#moebius strip ants

[bishopsbox]

source: bishopsbox

Moebius strip II (1963), woodcut in red, black and gray-green, printed from three blocks

by: M.C. Escher

[lemuseum]

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Moebius Strip II, 1964, M.C. Escher

[gregor-samsung]

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[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (7/8/18) M.C. Escher (Dutch, 1898-1972) Moebius Strip II [Red Ants](Feb. 1963) Woodcut in brown, black & gray-green, 45.3 x 20.5 cm.

The Möbius strip, with its "half-turn", has remarkable mathematical properties. It can be cut down the middle without falling apart into two rings, and it has only one side and one edge. Escher noted, "An endless ring-shaped band usually has two distinct surfaces, one inside and one outside. Yet on this strip nine red ants crawl after each other and travel the front side as well as the reverse side. Therefore the strip has only one surface".

Check out these two MWW Escher galleries which between them contain almost all of his work: * M.C. Escher -- The Early Years (1917-37) * The Topsy-Turvy World of M.C. Escher (1938-1972)

[otterskin]

Inverted Mobius, Mr. Tesseract and The Avatar of Truth

The mystery of the weird collar has deepened, thanks to @nebulousfishgills​ - by which I mean they totally solved it.

To those just joining me, I noticed this in my previous breakdown of the Loki trailer here.

Mr. Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, has an ‘inverted suit’. His collar is an indentation in his suit, rather than going on top of it.

So, first, a scene from Endgame that I seriously did think of when we learned there was a character called ‘Mobius M. Mobius’ in Loki (played by Owen Wilson). And yet I didn’t put this together. Thanks again to nebulousfish for making me realize that these things might not be coincidences.

When Mr. Stark is inventing time travel, he asks his AI to create a depiction of a Mobius Strip, inverted.

Which gets him this:

Anyway, what is a Mobius Strip, and who is Mobius M. Mobius? (Not to be confused with Morbius the Living Vampire, though wouldn’t it be funny if he was mistaken for Mobius M. if this show gets big first?)

I am not a quantum theorist or comic book aficionado by trade, so let’s do a Wikipedia-Fu on it.

In mathematics, a Möbius strip, band, or loop (US: /ˈmoʊbiəs, ˈmeɪ-/ MOH-bee-əs, MAY-, UK: /ˈmɜːbiəs/;[1]German: [ˈmøːbi̯ʊs]), also spelled Mobius or Moebius, is a surface with only one side (when embedded in three-dimensional Euclidean space) and only one boundary curve. The Möbius strip is the simplest non-orientable surface.

An example of a Möbius strip can be created by taking a strip of paper and giving one end a half-twist, then joining the ends to form a loop; its boundary is a simple closed curve which can be traced by a single unknotted string. Any topological space homeomorphic to this example is also called a Möbius strip, allowing for a very wide variety of geometric realizations as surfaces with a definite size and shape. For example, any rectangle can be glued left-edge to right-edge with a reversal of orientation. Some, but not all, of these can be smoothly modeled as surfaces in Euclidean space. A closely related, but not homeomorphic, surface is the complete open Möbius band, a boundaryless surface in which the width of the strip is extended infinitely to become a Euclidean line.A half-twist clockwise gives an embedding of the Möbius strip which cannot be moved or stretched to give the half-twist counterclockwise; thus, a Möbius strip embedded in Euclidean space is a chiral object with right- or left-handedness. The Möbius strip can also be embedded by twisting the strip any odd number of times, or by knotting and twisting the strip before joining its ends.

A Möbius strip does not self-intersect but its projection in 2 dimensions does.

Uh....right. Well, that clears everything up, doesn’t it?

Let’s crib off someone else’s work. Thanks to Thomas Wong on Medium, I was able to understand this a little better.

A Möbius strip is just a strip of paper, turned and taped together. It it only has one side, so an ant walking along the strip eventually returns to where he started. If we metaphorically interpret the ant, not as returning to a point in space, but a point in time, then it alludes to time travel.

...

As previously discussed, after a measurement, the quantum mixture (half born and half never born) becomes a definite state (born or never born). Finding the “spectral decomposition” is to find all the possible energies (eigenvalues) and states. Using these, one can determine how a quantum object evolves with time.

Combining this with the metaphoric interpretation of the Möbius strip, it could be that Stark found how to make quantum objects evolve such that they revisit a point in time, hence time travel.

Okay, that’s a little easier to understand. So how does this relate to the character Mobius M. Mobius, aside from him being named after the strip and the (apparently antiquated) ideas about time travel?

Well, he was based on Marvel Comics Legend Mark Gruenwald, a guy known for his passion for the lore of the comics, which he knew in innate detail. He even wrote the Official Handbooks and whatnot. Likewise, Mr. Mobius is a stickler for detail and one of the few members of the TVA even allowed a face - although it is off the rack, as he’s one an infinite number of clones (god I love the TVA so much already, it’s heaven for a Douglas Addams fan like me).

Despite being a clone, he rose through the ranks and is nearly the top guy, serving only underneath Mr. Alternity (and I am not familiar with these comics so feel free to correct me). Mr. Alternity has almost no comics history, but is based on editor Tom Brevoort.

There are several other misters, all of them near-identical to ‘Moby’. Mr. Orobourous, Mr. Paradox, Mr. Tesseract (!) and Mr. Oburos. They are also minor characters, but let’s look at all these names.

Clearly they are named after quantum theories of some-sort or another.

Mr. Mobius: Mobius Strip Theory - the idea that, essentially, is about the shape of time itself and the theory of traveling along that shape.

Mr. Alternity : Alternative universes

Mr. Ouroboros: A divine figure representing the beginning and the end of time in an endless cycle of death and rebirth.

Mr. Oburos - I’m not sure, but I think this is a variant of Ouroboros. 

Mr. Paradox - Temporal paradox, causal loops - ex. The Grandfather Paradox

Mr. Tesseract - An object that exists in 4 dimensions. Time is often called the fourth dimension.

Obviously that last one is interesting, considering how the Tesseract will be the start of our adventure. The Cosmic Cube was renamed for the MCU, and in the comics has no relation to this minor character.

