arg-machine

[arg-machine]

Sketch to AI...

Sure, by now arg has more-or-less picked up the basics of directing AIs to generate images that almost match his own visualization of a concept: he simply organizes the information to be supplied to the AI in multiple layers, while prioritizing the more-important visual elements. Results of this approach can be seen in this post and also this one.

Impressive as these results are, this method – to arg, at least – is not very intuitive, and is still lightyears away from that mind-to-motherboard idea he came up with all those years ago, where users create digitally simply by envisioning an idea in their minds.

So arg settled for the next best thing – showing the AI what he has in his mind! This, of course, meant a drawing/sketch of the scene/object as he visualized it: you know, a picture is worth a thousand words and all that… and boy, some of the textual directions required to generate images in his previous AI-related posts – that interpretation of the Bob Dylan track for instance, or that of the Queen song – were close to being a thousand words indeed!

Battle bot 1i Because he wasn’t sure about the level of detail he could get the AI to produce from a drawing, arg began with a fairly detailed, well-drawn and shaded sketch – the 1i battle bot that he posted a while ago on Instagram. The AI was instructed to analyze the sketch and then generate an image featuring the robot in an environment arg specified. arg also specified robot’s size, texture and the way he wanted the scene lit.

True, many of these directions could have been eliminated if arg had a full-fledged drawing of the entire scene to show to the AI, but he didn’t – that sketch was made years ago, when arg had no idea that he’d be using it in future for an AI interpretation. Anyway, this [below] is what the AI generated:

This being his first sketch-to-AI attempt, arg went on hyperdrive and got a few more interpretations. These were posted on Instagram too, and can be seen here and also here. By the way, you can click each image in this post to see it in its original size.

Space fighter This Marvinverse space fighter [posted online in 2022] was machine HQ’s next candidate for an AI makeover. This was an interesting case, as arg had already built a 3D model based on this design years ago. In fact, you can see two of those 3D models soaring above the scene in this Instagram post [also from 2022]!

Still, he wanted to see how AI would handle it… and so uploaded the sketch, specifying the craft’s textures, size, lighting and the background/environment. Here’s the result:

Not too bad, eh? Given that all machine HQ work – audio, graphics, 3D modeling/rendering etc. – is currently done on a mid-range laptop, it’d have certainly taken arg considerable time to create a 3D render like this one, and the task would’ve strained his [inadequate] setup heavily!

Mothership two Satisfied with how his Marvinverse sketches were interpreted, arg repeated the process with yet another old Marvinverse design/sketch [there’s a reason why arg used more Marvinverse designs than any others; read on to know more]. Once again, he specified the mothership’s textures, size, lighting and the background/environment… and the AI generated this image below:

So… could arg have created a 3D render like it without AI? Well, the modeling part is fine [arg can build this mothership model in 3D fairly quickly], but the rendering – again – would have not only taken a lot of time, but would have also put heavy strain on the hardware he currently uses.

Oval space fighter One more Marvinverse design was selected for an AI interpretation. arg's sketch of an oval-shaped space fighter, first seen on Instagram back in 2023, was uploaded to the AI. The result, after arg specified the usual parameters: texture, size, lighting and background/environment, can be seen below:

Again, while 3D-modelling this design would be easy, generating an identical render with arg's [very] limited setup, however, would be quite time-consuming and difficult.

Mysterious Nazi machine on the Moon Readers don’t know this, but the strange Nazi-built mechanism seen in the latest Apocalypse Project post [published here and here, and also on Instagram] actually began its life as a loose sketch at machine HQ. Here:

This time, arg wasn’t using a detailed sketch and gave the AI a much looser/rougher draft. He was concerned more with getting the shape of the mechanism right than with its textures – the final image was going to be an old, worn black-and-white photograph anyway, so colorful textures didn’t really matter.

He also wanted a minimalist environment – just the night sky and some resemblance to the Lunar surface – and therefore didn’t have to give too many instructions [he did have to specify the lighting setup, though]. Anyway, the AI generated what you see above after several tries, following each of which arg tweaked the directions further to better suit his vision.

