Joe Velikovsky's Blog, page 21

The Evolution of the G-clamp

So, you know about Evolution, right?



But - did you know about...


Hmmm. But - as you probably have now discovered, the two links (i.e. the URLs) don't work, in the image above. Because it's: an image.

(Also if you clicked on it, did you think about re-posting it on social media, or whatever...?)

...Maybe you should...(?)

So - anyway - here are those two links:

The excellent new book,
Copyfight (McGuinness 2015)
and - a link to:
What memes are (i.e. units of culture), and, Whyhttp://tinyurl.com/holon-parton

- Comments, always welcome


JT Velikovsky
Evolution & Creativity Scholar
&
Transmedia Writer

P.S. - In case you wondered, the `Evolution' picture, i.e. - with the hominid ancestor turning into an ape and then a human, is  from here: http://www.wpclipart.com/world_history/ape_man_evolution.png.html

And here are the Terms of that site: http://www.wpclipart.com/terms.html
Just in case you wondered. :)

Also, I took the photo (of the G-clamps) myself. Let's see if, it becomes a viral meme. (e.g. on FaceBook, etc). I bet it doesn't.

Also, in case anyone noticed, I was trying to be all arty and clever, thinking of, "This Is Not a Pipe" by Magritte. i.e.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treachery_of_Images

Anyway, so, copyright is important, hmmm-kayyy-?

And an excellent new book on it all, is: Copyfight (McGuinness 2015)

And by the way, in reading this, and see the images above, (etc) you probably just absorbed lots of: units of culture. (That happens, any time you learn something new. For more, see: Evolutionary Epistemology. i.e. Karl Popper, DT Campbell, DK Simonton, Nathalie Gontier, etc...)

Miller's Compendium (2015)

Miller's Compendium of Timeless Tools for the Modern Writer

So, the legendary Greg Miller of The Other Network  in L.A. has a great new book coming out soon (i.e., October 2015).

Miller's Compendium of Timeless Tools for the Modern Writer (Miller 2015)Greg is also running a Kickstarter campaign for the book. - It's already fully funded (the funding target was hit in the first few days!), but you can still contribute (the campaign runs through July 10, 2015), and get rewards (e.g. First Editions of the e-book, and your name in the credits, etc).

Nice to see some of my own work in the book, as well (at the 47 secs mark, of the video):

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1060921494/millers-compendium-a-comprehensive-writers-referen
Another of Greg's great posts, here:
The Story Structure Countdown: How Different ‘Experts’ Say You Should Structure a Story (via: The Other Network)
And, yet another one, here:
The Top 10 “Common Elements” in Best-Seller Novels (via J.T. Velikovsky)And that last one (above) is actually a repost of a post from here (thanks again Greg!), so, clicking it may well result in an infinite recursive loop, and may well even tear a hole in the fabric of the space-time continuum itself. So, just a heads up.

- At any rate, I'm very much looking forward to Miller's Compendium . Greg has been researching it for years - and I'm sure it's going to be an invaluable writing resource, for everyone.


- Write on,

JT Velikovsky

`Darwin Down Under'

`Darwin Down Under' A historical comedy play about Charles Darwin in Bathurst, Australia - in 1836


---------------------------------
A 14-minute, historical-comedy animated short film adaptation of the play -
made for the Bathurst Remembers competition:


And - here it is:

(i.e. - It's only animated in PowerPoint, but, South Park
also seems to have gotten away with that, for years...)

----------------------------------

Some screenshots - from the short film
Darwin Down Under (14 mins):


`Old' Charles Darwin - in his Study at Down House, in Kent, England, reminisces about his epic trip to Bathurst...



The good ship HMS Beagle (!) `Young' Charles Darwin "takes the horizontal" (in his hammock, over his chair) in the Poop Deck of The HMS Beagle, in 1836 - as Captain Robert FitzRoy explains to Charles that they've just arrived in Sydney Cove, Australia.
Charles Darwin narrates his visit to Bathurst, NSW, Australia - in 1836
Also - in the short film, there's even this mad footage of the AMG Event in Bathurst, at the Mount Panorama racetrack, in 2015.
- Check it out! Really-fast cars - going really fast, and, stuff.----------------------------------
A BACKGROUND to THE PLAY (and, the SHORT FILM) - `Darwin Down Under'
So, on the epic five-year voyage of The Beagle (well, actually, during the second of three, all arguably really-quite relatively-epic voyages of The Beagle - but, no matter) in 1836, Charles Darwin not only visited Sydney, Australia, but also - hired "a man and two horses" (i.e., one man per horse) and made an epic trip out West, across the epic Blue Mountains, to see the epic Bathurst, Australia. Among other epic things, he saw a platypus, and an ant-lion.