But what if it now does?

What if Tony has caused a change in the very appearance of Mr. Mobius when he inverted the Mobius Strip - literally inverting his clothing because he changed the shape of the Mobius - does that mean that these seemingly human-looking misters are in fact some sort of avatars for aspects of time itself? And if Mr. Tesseract is representative of how space and time intersect in the fourth dimension, wouldn’t a rogue god twisting space and time with the device that shares his name cause him some affect? Perhaps why the TVA noticed something was amiss to begin with.

This would be a departure from the comics, but the characters have almost no history there. They are ripe for new ideas.

Or, then again, since Loki will be working for the TVA - perhaps he’s the one who becomes ‘Mr. Tesseract’?

But continuing with that ‘Avatar of Aspects’ idea, let’s get away from this sausagefest for a second and visit my next newest favourite character -

I’m guessing she’s one of the Justices of the TVA. What gives it away? The imperious look, the giant oaken table, or the fact that I’m suddenly self-conscious when she looks at me? It’s the last one, of course. She’s a natural judge.

Of the named TVA judges, there’s :

Justice Goodwill, Justice Hope, Justice Liberty, Justice Love, Justice Might, Justice Mills, Justice Peace and Justice Truth.

Could they also possibly be avatars of their respective aspects?

If I had to guess, I’d say this is Justice Truth, as pairing up Loki with an avatar of Truth seems like it’d be a smashing good time, similar to how he was paired with Verity Willis in the comics. She might even be a composite character with Verity.

Verity’s power is detecting and seeing through all lies and illusions. I think this powerset will be given to Justice Truth, except instead of deriving it from a magic ring that she swallowed, she’d simply be the actual ‘Embodiment of Truth’ - and let’s get real here, when I said ‘Avatars of Aspects’, I was using that clunky phrase because the more obvious one - God of - is already ‘taken’. So Justice Truth may well be the ‘God of Truth’, as it were.

I think she’ll end up in something of a buddy-comedy with Loki, giving him someone to bounce off against who literally cuts through his carefully crafted veneer.

I’m reminded of a great quote from Taika Waititi when he was talking about what he wanted to do with Loki in Ragnarok:

“(He’s) someone who tries so hard to embody this idea of the tortured artist, this tortured, gothy orphan...It’s too tiring trying to be like that,” he says. “And, most humans, we get over ourselves, we get to that point where we’re like, ‘man, being a tortured artist is actually, like, a lot of work. Maybe I should just be real and present, and just be me, and I don’t have to be a tortured artist to be interesting, I can just be a f*cking weird New Zealander and that’s enough.”

...I think Taika is a living Loki, tbh, ha ha. No wonder he gets it.

Waititi, Yost, Pearson and Kyle did great work to cut through Loki’s illusions, both with dialogue and the visual allegory of his projections being dispelled by handy thrown objects, culminating in the very sweet ‘I’m here,’ scene at the end of the film. Loki seems to be much more open and expressive at the end of that film, and it seems like a weight has lifted off his shoulders.

But while this new Loki (Loki 2.0? Loki’s Show’s Loki? Loki II? Lokii? Lokii.) is shown a clip show of Ragnarok (one I previously theorized will be deliberately incomplete), that’s quite different from actually experiencing it, and he’ll be as performative as he was in Avengers and Thor 2. Instead of processing that ‘lack of presence’ as he did in Ragnarok, which came about as a result of Thor finally seeing through Loki’s illusions (guess he doesn’t fall for it anymore) as a result of their long history together, I suspect the band-aid will be torn off much more harshly by a total stranger who nonetheless simply sees through him.

Loki in general has a bad relationship with the truth (see the famous Vault Confrontation scene), and literally putting him on trial before the Truth Herself would certainly be enough to get him to switch from this phony expression:

To this one:

That’s not much of a facade there.

It’s not the same character arc as Ragnarok, but it does get us to a similar place, albeit in a darker and less healing way for Loki. I mean Lokii.

Anyhow. That’s what I got out of this thing.

[igazikutya]

Zajok a nappaliból – 2021 Grande Traxelektor – „Sense”

Ezzel zárom 2021 év összegzéseit, a 12 havi Traxelektor, kb 80 órányi zenei anyag javának szétválogatását, három kategória mentén. A harmadik válogatás a „Sense” nevet viseli, és döntően ambient, field recordings, trip hop, dub, abstract és experimental csodákat tartalmaz. Az előzőekben nem emeltem ki név szerint senkit, itt most kicsit felrúgnám ezt a szabályt. Ugyanis van pár alkotó, akik uralják a mezőnyt. Elsőként Shackletont kell kiemelnem, aki 3 művel 30 percet kapott, mindhárom a Top 12 albumok között dobogós Departing Like Rivers lemezen található, amelynek bozorgányos bűbájától nehéz szabadulni. A másik pedig a Tim Story irányítsásával, Dieter Moebiusnak szentelt különleges tribute, a Moebius Strips, amiről Eve Maret, Geoff Barrow (ex Portishead) és Yuri Suzuki átértelmezéseit hallhatjátok.

Grande Traxelektor 2021 „Sense” Spotify Playlist

(65/77,  6h15m/7h19m, 84%)

