I've been reading Kaleidoscope Artistry by Cozy Baker, which I got for 2 dollars at the used bookstore. It's got profiles of kaleidoscope makers, and pictures of their work. The scopes are, as expected, full of color and variety. The people all discover kaleidoscope manufacture in the same fasihon that one discovers in mid-life an unexpected ability to hula hoop, play killer mah jongg or a new comet.
I noticed tonight this statement about the most recent Thomas Nunnally Ensemble EP:
from the freealbums weblog:
Thomas Nunnally Ensemble - The Tunnel at The End of The Light
Genre: Ambient, Electronica
Here come more ambient goodness and cerebral candy from Thomas Nunnally Ensemble. Like their first album, it is full of drones, samples, natural sounds and soft electronic beats that places the listener is a new environment. The [Tunnel at the End of the Light] promises neither dark or light but a eerie place in between to surround the listener in their soundscapes. .
I love the freealbums site, because it lists all sorts of Creative Commons and other open source music in a variety of genres, and not in the 12 or so genres I follow the most.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to spend at least 100 dollars less on commercial CDs and to instead donate to/purchase from artists and Creative Commons. I sent in my donation to the latest Creative Commons fund-raiser recently, and got a nice thank-you e mail of the "if there is anything we should be doing differently" interactive form. I wanted to write back a simple "just keep on keepin' on", which is not at all a bad place for a non-profit to be.
This week I will hunt freeware kaleidoscopes.