Coincidence

Last night, while at work, bits and pieces of a very old song kept going through my head. I have no idea how it started, and I didn't even know the name of the song or who the singer was. It was a tune I remember hearing when I was very little, something my dad used to play on his reel-to-reel stereo. Funny thing, I don't remember the whole song, just a few lines and melodies from it. It brings back good memories from way back.

What little I knew of the lyrics, I decided to try to Google. After about three tries, I came up with the proper title and several names of artists. By chance, Diann had XM radio playing on the 60s station. I asked if she knew of the song. Yes! Search results yielded quite a number of artists that sang the tune, and I have no idea which one my dad used to listen to. However, one of the artists, Hank Snow, an old country singer, might be the one. My dad liked to listen to the older country western music, such as Hank Williams Sr.

The odd thing...while I was checking the results, and looking for any samples to listen to, I started to hear the tune again...only not running through my head, but on the radio! It was not a vocal version, but an instrumental, but there was no doubt that was the same tune! Wow, I think dad had something to do with this. Anyway, the song "White Silver Sands" was originally sung by someone named Don Rondo (never heard of him either). Diann seems to thing there was another version done by Pat Boone. Don't know if I'll ever get to actually hear it again...for now, I'll just settle with my version. :)

Scripting

Scripts are fun to use, as long as it's done in moderation. I have yet to learn to create scripts. For now, I rely on those that have grasped the fundamentals of script-writing. I just got this one from Liz's site (thank you!) and I'm liking it already. :)

The Gimp

The Gimp has a plug-in that generates flame fractals. This plug-in was written by Scott Draves, although I don't think it's been updated in a long time. The flame "editor" is somewhat limited, but it's best to use Apophysis to import the Gimp flame, and make edits there.

err...let's try this again

Nothing like experimenting with a new blog...then forgetting about it. I suppose I wasn't in the right mindset when I started this...but, now that I've rescued this from the depths of Blogger, I'll try to be better. I promise. I hope.

My life isn't exciting or interesting enough to warrant filling these pages with readable material, at least nothing fit for the average joe's consumption. However, fractals have always been one of my favorite forms of expression. Each one is different, unique unto itself, like fragments of thoughts and ideas. Fractals appear in many forms in our daily lives, and in nature itself. They are classified by various types such as Mandelbrot, Julia, and Iterated Function System (IFS).

I find flames, and their creation, to be unpredictable, but in a pleasant way. Math has never been my forte, however working with the program Apophysis helps me to appreciate its capabilities. There seems to be an almost therapeutic value to flame creation...a Zen of mathematics, art, and nature. Anyone can do it, given the proper tools and an open mind. It is, after all, what you make of it.