...I am not making this up.

There is even a epic plaque, in Machattie Park, Bathurst, NSW, to prove it all:


Here is a closer shot of the epic plaque, in case the epic writing on it, is hard to read.


And if the writing is still hard to read, here is the epic text inscribed on it:

“THIS CITY WAS THE OBJECTIVE AND TERMINAL POINT OF THE ONLY INLAND JOURNEY IN AUSTRALIA MADE BY CHARLES DARWIN IN JANUARY 1836 ”
And, here is a wider shot of the plaque in the park.
(Note; The writing in this shot is indeed, very hard to read.)


At the time, in 1836, Bathurst NSW officially had a population of about 75 people, and looked something approximately like this:

Bathurst Plains and Settlement, (1825–28) by Augustus Earle. (Watercolour), Bequeathed by David Scott Mitchell, (1907 - ) to the: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South WalesThere is also an excellent book which includes a lot about Darwin's historic visit to Bathurst:

In talking to the one of the authors of the book (i.e., Charles Darwin in Australia, by Frank and Jan Nicholas, 2009), Frank also reminded me that, the year 2016 will be the 180th anniversary of Charles Darwin's historic visit to Bathurst. ...180 years! Which, is a nice round number. Sort of.

Also, Frank and Jan kindly alerted me to this article:

Charles Darwin Disney film: Adventure movie will give naturalist the Indiana Jones treatment

So, Charles Darwin is about to become an even bigger deal... (when Hollywood makes that film)

Some other great movies about Charles Darwin include: Creation (2009)




And also - the documentaries: (click the links below to view the Trailers)

Darwin's Brave New World (2009) (also includes detail on the Australian / `Bathurst excursion' episode)

and

Darwin's Lost Paradise (2009) [narrated by Sam Neill]

(Both of the above documentaries are in Bathurst Regional Lending Library, on DVD).

And - there are 8 more documentaries about Darwin, here.

Also - Charles Darwin was one of the Bathurst 200, at Bathurst Court House, in 2015 (since, 2015 is the bicentenary of the founding of the European settlement of Bathurst) :


Also, online, is the text of a letter that Darwin wrote from Bathurst, in 1836.

(The actual letter itself is kept in a safe in the Bathurst Historical Society (for safekeeping). Even the Mitchell Library in Sydney, only has a photocopy of it... And by the way, I totally touched the photocopy of the actual letter itself, with my very own hands. So; yeah.)

At any rate, so - if you would like to read the historical comedy play "Darwin Down Under", you can download the 50-page PDF of it, here.

Click to download the play as a PDF (play version, dated: 31st May 2015)
----------------------------------------------------------
And - here is the `Cast of Characters' (i.e. acting roles) from the play:

CHARACTER NAME        BRIEF DESCRIPTION                     AGE         GENDER

OLD DARWIN                  `The Beard'. Balding. British. Toffy.     73             Male

YOUNG DARWIN             Spiffy. Toffy. Mutton-chops.                27             Male

CAPTAIN FITZROY          Sea-Captainish toff. A Brit.                  31             Male

`BLUEY'                           An Aussie drover in an akubra hat.    20s-50s       Male

WOMAN SYDNEYSIDER   An Aussie, free settler, pretty bogan. 20s-50s       Female

OLD EMMA DARWIN         A sweet old grandma. Darwin's wife.  74              Female

WAITRESS                      A Sydney barmaid, in 1836                 30s            Female

REAL-ESTATE AGENT      Dodgy. A Cockney ex-convict.        20s -50s         Male

WINDRADYNE'S WIDOW   A local Wiradjuri woman.                   30s           Female

SYMS COVINGTON           Cabin-boy, fiddler, Darwin's servant.    20           Male



----------------------------------------------------------
And - here is a very-brief Synopsis of the play.

--------------------------------
DARWIN DOWN UNDER

SYNOPSIS:
Charles Darwin visits Bathurst, in 1836. 
Hilarity ensues, and also - conflicts !
Also: everyone in the play: speaks in rhyme. All the time. (But, it’s a victimless crime.)
---------------------------------And here is one possible design for the main stage-set of the play:
Stage set - [Left] = the Poop Cabin of The Beagle - [Right] = Darwin's Study at Down House, in Kent
So, that's Old Charles Darwin's `Study' in Down House on the right, and the Poop Cabin of The Beagle ship, on the left.

