Wulf's Webden

The Webden on WordPress

18 January 2024
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This is(n’t) me (either)

Fake Me in 2012
Fake Wulf on Double Bass

I had another play with krea.ai today. This time, I thought I would be kind and feed it a much easier starting point. I tried various options and this was my favourite but it entirely fails to convey my likeness. On the surface, it does look like a decent painting of a double bassist but weirdness in areas like the fingers and wrists opens up the uncanny valley (the way humans are good at perceiving images of fake humans). I think I did a better job myself with my digital darkroom work back when I originally took it.

17 January 2024
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This Is(n’t) Me

Fake Me in 2007
Wulf on bass (AI enhanced)

You may not recognise this ‘painting’ of a handsome bass player in his early 30’s. It is an odd mixture of accuracy (eg. the Roland label on the back of a keyboard) and strange twists (‘Yainara’ rather than ‘Yamaha’ or the way the six string bass becomes a four string on the other side of the mic stand). In fact, if you’ve been keeping an eye on digital art trends in the last year or so, you will probably recognise it as an AI-generated image.

I produced it using krea.ai, a tool I recently came across which offers free image enhancement of photos. It is a fascinating picture, despite the flaws, although it isn’t very recognisable as me. Mind you, when you look at the source picture I fed in, perhaps that isn’t entirely surprising:

The Elusive Teeth, January 2007 #2
Wulf on bass (original)

Given the motion blur, I don’t think you’d have much hope of recognising me with that one either. Is that scary or exciting? I think it certainly fits somewhere in the region of fascinating. If I was an artist who relied on producing images of people that would mainly be printed or delivered digitally I’d be worried though. I expect that it would be possible to feed a suitable AI tool other pictures of me from the same period and generate something with a much better likeness. It wasn’t instant (as you will find out if you try it yourself) but it was a fraction of the time it would take to set up a canvas and get the lids off the necessary paints, let alone the time needed to do the painting.

16 January 2024
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The Great (Nativity) Escape

I spoke on Sunday (and again, for our Tuesday morning service) on the second half of Matthew chapter 2. This is the end of Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus and covers the need for his family to flee to Egypt and then their return not to Bethlehem but to Nazareth. You can watch it here:

I was particularly struck by how close Bethlehem is to Jerusalem. It would only have taken Herod’s troops about 25 minutes to get from his palace to the Church of the Nativity. Obviously those aren’t very useful historical markers but Google Maps didn’t have a setting to check condition over 2,000 years ago! Fortunately Joseph got warned in a dream and set off with his family in the middle of the night or, even without cars, Herod’s troops would have been at their doors to fulfil his evil plan.

15 January 2024
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Full of Pi

We recently moved a couple of wardrobe units into our front room. I say wardrobes, as that’s what IKEA sold them as but both had been used for non-clothes storage in other parts of the house. In the front room, they neatly fit along one wall and the main type of thing we have put inside them is books.

I love books but they are pretty heavy and we did have some concerns about how the shelves would cope. This afternoon, I finished reinforcing one unit with wooden structures at the back that I can best describe as looking a bit like the Greek symbol pi (π). Ignore the little serifs but imagine a strip of wood sitting under the back edge of the shelf to support it with two slightly inset legs, then the same again under each shelf going up.

The plan is that the strips of wood, set sideways on, will resist a lot of the strain of the books and the legs will transmit a lot of the force down to the base. My plan now is to see what it looks like after a few days. Realistically, it probably needs weeks or months to properly judge but, if I don’t see any obviously adverse side effects, I’ve got a a couple more units that I need to stuff with further pi.

12 January 2024
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Pathways, Lines and Journeys

I’m glad I took a few minutes to pop into the Sock Gallery in Loughborough Town Hall today. The exhibition of textile art, “Pathways, Lines and Journeys”, which I thought had another week to run, actually finishes tomorrow.

