Posted on Apr 15th, 2011
by Nick Meador |
I currently live outside the U.S. in a place commonly described as “less developed.” When I moved here, the first differences to become apparent were the cultural ones. They don’t have any theatrical stuff aside from a movie theater. There are not drug stores and gas stations on every corner (actually, there are few street corners–mostly traffic circles). And they lack the core social services at the heart of modern civilization. For example, I don’t know of any public libraries here.
I really miss having a library nearby, not only for accessing books and other reference material that I’d prefer not to buy, but also to have a place to work with Internet access without going to a coffee shop (they do have coffee shops here, but not so many of them). The Internet makes a lot of information easily accessible at the click of the button, but most books are still unavailable online without some kind of purchase, and that content almost always comes with DRM protection. Continue reading →
Posted in: books, culture
| Tagged: civilization · libraries · michigan · society · troy
Posted on Feb 21st, 2011
by Nick Meador |
Flying Lotus had built up a strong underground following by the time his third album, 2010′s Cosmogramma, was ready for release. The title basically means “cosmic drama,” and FlyLo (real name Steven Ellison) wanted to convey that idea in the music. He’s also really conscious of his own creative evolution, and reporters never fail to mention that his aunt was Alice Coltrane, the wife of legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. I think it always comes up because John Coltrane’s work also embodies a certain creative evolution that is often called “spiritual.”
Ellison is open about his experiments with DMT (he blogged about it on MySpace) and mescaline, as well as lucid dreaming and out-of-body experiences (OOBEs). His song “1983,” from the 2006 album of the same name, brought him early attention for its use on Adult Swim’s promos (here’s a newer one from this January, containing a clip from Cosmogramma). He’s also praised for his style that’s reminiscent of classic video game sounds from the 8-bit NES era (and the video below even contains a video game-style segment). Continue reading →
Posted in: creativity, music, video
| Tagged: cosmogramma · dubstep · electronica · flying lotus · techno · warp records
Posted on Feb 10th, 2011
by Nick Meador |
When I was a kid I thought virtual reality was among the most exciting possibilities that technology had to offer the human race. I remember there was a game show on Nickelodeon in the early ’90s where contestants got to enter a video game, and I would have done anything to try it out. I didn’t realize that it was probably only a green screen–that the person didn’t actually have the sensation of being in a virtual world.
Then the Internet created the potential for networked video games like the Sims and online worlds like Second Life. Some people spent more time (and even money) in those virtual realms than they did in “real life.” Obviously there’s an aspect of escapism at work in these cases–but in Second Life people were still sitting in front of a computer, not actually participating in a 3-dimensional simulation of the physical universe. Continue reading →
Posted in: creativity, music, video, video games
| Tagged: and yet it moves · augmented reality · ayim · bibio · mash-ups · nintendo · video games · virtual reality · wii
Posted on Jan 25th, 2011
by Nick Meador |
The third entry in my mini-series about mind-expanding music is the band Teengirl Fantasy, another new group from Ohio (go figure). Their indie electronica is a unique amalgam of various styles, including ambient, chill wave, and even some turn-of-the-’90s R&B.
The song below is called “Cheaters,” from their debut full-length album 7 AM. The record runs short at 37 minutes, but the replay value is enormous. They take a simplistic approach on this video—a psychedelic visualizer to fit the uplifting song. Everybody needs some day-glo action once in a while! Continue reading →
Posted in: creativity, music, video
| Tagged: 7 am · best of 2010 · cheaters · electronica · indie · music · teengirl fantasy
Posted on Jan 25th, 2011
by Nick Meador |
Welcome to the second edition of my short series about mind-expanding music released in 2010. This entry is about the band Emeralds, a spacey electronic group from Cleveland, Ohio. The video below is for the song “Now You See Me,” one of the last tracks on their album Does It Look Like I’m Here?
I had originally intended to feature Oneohtrix Point Never in this post, a similar electronics-in-outer-space outfit. That one-man act has released at least five albums in the last couple of years. Both Emeralds and Oneohtrix remind me of the music they play in the Spaceship Earth ride at Epcot Center, which of course is a huge geodesic dome—a “bucky ball,” nicknamed after R. Buckminster Fuller, that under-appreciated visionary. Continue reading →
Posted in: creativity, music, video
| Tagged: best of 2010 · electronica · emeralds · music · oneohtrix point never · space
Posted on Jan 25th, 2011
by Nick Meador |
This is the first time in 5 years that I haven’t created a “top ten” list of my favorite music from the previous year to post on my blog. One reason I stopped is that music is a very subjective experience. I hated feeling like I was contributing to the music hipster plague that has become rampant on the Internet over the last few years.
I started writing about music in 2005 because it’s always inspired me. But for the past 9 months I’ve been widening my topic coverage quite a bit. I’m still a voracious music listener, and lately I’m even more excited about audio/visual experimentation. Music videos have always been great for that! Plus, I figured everyone can thrive on some positive energy. Continue reading →
Posted in: creativity, music, video
| Tagged: best of 2010 · electronica · gold panda · lucky shiner · snow and taxis
Posted on Jan 5th, 2011
by Nick Meador |
With the Internet becoming more friendly to businesses and advertisers, we’re seeing an increase in concern over privacy. Gone are the days of not revealing your name to “friends” in chat rooms. Now a lot of our personal information is openly available on the web, whether or not we actively send it to anyone.
Many of us continue to use Facebook even as their privacy standards decline in favor of giving companies access to our preferences and background info—essentially our demographic statistics. As long as we have the option to increase privacy settings to the necessary level, we can keep using web services for all the obvious benefits. Continue reading →
Posted in: self-publishing, social media
| Tagged: digital marketing · internet · privacy · social media
Posted on Dec 11th, 2010
by Nick Meador |
Kaliptus sent this to me on Facebook. I also posted it on my Evolver blog.
Why are we alive? The answers are many and none. It is up to us to define our own purpose, our own reasons, our own aims, goals, and responsibilities. Can you name 10 Reasons of Purpose for the Human Existence? If so please copy this, and type 10 reasons as a Note of your own. Life is important, don’t miss it 
Continue reading →
Posted in: society
| Tagged: existence · life · philosophy
Posted on Oct 13th, 2010
by Nick Meador |
If you haven’t visited my personal site recently, you don’t know that I converted it to WordPress and started a thread called “Fun Stuff” where I post videos and other treats. Since I’m currently “on hiatus” here and generally devoting my time to larger writing projects, I thought I might as well cross-post when the content is relevant to the Refractor blog topics. So here’s Robert Anton Wilson speaking about quantum mechanics and what it means to our understanding of consciousness. This video is an excerpt from the documentary Maybe Logic, which you can watch in full on Google Video.
Continue reading →
Posted in: philosophy, psychology, science
| Tagged: consciousness · quantum mechanics · robert anton wilson
Posted on Oct 1st, 2010
by Nick Meador |
Oneirisms is a “collective journal of metaphysical experience,” a place to post your dreams and visions and read what other people have experienced outside the physical dimensions of space and time. An oneirism is “dream-like experience,” and in posting dreams for all to see we provide the means for others to share in the ride.
By telling and reading the stories here, we are re-creating them; they “happen” in our minds, thus building consciousness loops of increased complexity. With any luck, we will become aware of how much of “real life” is actually metaphysical — that is, it happens or is co-created in our minds.
Continue reading →
Posted in: creative writing
| Tagged: creative writing · dreams · visions