Or two closer views:

Old Charles Darwin's Study - Down HouseAnd - the Poop Cabin of The Beagle , circa 1836:

Stage set design: The Poop Cabin of The Beagle (featuring: Young Darwin)---------------------------------
But - first - before reading the play, I would highly recommend that you read the actual Chapter, about Darwin's epic trip to Bathurst, from his own Diary, which is also online, here.

As, then, you will probably more deeply understand, the historical details of the play.

i.e. Specifically, I recommend, reading these bits of Darwin's Diary: (it's only a few pages, and is actually, quite fascinating - if you like that sort of thing...)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`The Voyage of the Beagle’, by Charles DarwinChapter XIX - Australia
`Sydney — Excursion to Bathurst — Aspect of the woods — Party of natives — Gradual extinction of the aborigines — Infection generated by associated men in health — Blue Mountains — View of the grand gulf-like valleys — Their origin and formation — Bathurst, general civility of the lower orders — State of society...' 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or ...You may well even just want to read the play, first.

(Or - you may want to read neither the Chapter from the Diary, nor the play - in which case: do nothing.)

But - either way, Evolution is still, probably: "the greatest single idea that anyone has ever had, in the history of thought." (I forget who said that, but, it's probably true.)



(Also, if of interest, there are lots more great books on Evolution, here.)

Also there is more about Bathurst (including - about Charles Darwin's historic 1836 visit - see the 8 minutes mark in the short movie, below) at:

`RUNAWAY CHAINSAW - in Bathurst' (website)


- Comments, most welcome.



JT Velikovsky
Evolution & Creativity Scholar
&
Transmedia Writer

P.S. - In terms of rhyming narratives about Evolution, one vaguely-related idea (to the play Darwin Down Under) is, this short poem: `Monkeyana' (Punch 1861).

(Side Note: Charles Darwin himself, didn't think much of that squib (`Monkeyana') in Punch magazine... He actually didn't think all that much of Australia, either - but, he came during a drought, after all... Also - he wasn't even that crazy about his own home, `Down House' in Kent: he said it was "ugly, looks neither old nor new". He even thought The Beagle was a very ordinary ship. But, still. Everyone's a critic. What can you do? Answer: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!)

At any rate, so that's: Darwin Down Under. A historical comedy play.


PPS - As an aside, if you love Charles Darwin (and, his work) as much as I do, then, why not join the Friends of Darwin ? (...It's free!)

PPPS - Also, maybe see the ballad:  Charlie Is My Darwin .



-------------------

A PLAY-READING of `DARWIN DOWN UNDER' @ BMEC, BATHURST

A reading of the play took place at BMEC, on 20th July 2015 - thanks to the very generous support and facilitation of Local Stages (BMEC), and Bathurst Theatre Company. 
A reading of `Darwin Down Under' @ BMEC, kindly supported by BTC, and the Local Stages program.
(NB - composite photo, which is why it looks a bit wonky, in places...)Many thanks again, to all who attended the reading for such helpful (and encouraging!) feedback and support - and, thanks especially, to Vince & Chris & Kylie, for doing such a stirling job of organizing and co-ordinating the event, (and a special thanks to Lydia - for all the great food! And to Vince for the drinks and for Emceeing the night, and another thanks to Kylie, for the data-projector!). 
And - yet another thanks to Lydia - for asking in passing, a few months ago, if I had any spare plays, lying around...(!)

And thanks yet again to Frank and Jan Nicholas, for all their great and generous feedback, support and assistance!
The reading was great fun - and I'm still collating all the great Notes and Feedback and Ideas that came out of it. 
So: a triple-thanks, to everyone-!    -------------------
Also - there is also, an Online Survey, that you (...anyone!) can take about the play, here.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
The (voluntary, and anonymous) survey takes about 5 to 10 minutes to do.

Please click the image above to open the `ONLINE SURVEY' about the play (and/or, about the reading)-------------------

Also - if you don't already know about it - as mentioned at the reading - there is:The Bathurst 2036 Heritage Action Network...
- A local community action group, formed to protect and promote Bathurst's heritage.
And, it's free to join! - Yay!