Grande Traxelektor 2021 „Sense” Playlist

96 Back & Special Request - Petrichor [Compassion, !K7] Aaron Dilloway & Lucrecia Dalt - Niles Baroque [Lucy & Aaron, Hanson] Alva Noto - HYbr-ID Oval Blackhole [HYbr:ID I., Noton] Alva Noto - HYbr-ID Oval Collider [HYbr:ID I., Noton] Amon Tobin - Phaedra [How Do You Live, Nomark] Anatolian Weapons - Mantili [Mantili, Kame House] Anthony Linell - Being Water [Winter Ashes, Northern Electronics] Artefakt - Cambium [Days Bygone, Delsin] Atoloi - Fioritura [Inflorescenze, Sure Thing] Atom ™& tobias - One Final Thing (Not Zero) [VA. - Ostgut Ton Fünfzehn + 1, Ostgut Ton] Biosphere - Angel's Flight [Angel's Flight, AD 93] Biosphere - As Pale as a Pearl [Angel's Flight, AD 93] Black Merlin - Scape One [Scape One, Artificial Dance] Broken English Club - They Burned The Villages [White Rats III, L.I.E.S.] Burial - Upstairs Flat [Antidawn EP, Hyperdub] Carmen Villain - Agua Azul [Sketch For Winter IX - Perlita, Geographic North] Carmen Villain - Two Halves Touching [Sketch For Winter IX - Perlita, Geographic North] Child Of The Waves - Escape the Limbos [Basic Moves 15, Basic Moves] Cristian Vogel - Peace La Roche [Rebirth Of Wonky, Endless Process] Đ.K. - Enlightenment Process [Gate of Enlightenment, Worship] Đ.K. - The Gate [Gate of Enlightenment, Worship] David Toop, Akio Suzuki, Lawrence English - The Quietening Of Rocks [Breathing Spirit Forms, Room40] Deep Nalström - Low Gravity Ride [Esoteric Fantasy, Nummer Music] Dekalb Works - of a [Duologue, Where To Now] Dieter Moebius & Tim Story feat. Eve Maret - Strip 31 [Moebius Strips, Curious Music] Dieter Moebius & Tim Story feat. Geoff Barrow - Segment A [Moebius Strips, Curious Music] Dieter Moebius & Tim Story feat. Yuri Suzuki - Strip 7a [Moebius Strips, Curious Music] Emeka Ogboh - Everydaywehustlin [Beyond The Yellow Haze, A-Ton] Emeka Ogboh - Palm Groove [Beyond The Yellow Haze, A-Ton] Ended with Xavei - Black Veins [VA - Tales from the Far East Vol. 2, Okvlt] Eva-3 - Théorie- Redux [La Théorie du Diable, Ant-Zen] F.S. Blumm & Nils Frahm - Puddle Drop [2X1=4, Leiter] F.S. Blumm & Nils Frahm - Sarah & Eve [2X1=4, Leiter] Gantz - Axxon N [Pusher Acid, Innamind] Gavsborg (Equiknoxx) - 11 AM with Frankie Bubbler [Equiknoxx Meets Feel Free Hi Fi, Digital Sting] Guedra Guedra كدرة كدرة - Complementariness [Vexillology, On The Corner] Haramia Tapes - Helicoid [Daydreaming, Baroque Sunburst] Heathered Pearls feat. Terrence Dixon - Salvaged Copper (Luke Slater Remix)[Cast Remixes Part I, Ghostly International] Kevin Richard Martin - Hari [Return to Solaris, Phantom Limb] Kletis - Midnight Nectar [Remixes, Diffuse Reality] Kӣr - Mandra [VA - Tales from the Far East Vol. 2, Okvlt] Leon Vynehal - Farewell! Magnus Gabbro [Rare, Forever, Ninja Tune] Li Yilei - YAN - 言[之-OF, Métron] Manslaughter 777 - I Can Not Tell You How I Feel [World Vision Perfect Harmony, Thrill Jockey] Marco Shuttle - Winds Of Cydonia [Cobalt Desert Oasis, Incienso] Martin Gore - Capuchin [The Third Chimpanzee, Mute] Martin Gore - Howler [The Third Chimpanzee, Mute] Michel Banabila - Take Me There [Wah-Wah Whispers, Bureau B] Microcorps with Nik Void - ILN [Xmit, Alter] Mouse On Mars - New Life Always Announces Itself Through Sound [AAI, Thrill Jockey] Not Waving & Romance - There's A Fountain Filled With Blood [Restoration Of Bliss, Ecstatic] O Yuki Conjugate – Antipode [A Tension Of Opposites, OYC Limited] O Yuki Conjugate - Contra [A Tension Of Opposites, OYC Limited] O Yuki Conjugate - Forgotten Summer II [Artefacts, Kynant] Om Unit - Celestial Envoy [Acid Dub Studies, Self-Released] Om Unit - Subway Track [Flux, Self-Released] One Million Eyes - Arsenale [Brama, A Strangely Isolated Place] Prefuse 73 - Pathways NonNon [The Failing Institute of the Human Voice, Self-Released] Prefuse 73 - Taped Up Low Hum [The Failing Institute of Drums & Other Percussion, Self-Released] Sam Goku - Breaking Through the Soil [Flowery Rave Tales, Permanent Vacation] Sam Goku - Earlier Forms [East Dimensional Riddims, Atomnation] Shackleton - Something Tells Me / Pour Out Like Water [Departing Like Rivers, Septic] Shackleton - The Light That Was Hidden [Departing Like Rivers, Septic] Shackleton - The Turbulent Sea [Departing Like Rivers, Septic] Significant Other - The Future Doesn't Exist [Residuum, Youth] Space Afrika - [] [Honest Labour, Dais] Space Afrika - yyyyyy2222 [Honest Labour, Dais] Tangents - Vessel [Timeslips & Chimeras, Temporary Residence Limited] The Black Dog - The Cafe Where We Met [Dubs Vol. 3. - Construction, Dust Science] The Bug feat. Manga Saint Hilare - High Rise [Fire, Ninja Tune] The Transcendence Orchestra - Satsuma Felt Slow Tomaga - Intimate Immensity [Intimate Immensity, Hands In The Dark] Uffe - Limo [Words and Endings, On The Corner] Vanishing Twin - Big Moonlight (Ookii Gekkou) [Ookii Gekkou, Fire] Verraco - Abya Yala (Konx-om-Pax Remix) [Grial Remixes, Insurgentes] Yttrandet - Capillary Wave [Yttrandet, Northern Electronics] Yttrandet - Tribunal [Yttrandet, Northern Electronics]

[letissierdesigns]

Have you ever.....

Have you ever…..