As for the “Top Secret” document… well, that was written and stamped – and redacted! – by arg himself, while its texture [a yellowed-with-age, creased sheet of paper] was generated by AI.

Sketches versus interpretations... At this point arg should mention that he could have included several more AI interpretations of his designs, but there’s a problem. It’s like this – most of his AI interpretations are of Marvinverse designs and/or sketches that arg hasn’t posted online yet.

These designs/sketches – as far as arg is concerned – will always enjoy precedence over their AI interpretations, since the latter are derivative, derived from the former. So once arg has posted these previously-unseen original designs/sketches online [on Instagram, for instance] he will post the AI interpretations too. So keep checking the machinstagram, folks!

Meanwhile [and as a bonus!], arg is including this new machine HQ-guided AI interpretation of the front/attack module of the mothership design seen elsewhere in this post. As usual, arg specified the module’s texture, size, lighting and its background/environment.

The machine HQ workflow As of now, the sketch-to-AI workflow at machine HQ is somewhat unwieldy: a sketch is drawn, it is then photographed and transferred to the computer, where it is edited [to remove unwanted background elements, to make the lines/strokes black – arg usually sketches with a blue ball-point pen – and to make the sketch as prominent as possible by adjusting brightness/contrast]. Occasionally, arg also adds shadows, lines, curves etc. and refines/enhances the sketch further in Photoshop. This final result is then supplied to the AI.

Because of this rather circuitous route, arg will be employing this method primarily for fantasy/science fiction/horror concepts: compositions where he needs AI to interpret his vision as accurately as possible, and for concepts where textural instructions repeatedly fail to produce desired results.

This is also why mostly Marvinverse designs have undergone this sketch-to-AI process so far – these sketches have already been digitized and processed, which means a lot of the preparatory work has already been done.

Fear's Frighteners, second photo

Here’s an example of the kind of machine HQ concepts for which arg’s sketch-to-AI workflow is best suited. This second photo of Fear’s Frighteners [see it on Instagram] was slightly different from the first one in the sense that while the first photo was generated textually, arg wanted the Frighteners in this second photo to [somewhat] resemble Nosferatu.

The best way to achieve this was to show AI his vision for this particular group of Frighteners. He, therefore, uploaded his rough sketch to the AI. Once again, colors and textures weren’t too crucial, given the image’s final form: an old, yellowed, creased 1902 black-and-white photograph.

Note: arg wasn’t sure if the AI would generate a whole group of Frighteners from a sketch that featured just one. Well, it did! Needless to say, this saved arg the effort and time needed to draw a whole bunch of them. It took the AI multiple attempts though, to get the Frighteners lined up and posed properly.

By the way, if you’re wondering if this Chaos Express photograph was also generated from a sketch, then the answer is no. The Chaos Express has a simple design – it’s a regular steam locomotive, but with a skull-shaped front – and the AI got it right after a few tries. The AI output, however, underwent additional machine HQ processing, so it would resemble an old, worn and creased 1902 photograph.

What's next from machine HQ? Well, if no problems arise and all due processes occur on time, then you can expect to meet Professor Fear’s companion Dame Despair next month! Also on the cards are posts related to the Lost Alien Saucers project, a Books Read Recently post and perhaps even some more recently-declassified documents from The Apocalypse Project!

That’s it for this post folks; do stay tuned for more machine HQ content [find all relevant links on this page]!

[arg-machine]

Comics at machine HQ

Well, one of the items on arg’s June 2025 things to do list was a Comics read recently post. And since he mentioned this only recently, he thought he’d publish one this week itself! So here it is, a brand-new list of comics and graphic novels that arg managed to find the time to read, busy as he was with various other visual stuff here at machine HQ.

Like all such previously-published lists, this isn’t an exhaustive catalogue of new comics – it just features the comics/graphic novels that arg has enjoyed since publishing the last such post.

Comics at machine HQ… Here are the comics/graphic novels arg has read [and enjoyed!] in the last few months. All titles are arranged alphabetically, and related titles – or titles from related genres – are listed in the Also recommended sections. Keep in mind that a few of these titles are suitable for mature readers only.

