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Story Behind the Song: Crumple at the Knees

9/30/2018

This is Crumple at the Knees by CLAWED.

This piece combines both musique concrète and visual music. The sounds I hear as sounding like crumpling and metal fatigue were created from sounds I recorded around the city, that have been manipulated in software. The sounds that go up and down in pitch and sound to me like spaceships landing were created from images processed using software. And as you can tell from that description, that's how I see the scene, a spaceship landing area. The name of the song refers more to how it relates to the album. The overall concept of the album is a spiritual journey and title of the song refers to being overwhelmed by awe.

The video is a visualization of the sound. So this artwork goes from visual to sound, then back to visual again in a moving form.

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The Pros and Cons of Keto

9/28/2018

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I know a lot of people have been experimenting with Keto. I wanted to share some interesting and important information about the potential effects.

The first is a good article by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne summarizing a number of studies that have been done with Keto and she provides a full list of references. The second is a simple list of side effects.

I think it's important to keep in mind with any significant dietary change there can be an impact on your health. Keto is a therapeutic diet and it can be useful in treating some conditions. And I think it needs to be approached with the same kind of caution that you'd approach any treatment.

If you're currently doing Keto or considering it, I'd suggest reading up just to make sure you're aware of the benefits and the potential issues.

I'm sure my friend who's into Keto and IF is going to love this as much as the cautionary IF post I did. :) Oh well. I do think fasting and Keto can have dramatic effects on health, I just think there needs to be some careful consideration and probably a conversation with your doctor.

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Summer Fashions & Kimonos

9/22/2018

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I was thinking about doing an end of summer fashion post and posting some pics of summer fashions I picked up this year and talking about shorts, but then I found out that my ticket to ApparelCamp tomorrow includes access to Vancouver Fashion Week on Saturday & Sunday!

So I'm going to Vancouver Fashion Week for the first time ever! I ended up spending tonight at a friend's place playing dress up and trying on outfits! ;)

It's past midnight now, so I'm just going to share this Facebook Live I did earlier this week about kimonos & then sleep.

The store I mention in the video is www.kimono-yukata-market.com and I have no affiliation with them. I just like their kimonos and yukatas. :)

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The Story Behind the Song: Faces

9/14/2018

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This is Faces by CLAWED.

Faces is visual music. It was created using software that interprets an image into sound. You can adjust parameters like range of frequencies used, how slowly it will read the image, and how color will be interpreted.

Here's the image that was used to created it, which is also called Faces. It's a fractal artwork I created as part of a series of fractal images called Winter which all use the same color palette.

I know we tried a number of different way to read the image, rotating it, different ranges of frequencies, faster and slower, until it sounded just right. :)

The video is a visualization of the sound. So this artwork goes from visual to sound, then back to visual again in a moving form.

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Should I say yes, to the beautiful, bra-exposing nightmare dress?

9/8/2018

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As woman with larger breasts I sometimes struggle with certain fashions, because there's no way for me to wear them without showing my bra.

I'm curious how many of you out there struggle with this issue too? How do you solve it? Do you avoid the spaghetti strap tops? The strapless dresses? The low cut tops? Do you just accept your bra or bra straps will show?

I saw a dress in the Topshop window one day when I was walking down Granville street and thought it looked really pretty.

I continued on by, busy to get to somewhere else and I avoid buying clothes (and stuff in general). Particularly clothes though, cause I feel like I should just make them or choose from my stock since I am running a women's clothing business.

Sometimes though I see something pretty, a design I really like and I'm swayed. So I was downtown again recently and the dress was no longer in the window. I went to see if it was still around and found in in the clearance section marked down. Ooo, temptation.

I tried on a couple of sizes. They only had 12 and 16, so those were my choices. Size 12 was definitely too tight through the bust; the buttons pulled and opened slightly. I *think* the 16 is really the right size. It is slightly snug through the bustline, but not overly so. The bottom is a bit big on me even with the cords tied at the tightest, but since it's supposed to have those sides open I think it works fine there. The issue is bra coverage, as shown in the pictures below.

I'm sure if I had much smaller breasts this dress would fit fine. Particularly if I was small enough (or had implants), so I could wear it without a bra. I suppose I could do the Kim K. trick and tape my breasts in place, but I don't like the idea of taping them into place.

I do like the dress! I think it's really pretty. However, the only real option to wearing this dress is to wear a pretty bra underneath and accept that it shows.

So should I say yes to the dress? I have a couple more days to decide. Post a comment. Let me know your thoughts!

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Feminist Fridays: Body Love

9/7/2018

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I know there's been some debate about Tess Holliday being featured on the cover of the Cosmo.

In response I wanted to share this beautiful and moving piece by Mary Lambert that matches what I believe, "...that you are no less valuable as a size 16 than a size 4, that you are no less valuable as 32A than a 36C..."

All sizes and shapes need to be seen. Diversity is important!

There are lots of other great words in her piece, too many to list, give it a listen.

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The Story Behind the Song: Chatter

9/2/2018

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This is Chatter by CLAWED.

Chatter is another work that was created using DAR samples. For this piece I used a number of environmental sounds I recorded in downtown Toronto. I often take my recorder out with me on walks, just to see what sounds I run across in the city soundscape. I've found when I don't have my recorder on me or don't have it running, I'll often hear something and think, wow, that would be great in a piece! So I've found the best way to capture is to simply capture a LOT of material, then review it later and work with the bits I think have the most potential.

Chatter is meant to evoke an experience. I had an odd, ghostly experience at the Winston-Salem graveyard in North Carolina in the USA.

I've been to various graveyards before and never had anything like this happen. Most graveyards seem really quiet, like parks with stone markers. :)

Winston-Salem did not seem that way at all to me. I heard voices. At first just a couple, but then LOTS, like a buzzing. I got a very quick onset migraine and asked to leave.

It was very odd. I could just explain it away as some kind of strange migraine aura, but I don't know. It felt weird. It felt like ghosts trying to talk, way too many of them...

That's the experience Chatter is trying to express. Ghostly voices, trying to talk.

The video is a visualization, so you'll notice the imagery is very reactive to the sound.

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Story Behind the Song: Crumple at the Knees

The Pros and Cons of Keto

Summer Fashions & Kimonos

The Story Behind the Song: Faces

Should I say yes, to the beautiful, bra-exposing nightmare dress?

Feminist Fridays: Body Love

The Story Behind the Song: Chatter

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