….knit a moebius? What is a Moebius? Moebius Strip – from Wikipedia A Moebius is a mathematical concept discovered in the late 1800’s by two scientists working independently of each other.  Like the wheel, like knitting, it was it’s time to be discovered. Above is  Möbius strip made with a piece of paper and tape. If an ant were to crawl along the length of this strip, it would return to its…

[natehoodreviews]

400 Words on PHASE IV [1974] ★★

Though Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975), a little movie about a big shark, elevated the nature run amok genre to new heights of popularity, the films had already existed for years thanks to a generous seeding of cheesy fifties monster movies and the nascent environmentalist movement. Of all these proto-Jaws films, one of the most, shall we say, unique was Saul Bass’ Phase IV (1974), the story of the battle between two scientists and a colony of hyper-intelligent ants. By the seventies, Bass had established himself both as one of the best graphic designers and title sequence creators in America. But the ability to make great corporate logos and openings to Hitchcock films don’t necessarily translate to directorial talent, and in Phase IV we see a fledgling filmmaker biting off more than they can chew. After a strange cosmic event grants a colony of ants in the American Southwest hyper-intelligence, the little bugs declare war on the surrounding humans, forcing all but one family off their land. In their place they build giant stone towers which eventually draw the attention of scientists James Lesko (Michael Murphy) and Ernest Hubbs (Nigel Davenport). Setting up a sealed dome next to the colony, the two find themselves in a battle of wits against the ants who keep creating new ways to infiltrate and sabotage their equipment. (Oh, and there’s a subplot about a local teenager who survives an ant attack and joins the scientists in their lab. But she’s such a non-presence that if she wasn’t central to the bizarre, inexplicable ending she wouldn’t be worth mentioning at all.) The film feels like the reverse engineering of a Moebius comic strip—there’s an intense hermeticism to the world the movie inhabits, almost as if it takes place on a foreign planet populated by strange monuments to forgotten alien civilizations instead of on earth. The extensive insect sequences filmed by wildlife photographer Ken Middleham further add to the illusion of witnessing the goings-on of a different world as they’re all shot in strange, disquieting close-ups. As opposed to the dry, clunky, and tonally inconsistent human sequences, the bits with the ants demonstrate an almost pre-sound cinematic ability to tell stories solely with images. One almost wishes that this was a twenty minute short told strictly from the ants’ perspective instead of a full-length feature about the humans.

[marasamsara]

Coming Back

Sunshine elevates the mood. Really, it does. I’m pretty sure there are fewer suicides on sunny days than on rainy ones. I guess, hail would be good weather for ending one’s life. If you’re in luck, you’re hit by a heavy hail stone before you jump, cut or whatever you intended to be your final act. Anyway, now the sun is shining. How inappropriate. Would you want to visit Pripyat on a sunny day? See, would ruin all the pictures. Grey skies are the best. Those clouds, undetermined whether or not to let lose their raindrops, bearing at the skies like concrete. I like concrete. Even fresh, it looks ugly. Concrete buildings don’t pretend to look modern and fancy, they are what they are supposed to be: infrastructure. You think ants paint their nest? I beg your pardon for that comparison. Humans are not ants. These tiny insects are cleverer, because they do not know the principle of individuality. Nest’s Next Ant Queen? Forget it.

I am approaching my destination. Slowly, there still is time, but still. The increasing proximity presses against my chest like a cold hand. The satnav gives me directions, but I don’t need them. I know these roads. And the soft hills in the distant, growing to mountains a littler further south. I know it all. At least I thought so. Now, that I enter these fields of old I feel like a foreigner in distant lands. No, not like a foreigner. There is a more fitting term, but I don’t want use it.

How many times have I driven these roads? On my bike, and then with a car. How many years have I spent here? Suddenly, In Your Room by Depeche Mode sounds in my mind. In your room. Where souls disappear. Black bulb hanging from the skies. I should not have returned. But I had to, had I not? It is beginning to hurt. Another line by Depeche Mode. Different song, though.

I enter the roads I have walked long ago. This is close to the epicenter. I can already feel the ground trembling. Why had I come here? I know the answer. One of the many answers, there’s never just only one. There are more than questions. Always.

The car slows down, unwillingly my foot lifts off the gas pedal. It seems as if the landscape was pulled by underneath me. The car, the only fixed point in space time. If there such a thing as the opposite of the speed of light, I’d like to move at its infinite slowness right now. I don’t want to come any closer, yet I have to. I just have to. That’s why I came here. Came back. To where it all ended and began anew. My singularity.

I park the car around the corner, turn off the engine and pocket the car keys. My last act of resistance: Around the corner and not right in front. There they lie. The grounds I know so well and would rather not. The place I came back for. Not a soul on the streets, everything is calm and serene. It always has been. What a nice façade for all the maladies.

I know this is the last time I will be here, yet I can’t get myself to get out of the car. It is my Faraday cage, it protects me from the dark hole waiting there around the corner. Just one more time, then it will be done. Just this once. And then? I realize I haven’t thought about what would be then. Funny, because I think about everything. I even think about thinking about stuff. I will get back into this car I came with, start the engine and drive off, but all that is blurred. I can’t imagine it, even though I know it will happen. It is a given, no question about it, yet my thoughts can’t grasp it.

After a deep breath and another, I finally get out of the car. I close the door and stand beside it, staring at the corner. Being out in the fresh air, under those awfully blue skies, tightens my chest even more. If I could rewind time, I’d see myself run and cycle this road back and forth a million times. I only need to walk it two more times. Around the corner and back again to my car. A short walk which seems to stretch into a dark tunnel.

Why the fuck did I come back? For the pain. And all the memories. Why, for fuck’s sake? I begin to walk. Slowly, step by step. My fingers fumble at my trouser pocket. No one lives there at the place around the corner any more, still it is not abandoned. It is not dead. The darkness dwells there, grown over many years. Coming closer, I can feel it on my skin as I enter it. Too well I know that rough and cold texture.

I stop in front of the gate and look at the place. The grass is lush, the trees and bushes are gently swaying in the breeze. What a nice place. But only for the eyes. Vision is the simplest sense, for it is so easily deceived. A smile can hide a dark abyss. As I look at the place, it stares back at me. Maybe it hasn’t thought I’d come back. But maybe it is only playing tricks on me. I don’t fear this place. I don’t believe it is fear I feel. It is something more profound, something deeper.

