman
Host: Ted Hiebert
Readers: James Reed, Juan Carlos Reyes, Katie Schaag, Leonard Schwartz, Ada Smailbagovich, Danny Snelson, Ching-In Chen, Billie Swift, Monica de la Torre, Matthew Trease, Lesley Wheeler, Tyrone Williams, Deborah Woodard
Categories
The Start of 2020 in Media
How to begin the year 2020 in my consumption patterns? With a footnote that says, this is how I begin:
Games
The Outer Worlds, Plague Tale: Innocence, Life is Strange 2, and Call of Duty (this last one is for a very special project that will hopefully send the new decade into a more critically-thinking space).
Music
Roxy Music, Taylor Swift, Swans, Stereolab, Sonic Youth, Ritchie Valens, Ricky Martin, Prince, Prefab Sprout, Jimi Hendrix, Jim O’Rourke, Jennifer Lopez, Floating Points, clipping., and DaVido.
Movies
The Witches (1990) and Destroyer (2018).
Books
The Water Dancer, and Dawn of the New Everything.
I listened to 215 albums in 2019. Incredible, really, now that I’ve been able to track the albums I listen to and find appropriate ways of listening to them. They weren’t all released in 2019, of course, but many were. Below you’ll find my favorite albums that came out last year. This is a new type of post for me, so feels a bit basic, but I have the data, so why not share it? Note: some of these may be re-releases. And note: they are listed in alphabetical order.
Silences by Adia Victoria
Malibu Ken by Aesop Rock
Sunshine 3 by Aleksi Perala
I’m Losing Myself by An Isolated Mind
ANDRES IV by Andres
All the Mirrors by Angel Olsen
Death Becomes Her by ANGEL-HO
thank u, next by Ariana Grande
Organism EP by Ariel Zetina
Signal Bulletin by ASUNA & Jan Jelinek
Cows on Hourglass Pond by Avey Tare
Gold and Grey by Baroness
Dark: Cycle 1 (Original Music From The Netflix Series) by Ben Frost
Dark: Cycle 2 by Ben Frost
Odds Against Tomorrow by Bill Orcutt
LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR STUPID LITTLE BITCHES by Black Dresses
Destroyer by Black Mountain
Blacks’ Myths II by Blacks’ Myths
Animated Violence Mild by Blanck Mass
i,i by Bon Iver
Free Company by Boy Scouts
Let’s Try the After by Broken Social Scene
Scholars by Buke and Gase
Dive / Rain by Burial and Bug
The Act of Falling from the 8th Floor by Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy
Myths 004 by Cate Le Bon
Zandoli EP (Bandcamp by Charlotte Adigery
Stuffed & Ready by Cherry Glazerr
Immaculada High by Cherubs
Brace Up! by Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt
Ancestral Recall by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Hectic Shakes EP by Christoph de Babalon
Gazing in the Dark by Copperhead
I Need a New War by Craig Finn
Pure Imagination No Country by Dave Harrington Group
Occulting Disk by Deathprod
Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? by Deerhunter
I Don’t Know How to Be Happy by Deli Girls
Deceiver by DIIV
PURGE by Dis Fig
Kinshasa One Two by DRC Music
Sweet Princess EP by Dry Cleaning
New Atlantis by Efdemin
Empire EP by Eli Keszler
Water Memory by Emily A Sprague
Scenery by Emily King
Musical Prophet – The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions by Eric Dolphy
Neighborhoods by Ernest Hood
Agora by Fennesz
MAGDALENE by FKA Twigs
Emily Alone by Florist
Hi This is Flume by Flume
Unsound Festival mix (YouTube) by Forest Swords
Close it Quietly by Frakie Cosmos
Haunted Items #1-4 by Frankie Cosmos
Failed Entertainment by FURY
A People’s History of Gauche by Gauche
The Envoy by Gavilan Rayna Russom
Phantom Rhythm by Gong Gong Gong III
After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house by Grouper
This is How You Smile by Helado Negro
A Fossil Begins to Bray by Hiro Kone
Modern Nature by How to Live
Venus in Leo by HTRK
Mdou Moctar by Ilana (The Creator)
Sulphur English by Inter Arma
Otoboke Beaver by Itekoma Hits
FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise by Jaimie Branch
Tatizo Pesa by Jay Mitta
Tracing Back The Radiance by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
On the Line by Jenny Lewis
Mise En Abyme by joni void
Mandatory Reality by Joshua Abrams and Nautral Information Society
La Onda de Juan Pablo by Juan Wauters
Tides: Music for Meditation and Yoga by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Lux Prima by Karen O
Origin EP by Kelly Moran
No Home Record by Kim Gordon
Solitude by King Midas Sound
Lifetie by Klein
The Bells by Kornél Kovács
Panorama by La Dispute
Ancestor Boy by Lafawndah
DJ Kicks by Laurel Halo
Loom Dream by Leif
River without Banks by Leo Svirsky
Thanks for the Dance by Leonard Cohen
October Song by Lighting Bug
Caligula by Lingua Ignota
Gray Area by Little Simz
lofeye by lojii
Antidoes 1 (Open Spotify) by Lucinda Chua
Many Any by Max D
Dolphine by Mega Bog
Fever by Megan Thee Stallion
Komachi by Meitei
Coastal Erosion (YouTube) by Merzbow & Vanity Productions
Tears of Joy by MIKE
Power Chords by Mike Krol
How to Live by Modern Nature
Lost Wisdom Pt 2 by Mount Eerie and Julie Doiron
Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire by Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire
Volume One: Dilemmas Of Identity (YouTube) by Nate Young
Colorado by Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Miss Universe by Nilufer Yanya