“New folklore-inspired tales abound in this new anthology of fantasy stories written and drawn by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. From a search for the beating heart of a long-dead sorcerer, to a pirate girl who makes a deal with the devil, to the titular boy who wins a grim prize in a game with some undead interlopers, and more.” Pretty cool!

Also recommended: Hello Darkness [volume one], Raise Up the Dead - A Zombie Comics Anthology, Lore Remastered and Dimwood.

“Pastorius Grant is an old bounty-hunter – merciless, jaded, and dying. He knows he hasn’t got long to live but, partly out of habit and partly because it is the only thing he knows, he keeps doing what he has always done: tracking down criminals of every shape and size. It isn’t a nice job, but that has never really bothered him; Pastorius isn’t a nice guy. But when he tries to catch Big Hand, a wily outlaw who has taken refuge on an Indian reserve, he runs into a blind girl, with a pig for a companion. She tells him that her father has been murdered and that, on his deathbed, he instructed her to find the bounty-hunter and avenge his death…”

Also recommended: Underheist, Gilt Frame, Hard Bargain and Blacking Out.

“Shakara is the most feared entity in the universe, the living embodiment of a murdered species and an unstoppable killing machine determined to bring vengeance upon those responsible for annihilating a whole species - and not a single entity in the whole of known universe will be able to stop it! A visually outrageous and impossibly epic tale of shocking violence and destruction!”

Also recommended: Station Grand, My Time Machine and El Fuego.

“True War Stories focuses on the individual experience of people on deployment: the stories they want to tell. Nearly every branch of the military is represented, and the stories are told by a mixture of active duty and retired soldiers. This isn’t about politics or American foreign policy, it's about the people in uniform who tend to get forgotten in all that.

Vietcong sappers attack a fuel point, only to be foiled by a very alert German Shepherd. A young Airman copes with post 9/11 paranoia in Okinawa. A team of SEALs rescue a kidnapped girl in the Philippines, and Army interpreters in Iraq battle their toughest foe: the rats infesting Saddam’s palace.

All profits from the book will be donated to service-related charities chosen by the contributors as personally meaningful to them.”

Also recommended: On The Korean Front and The Atlas Comics Library: War Comics.

“September 1940. The Blitz is destroying London. As the sirens warn of another German air raid, Mary, a child lost in the chaos, crosses paths with Isaac, a gardener from Kensington. Taking refuge in the Underground, he helps her forget the violence that humans wreak on each other by making up a story for her, the story of The Tree of a Thousand Colours. For her, he will have to learn to live again, to believe and to dream.”

Also recommended: Painting with Lions, Rwama: My Childhood in Algeria, Braba: A Brazilian Comics Anthology and Tedward.

And now, here’s machine HQ’s Retro Pick!

For those who don’t know, the first Matrix movie had an accompanying website that featured comics and stories – all set in the Matrix universe. This collection – volume one – features several such comics [and one story too – by Neil Gaiman, no less!] Aah, nostalgia!

And that, folks, brings us to the end of this post. arg intends to publish new material from the various machine HQ projects – unless problems/obstacles intervene, of course! – in the coming weeks, so stick around!

Next week: the Apocalypse Project [links above] returns!

Header image features artwork from Batman and Aliens comics.

[arg-machine]

machine HQ June 2025 playlist

Surpise! A new machine HQ playlist this month too! How did this happen, y’all ask? Well, arg will have to tell you – among other things – about a dream he had, then!

Several days ago, arg dreamt he was inside a dimly-lit, cavernous, smoky room. The room was full of… well, he couldn’t see very well in the darkness and through the smoke, but it seemed like a lot of people in dark clothes with their backs to him – all facing a small raised wooden stage lit by a single naked light bulb suspended from above…

…and on this stage a skeleton in a suit and a top hat was playing the guitar. Later on, arg realized while the guitar sounded like John Lee Hooker’s, the singing resembled that of Elmore James.

The first thing arg did was to get AI to assist him in translating this vision [or at least a part of it!] into an image, which he later posted on machinstagram. Hey, it was his dream after all – so he had every right to exploit it for machine HQ promotion!

