Prime

Stop-

Wed, 01 May 2013 07:05:00 -0400

Hey, this is in deep freeze until I figure out what to do with it. In the meantime check Dampfkraft for periodic updates.

Costume Manuals Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:18:17 JST While working on Monsieur Mieux I compensated...

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:19:12 -0400

Costume Manuals

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:18:17 JST

While working on Monsieur Mieux I compensated for my lack of ability to draw by sourcing nineteenth-century engravings from Google Books. The best sources I came across some costume books. They illustrate many, but not all of the costumes; some of the ideas are… remarkable:

Champagne Bottle: Make a cap to simulate the cork of a champagne bottle, tied across to represent the wiring, and covered with gold foil; the nape of the neck should also be covered with gold foil, which can be done by lengthening the back piece of the cap and joining it to the robe. Wear a close-fitting black robe with the label of any champagne brand worked on the back and front.

Anyway, pictures:

Characters Suitable for Fancy Costume Balls

Male Character Costumes, a guide to gentlemen’s costume suitable for fancy dress balls and private theatricals

Do enjoy.

RVM on Arch Linux Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:29:11 JST I’ve been using Arch Linux as my...

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 02:00:00 -0400

RVM on Arch Linux

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:29:11 JST

I’ve been using Arch Linux as my primary operating system for four or five years now, and generally I’m pretty happy with it. I can’t say I have no complaints - about once a year a kernel upgrade causes my system to not boot without some babying due to initrd image problems, but the flexibility of pacman (or rather yaourt) and minimal nature of the system make it attractive.

Recently I’ve started using Ruby for some toy projects - it’s an interesting language, and has some points to recommend it, though it also has some odd quirks and a mixed user base. It also has versioning problems that make Python’s look rather well-managed.

RVM seems to solve this problem by allowing you to install whatever version of Ruby you want and switch between them rather easily. Unfortunately, it doesn’t install some of the standard Ruby distributions properly on Arch. Specifically, 1.8.7 is quite broken.

First problem: the source for the default RVM version of 1.8.7 doesn’t link properly on Arch Linux because it expects an older version of openssl. You can get around that by building not 1.8.7 but 1.8.7-p299, as mentioned on the Arch Wiki page.

The next problem, not on the Arch Wiki when I went to it originally, is not Arch-specific. A part of the Ruby build process can fail and spit out unhelpful errors from gcc - “data definition has no type or storage class” - because somewhere a file got truncated. This was originally noticed on StackOverflow with Fedora, and has been noticed in different contexts on Arch even without RVM involved. The fix amounts to doing this after your install fails:

 cd src/ruby-1.8.7-p299/ext/dl 
rm callback.func 
touch callback.func 
ruby mkcallback.rb >> callback.func 
rm cbtable.func 
touch cbtable.func 
ruby mkcbtable.rb >> cbtable.func

Of course use the patch number and path appropriate to your install. Resume the build and things should go fine.

Pleasant Dinner Conversation Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:45:46 JST From Golden Age Comic Book...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 07:48:54 -0400

Pleasant Dinner Conversation

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:45:46 JST

From Golden Age Comic Book Stories, which you should be reading.

A Stroll in Ueno Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:27:45 JST Howdy, folks! I had a nasty case of...

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:43:00 -0400

A Stroll in Ueno

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:27:45 JST

Howdy, folks! I had a nasty case of something over the weekend and a bit of time before some more interviews, so I figured today I’d go by Ameyoko, a big open-air market in Ueno. I got a bit turned around coming out of the station, though, and spotted this sea of green from a few blocks away and went to investigate…

This is a giant lotus pond in Ueno Park. How big is giant? Please look at it on Google Maps.

No Fishing. When I saw this I laughed because I assumed it must have been years since anyway tried to fish there, but how wrong I was - I saw a guy fishing about fifty feet down the path, though I didn’t get a picture of him. I’m honestly surprised there’s any fish…

One of two temples in the center of that part of the park.

After strolling around in the park for a while, I did make it to Ameyoko, though since I wasn’t really shopping it wasn’t quite as nice as the park. I did find a treat for all of you back in Providence, though:

Still hot, though it’s letting up some. Ψ

Japan Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:02:46 JST Howdy, folks. I live in Japan now. Thanks to a very...

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:11:57 -0400

Japan

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:02:46 JST

Howdy, folks. I live in Japan now.

Thanks to a very kind person I found on Craigslist I now occupy a stylish apartment in Azabu-juuban, a small, fashionable part of Minato-ku, the port district of Tokyo. Tomorrow I have a final interview with one company and I’m going to a Scala event, of all things. Most of this past week I’ve been moving into the apartment and fighting jet lag. The picture is of a shrine near my apartment.

The heat is oppressive - as bad as it ever was in Charleston - so I don’t spend that much time any day outside. I’ve managed to get a phone, register as a foreigner, buy some clothes, and find a good local used bookstore. The grocery store is three blocks away and has an excellent selection including the most delicious fruit I’ve ever had, Summer Angel plums, and Doctor Bronner’s Magic Soap. Even the bread is perfectly suited for toast, and I’ve had some very fine breakfasts.

The language hasn’t been a problem yet. My understanding is far beyond my ability to express myself, but I don’t have any trouble getting around, shopping, or ordering food, though I do still find simple words I don’t know, like “phone charger” (充電器), every so often.

Over the next few days I’ll try to write about some parts of daily life here in Azabu, and cover some things that are poorly documented whether in English or Japanese (like a lot of features handy for people with prepaid phones).

I can’t put it into words neatly, but though I am a stranger in a strange land, I’m very happy to be here.

