Monday 21st August 2006 - In Transit

Monday didn't really exist - due to the flying backwards across the dateline... Instead, the above are a few images as we were approaching LAX.

Sunday 20th August 2006 - San Francisco

Had brunch this morning with James Sheridan - a Canberra based PhD student from CNMA, ANU - who's been in the bay area for the Apple Developers Conference.

After brunch, headed up through China Town. I love this area of San Fran, particularly at night...

Wandered through the city, taking it all in and wondering when I'll be back here next.


Took some video of the city traffic off the tunnel bridge near Stockton and Bush streets, then headed back to the hotel to pickup my bag and grab the airport shuttle (taking my bag downstairs via the old-school graffitied lift).

Arrived at the airport with many hours to spare.

There's hardly anyone here, it's not frantic and security seems pretty normal. Apart from no makeup being allowed on the plane and security alert warnings levels up to "orange", nothing much seems to have changed since arriving.


Now I'm waiting for my flight to LA, then a few more hours wait before boarding the flight back to Sydney.

My trip is pretty much over...

Saturday 19th August 2006 - San Francisco

Today I have the whole day off to explore San Fran. Headed down to Rasputin Records near Market street and then off to the Ashbury Haight area.

Spent a whole lot of time wandering up and down Haight Street, thinking about what it was like when my mum was hanging out here in the '60s.

Spent the day hanging within a few blocks, buried in stores like Giant Robot - cool little toys including Miyazaki and Murakami stuff, a pretty yummy pizza shop and handing my coins out to guys on the street - some of whom look like they're roughing it pretty bad. Extremes.

When Haight Street started to close up at the end of the day, we for walk through the park.

Its a pretty huge and amazing place. So many different venues and places in the park, including a compost heap!


Back to the city and tried to get to a gig at the Audium. Arrived late and unfortunately they only let ppl in before the event starts, so missed out. Dissappointing.

Went for a drink at a bar on the way home, and then to pack my bag - properly - before flying out on Sunday.

Friday 18th August 2006 - San Francisco (Internet Archive)

Up this morning to head to the Internet Archive in the Presidio of San Francisco. Grabbed a quick coffee and then a cab - with a beautiful russian guy as the driver - i love the multiculturalism in this city too.

Took a cab with a young Russian guy (the driver). Between us, we navigated our way to the Presidio.

Arrived at the Internet Archive in time for their infamous Friday lunches.

After lunch a few meetings...

Met with Stuart who manages the audiovisual archives for the Internet Archive. I also met with Kristine and Gordon from the Webteam. We spoke about their audio, multimedia, software and video content. I also met with Gordon from the web archiving section of the archive. He spoke about their web crawling activities as well as their backup and storage and we discussed whether the web archiving strategy could be used as a possible model for archiving other complex resources - such as interactives.

Waited for about an hour for a cab - and after calling the company a few times, gave up.

In the end Igor gave me a lift back into the city.

It's strange being in a city where you know no-one.

Here you can walk through the streets on a Friday night along with all the other people. Went out about 9.30pm for a long walk through China Town...

...and down Columbus Avenue (the Italian part of town). Its bustling. Loads of people on the street, or having a late dinner or drink.

Thursday 17th August 2006 - Berkeley (CNMAT)

Was getting ready to head off to BAMPFA this morning... unfortunately my meeting with Jen Pearson the Digital Media Developer was cancelled.

I decided to call a friend of a friend - Scot Gresham-Lancaster - who's been part of the SF contemporary music scene for many years - as I'd been given contact details but hadn't had a chance to make any plans. Luckily for me he was around and decided to put everything that he was doing for the day on hold. His wife Kathy and he arrived and took me to a newly discovered favourite mexican restaurant of theirs. Mmmm.

Scot, Kathy and I headed to CNMAT - the Centre for New Music and Audio Technologies - to see if i could have a quick look around.


The Spanish architecture of this little house is beautiful.

Met Adrian Freed (with a fantastic multichannel speaker in development).

Ended up spending quite a bit of time there talking about a range of different things - anything from new sensor interfaces to music information retrieval to genre classifcation metadata to chemical sensitivities.
From here dropped into Mills College very briefly (infact for about 5 minutes as Les Stuck was just on his way out the door...).