Also - as we discussed at the reading, by interesting coincidence (or, very good management - or even, both?) the year 2036 will also be, the Bicentenary of Charles Darwin's historic visit to Bathurst, in 1836...

Charles Darwin Was Here.
The Charles Darwin 1836 Memorial Plaque - in Machattie Park!--------------------
`DARWIN DOWN UNDER - in 1836'






SHORT FILM CREDITS
Written, Directed, Produced & Performed & Animated
by 
JT Velikovsky

IMAGES:Photo of Down House, Kent 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
by Mario Modesto
& 
Photo of Darwin's Study in Down House, Kentby Mario Modestohttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sal%C3%B3n_Down_House.jpg

Photo of the Poop Deck of the Beagle, adapted from an image by Issy
https://www.blogger.com/profile/06278... http://historycostumetea.blogspot.com...

SOUND FX:http://soundbible.com/1375-Whip-Crack.html
Recorded by snottyboi
http://soundbible.com/1150-Whip.html
Recorded by Mike Koenig

Also:

http://www.soundjay.com/failure-sound...

http://www.soundjay.com/paper-rip-sou...
MUSIC:Piano Concerto no. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 - I. Allegro Maestoso (String Quintet arr.)
performed by Zuzana Šimurdová
https://musopen.org/music/2151/frederic-chopin/piano-concerto-no-1-in-e-minor-op-11/(A Side Note - pianist Emma Darwin, Charles Darwin's beloved wife [and cousin], trained under Frederic Chopin.)
More info on Bathurst, at the following URLS:

Henry Bialowas' book, Ten Dead Men (an excellent history of bushranger Ralf Entwhistle & The Ribbon Gang in Bathurst). Ralf Entwhistle was a famous bushranger, who nobody has heard about. I wrote a historical-comedy play about him, too. It's here: The Abercrombie Zombie (by JT Velikovsky).

Also see Barry Cubitt's great site, about Ralf Entwhistle and The Ribbon Gang, re: the history of Abercrombie Caves near Bathurst. Barry is also an expert on Conrad Martens' paintings.

Also, see the Bathurst Attractions & Activities website. (i.e. The `thumbnail-images' of various Bathurst Attractions are from that site.)

Many thanks also, to Frank & Jan Nicholas, the co-authors of the excellent: Charles Darwin in Australia (2009).


Charles Darwin in Australia (Nicholas F & J, 2008)Thanks also to Bathurst Theatre Company - and the BMEC Local Stages program for the great reading of the play! 

Also - a Side Note - This short film about Charles Darwin's visit to Bathurst in 1836 - is a student film, and a parody, and a satire. 
See also, the Copyright laws, about Fair Use, for the purpose of parody, and also satire. 
For example: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/ct...

And mostly, see this excellent book:


Charles Darwin in Australia (Nicholas F & J, 2008) 


Image Acknowledgements & URLs
Some of the following images, many of which are in the public domain (i.e. out of copyright) were used in the short film (and also, digitally altered, for the purpose of satire, and parody.)

`Charles Darwin in 1840'. Watercolour portrait by George Richmond. © The Gallery Collection/Corbis. http://www.corbisimages.com/Search#q=...

`Capt. Robert FitzRoy'. Drawn by Philip Gidley King (Junior). Dated 1838, (but most likely drawn in 1835 or early 1836.) 14 cm × 19.5 cm unmounted. 
Reference: ZC767, p. 68. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/s...

`Augustus Earle - Solitude, watching the horizon at sun set, in the hopes of seeing a vessel,' Tristan de Acunha [i.e. da Cunha] in the South Atlantic, nla.pican2818137, National Library of Australia. 17.5 cm × 25.7 cm. http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an2818137

`Harbour Scene Showing Fort Macquarie'. Watercolour by Conrad Martens. Dated 1836. In his Views Mainly of NSW. 48 cm × 32.5 cm (mounted, 58.5 cm × 44.1 cm). Reference: ZDGD8, fo. 5. Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales. http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/s...

"Bridge Street." Watercolour by Conrad Martens. Signed and dated ‘C. Martens Sydney 1839’ lower right. Title on mount below. 44.8 cm × 64.8 cm. Reference: ZDG V*/SP COLL/MARTENS 7. Dixson Galleries, State Library of New
South Wales. 
http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/s...