My eyes tear up. I can’t help it. Crying is such a useless mode of behavior. Sometimes, it takes strength to cry, to let it all out, but not now. Now is not the time for tears. I thought it would be easier, way easier. I’ve come so far, now I won’t turn back, so I open the gate and walk the path leading to the door. How many hours have I spent on this lawn? How many times have I thrown and kicked balls, admired the flowers and ran from angry wasps? I will never again.

I put the key into the lock. It feels like driving a dagger through the cover of a sarcophagus. Soundlessly, the door opens, as if somebody has muted the scene. That smell. How well I remember it. The smell of my past. Back then, I did not notice it. Only when I left it became foreign to me. As I enter, tears are running down my cheeks. I feel so weak, so defenseless, so vulnerable. I should not have come back. I feel like back then.

I don’t linger and go straight upstairs. The same old stairs, the same old creeks. I’m glad the doors are all closed. I don’t want to pry inside. To see what has been left behind them. There is only one door I came for, the second to last in the hallway. My legs walk myself towards it. This is the very heart of the house. The place where I had buried so much darkness. Or at least tried to. It has undug itself and now lurks behind that door. It has been waiting for me. Maybe it has called me here. It does not matter, for now I am here and will open that door. That’s what I came for. That’s what I have to do. Have I not?

My hand grabs the door knob. I get the impression something grabs the knob on the inside. There we stand. Facing each other with the door between us. It is upon me to open it. It will not do anything, it just waits. And whispers. As it did back then. I can hear the whispers again. They creep through me like icicles. My hand starts to tremble. I can feel the darkness crawl underneath the door. It makes the air solid, it sucks up the light. I bite my lips and open the door.

The pain is enormous. I force my eyes to stay open and stare inside. Nothing has changed, everything almost as I left it so many years ago. Only tidier, the room looks like a museum. An exhibition of myself. I step inside. It feels as if the darkness is pushing me. Full circle. Or have a just reached the middle of my moebius strip? What a stupid question. Or is it? I still can’t imagine myself getting back to the car and drive away.

I weep, no way to stop the tears. My legs become rubber, but I don’t dare to sit down on the bed. It is so neatly made, and I don’t want to disturb this place. My hand closes the door behind me. Or does something grab my hand and guide me? I back off into the middle of the room. As if I had never left. As if I had stayed here in this room. It hurts so much. I want to go down on my knees and bury my face in my hands, but I don’t let me. Back then, I wouldn’t have wanted myself to stand here and cry as I do now.

Back then.

I remember what I wanted back then.

I have achieved it.

Mostly.

Back then. I no longer live back then.

Is the door locked? Am I trapped here? Inside this room of my former self? Have I come back only to trap myself?

Almost panic stricken I reach for the knob and pull the door open. I breathe a sigh of relieve. After a last glance back into the room, I step outside into the hallway and close the door. I should not have come here. What use is there in making me suffer? Again.

As I descend the stairs, a thought crosses my mind. Those, who lived here are gone. Never will they return. So many words are left unspoken. So many tears uncried and so much ire not thrust. Would it have made a difference? After all these years? Would I have been strong enough? Coming here with them gone was painful enough. Does it make sense to ponder about events which cannot be undone?

I leave the house faster than I intend. I don’t want to flee, yet I don’t want to stay any longer either. For the last time I turn the key. For the last time I close the gate. Walking back to the car is a relief. I start the engine and drive off, faster than the speed limit. In the rear mirror, the corner around which the house is located gets pulled back until it finally vanishes forever. I wipe the tears off my eyes and drive away. Back to where I should have stayed. Because I am not alone in my car. Something from my room is here with me. I can hear its whispers.

[darioalvarez]

Moebius strip's ants

Animación basada en la obra “Möbius Strip II”, de M.C. Escher. Crédito: romullus3d

[bishopsbox]

source: bishopsbox

Moebius strip II (1963), woodcut in red, black and gray-green, printed from three blocks

by: M.C. Escher

[gigsoupmusic]

Le Guess Who? 2019 - Here's what to look out for

Le Guess Who? Festival kicks off its 4 day celebration of genrebending, boundary crossing music from across the world. If you're lost in the clashfinder and not sure who to prioritise, here's some of the top names to look out for, with descriptions provided straight from Le Guess Who?...

