The final last post ...

... I hope.

The difficulties with my new hosting service seem to have been resolved, so I will be posting all futher grumblings, nonsense and trivia at Scuffulans hirsutus. (Discussions of animation, Japan and the thin line between kawaii and kowai will be posted at The Kawaii Menace.)

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I am not happy

I am informed by AN Hosting that my account has been suspended for no discernable reason whatsoever. I have sent them a couple of angry emergency support tickets. Who knows when they'll bother to look at them? I had trouble earlier figuring out how to move my domain name. (It turned out to be a simple process, but I had never done it before.) It didn't help that in their welcoming email, the url for help in moving your domain leads to a 404. Idiots. I'm beginning to think that the deal really was too good to be true, even if it is recommended by WordPress. I may be cancelling my AN Hosting account soon, so don't be a hurry to change your bookmarks.

Update: The new site is functioning again.

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Hail and farewell, and hail again

Four years ago today I started Mixolydian Mode. Today I am ending it. I'm consolidating all my various websites to a single host and restarting my weblogs with new software and new names. If you enjoy your visits here, stop by Scuffulans hirsutus for more of the same and perhaps something different.

I'll leave Mixolydian Mode up for a few months, but I plan to cancel the old account by the end of summer.

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Eye protection suggested

Hmmmm...., indeed.

In a similar vein, hmmmm, again.

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More absurdity

I'd blame the Gore Effect, but I don't think he's been to Kansas recently.

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Gathering of the Blogs

Tartan Day took me by surprise this year, and I didn't have enough time to prepare anything new. Please excuse me if I recycle some music from previous years.

Here are MIDI arrangments I made of a variety of Scottish tunes:

Lady Charlotte Campbell
Lady Mary Primrose
Warrior O'Persie
Fingal's Dirk
Largo's Fairy Dance
High Road to Linton
Andowin at da Bow
Tulloch Castle
Drummuir Castle
Marry Ketty
Cameronian Rant
The Athole Highlanders' Farewell to Loch Katrine
Rothiemurchus Rant
Muillean Dubh
Because He Was a Bonny Lad
The Strathbogie Editor
Wm Mac Hardy's Strathspey
Dr. Shaw
Pretty Peggy

For those of you with coarser tastes, here are some mp3s of Caledonian music I arranged for software synthesizers and sequencer. Don't look for subtlety here. File sizes range from about one to four megabytes.

Scotland the Brave
New Riggit Ship
Ghillie Callum
Harp and Claymore Medley

Finally, here are some pictures of my sister the Highland dancer competing at a Highland games in Kansas City a few years ago.

Here's the list of the weblogs participating in the Gathering of the Blogs:

Absinthe & Cookies
And then I woke up
BabyTrollBlog
Blackfive -- the Paratrooper of Love
Bodhran Roll, Please
Common Folk Using Common Sense
Consul-at-Arms
The Country Pundit
Dodgeblogium
Doggie's Blog
Frizzen Sparks
Grims Hall
Hillbilly White Trash
Kooky Kookbook
Lintefiniel Musing
The LLama Butchers
MB's Blogalicious
MB's Blogasm
Miasmatic Review
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Physics Geek
Quicksilver in the Hand
The Reality Ranch
Rexblog
Second Breakfast
Stix Blog
Swap Blog
TacJammer
Target Centermass
The Bull Speaks
Villainous Company
What a Sad Old Goth

More...

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It's spring, right?

Now this is just plain silly:

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Hallelujah

Opera has supertitles. Anime has subtitles. Oratorios have something in between:

(Via Darwin Catholic.)

Update: The Messiah Grouch makes a modest proposal

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Gallery additions

I spent last weekend here taking lots of pictures of people in funny clothes. I've posted some on my other weblog.

Update: More, higher-quality pictures here.

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Still busy

I'll be back eventually. In lieu of an actual post, here's the most recent iTunes shuffle:

"Ichiya Hashi" -- Masuda Toshio, Mushishi Soundtrack

[track 28] -- Masaki Kurihara, Yotsuba&!

"Am Morgen Fruo" (Remix by Bruno Kramm) -- Qntal, Illuminate

"Silent Wonderland -Rem Sleep-" -- Kou Ootani, Haibane Renmei Soundtrack

"Suisei Coatl no Hibou" -- SeraMyu

"Get Out of My Yard" -- Paul Gilbert, Get Out Of My Yard

"Rondino (Les Bulles de Savon)" -- Bizet, Jeux d'enfants; Laurence Fromentin & Dominique Plancade

"Mr. 9 O'Clock" -- New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, Fresh Out The Past

"Transcendental Study Nº 13: (Untitled)" -- Sorabji, 100 Transcendental Studies Vol. I; Nº 1 – 25; Fredrik Ullén, piano

"In the Kraton" -- Godowsky, Java Suite; Esther Budiardjo, piano

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Black

*****

I'm going to be out of town and away from my computer for a few days. If you're in the St. Louis area, you can find me here.

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Takes me to deep stupor

Sure, it's gimmicky, decorative surrealism, something like Escher-meets-Dali, but I kinda like Rob Gonsalves's art anyway.

(Via Disco Ken.)

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Still busy

No news, but here's a fresh picture.

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Season change

It's suffocatingly humid out, so it must be spring.

*****

I'm still busy. Posting will continue to be minimal to non-existent for at least the rest of the month. I'll be back eventually.

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10% piano

It's time to play the iTunes shuffle. Let's see if I can scandalize Erik again this week:

[track #3], Masaki Kurihara/Kuricorder Pops Orchestra, Yotsubat&!

"Struttin' With Some Doner Kabob," New Orleans Klezmer Allstars

"The Beer Barrel Polka," Brave Combo

"Yawarakai Kaku," Masuda Toshio, Mushishi OST

"Coney Island White Fish," New Orleans Klezmer Allstars

"Voices," Yoko Kanno, Macross Plus OST

Dos Aires Populares Cubanos (2 Popular Cuban Airs) - Guajira Criolla (On A Theme Of Anckerman), Leo Brouwer; Ricardo Cobo, guitar

Petite Suite - 3. Menuet, Debussy; Laurence Fromentin & Dominique Plancade, piano

"Night," Caprice, Songs of Innocence and Experience

"Wind Touches My Cheeks Gently," Koh Otani, Haibane Renmei: Petitnone

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New horizons in music technology

Rachmaninov really did have huge hands, and it's not easy for pianists with smaller grasps to play those big chords unbroken:

More...

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Twinkle, twinkle

This belongs in my other weblog, but I'm posting this Flash game here as well for the Mozart fans. The directions are in Japanese, but you'll figure them out quickly enough.

(Via Irresponsible Pictures.)

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40% piano

Let's do the iTunes shuffle again. This time I'm at the office, where I have a different selection of music on hand.

Transcendental Study Nº 14: Tranquillamente Soave -- Sorabji (Fredrik Ullén, piano)
21st Century - Koi no Senshi ja Irarenai -- SeraMyu
Yuletide Town -- Masaki Kurihara and the Kuricoder Pops Orchestra
Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 11, No. 10 -- Scriabin (Horowitz)
Pieza Sin Titulo, #2 -- Leo Brouwer (Ricardo Cobo, guitar)
Jeux d'enfants - 4. Scherzo (Les Chevaux de bois) -- Bizet (Laurence Fromentin & Dominique Plancade, piano)
Densetsu Seitan -- SeraMyu
A Little Plate's Rondo -- Kou Ootani, Haibane Renmei soundtrack
K.24 Sonata in A major -- Scarlatti (Mikhail Pletnev, piano)
El Cumbanchero -- Brave Combo

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Are there llamas in China?

At the Great Firewall of China, you can test any url to see if it is censored in China. It's surprising what does and what doesn't get through. My other weblog was blocked both times I checked it, but this one was blocked the first time and available the second, as were the LLamabutchers and TSO. Fred is welcome in China, but Martin Luther and the Suburban Banshee are persona non grata.

(Via Twenty Sided.)

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Black and white

Monsters

Earlier this afternoon I hung a collection of my dance photos at Friends University. If you are in the Wichita area, you can see them in the Riney Fine Arts Gallery on the university campus. They'll be up through the 18th.

More...

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Peculiar music of yesterday and today

I don't have an iPod, but I do have iTunes, so let's play the random shuffle game:

This is a screen capture because I don't know how to do kanji. The first tune is "La Spagna" or "La Alta." "Minna Dareka ni Aisarete" and "Link" are from the SeraMyu musicals, about which you'd probably rather not know. Only a small fraction of my CD library is on the computer; at home, I usually listen to CDs the traditional way.

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Changes ahead

Sometime this spring, probably in April, I plan to install different software for my weblogs. I've noticed that WordPress is popular. Are there others worth considering?

Minimum requirements:
--Reasonably easy to use, with clear, concise documentation
--Plays nicely with Macintosh
--Actively supported by its developer
--Technical help easily available
--Supports multiple weblogs
--Inexpensive; preferably free
--Extremely spam-resistant

The last item is critical. The anti-spam mechanism used by my current weblog software no longer is effective, and I've disabled comments to preserve my sanity. The software is no longer supported by the developer, and I don't particularly want to pay for an upgrade that may well have the same problem.

I'll probably move my weblogs to a different hosting service as well. Suggestions are welcome.

Until yesterday, I would have recommended leaving advice in the comments, but that's not possible now. Don't hesitate to email me. (Please put the word "weblog" in the heading so I don't mistake your email for spam.)

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Grrr

I just deleted more spam comments during the past few minutes than I did in the previous six months. I've disabled comments; maybe that will stop the spambot. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I need to keep my blood pressure under control. If you would like to leave a comment, please email me, and I'll be happy to append it to the post.

If you ever encounter someone in the spam industry, don't bother pointing out the error of his ways or calling the police. Just kill him.

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Nice pants

Got a law degree? Tired of spending your days in courtrooms defending lowlifes? An exciting new career awaits you as an animation executive! A background in the arts is not necessary; in fact, it may be a handicap.

(Via Cartoon Brew.)

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I'm busier than usual right now. Posts will remain infrequent for a few weeks. In the meantime, go read Keith Strohm and Evil Otto. Here's Strohm on Gene Wolfe and Otto on fries.

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Degas plus

From a recent Worth 1000 exercise, something for my sister the ballet teacher:

For my anachronistic friends, the Arnolfinis:



(Via Cartoon Brew.)

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