So glad that while I was in this area I had the chance to see these places.

In all their hospitality, Kathy and Scot took me home for a cup of tea, which turned into many hours of conversation, tea and dinner with them plus their three cats and dog. Finally they decided to drive me all the way back to SF and drop me off at my hotel, the Hotel des Arts. Checked into another cute room here...

Wednesday 16th August 2006 - Berkeley (BAM/PFA)

Walked up to BAMPFA again this morning.


Met with Rick Rinehart at his little downstairs office space at BAMPFA. I had been planning to present a short presentation/discussion on the work that the Library is doing, however we had to change plans as Rick needed to get to the classroom earlier to setup for his summer session class.

I went along to the summer session class where his students presented their work that they had carried out at ISEA - they had analysed a number of different artworks each and then, using the MANS model and the Final Cut pro database that Rick has developed, add in as much detail as they could about the artworks. The class was divided into groups and each group had reviewed three artworks, which they spoke about. While most of the talks glossed the surface of metadata issues, they also had to submit documentation in the form of a Filemaker Pro MANS database file. These would be interesting to see.

Caught a train into San Fran to go to the Recombinant Media Labs. It's a fabulous performance venue and has only been running for less than a year. Full of surround video and sound, the audience immerse themselves into the experience whilst seated, lying on the carpet.

Took this whilst walking back towards the train station

Tuesday 15th August 2006 - Berkeley (BAM/PFA)

Met with Richard Rinehart at BAMPFA at lunchtime and then met with Nancy Goldman and Susan Wester from BAMPFA aswell. Rick and I talked about the MANS model that he has developed for notation of media art, then Nancy talked a little bit about film and video issues, including copyright. Finally Susan showed me through their CINEFILES database - which they're using to manage any film related materials - mainly ephemera. [Full details to come later.]

Went for a walk in the afternoon around Berkeley - there are some pretty lovely views around here:


and also some amazingly huge Eucalypts here...


then back to the hotel in downtown Berkeley... okay so there's only one main street that runs for a few blocks (it's not a very big place at all).

Monday 14th August 2006 - San Jose

packed up my case again... and then spent most of the day in the lobby of the St Claire Holtel - catching up on a whole lot of email, doing some homework and preparing for this week. It's been a pretty hectic time since I've been here.

Caught the cal-train from San Jose (goodbye SJ...) back to San Francisco again. I feel like I'm getting to know this place pretty well now. It's a good feeling to get off the train in San Fran.

[No photos today - but I shot some video out the window from the top carriage in the train.] Infact I was shooting video near a place called Mountain View - home of Google and the Computer History Museum. It's not until I visit the Internet Archive (on Friday) that they say I should've organised a meeting with both of them.

Then switched to the BART and up to Berkeley. Coming up the stairs from the station, and onto the street - yet another feel, to another town. This is definitely more of the alternative, intellectual variety.

After dropping my bags off to the hotel, I went for a walk to find some dinner. On gut instinct found a Nepalese place where they served me a 'normal' amount of food. Unlike almost all other meals I've had since I've been here which have been massive. I feel awful leaving food to be thrown away when there are guys outside asking for change.

(The food was great at Mount Everest too - it's very much what I needed after such an intense last week.)

Sunday 13th August 2006 - San Jose (ISEA)

The symposium is now winding down, and the works are starting to be dismantled. I sat in the park just near the hotel and ate some breakfast and glanced at the papers that I'd wanted to see but hadn't - including Timothy Murray who paper was on the archiving new media art at Cornell University's Goldsen Archive. (Saw a cute little squirrel - cute enough to go on cute overload - a site that my flatmate put me onto...)

back to the hotel to do a bit of research on where to buy a case for my equipment. I'm not going to be able to take it all handluggage on the flight back to Aus as I was here and its too fragile - and expensive - to be packed in just my suitcase. Dilemma.

Visited the San Jose Museum of Art - there were a range of works in the cafe including an table with 2-d swimming fish that interact with objects placed on the table.


also lunch in the park - looked up at one point to see a mobile artwork just hanging around in the leaves...