Ustad Saami Saturday 20.45-22.00 at Jacobikerk Ustad Saami is the last living khayál master, widely considered a precursor of qawwali music that originated in Pakistan.  That’s no small distinction, as Saami’s voice is able to minutely veer between 49 different notes – seven times the Western scale – to potent, haunting effect.  Saami embodies his own pivotal adage ‘to sing is to listen’ quite poetically, as his name translates to ‘to hear’ and his lifelong vocation, kháyal singing, stands for ‘imagination’.  Even under threat of islamic fundamentalists, the 75-year old master spent his entire existence as a dedicated practitioner of a vanishing art, one passed on from generation to generation since the 13th century. With this in mind, it’s an extremely rare privilege to have Ustad Saami perform at Le Guess Who?. Fatoumata Diawara Sunday 21.40-22.40 at Tivoli  Over the past decade, Malian, Grammy-nominated artist, musician, and actress Fatoumata Diawara has been universally praised as one of Africa’s most trailblazing and outspoken voices. Diawara’s take on Pan-African folk is simply unmistakable: graceful, enchanting and effortlessly vibrant. Diawara’s work transcends the subdivisions of Africa and the world as a whole, fighting for the rights of women and children in her homeland. Meanwhile, her Wassoulou roots continue to snake off into the vast realms of Afropop, jazz, R&B, and blues. Diawara crossed paths with Herbie Hancock, Oumou Sangaré, Nicolas Jaar, Paul McCartney, and Damon Albarn. Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band  Friday 22.30-23.20 at Tivoli Quintessential Ethio-groove performer Ayalèw Mesfin has joined forces with the renowned US-based ensemble Debo band for his first European live performance ever, and in truth, few collaborations make more sense.  Mesfin’s music rebelled vigorously against Ethiopia’s dictatorial oppression of the 70s and, like many of his contemporaries, he struggled against obscurity amidst political turmoil. Distributing 4000 cassettes for free - later becoming collector’s items - led to several months in jail for Mesfin and a prohibition to play music for 13 years. Last year, the compilation album ‘Hasabe (My Worries)’ was released after Mesfin’s music had gone unheard for 40 years - either on stage or on record -, leading to renewed recognition of the artist. Le Guess Who? celebrates this legendary artist with a show featuring the Debo Band, who formed in 2006 to keep the spirit and craft of Ethiopia’s golden age of pop alive.  By joining forces with Mesfin, they symbolize an invigorating closing of the generation gap together, celebrating one of the greatest Ethiopian discographies of the 70s. Aldous Harding Saturday 21.45-22.45 at Tivoli Pop music canon has always compelled the listener to unravel the mystery behind the song. But the music of Aldous Harding inspires something arguably more powerful: an individual whose voice can seamlessly blend and blossom within the most bewildering of backdrops and characterizations.  The New Zealand songwriter’s latest LP ‘Designer’ renders instrumentation and voice into the most vivid and impressionistic of scenes. In her own words: “It’s the greatest show on earth you shall receive.” Deerhunter  Friday 20.25-21.30 at Tivoli During this decade, Atlanta art-punkers Deerhunter have further established themselves as one of the finest bands alive, consolidating an unmistakable sound with restless reinvention.  The electronic-driven masterpiece 'Halcyon Digest', the rabid post-punk of 'Monomania', the classic rock indebted 'Fading Frontier' and the minimalistic, American goth gloom of 'Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?'; these are four radically different records, but quintessentially Deerhunter all the same. Lightning Bolt  Friday 02.00-03.00 at Tivoli  Lightning Bolt’s floor shows are the stuff of myth and legend, unleashing a hailstorm of noise that would leave every venue smoldering in dust and vapors for weeks.  Two decades after their acclaimed self-titled LP, that firebrand streak burns as piping hot and surprising as ever. Seventh full-length LP ‘Sonic Citadel’ actually abandons the mask of distortion for more stripped-down, naked pop forms. Tropical Fuck Storm Sunday 21.40-22.30 at Tivoli  Tropical Fuck Storm’s wailing backing harmonies sound like a coven chanting hellish incantations, and the filthy percussive thrusts, the otherworldly synth flourishes of the band’s debut LP ‘A Laughing Death In Meatspace’ feel like humanity is cannibalizing itself.  Follow-up ‘Braindrops’ ups the ante even more with a tension very much akin to a tsunami reaching its pinnacle, before it all comes crashing down.  Quelle Chris Saturday 21.30-22.15 Tivoli  Unconventional and hard to categorize, producer/lyricist Quelle Chris is well-versed in several genres, including punk rock, poetry, abstract soul, and experimental hip-hop. As a beatsmith, he tends to favor lo-fi production methods and oddball samples, often creating eerie juxtapositions and contrasts.  Armed with his biting sense of humor, Quelle Chris pokes fun at himself while addressing serious personal concerns and social issues. Girl Band  Friday 00.20-01.20 at Tivoli When Girl Band prowl the stage, you’d best prepare for a barb-wired wallop of first class agit-rock. This Irish wrecking crew has become one of the most fearsome live units of the decade thanks to their shredding and propulsive performances. And somewhere down the dark corridors, you can hear the demented straitjacket howls of frontman Dara Kiely, an unrelenting fury waiting to detonate at the slightest prick. In September, Girl Band released their highly anticipated second album, ‘The Talkies.’ Deerhoof Saturday 18.40-19.40 at Tivoli  Deerhoof is one of those fantastic beasts the world has been lucky to find, an anomaly of a band that can twist any crunch of noise into saccharine hook-heavy pop euphoria. Their wide-eyed trial-and-error performances are so incredibly infectious that it’s probably for the best to consider everything ‘part of the plan’. Deerhoof’s 2007 masterpiece ‘Friend Opportunity’ just became a whole lot friendlier at this year’s Le Guess Who?, with Brooklyn percussionist-trinity Tigue adding their own oddball minimalism into the mix. Not Waving and Dark Mark Friday 22.20-23.25 at Jacobikerk This blood pact marries the ink-black, minimal productions of Alessio Natalizia (aka Not Waving and member of Kompakt stalwarts Walls) with the smoke-suffused vocal drawl of alt-rock minstrel Mark Lanegan. Not surprisingly, their shared creative dominion inhabits an incredible riches of influences, ranging from the gloom-ridden dirges of latter-day Scott Walker to the windswept, arcane energy of Moebius and Popol Vuh. Holly Herndon Sunday 18.30-19.30 at Tivoli  Holly Herndon’s vital album ‘PROTO’ is an inquisitive, affirmative work that interplays elements like Sacred Harp choirs with an A.I.-entity called Spawn, therefore splicing the organic and artificial into music that feels immediate, innovative and alive. In doing so, Herndon presents an enriching, hopeful exchange of concepts: technology’s capacity to amplify, manipulate and spread the human voice and humankind’s ability to teach technology to act beyond its rigid binaries. Read the full article

[longcrierfunhouse]

Sonic Forces and Sonic in Non Games

Sonic Forces is a game changer for the Sonic franchise as a whole and Sega hasn’t let on about how much sway it will have on the franchise from now on. 

That’s a big opening sentence right? Sonic is a huge and extremely diverse franchise that as a game series has also been an extremely viable and popular cartoon, comic, toy, and music sensation that long extends past the reach of its home in Sega of Japan. 

Each region had a story of Sonic with the Western Story taking more place in their comics and cartoons while the Japanese story is more manual relegated when the Sega Megadrive and Genesis had finally gotten the mascot. The Japanese manuals had extensive lore that you can read on each page of Sonic Retro here, here, here, here, and here. This is the lore that from 1998 onwards shaped the franchise. It has islands that magically move on their own (or via tectonic plates), legends about gods with magical gem stones, and little planets that time travel. 

It’s a legacy series that has been a hallmark in games that Games Historians still don’t know how to fully process in regards to its rivalry in Nintendo’s Mario. Mario had tried cartoons and comics and even became the very first game to be adapted to film whose quality is very debatable among people for where it lacks faithfulness to Mario and where it was sensible to deviate from the 8-bit classic on the NES to make its story. Miyamoto even argues that it might have been too faithful to the respected series but that’s another discussion. Nintendo had a very experimental phase in the 90s when Sega became a serious competitor to the Games Industry. And one of those things was a pop culture presence that involved all of media. 