Gardner’s Inn. Photograph in the possession of Tom Bennet, 1963. 
Reference: SPF/Blackheath – Hotels – Gardiners Inn. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

`New South Wales Rat Kangaroo'. From Gould, J., The Mammals of Australia (published by the author, London, 1845–1863), vol. II, plate 67. Courtesy of Hank Ebes. http://www.aboriginalartdirectory.com...

`Cox’s River'. Watercolour by Conrad Martens. Late 1830s. Current owner/location unknown.

`Platypus'. From Gould, J., The Mammals of Australia (published by the author, London, 1845–1863), vol. I, plate 1. Courtesy of Hank Ebes. http://www.aboriginalartdirectory.com...

"Photograph of Ant-lion pits. Courtesy of Densey Clyne."

"Typical larva of Myrmeleontidae, the dominant family of lacewings.'
Photograph courtesy of Dr G. Holloway."

"Holy Trinity Church, Kelso, as it appeared in the 1890s.' Photograph from Burton, B., Fields, E., Neumann, D. and White, S., Holy Trinity Church, Kelso, 1835: An Historical Analysis (University of NSW, Studies of Historical Buildings, unpublished report). Reference: PXD267, fig. 8. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales."

Photograph of Charles Darwin, aged approx. 71, taken by Elliott and Fry, on the verandah at Down House, c. 1880. Reproduced by kind permission of Syndics of Cambridge University Library. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrai...

Conrad Martens, [Sydney Harbour], nla.pic-an2390645, National Library of Australia. http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/47...


Sincere thanks to Frank and Jan Nicholas (the authors and researchers of the excellent book, Charles Darwin in Australia, 2008) for the above information, regarding the Image Acknowledgements.

Also re; the painting of the Beagle, the credit is: `HMS Beagle in the Galapagos' by John Chancellor.

The credit re: the image of the painting of Bathurst is `The Bathurst Settlement' (circa 1836) by Augustus Earle.

Then there is the painting `The Plains, Bathurst - 1815' – by John Lewin.

Then there is `River Bank, Bathurst' – by John Lewin.
Then there is an image of `Macquarie River'  - by John Lewin.
Also, re: the image of Windradyne, the credit for that image is: "A Native Chief of Bathurst" by John Lewin (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales). But, see this web page. Maybe, that isn't even a portrait of Windradyne, (...Who knows. We may never know.)
----------------------------
The full play of Darwin Down Under can be downloaded as a PDF, at the link above (ie see, the image of the front-cover / title-page of the play).


--------------------
And - Thanks for reading-!

- JT Velikovsky
Consilient BioCulture Researcher (in Science & The Arts)

The Abercrombie Zombie

`The Abercrombie Zombie' 
A comedy play about Ralf Entwistle: a famous real-life 1830’s Australian bushranger 
that nobody knows about.


A historical comedy play about Ralf Entwhistle and the Ribbon Gang in Bathurst, Australia - in 1830 !


Written by JT Velikovsky
-----------------------------------------
A Synopsis of the Play:  THE ABERCROMBIE ZOMBIE
THE PREMISE: The incredible mostly-true story of how: in 1830, Irish-Australian convict, Ralf Entwistle led a 143-strong (convict-zombie) bushranger uprising – terrorized the Bathurst NSW Australia region – and, was then hung –
...but –
...Zombies don’t hang so good…! 

THE GENRE: Zombie-Bushranger Horror-Comedy-Action Satire Spaghetti-Western Musical Buddy-Stageplay.

THE CONCEPT: Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid meets Oklahoma! via Shaun of the Dead 

THE SETTING: 1830 and the Present Day – in the Bathurst, NSW region.

For the historical facts about `The Ribbon Gang', go here.
For a video about the history, go here.
------------------------
 ` THE ABERCROMBIE ZOMBIE'  
 THE TRUE STORY OF THE RIBBON GANG & THE TRUNKEY CREEK MASSACRE 

...  Zombies don’t hang so good…!


For the full website of the play, visit: The Abercrombie Zombie website
And - to download (and, read) the play, please click the linked image, below:



“The Abercrombie Zombie”
A play about Ralf Entwistle: a famous real-life 1830’s Australian bushranger that nobody knows about.


-----------------------------------
- Comments, most welcome.


JT Velikovsky
Evolution & Creativity Scholar
&
Transmedia Writer

The Zombie-Screenplay of Dorian Gray

The Zombie-Screenplay of Dorian Gray

Ever notice how zombies always seem to be in vogue?

Well - what The World needs now is: another Hollywood zombie movie.