Then went to see the Jennifer Steinkamp exhibition and then onto Edge Conditions exhibition - looking at (mainly) digital media art, and some just electronic based art.

Headed back to South Hall (where I'd been yesterday to see works) and to experience the ones that I hadn't had time for... but my brain is feeling quite saturated now.


then the matinee performance off Troika Ranch - a NY based dance ensemble who work with technology. They're known in the video/vj-ing world for Mark Coniglio's software Isadora. The work was more dance-oriented than I thought it would be - and definitely more minimal in the use of tech that I had expected. There were moments when dancer and video interaction were interwoven and many where the video and performers didn't gel. The harder edged video was in opposition the softer lighting which detracted from really immersing myself in the work. Needed to stick to one aesthetic than two - is my opinion.

Many of the presenters and artists have left San Jose today - and it was all to hectic to really speak in depth with anyone about their works (let alone interview them with my harddisk recorder that I brought all this way). I've got some names and contacts now so a follow up study via email might be the best way.

Saturday 12th August 2006 - San Jose (ISEA)

Exhausted by now, after a week of being here - but the discussion of concepts is enlivening.

In these discussions, ideas for approaches are applicable in so many paradigms: work dealing with environmental concerns - such as polution - and the collection of this data, working in bio-technology, digital preservation. These notions are being discussed at the theoreical level and could apply to whatever field... it's interesting to think through these problems.

Attended a panel presentation on Wetware and bio-technology. Amongst the people on the panel are Oron Catts (Aust) Beatriz da Costa and Paul Vanouse and Natalie Jerimijenko (NY, originally Aust) is voice linked in but theres very little time for this panel to discuss much in detail.

Following on from this is a panel Sound Culture. Stemming from the discussion of a festival run in Sydney in 1991 and continuing once every few years. On the panel are Nigel Helyer (Aust - who's work I included as an example of complexity in my Vital Signs paper last year), Ed Osbourn and Shawn Decker. Both Shawn and Ed come from a traditional music practice and this drives the discussion towards differentiations between traditional (contemporary) music practices and sound art practices. The presentation of the output is one significant factor.

Off to my room late-lunchtime-ish to download photos off my camera (it's now well and truly full).
The to see a performance by the Builders Association called Super Vision. This work integrates both theatre and new media technologies and deals with concepts of how this technology brings us together and yet can inhibit us at the same time. Via three stories, it shows how information can wield such power.

A rushed trip with Melinda Rackham to a textile and media gallery for 5 minutes just before they shut. There are some beautiful textile works by Alyce Santoro. She's woven audio tape to make clothing and by a modded walkman you can run the playback head along the material to hear burbles of sound.

After numerous discussions, I'm starting to feel that there are really two modes for digital preservation. That of the "preservation" with intent to provide access to the original, and the other of documentation (borrowing from the theatre and performance) where part of the work is actually the involvement interaction by a human or other animal. (There's an environmental work at this symposium where a series of homing pigeons have had pollution detectors strapped to their backs and as they circle the city this data stream is transmitted back.

Visited South Hall for a few hours - it's cool in there. A huge array of projects including the following:












Dinner with the same Australian PhD students i met up with in SF earlier in the week, and then an hour or so at the block party - where they've closed off the street to put on some performances and music...


however, everyone is too tired to participate (including myself). So instead I've come home to write this blog and upload images (which takes quite a while).

Friday 11th August 2006 - San Jose (ISEA)

Packed suitcase again. Each time I do it, its a little tighter. I seem to be accumulating printouts of library-related documents. You'd think as this trip is all about the digital, that I'd be only acquiring digital copies - not so.

Checked out of the hotel in Oakland. The guy who comes in to play jazz tunes on the mini-grand (and who calls me sweetie) is already there playing away.

Caught the train from Oakland back to Montgomery Station in San Francisco. This is starting to feel quite familiar and I've been here less than a week. There's a great view near West Oakland Station - the shipping docks, with miles of shipping crates and these huge creature-like cranes that look like something out of Star Wars. Apparrently these were George Lukas' inspiration for some of the machines in one of the Star Wars films. Too many people on the train, to be able to be subtle.