It makes for a fascinating visit. Some of the pieces are quite abstract or seem to draw more focus to their materials but plenty to ponder and contemplate more deeply too. I am also looking forward to seeing the next exhibition, which goes live on 18 January and promises to be very colourful.

11 January 2024
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Dupiaza

I was out at an Indian restaurant tonight and the obvious choice was to try their chicken dupiaza which, as I expected, was in a similar line to the chicken dopiaza I cooked at home last month. It isn’t uncommon for the spellings of dishes to vary from one restaurant to another, which I expect is a consequence of people transliterating from one language to another without looking for an authoritative reference (or maybe the references themselves vary?). It was, as my dish was, heavy on the onions, with large chunks and a sauce that I’m sure was rich with pureed onions.

The meal was tasty although I think I actually preferred my one, which had the additional advantage of me knowing exactly what went into it. One to cook again quite soon I think, just to make sure.

9 January 2024
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Expository Preaching

I’m in the process of preparing to deliver another sermon this Sunday. The main passage is the second half of Matthew chapter 2, after the magi have returned home (side-stepping the evil King Herod). I’m starting with the title “Jesus was a refugee”, which I don’t think should be controversial but, to reinforce that, I’m minded to use an expository approach as I open up the passage.

What is expository preaching? The Gospel Coalition website collects together a number of good definitions. My summary would be that the preacher works through the passage, typically in a linear fashion, giving you the benefit of the study they have put in. They probably have an advantage over the average member of the congregation because of that study but it does mean the congregation can test whether they run straight by looking at the things that are plain and simple. In this case it is that Joseph and Mary took Jesus down to Egypt for a period of time because they had a well-grounded fear of persecution in their homeland, which matches very closely the definition of being a refugee promoted by the UN and (this is the controversial bit) often brushed over and ignored by the present UK government.

I will also be doing some exegesis, drawing some further points for consideration out of both the Matthew passage and a couple of references from Exodus 22 and 23. I think it is important that a sermon doesn’t just spew out facts but, from a good grounding, speak from God’s word into how we live in this world. Some of that might be more controversial but I’ll be diligent in making sure that I anchor down the foundations first.

8 January 2024
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Put a sock in it

I’ve experimented a little with this in the past but the simple expedient of dropping something soft down the bell of my tuba (in my case, a small silk rug!) seems to work reasonably well at dropping the level down for practise at home.

As far as I can measure on my phone, the sound comes out at about 65dB – louder than when I’m quietly playing my electroacoustic bass but about the same as having a conversation with somebody where you aren’t particularly trying to keep a lid on the volume. I reckon that isn’t unreasonable for shortish sessions during the daytime, particularly when I think nobody is in next door.

I understand it probably has a tendency to make the instrument a bit sharp but, for solo practise, it doesn’t matter too much as I’m not afflicted with perfect pitch. It also creates a lot more blowing resistance. In theory, that isn’t a bad thing but might function in the same way as practising for a sporting event with extra weights on. I will have to keep an ear on it though – if I find that I start overblowing in situations where I’m not using the “ghetto mute”, I’ll need to reconsider.

It will do for now though.

7 January 2024
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Range Considerations

Before I unleash my Dvorak arrangement (see Friday’s Going to America post), I need to check the range I have assigned to each part is playable. Fortunately, it turns out there is a tool in Musescore which can be used to assist. An ambitus is a way of indicating the range of a part and it turns out you can drag that control from the Lines palette onto the clef at the start of a part to show what range it spans.

I’ve also discovered another useful feature – concert pitch. Not being fluent in multiple transposing instruments, I find it hard to figure out the harmonies created when you have instruments working in Bb and Eb as well as C. It could be harder – Dvorak’s original score has clarinets in A and various instruments in E as well – but it would be nice if it could be easier too. It turns out there is a concert pitch toggle at the bottom of the page so I can easily view the whole score at concert pitch, which will help with the range adjustments the ambitus indicates I might need to make from place to place.