So here it is:

                            THE ZOMBIE-SCREENPLAY OF DORIAN GRAY                                    When a Hollywood Zombie-Movie Producer rejects his (zombie-free)                                        screenplay, an aspiring Hollywood screenwriter kidnaps the                                       Producer, then masquerades as an FBI agent `investigating'                                      the `crime' while embedded at the Producer's luxury Hollywood                                       mansion (and also `embedded' with the producer's wife).
            Hilarity, mayhem, murder (and - ironically, actual Zombie-ism) ensues.  
The Concept:           "Adaptation - meets American Psycho - via Birdman. But with zombies."


So - here's the first 20 pages of  The Zombie-Screenplay of Dorian Gray

And - here's the famous painting of The Death of Chatterton by Wallis. 
The Death of Chatteron - by Henry Wallis* (1856) 
Most screenwriters (about 98% of them) are just like this. Starving to death in a garret.

This movie is about: that.

Plus, it has zombies.

Nobody can get enough of zombies, right?

So, why don't you read the first 20 pages of:

THE ZOMBIE-SCREENPLAY OF DORIAN GRAY...
Plus, it has zombies.

-----------------
JT Velikovsky
Random Guy
http://storyality.wordpress.com/

* [Image and painting is Public Domain.]

1001% Pure Awsum

1001% PURE AWSUM - The Movie
A movie like no other... (This one is:  1001% Pure AWSUM .)
Warning: Rated `A' for AWSUM Yes. That's a monster-truck with biplane-wings, a jet-engine, two snipers, an attack-wolf - and a hot babe with two-toned hair, in a bikini, wing-walking, while aiming a bazooka at some bad guys. (And yes - they're flying over: an exploding volcano.)


Also, she's holding a cardboard-box full of kittens, marked: ` FRAGILE '...
- Seriously. Big-budget Hollywood blockbusters don't get any better than this. - For realz.
Probably, The Best Thing, Ever.
Read the first 10 pages of the screenplay, here. 
(Warning - Contains swear-words - and Extreme AWSUM-ness)


Think of it this way - If you read the first 10 pages of it, you'll find out what happens to that cardboard-box full of kittens, that's marked `FRAGILE'...


...Read it. It's:


1001% PURE AWSUM.
Rated `A' for AWSUM.
-----------------
JT Velikovsky
Random Guy
http://storyality.wordpress.com/

The Very Near Future @ ArtSpace Gallery - by Alex Davies (2014)

The Very Near Future - Film/Art / Mixed-Media / Transmedia Installation @ ArtSpace Gallery - by Alex Davies (2014)

The Very Near Future by Alex Davies - 16 January - 16 February 2014 (Click the link above for official ArtSpace webpage...)


So - the successful launch of Alex Davies' film noir time-travel mixed reality (interactive cinema) transmedia project The Very Near Future was on Wed 15th January at 6pm at ArtSpace Gallery, Woolloomooloo, and over 230 people were in attendance. (Yay!)

Outside ArtSpace Gallery at the launch of The Very Near Future (Jan 2014)
Dr Alex Davies and Annabel Line (who plays `Scarlet' in the feature film, The Hop-Head Hatchet Man) The Very Near Future (ArtSpace Gallery, 2014)It's been described as: "a Charlie Kaufman take on Groundhog Day as a noir film".

The installation is free, courtesy of the Australia Council for the Arts, and is open to the public until 16th February 2014, as part of the Sydney Festival - and, many thanks again to Mark, Caroline, Sandra - and all of the wonderful crew at ArtSpace Gallery.

The work itself has been dramatically expanded since its successful Carriageworks exhibition in 2013 as part of the International Symposium of Electronic Arts. (If you already saw it before... you ain't seen the half of it..!)

I was also lucky enough to do some work with Dr Davies, and the approximately 30 other people involved in the project: including but not limited to:

Greg Ferris, Alex Ryan, Chris Caines, Brendan Lloyd, Steve Rodgers, Veronica Sywak, Matthew Prest, Mark Simpson, Annabel Lines, Rebecca Conroy, Damian Martin, Pete Manwaring, Andrew Maher, Monica Brooks, Ed Horne, Leigh Russell, Mark Swartz, Alexandra Crosby, Michaela Davies, Phil Young, Celia Curtis, Martin Crouch, Julianne Pierce, Adam Mada, Aaron Michael Gregory Clark, Andrew Traucki, James Hurley, Chris Fox, Chas Glover, Christian Heinrich, Justin Maynard, James Hancock, Alex Holver, UTS Media Center, Erth, Mark Mitchell, CMAI, ArtSpace, and the Australia Council for the Arts.

Anyway I wrote some of the film scripts in collaboration with Dr Davies, and I also crewed a little on the shoot.

One of the coolest things about the installation is its immersion and interactivity: If you stand at the window in the `film set' (pictured below left) for 5 seconds... and, you peer through the window, into the darkness --


And... - if you then walk over to the current-day edit suite (pictured below) you will (most likely) find yourself inserted - as: "the figure at the window" - into the feature film itself, that is being edited in realtime, when `Scarlet' the nightclub dancer (played by Annabel Line) notices someone spying on herself and Detective Eddie Getz...(!)

Dr Davies at the edit controls... as `the villain' appears at the window, in the film in realtime-!Great reactions ensued from some launch attendees who found themselves inserted into the film as a cameo, in realtime...(!) [Try it for yourself, when you do visit the installation...!]

And - yet another of the cooler aspects of the installation is - the notion that you have wandered into a film studio, where a film noir movie, The Hop-Head Hatchet Man, is being shot, live.


The live security-camera footage gives a glimpse of `30 seconds into the (very near) future' in the various rooms of the film studio itself... It takes about half-an-hour of watching the live shoot inside the studio itself to appreciate the 7 x different parallel universes...


The storyline of the feature film itself (The Hop-Head Hatchet Man) includes a murder-mystery, a love triangle, and a suitcase-bomb that the femme fatale Evangeline Montgomery has planted for her unsuspecting husband - Senator Montgomery - in their mansion's sunroom...

But - will Detective Eddie Getz be able to get to `the scene' of the would-be crime in time? (And - when he does - which of the 7 parallel universes will he find himself in..?)

Frank's Security RoomDue to the multiple time-warps - and parallel universes - involved, there is also an old Steenbeck flatbed editing suite inside the film studio - where the film is also being edited - as well as, the `modern-day' non-linear edit suite...

Actor Steve Rogers (who plays gumshoe detective Eddie Getz in the film The Hop Head Hatchet Man) checks out the day's rushes- As research, it was great fun revisiting classic film production history, including discovering that Steenbecks were first manufactured in 1953 - and in fact, are still made today... We used them at film school (AFTRS) back in the day, as well as AVIDs and other film editing technologies. (And - the AFTRS still has a Steenbeck!)


...For anyone who is a `serious' film aficionado - or even just a lover of cinema in general, (and also - time travel, M-theory, and parallel universes) - this film/art installation is a rare treat - a truly unique sensory and conceptual experience - combining many of the astonishing and immersive technical techniques that Dr Davies has been perfecting over ten years of prior work as an installation artist of international renown.

Wander around the studio/installation work, and examine the props, notated scripts, and other media (eg labelled film cans) lying around, and you'll also notice references to classic cinema history - including: The Maltese Falcon, Sunset Boulevard, Zentropa and even Barton Fink, to name just a few.

The installation/work itself is also an example of transmedia storytelling, given the various media through which the story (universe) is told...

Also, as a longtime lover of the noir genre, I enjoyed these 2 quotes from The Stanley Kubrick Archives (2005):

`[Paul] Schrader rightly contends that film noir is not a separate movie genre, since it depends on the conventions of established genres, such as the gangster film, the science fiction film, and the western. Hence, it is necessary to “approach the body of films made during the noir cycle as expressions of pre-existing genres”.’ (Castle, 2005, p. 281) 
And, RE: `Killer’s Kiss' (Dir: Kubrick)
`True to noir tradition, the story begins at the end, and is told in flashback, with the beleaguered hero serving as the narrator of his own downfall.’ (Castle, 2005, p. 281)
I also love Mickey Spillane's comment about his detective/noir fiction: "I don't have readers... I have customers-!"

Brendan, the Sound Recordist on the feature-film-noir, The Hop-Head Hatchet Man, within The Very Near Future... 
The Very Near Future is free from Jan 16th to Feb 16th 2014, at ArtSpace Gallery, Woolloomooloo, Sydney - opposite Harry's Cafe de Wheels -

Dr Davies tackles a tiger @ Harry's Cafe de Wheels...Enjoy the Sydney Festival - and we hope to see you (all) - in:  The Very Near Future ...