Radiant Dawn by Operators
basking in the glow by Oso Oso
Phoenix by Pedro the Lion
Nighttime Stories by Pelican
Tasmania by Pond
Morbid Stuff by POP
The Seducation of Kansas by Priests
Am I Who I Am by PTU
Self-Titled by Purple Mountains
Guns by Quelle Chris
Cages by Redbait
ATAXIA by Rian Treanor
Inferno by Robert Forster
Oli XL by Rogue Intruder, Soul Enhancer
Stars Have Eyes by Saint Abdullah
That’s Harakiri by Sd Laika
We Are Not Your Kind by Slipknot
Self-Titled by Sofia Kourtesis
When I Get Home by Solange
Mazy Fly by Spellling
Beware of the Dogs by Stella Donnelly
Athena by Sudan Archives
Life Metal by Sunn O)))
Illegal Moves by Sunwatchers
Leaving Meaning by Swans
Toothsayer by Tanya Tagaq
Dreams Are Not Enough by Telefon Tel Aviv
No Geography by The Chemical Brothers
The Devil You Know by The Coathangers
In League with Dragons by The Mountain Goats
No Holiday by The Muffs
Vessel (Revolver) by Theories
ANIMA by Thom Yorke
No Treasure but Hope by Tindersticks
II by TNGHT
Outer Peace by Toro y Moi
Deforming Lobes by Ty Segall
First Taste by Ty Segall
Signals Into Space by Ultramarine
Pacific Breeze by Various
Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood
Girl With Basket Of Fruit by Xiu Xiu
SECOND LANGUAGE by XXX
Mujeres by Y La Bamba
WAHALA by YATTA
Spirit Said Yes! by YATTA
ATO by Ziur
My new book review of Robert Dash’s On an Acre Shy of Eternity: Micro Landscapes at the Edge is now available on North of Oxford. This was a fantastic read, and viewing, both in its poetry and photography.
I have created two new video sequences over the last month. The first was completed at Friday Harbor Labs’s Whiteley Center, in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington. This video utilizes video taken from Boulder River near Arlington and Darrington. The video includes a sequence of poetic statements, aphorisms a la Rene Char, and has significant vocal manipulation. Responding to a friend, who asked me if my intention was to freak people out, “Yes.” The video is available in HD and 60FPS.
The second video sequence is a set of four abstract videos, and it is called Portraits of Water 1-4 (Silent). The video footage was taken in and near Friday Harbor, earlier this month, and has been manipulated to appear completely abstract. This was my first major foray into blending in Adobe Premier, which I intentionally overdid to highlight certain textures within the water (similar to paint, as a medium). An updated version may appear, down the road, but for now I am content with the silent versions. All four can be viewed in a single video or in individual videos. All are included below. These are also in HD and 60FPS, though the quality will probably seem “rougher.” The footage is mostly from a GoPro, both above and below the surface of the ocean.
A fun little/big GIF from the Seattle Waterfront (near the Aquarium) from December 2019. Download a larger version here.
Now available on YouTube: Oceanic Triptych (38:53 minutes)
Breakdown of contents
- Introduction: The Breaker (also available as a standalone 4 minute video here)
- Triptych Panel 1: Memory Shores
- Triptych Panel 2: Sheathed Realities
- The Signature
- Triptych Panel 3: Manzanita Warmth
- Closing: The Elsewhere that Codifies (featuring video preview of the Boulder River sequence, forthcoming)
Fun facts
- Oceanic Triptych is intended to be watched in a single sitting, start to finish, ad nauseum to nausea
- Oceanic Triptych is a follow-up to the installation piece Thorough Water: Here and There (which includes video from the Quinault Rain Forest, Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, the Royal Basin on the Olympic Peninsula, and Ross Lake in the North Cascades)
- The unedited, hour-long sunset video is also on YouTube here
- More abstract? Try Gatton Falls Study (playlist)
- More abstract than that? Try Oregon Video Poems (especially the 2019 ones) (playlist)
- What’s next? The Boulder River Sequence (video poetry featuring Char-esque aphorisms, coming in January)
- What’s after that? An untitled San Juan Islands project
Now up to be read etc on North of Oxford, a review of Klassnik’s new collection, A SLOW BOILING BEACH.
Part 1 of 2 in the Thorough Water: Sheathed Reality sequence. Prelude to Oceanic Triptych. All recorded in 2019. Features video from Manzanita, Oregon. Video production, text, and vocals by Greg Bem.
Categories
Fall 2019 Boulder River GIF
This GIF, based on footage taken at Boulder River in the Cascade Mountains, is a preface to the now-released Oceanic Triptych.
Cambodian poet Chheangly Yeng, a former collaborator during my time living in Phnom Penh, has begun collaborating with other writers and producing video poetry on his YouTube page. One of the latest works, titled “Poetry video BTB F002,” linked below, is a fine example of this new work. The Khmer recordings are matched with English subtitles.
A new album of ambient, highly-poetic music is now out by the French multidisciplinary artist Sandra Moussempes. Vox Museum, which features remixes from Black Sifichi, is some of Sandra’s most impressive and iconic work to date. A sample track, “Sweetie’s diary,” is here: