Monday, February 27, 2017

Electronic Music Piece of the Day Give-Away


February has been a slightly lighter post month than others, but regardless, it's time for another BandCamp hosted Gauntlet of Balthazar Electronic Music Piece of the Day Give-Away. Today's track is entitled "Urbitariot", and its name is clearly derived from the last My Dictionary; Word of the Day post "Urbling". However, unlike Urbling, which describes the state or living habits of a person indigenous to a metropolis, an Urbitariot would be an individual who either works in a city, works directly for a municipality, or more abstractly, "works" a city. A bouncy little piece based around a programmed rhythm and ornamented by several layers of synth keys and piano along with some synth-voice processing, Urbitariot is another 391 & the Army of Astraea two minute instrumental industrial-electronic wonder. Enjoy.

Monday, February 20, 2017

My Dictionary; Word of the Day


URBLING

(/ˈərb/ling) adjective derived from the fusion of the Latin noun urbanus / urbs "city" and the Old English "ling",  first noted in the occupational suffix "yrþling" (plowman) in the 1590's. 

Meaning "an indigenous resident of a city".

As in, (a) "Many of the residents of Metropolis are transplants from the suburbs, if not other states or nations, but many are best defined as urblings - born and raised in the municipality". Or, (b) The folkways, characteristics, and habits of a person or persons who are urblings. As in, "It was unique to the manner of the urblings who frequently visited the establishment. Visitors will not understand."
 

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Electronic Music Piece of the Day Give-Away

Hola Compadres, and happy forthcoming Presidential Holidays. While ponderously considering a new Word of the Day entry, and / or another analytical tirade regarding the fractious state of our political culture, I thought instead that I'd comment with a musical upload from the 391 & the Army of Astraea BandCamp homepage. This piece is entitled "Alttanafur Almaerafi", which is a transliterated Arabic descriptive phrase denoting a conflicted state psychology, otherwise known as "Cognitive Dissonance".

Monday, February 6, 2017

Sculpture Garden Part Two

It's time for the visuals again, and I thought it might be nice to inventory some of the older pieces of ceramic ware laying about the place. This triptych is composed of three pieces which were created with at least a decade gap (if not more) between each. From the left, the first piece is a small wheel thrown coffee mug with an abstract art glaze pattern. The center piece (s) are a pair of un-glazed Greek-style stage masks, which, contrary to the typical comedy / tragedy pairing, is more an Ennui and Stoicism set. The piece to the far right is an air-dried seated full-body votive statue of the Celtic male fertility deity, Kerunnos, lacquered in bronze.