- Check it out-! [It's free!!]

Also - a cool review in The Thousands, by Bethany Small, here:
http://thethousands.com.au/sydney/look/alex-davies-the-very-near-future


JT Velikovsky
Transmedia Screenwriter & Film Researcher
http://storyality.wordpress.com/
https://uws.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky

A History of Videogames - from 1889 to the Year 2000

A History of Videogames - from 1889 to the year 2000. 



This was a lecture given in the year 2000, by JT Velikovsky, at Charles Sturt University.

JT Velikovsky was the National Games Market Analyst in 1999-2000, at Inform P/L (now GfK).


Videogames History - 1889 to the Year 2000 - JT Velikovsky from JT Velikovsky

For more see:

Augmented Reality Games: Sky Invaders 3D, AR Moon Lander 3D, etc
http://on-writering.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/on-matrix-augmented-reality-games-has.html

Interview with JT Velikovsky (2012)
http://on-writering.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/interview-with-joetv-in-writer-magazine.html



JT Velikovsky is a transmedia (films, games, TV, etc) writer-producer-director and consultant. 
For more, see: http://storyality.wordpress.com/

"The Very Near Future" - a Large-Scale Mixed Reality / Interactive Cinema Installation - by Dr Alex Davies

The Very Near Future - a Film/Art/Mixed Reality Installation by Dr Alex Davies



So - from Sat 8th June to Sat 15th June 2013 The Very Near Future was live at Carriageworks, Eveleigh in Sydney, as part of ISEA 2013, the 19th International Symposium on Electronic Art , presented by ANAT.


I was very fortunate to be invited to do some work on the installation (i.e.: screenwriting) with the Good Dr Davies..! (Also noted are Dr Alexandra Crosby's many behind-the-scenes contributions, and many others possibly even too numerous to mention).

And, I actually don't want to `give too much away' about it (the installation) - as, excitingly - a bigger & newer, improved Edition of it will be running again in starting December 2013 at ArtSpace Gallery in Woolloomolloo and - `the surprise' is actually half the fun!

Having said that - here is a Synopsis, from the ISEA webpage: http://www.isea2013.org/events/the-very-near-future/

----------------------------------
THE VERY NEAR FUTURE
Presented by ISEA2013 and Carriageworks.
Walk into Alex Davies’ installation and you will find yourself wondering what is real or virtual, fact or fiction? Are you being told a story – or taking part in one? Are you on a film set – or in a film – or is this ‘real life’? In this large-scale mixed reality / interactive cinema installation, illusory characters walk with you through an intricately constructed environment, and a major world event unfolds repeatedly around you in a series of parallel ‘worlds’. Step in!
Alex Davies’ practice spans a range of media including film, photography, spatial, audio and responsive installations; his current focus is mixed reality installations in which the audience find themselves as central characters in dynamic narratives. His projects have been exhibited extensively in Australia, Europe and Japan, and he is the recipient of several prestigious grants and awards. http://schizophonia.com
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its funding and advisory body.
----------------------------------
And, here are some shots I took, on my camera-phone:

Dr Davies - tweaking settings 

Dr Davies - blinded by the brilliance 
The Security Room
 The Lunchroom

Brunch 
TVNF  - Behind The Scenes

Dr Davies at the controls

Track 8, Carriageworks

 Horton Hears A Who(Yes; I had no idea what to caption this image.)
Also at Carriageworks for ISEA2013was Ryoji Ikeda's installation Test Pattern:
 http://www.isea2013.org/events/test-pattern/

Ryoji Ikeda's installation: Test Pattern
Carriageworks, Eveleigh
**(strong language warning)***
Also - an important part of ISEA2013 was Marnix de Nijs' legendary installation, Run Motherf___r Run: 
http://www.marnixdenijs.nl/run-motherfucker-run.htm


Run Dr Davies Run!

Stay tuned for The Very Near Future ArtSpace updates... in: the very near future...


JT Velikovsky
Film/Screenwriting/Transmedia Guy
http://storyality.wordpress.com/

STORYALITY™ Screenwriting Manual released on Kindle

The STORYALITY™ Screenwriting Manual – or, PLOTTING PROFITABLE PICTURE$ – A Screenwriting Manual based on The Common Patterns and Practices in the Top 20 RoI (Return on Investment) Films of the Past 70 Years – by JT Velikovsky (2013).
Click to view first 10 pages
For more information - see the StoryAlity blog post about the book.