Sonic encompasses any media the blue hedgehog can get its hands into. Its even in unofficial mix tape CDs and continues on to be sampled in works by big musicians and the iconic ring jingle is even the sound used in digital cash registers. Sonic is ingrained into pop culture psyche. It is a true pop culture success Sega never anticipated. It’s a sensation that has worked as a sales machine everywhere except in Japan. That’s not that they didn’t try to make it big in Japan even having a short running manga series that came to be known in Sonic Fan Circles aside from the manga adaptations to advertise the games themselves.

It was a very interesting little series that almost comes across like Looney Tunes with superheroes and a bad guy. 

It introduced the East to Sonic’s own more unique adventures where Dr. Eggman would hatch a plan and spring it on the citizens of Hedgehog Town and Sonic would save the day. The new thing though is that Sonic has a Superman and Peter Parker secret alias that transformed into Sonic when the moment needed him to. It’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but not as mentally unstable. It even introduces characters that are now series staples in the cast. 

Designs changed and they were adapted to the series since. Amy Rose is a fan favourite Canon Immigrant and Charmy Bee is part of the Chaotix who shows up from time to time. 

Then there were the Western takes on Sonic the Hedgehog. Some shortlived, some only getting cancelled in the early 2000s in the case of UK comics company Fleetway and their series, Sonic the Comic. 

Theirs is a very interesting story taking place after the  Origin of Sonic the Hedgehog promotional story that was reprinted in Disney Adventures’ Second Issue. This same book would take on plenty of game properties and Sonic was an early story for them.

This story involved Sonic having been friends with a Good Dr. Robotnik who was then known as Ovi Kintobor similar to Alucard in Dracula myths. In this story Sonic had engaged in a speed experiment gone wrong that turned him blue due to the effect of going past the speed of sound and turned the jovial scientist into the fearsome robot slave making Robotnik. It was an interesting story that the Western branches of Sega had made canon to their regions’ version of Sonic until 1998′s Sonic Adventure and Sega of Japan’s mythology came to be the full original canon. These comics have an ardent fanbase that celebrates the comic for being closer to the games than the Archie Comics counterpart and even has a dedicated online webcomic continuation of the story that’s running into the 200s now that features fan favourite online artists like @adamisart and @thekkmart. It’s a very fun read and these books are eclectic and fun even if unique in their interpretations of the franchise. One of these ideas are The Cyberniks. 

Shortfuse the Cybernik

Vermin the Cybernik 

These two are a form of Badnik that are Badniks but with animals the size of Sonic instead of the typical little “real” animals you’ll usually find popping out of Badniks. They’re made to be much stronger than your typical Badniks and have traits that, similar to Metal Sonic, are like a character but enhanced with technology. This is very similar to the very mysterious character of Infinite, a cybernetic character who we know nothing besides a name and a motivation to bring Sonic down. 

The Archie Comics are also something that seems to have had a huge imprint on this game via cultural osmosis or coincidence. The Archie Comics had a deal for a limited series of Sonic in 1993 which coincided with the showing of Sonic the Hedgehog on Saturday Mornings (known to fans as Sonic SatAM). These comics featured a team of Freedom Fighters against the wannabe tyrannical Dr. Robotnik who in SatAM had conquered their homeland of Mobotropolis and roboticized to become his lair in Robotropolis. This event also happened in the comics but it focused more on the humour of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog until SatAM’s cancellation after the episode The Doomsday Project in December 3, 1994. The Archie comic was a fairly popular series that has run alongside the franchise from 1993 to 2017, finalizing it at 24 years strong. One more year and it would have hit a 25 year long milestone in publication. That is no small feat and is a testament to the popularity and strong nature of Archie’s Sonic to become a major part of the franchise that outlived the original cartoon it was based on. 

Boy those models sure look nice and professional.

The cancellation of Archie happened July 19, 2017. And on the day right after we got another trailer for Sonic Forces this time for Infinite Themselves. 

And this logo is the one that is shown to be the logo for the character. 

What is particularly interesting now is that the characters from Sonic the Comic inhabited the world of Mobius, a long running miscommunication between Sega of Japan and America. This caused the planet of Mobius to be the name that most people in pop culture would associate and accept as Sonic’s Home World. Here is some trivia:

“The name Mobius may be a reference to a shape known as the Möbius strip, a shape with no clear start or end that appears to have multiple sides, when in fact there is only one. This could be intended as a reference to the cyclical nature of species dominance on this alternate Earth / Mobius.”

The logo that we had seen before is a Moebius Loop, made popular by the artist, M.C. Escher. 

Look at those ants go. 

Something that is fairly popular and well noted in Sonic 2′s level design is the use of these strips in Emerald Hill Zone. We’ve seen these come up in the franchise several times over since. 

So why is this important? There’s still a branding issue. A single logo is used for consistency so you’re not confused about what it represents. This is a common practice in marketing. This is why the Sonic the Hedgehog logo stays roughly the same to its motifs even in new logos and designs. 

So what does this logo mean? 

Why did Sega make it a huge thing in the E3 Trailer? Archie Sonic doesn’t have that as a logo and neither does Sonic the Comic. This is a brand new logo. However, this logo can be simplified a lot like how Infinite’s turned out to be. It even looks like it could belong on a flag of a fictional nation. That’s interesting. The last time we saw a fictional nation in Sonic, we got Sonic Unleashed. 

And this was the logo of Eggmanland, the Doctor’s Nation that he built from the scraps of the Earth after it was destroyed. All of the nations alongside it were based on real world nations. 

Shamar’s Flag, Sonic Unleashed (2008)

South Africa’s Flag

If this is a new nation in the Sonic Universe then we could potentially be looking at the incorporation of Mobius into the Sonic Games’ Lore. This would be groundbreaking integration of the West’s ideas of Sonic coming into the games after years of fan demands and the cancellation of the Archie book which was coming right off of the Sonic Unleashed adaptation before it ended. There’s also the note that there is a world map in Sonic Forces which is particularly peculiarly similar to Sonic Unleashed. 