Talking of images, arg recently employed AI to help realize this funky sci-fi/horror-inspired concept of his and also this menacing-alien-spacecraft-over-a-city scene, all while grooving to some neat Elvis Presley-style heavy/doom metal – which means he had Danzig playing in the background. Going back to this classic metal band reminded him how much he had enjoyed Danzig back in his school/college days!

And then rising temperatures reminded him [and everybody else!] that summer’s here. To beat the heat, arg decided to revisit what he has always thought to be the definition of “cool” – in both musical and cultural senses of the word – the music of Paul Desmond! So he has been listening to Desmond’s solo stuff, as well as music from the Dave Brubeck Quartet [of which Desmond was a prized member].

All this music – blues, metal and jazz – got arg thinking that a new machine HQ playlist may not be a bad idea. And so here it is – the June 2025 playlist! It includes music by Elmore James [arg featured John Lee Hooker in his previous machine HQ playlist], Danzing, Paul Desmond and many, many more fine bands and musicians!

And that, good reader, is the “origin story” of the June 2025 machine HQ playlist!

Tunes for June… This new playlist is just like the other machine HQ playlists: it features music from a wide range of genres, including hard rock and rock, metal; dub and reggae; funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, blues and blues-based rock; electronica, ambient and dark ambient, tribal; pop, the occasional movie soundtrack and world music. Here it is, on Spotify.

The road ahead… As usual, if he isn’t derailed by problems/obstacles, then arg plans to post more previously-unseen content from the various machine HQ projects – and also from the Marvinverse! – in June. Who knows, maybe he’ll even do one of his list posts – recently read books or comics! It all really depends on how unperturbed he – and how stress-free his environment – is…

…and that, folks, brings this post to an end. Thanks for visiting, and stay tuned to machine HQ blog!

[arg-machine]

Valentine's Day Ear Candy: sounds, samples & loops...

As mentioned in The Road Ahead segment of this previous post, here’s arg, with selected sounds, samples and loops from the most recent machine HQ audio track/excerpt – Valentine’s Day Ear Candy.

Over the last few weeks, arg has been busy with various other non-musical, visual stuff, some of which he posted on the machinstagram: so check these out if you’re curious. And now, let’s get to those sounds, samples and loops…

Bits and pieces… This week, arg is sharing selected sounds, samples and loops from a recent machine HQ audio track/excerpt. These include: the bassline, beats [with some basic scratching applied], pads and two synth chord sequences. A rattling sound effect, used to highlight transitions in the audio track/excerpt has also been included.

All these elements are being made available in WAV format, in a zipped archive around 26Mb in size. Those interested can download the archive from this download location.

Please keep in mind that arg is providing these audio elements “dry” – stripped of all the audio processing and/or effects they were subjected to within the track…

…and that’s it for this short post; arg plans to share more new machine HQ content – from Professor Fear, the Lost Alien Saucers and yes, from The Apocalypse Project too! – in the coming weeks and in June, provided, of course, no problems/hurdles derail him!

Meanwhile, check out the various machine HQ projects here, and stay tuned to machine HQ blog!

[See posts related to this one here and here]

[arg-machine]

machine HQ May 2025 playlist

Hey there! Been some months since arg published a machine HQ playlist, with the last one compiled towards the end of last year... and though arg did publish an one-off AI Project-related playlist earlier this year, it wasn’t, like, a real machine HQ playlist.

So here he is now, with a brand-new playlist for the month of May 2025! This playlist – considerably longer than usual machine HQ playlists – features tracks off albums that he’s been playing here at machine HQ over the last few months.

Of course, these aren’t the only albums he listened to – he did play many classics, as well as those from the 1980s and 1990s – but songs from those albums haven’t been included in this new playlist. arg may compile a special Classics at machine HQ playlist in the future, where he’ll feature these songs. In any case, many of these tracks have already been featured in machine HQ playlists published earlier.

Songs for May… This new playlist is just like the other machine HQ playlists: it features music from a wide range of genres, including hard rock and rock, metal; dub and reggae; funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, blues and blues-based rock; electronica, ambient and dark ambient, tribal; pop, the occasional movie soundtrack and world music. Here it is, on Spotify.