Cab to the Cal-Train station as I want to get to San Jose as soon as I can, and arrive with just a few minutes to spare. Hop off the train at San Jose Dirradon station and walk up to my hotel.

Not too far, now that i know where i'm going this time.

Now the symposium is in full swing. Not far from my hotel there's a kareoke ice-cream truck which is actually one of the festival projects. The weather is getting quite warm and they've got loads of free icypoles - what a great way to be welcomed into a city.



Drop my case off at the Saint Claire and head off to the symposium (which has been running since Wednesday morning). Lots of people around - using a range of the mobile media interactives


Attended the session on networks - already well underway by the time I get there.

Enaging group discussion between Ned Rossiter (Aust), Jon Ippolito (US - and who collaborated with Richard Rinehart on the Variable Media Art project), Joline Blais (US), Steve Anderson. The topic is focussed on the notion of networks, failures in only using top-down system approaches and looking at more organic approaches such as the ways in which communities develop at the ground level. The concepts being discussed here really apply to development of functional networks or sustainable systems to handle complexity.

An early dinner before the Survival Research Labs show - happens to be with the developer of NATO.0+55+3d software.

Survival Research Labs performance has crowds like those at a rock show - drawing on that element of the spectacle.

Thursday 10th August 2006 - Oakland (California Digital Library)

Woke up this morning from a phone call from Australia. Told me the news of suspects being detected and detained at Heathrow airport. Apparrently no-one is being allowed to travel with hand luggage onto a plane from there. Hope that it's not going to be the same here as I'm travelling with my laptop and AV recording equipment.

The sun is beaming into my room, heating it up quickly. I love the warmer weather.

Walked to work through downtown Oakland - from 10th Street down Franklin to 20th Street. So easy when the streets are numbered. Passed people from all walks of life on the street at 8.45am in the morning - it's what I appreciate about this place.

A few of the CDL staff:

Somaya Langley, Robin Chandler, John Kunze, Paul Fogel


Kirsten Nielsen, Trisha Cruse, Somaya Langley, Tracy Seneca

Met with Stu Sugarman this morning. We talked about the CDL's Digital Preservation Manager (DPR) and the framework architecture. It's highlighted a few things about what the role of a digital repository should actually be. His approach - keep it simple. Which is nice, as that confirms my thinking so far too.

Then met with John Kunze, Paul Fogel and other developers to talk about METS and how they've been using it. I think the benefits of the role of the CDL is that they develop the systems for other contributors (around 100) - mainly from Universities. They don't actually have to do the digital preservation work itself. The downside is that by developing a system where there are 100 or so contributing departments/organisations is that it's hard to develop systems that are generic and yet cater to fairly diverse requirements. I'd say it's the opposite for the NLA. Upsides and downsides.

For the last ten minutes of the meeting, the discussion shifted to managing audiovisual resources - particularly delivery. I started to talk through some of the issues and some of the National Library of Australia's experiences in developing our Audio Delivery System. Wrote up a document of how we developed our Audio Delivery System and the points we had needed to take into consideration when selecting delivery, particuarly streaming server options.

Walked down to the lake at lunch with a falafel from the guys in the little sandwich shop round the corner. They wanted to speak Spanish with me. I really only know a few words and none of them help me right now...



John and I headed up to the roof top of a nearby building. Sat up here for an hour or so and discussed persistent identifiers indepth - possible flaws to watch out for in developing a scheme. We talked about the ARK Persistent Identification format and it's uses, so far, in the web archiving field. The thinking behind the ARK is something that needs to be taken into consideration for complex object PIs too.




At the end of the day a small group of the CDL staff headed off to a little bar up a few blocks. Cafe Van Kleef - with it's dark red walls, lined with so many objects - paintings, bric-a-brac... plus drinks of fresh grapefruit juice and gin. Occupying the middle of the bar are people in the midst of a community meeting of sorts.

Later in the evening, after having a rest, I headed into San Francisco to SFEMF. Made it to the second half of the performance. Missed the first half as it took ages to get a cab, and i didn't particularly want to walk to the part of town it was in. In the end, instead of getting a cab back to the hotel, one of the event organisers - Matt Davignon - was sweet enough to give me a lift back as he lived on that side of the bay. Once again SF hospitality in it's full force.