Sonic Unleashed (2008)

Sonic Forces (2017)

This may be all a coincidence, but there’s been a big marketing push that Sega has been more than happy to oblige with Sonic Forces that this game will be huge and that we haven’t begun to scratch the surface of it all. 

Let’s look at Infinite and the Avatar again. These characters are vital to the puzzle. 

Sonic Forces: Custom Hero Trailer, May 16, 2017

This kid has been an important part of the game the entire time. This character is tied to Infinite being in the game and this has been stressed over and over by Sega themselves. They’re You. They’re the Fans. They’re the love and dedication of 26 years of this franchise staying afloat. That’s way past cool. So if they’re You then who is Infinite? 

They’re the hands of an author rewriting the work to fit their vision. 

This is the Avatar of an Overly Controlling Mastermind of the Space Time Continuum. Which remember. Sonic is not unfamiliar with the concepts of space and time and how they affect the world. This was a big point in Sonic Generations, a game that used that as a plot to set up an anniversary game of revisiting old levels. 

What’s most curious is the roster of villains that accompany Infinite and how they interact with the game as a whole, particularly when it’s made clear that Infinite is wrong. 

They’re the living embodiment of a glitch in the system. Even the video of Their Theme is glitched out. 

They sure love to be a living image corruption that’s for sure. 

Let’s go back to the concept of a Cybernik. It was established that Dr. Eggman made these to be Super Badniks much like how Metal Sonic is one to Sonic. What if Infinite is the Cybernik version of our Avatar, Buddy? 

A diagram of a Cybernik

They’re not fully mechanical but they’re very cybernetic and appear to have very natural features suggesting that they’re not purely a robot. This idea would go on into the Archie Sonic Comics where Dr. Eggman has an army of willingly and unwillingly roboticized soldiers that have enhanced abilities. 

That’s too much of a coincidence. What bears intrigue more is the similarities in design to Vermin the Cybernik. 

Pointed ears, pointed snout, and Ultron like design similarities are all accounted for. The only thing wrong is the tail which is a fox’s moreso than a rat’s. But otherwise, Infinite’s motif is fairly similar to Vermin down to wanting Sonic and Buddy the Avatar dead. That’s interesting with what is canon to the Cyberniks. 

“Two Cyberniks were depicted during the series. The prototype was a squirrel-shaped Badnik, but an error occurred during the installation of Shorty the Squirrel as its organic battery, allowing Shorty to resist Robotnik's brainwashing. Shorty took on the name Shortfuse and became an outlaw, striving to defeat Robotnik's forces. Shortfuse possessed blasters on his arms and the ability to fly.

The second Cybernik, a rat named Vermin, was created to destroy Shortfuse. Although he could not fly, he was super strong and had more powerful blasters which were emitted from his eyes. He also possessed the ability to inject a crippling computer virus by means of his prehensile tail.”

Is it possible that Infinite is a Composite Character of these two? It’s looking more and more likely it seems. Also of note is that Vermin is a virus based character to himself as well and that is the basis of a lot of image corruption. Fascinating. 

Now let’s talk about that last image and Sonic’s artistic influences. 

Japan loves Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse. They absolutely adore those two and Sonic was designed to be an incredibly iconic character that would sell competitively to Mario. 

He was designed with a cutesy punk vibe to gel with what kids liked at the time. Someone that parents could accept and kids could really get into. This was from the competition where Sega asked their employees to design a new mascot to replace then mascot Alex Kidd who just wasn’t working. The character that Infinite threatens is someone fairly basic in design and simple, but why is Infinite threatening them? They’re not as important as Sonic. Or are they? It bears minding that the competition had many designs come out of it, this one included. 

This kid bears a strong resemblance to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. 

Oswald is a prototype to a major company’s mascot. After Oswald, we got Mickey Mouse after Disney left Universal with his good friend and collaborator Ub Iwerks and their team. This rabbit concept would go on to become Ristar with the stretching arms idea intact. But it’s interesting to say that a possible prototype of Sonic would be threatened by a force that wants Sonic deader than Mephiles did. 

Is Sonic Forces a legacy game? Is this the most important Sonic game this side of Sonic Mania? Time will tell. 

I know that I’m excited though. Sega has my attention.  

[amber-yupengzhang-blog]

Mobius in Art（2）

The mobius strip, obtained by taking a rectangular strip of a paper, twisting one end through 180°, joining the ends, to form a one-sided surface. There is only one surface and one edge and is thus of a great interest in topology. Recently, I have read a science fiction called The Wall of Darkness written by A.C. Clarke. In this book, Deutsch imagines a mysterious and impenetrable was running all the way around a planet in a universe. In the universe, the world and its sun are the only objects. Two men, one with money and the other with the building skills determined to scale the wall the discover what is exactly on the other side. It can be found that the science fiction is inspired by the mobius strip in mathematics. The story is intriguing and memorable. I got my inspiration of the topic of Mobius also from the movie Moebius written and directed by South Korean director Kim Ki-duk. In the movie, a man was having an affair but his wife knows the affair and attempts to castrate him. But she accidentally castrates her son and flees home. The father feels such grief over his son’s dead and tried to he finally turned to find ways to achieve sexual release. This movie takes many bizarre, incestuous beats of drama and twists and distorted relationship in the the black comedy. Kim uses the provocation through extreme imagery to satirical ends(Tallerico, 2014). The endless tragedy and the personal distortion among the characters in the movie reflects the mobius. This movie talks about more about the relationship and the endless and useless efforts of humans in striving to improve their relationship. In the movie ,the mother , the father and the son are connected as the mobius strip, on which every single character is involving the transference of emotional and sexual desire. In the movie, Kim uses the high concepts about philosophical subtexts in mobius. In the mobius strip, if an ant were to crawl along the length of the strip, it would return to the starting point having traversed the entire length of the strip.

 References

Tallerico B. (2014) Moebius, retrieved from https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/dali-duchamp

[asmrage]

Cave to Canvas, Moebius Strip II (Red Ants) - MC Escher, 1963 ...more Escher...I know you want it....wdk