The road ahead... Well, provided problems/obstacles don’t derail him, arg has plans to upload some Professor Fear-related material later this month [see photos posted previously here and here]. He also intends to publish some alien saucer-related stuff – like this one.

Also on the cards are selected sounds, samples and loops from Valentine’s Day Ear Candy – the most recent machine HQ audio track – that arg intends to share, though that’ll probably happen next month… provided no problems/hurdles arise, of course!

Plus: a few days ago, friends over at mastodon.social celebrated hitting the 900 posts milestone, and asked arg to handle this “event”. arg [and machine HQ] duly obliged, producing several colorful [and fun!] images that these friends then posted on their mastodon account. You can see a few of them here, here and also here. There are some more, which will be posted later – either by arg [on machinstagram], or by his mastodon buddies...

That’s it for this post, folks! Find more funky machine HQ content right here… and stay tuned to machine HQ blog!

[arg-machine]

Typically, arg tries to publish some music around this time of the year, to mark the passage of Valentine’s Day. This year, however, he was in a quandary – he had put in some amount of effort already into what was eventually published as The Shock Engine Theme, a track that also served as an introduction of sorts to the whole Professor Fear saga [see this post, this post, this post and also this one for details]. Working on the saga’s visual aspects took up a lot of machine HQ’s time…

…as a result, he didn’t have the opportunity to work on new music in the last few months. As February drew near, he realized he probably wouldn’t be able to publish any music this year… till he remembered this unfinished excerpt he had uploaded back in 2023!

“Of course! I’ll simply expand that excerpt and publish it this year,” he thought. And that’s what this Ear Candy excerpt really is – the beginning of the track whose middle section arg published as that unfinished excerpt. To tie these two snippets together, arg has included a section also heard in that one: it’s how this new excerpt ends… and that previously-published section began!

Ear candy! Whereas the previously-published section was bass-less, this new one has a prominent bassline and, like the old one, is also reggae-flavored! It has some electric piano and some synth pads as well, just to make the excerpt more palatable to listeners. Some basic scratching and a few other effects have also been thrown in… for fun!

arg hopes that listeners will enjoy this brief excerpt – it can be heard above, or on arg’s SoundCloud page. It can also be downloaded as a zipped mp3 file [around 3Mb in size] from this location.

Remember! This excerpt, like all machine HQ tracks, was mixed and mastered for headphone playback only. Also, because this music – and everything else that machine HQ currently produces! – is created on a general-purpose laptop, arg isn’t really very happy with the overall quality… but he does what he can with whatever resources he has at his disposal.

Note: sometime in the not-too-distant future, and provided he isn’t derailed by obstacles and/or problems, arg plans to upload selected sounds, sample and loops created for and used in this excerpt. So watch out for these!

Next from machine HQ… Now arg will shift his focus… and concentrate on The Apocalypse Project [see here, here and also here]. Next month – once again, if no problems/obstacle arise – arg intends to publish a brand new Apocalypse Project news report! So stay tuned for that one too! Besides the news report, he’d also like to post some more Professor Fear-related content…

…and that’s it for this post, see y’all around!

[arg-machine]

The machine HQ AI Project playlist!

Well, to understand the context of this new machine HQ playlist, it’s necessary to go through arg’s recent post about the machine HQ AI Project, where he described how he directed various text-to-image AI models to generate his visual interpretations of certain song titles.

As its name suggests, this playlist brings together all the songs featured in that project – four-plus hours of music from genres as diverse as rock, heavy metal, pop, jazz, blues, hip hop, world music and electronica. The playlist is now available on Spotify, with the songs listed in the order they appeared in the original AI Project post.

But that’s not all: this post also includes a couple of interpretations/images that were left out of the original AI Project post…

Bonus: images that didn’t make it… …and this is not because arg dislikes them, but for other reasons. Let’s elaborate. Despite being on tumblr for a very long time, arg was totally unaware of the platform’s thirty-images-per-post rule! It’s a sensible rule – evidenced by the fact that arg has never felt the need to include that many images in any of his posts till now.

