Saturday, February 12, 2011

Spare Time

In my spare time I like to try new things. I took four photos and stitch them vertically with GIMP software ( free open source). Each photo is 640 x 420 pixels. I took the photos with a low resolution camera ( camera binoculars which I purchased for $ 20 ). I wanted to proove that you don't need an expensive camera to take beautiful photos. I was walking in my neighborhood when I took this picture. Too often I stare at the dry sagebrush and complain how dry and twiggy it looks. The soil is pure clay. When I look at my photo I realize that I live in a beautiful place even though the winter lasts 7 months and there are no trees. It is interesting that I needed a mechanical device, my camera, to tell me about beauty.

In my spare time I also like searching for freebies, contest, tutorials, poetry and beauty.

Pssst....check out my previous blog Aviary's 30 Days of Roc Contest.

Happy Writing and enjoy your spare time!





Aviary's Roc Contest



Woohoo! I am so excited to tell everyone that www.aviary.com is having a contest called the Thirty Days of Roc! Yeah! The prizes include iTunes gift card for the winners. There is NO FEE to enter the contests. Create your music with Roc software, which is an online music making software. Creating music is simple with Roc because you only download the wav or mp3 file which you create. Blue dot means note on.

Every day is a new contest with different instruments. Aviary will be posting their brand new instruments for each day of the contests which lasts a total of 30 days. Okay 6 days past so as of today there are 24 days left to participate. Hurry! Once you compose your song with Roc software you submit your entry at their sister site worth1000.com If you are making your own book trailer this is a good way to explore their 50 new instruments and if you enter each new contest you will build a nice portfolio of your own music.

Yesterday, I tried their Kitchen Sink and Bird instruments. Their approach to percussive instruments is absolute genius. I really enjoyed their Teacup for its crisp sound and the Cutting Board for its soft drum like thump. I found the Swan's voice paints an eerie scene. The owl has a soft breathy voice.

Am I participating? Yes, because it's fun and and will explore sound and music in the process. Here is link to my song "Do the Beet Juice" created with Roc.



Monday, February 7, 2011

Book trailer: Diamond Eyes



You can read the book review at The Fringe Magazine .

This book trailer is a good example of what a book trailer can accomplish through music, graphics, photos and illustrations. It is more than a sum of it's parts for it opens the door with a friendly wave into the protagonist's dark world and compelling obstacles. The music is chromatic which conveys the feeling of mystery. Words define the protagonist: a young blind woman who can solve crimes!

P.S. I would like to know which book trailers have caught your attention.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Book Review: The Evolution of Fashion vs. Dress Design


It's 5 a.m. You wake up and decide to write a historical novel or scifi/ fantasy novel set in a different world. What are your characters going to wear? If you watch Buck Rogers (TV series) and wonder where does princess Ardala get her horn headdress? Where the sisters of Paul Atreide's mom get their steeple hats in the movie "Dune"? What is the source of such fashion?



You can these strange fashions in the ebook "Evolution of Fashion" written by Florence Mary Gardiner in 1897. She writes a delightful book with illustrations, sharp wit and sprinkles it with poetry. You can download this book (many forms including Kindle)from Project Gutenberg for free! The middle ages contains a panorama of extreme fashions which includes steeple and horny hats for women, long pointy shoes. I draw this example of a long shoe that lifts the toes with a long chain that attaches around the calf. Fathom a room full of guests in such attire. Ahhh...It's not time travel, but the next best thing.

"Dress Design" written by Talbot Hughes is available for download (free) at the Gutenberg Project. This author includes beautiful photos of real women wearing historical clothing. The author writes with fashion designers in his mind by including drawings of patterns for clothing. Beauty is the embroidery that flourishes on crisp fabrics that have endured through time. The book covers clothing from 500 A.D. to 1875.

Which one should you download? Both! Both are free. Florence Mary Gardiner gives a more touching account about humanity with bridal and funeral customs in different countries. Both authors despise the chignon hairstyle! Wow! Really? I googled the chignon hairstyle: a roll of hair bunched at the neck....hmm...

Please check out my 25 second animation "Stomp" which features medeval shoe.



Thank you for reading my blog! Hugs and smiles!

P.S.
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I also had fun visiting Froggarita.