Dinner in Caracas Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:09:08 EDT Looks like I’m on a record kick. This...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:13:37 -0400

Dinner in Caracas

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:09:08 EDT

Looks like I’m on a record kick. This is the classiest cover I own.

The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:24:18 EDT Environments was a...

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:44:43 -0400

The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:24:18 EDT

Environments was a series of records of ambient noise (with one exception consisting of electronically generated bells) with remarkable titles and an interesting feature: the discs were intended to be played at any speed, and an attachment was available that would allow your record player to play them on an infinite loop. I can still kick myself for not picking this up when I saw it in Salvation Army.

Lest you think the title indicates this comes from Crazyville USA, two points: first, it was intended as a joke; second, selections were included on the Voyager Golden Record.

Enjoy.

Book Art Bandit Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:34:33 EDT Someone has been leaving artsy booky...

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:38:00 -0400

Book Art Bandit

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:34:33 EDT

Someone has been leaving artsy booky surprises in a library in Scotland.

Freedomburger Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:06:59 EDT Not a very good album, but the best cover.

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:08:08 -0400

Freedomburger

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:06:59 EDT

Not a very good album, but the best cover.

5178271 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:56:45 EDT Found through Quora, an impressive photographer with a...

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:02:52 -0400

5178271

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:56:45 EDT

Found through Quora, an impressive photographer with a numeric cognomen, something I can always support.

You should probably follow the tumblr or inspect the colored originals on Flickr.

Takahashi in Vancouver Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:39:22 EDT Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari...

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:58:25 -0400

Takahashi in Vancouver

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:39:22 EDT

Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari Damacy, is moving to Vancouver to work on Glitch. He’s started a blog for Famitsu; this is from the first post:

We arrived at Vancouver at the end of June. It is the first time for us to come here. I have been to foreign countries several times but I can’t speak English well. In addition, I have never created online game, and I have also never played an online game seriously. At the age of 36, my life started and it is all new to me. I have some anxieties about a new life, however I feel very excited and fun also. I like trouble.

There’s something very familiar about this. I guess I like trouble too.

Skywhale Wed, 13 Jul 2011 22:39:30 EDT Skywhale pattern from Mr. Fox. Made my day, via...

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 22:44:00 -0400

Skywhale

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 22:39:30 EDT

Skywhale pattern from Mr. Fox. Made my day, via anotherallnighter.

Gasogene Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:48:36 EDT The Gasogene was a Victorian seltzer bottle design...

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:00:00 -0400

Gasogene

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:48:36 EDT

The Gasogene was a Victorian seltzer bottle design incorporating two bulbs.

The best part, as Wikipedia notes, is that ”they tended to explode”. Ψ

Shakespearean Conspiracies Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:56:11 EDT Theories that Shakespeare might not...

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:11:00 -0400

Shakespearean Conspiracies

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:56:11 EDT

Theories that Shakespeare might not actually be a person named William Shakespeare cropped up at the end of the nineteenth century, gained a few sincere followers, and have quietly chugged along ever since. One particular proponent of the Marlovian theory - that Shakespeare was primarily an alias for Christopher Marlowe after Marlowe faked his death - set up a substantial fund that still gives money to people who exploit his overly-generous terms and write about how Shakespeare couldn’t possibly have been Marlowe. For a long time, despite considerable passion on the part of these Anti-Stratfordians, they’ve remained a mostly unknown fringe group outside academic circles.

That’s about to change. Probably.

The director of Independence Day, 2012, and other movies nobody remembers is making a picture about an extremely short-lived failed English rebellion. The movie is not actually about the rebellion, though; that’s an excuse to add explosions. As the poster indicates, the main topic of concern is the suggestion that Edward de Vere was Shakespeare, an idea originally proposed by a Mr. Looney. If you read the explanation of the theory, you’ll see it’s based on supposition, wordplay, and a lot of spooky and hard-to-explain coincidences - just like every other Shakespeare conspiracy theory. That said, de Vere has the distinction of being the most popular candidate amongst Anti-Stratfordians.

My research in the spring into Shakespeare authorship never touched on de Vere because he has no plays under his own name, making him a non-entity as far as textual analysis is concerned. Nonetheless, I once received a distressed email from the lead researcher suggesting we needed to publish before the movie comes out and a flood of papers on the same topic inevitably follows. Though I don’t think the film will be a fine example of modern cinema, it will probably move Shakespearean conspiracies closer to the land of daily conversation, and a little extra strangeness never fails to make life more interesting.

CakeCutter Sat, 02 Jul 2011 11:27:42 EDT The good people at Kayac made an app two years ago...

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 12:01:27 -0400

CakeCutter

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 11:27:42 EDT

The good people at Kayac made an app two years ago for those times when you need to cut something into an arbitrary number of pieces. Like a cake.

The video is wonderful.

Battle Mania Daiginjou Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:29:28 EDT Sometimes I don’t have to looking...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:58:11 -0400

Battle Mania Daiginjou

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:29:28 EDT

Sometimes I don’t have to looking for unusual games, they just come to me. My brother asked me about this game because it feautured a Messerschmitt, approximately a German fighter plane cockpit with wheels, with which he is quite enamored.

Though it never got an English release, the usual translation of the title is “Trouble Shooter Vintage”, though “Black Label” might be a better choice here. There’s a very good and involved examination at Gaming Sanctuary which completely neglects to mention that the main characters spend the entire game flying with jetpacks.

I encourage you to watch a gameplay video, which contains more fighting giant demon feet with lasers and super Buddha attacks than I’ve seen in at least a few weeks.

Greetings, Tumblrs!

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:54:00 -0400

This is a mirror of the real website, Dampfkraft. Tumblr is not without its advantages, and if this is easier for you to use for whatever reason please make use of it.

Test post.

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:36:23 -0400

This is a test post.