This rule made itself apparent when arg was actually uploading the AI Project’s images into the post… and by that time it was too late to do anything about it [like breaking the post up into two parts]. Consequently, this image below – for a song whose title begins with the letter “X” and one of the project’s final images – was left out.

Song: Xanadu [1977] Artist: Rush

Because arg has been an admirer of the powerful imagery of Coleridge’s 1797/1816 poem for a long time, he’s had his own vision of Xanadu for years. The AI-only interpretations – see inset for a sample – didn’t come close to what he had in mind. Therefore – and as usual – he had to issue very specific directions to the AI… which led to this view [main image] of the mythical city. It is, arg is happy to add, is much closer to his own vision.

Song: The Raven [1976] Artist: The Alan Parsons Project

This image [above] was left out because arg felt this visual interpretation of his wasn’t nearly as unique as the others in the original AI Project post: almost every illustration he has seen accompanying the poem – on which the song is based – showed the bird perched on a bust. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like the poem, or isn’t fond of the song – he loves ’em both… along with the album, which is based on Poe’s classic early-20th Century collection. And so here it is, with a sample of the AI-only interpretations included as an inset. Remember: the images in this post can be clicked for larger versions.

Note: the original AI Project occasionally featured visual interpretations of titles of more than one song by an artist/band. This playlist includes those other songs as well, listed under the song whose title was the focus of the main interpretation/image.

Coming next! arg happily announces that he has located a couple of old, early-20th Century photographs of Fear’s Frighteners [read more about them in this post], and will be posting at least one of them sometime next month! He may post some original music too… but do keep in mind that all his schedules are currently subject to change [or even cancellation], owing to unforeseen problems and/or obstacles that may arise in future.

In the meantime, however, visit The Apocalypse Project here, here and also here; learn about Professor Fear here and visit the machinstagram!

[arg-machine]

machine HQ's AI Project...

From Asimov’s robots with their positronic brains and Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 to William Gibson's Wintermute-Neuromancer combo and Skynet – arg, like all science fiction aficionados, has long been familiar with the idea of artificially-intelligent machines, systems and networks...

Now, a digression. Many, many, many years ago, arg maintained a small personal website where he’d periodically feature science-and-tech news. In one such nugget, he’d written about how he’d love what he called a “mind-to-motherboard” interface – a technology that’d let the user create digitally simply by envisioning an idea in her/his/their mind.

From all the recent hype surrounding AI products, arg thought that this interface has indeed been brought into existence – though he did realize that ideas still had to be “transferred” to the machine manually before the system could work on them. Even then, it sounded like something arg would definitely like to try out for himself…

AI? But why? Friends of machine HQ will recall just how often arg has complained about the limitations he currently faces – everything at machine HQ is created on a mid-level laptop and with no other equipment: see, for instance, this post, this post and also this one. This limitation hits the hardest when it comes to creating images, as arg is frequently unable to fully translate his ideas visually, owing to the limited computing power of his laptop.

AI appeared to offer a way out… and so arg decided give it a try a while back. “Nothing fancy,” he thought, “let’s learn the intricacies of directing AI by getting it to visually interpret the titles of some of my favourite songs.”

Note: arg has been listening to these songs for a long time, and has had his own visual interpretations of them [or their titles] for years. His aim was to get the AI to process these interpretations and then generate visuals that came as close as possible [to these].

So that’s what he did, creating one such image daily for a month, with free online versions of various AI text-to-image models [such as this one]. This produced around thirty images... and that’s what machine HQ's AI Project is all about.

The machine HQ-directed AI interpretations… The images – all interpretations of song titles – are arranged alphabetically. As stated, there are around thirty images… which means this is going to be one long post! Later this month, arg will create a Spotify playlist that will feature all the songs cited by the project.

Now let’s start, and see if you can guess the songs without reading the descriptions below the images; remember: each image can be clicked for a larger version.

Songs: All Along the Watchtower [1967] and Tombstone Blues [1965] Artist: Bob Dylan

Simply entering this 1967 song’s title typically produced just a lone watchtower [see top inset for a sample]. So – and this, just as arg had expected, became a regular occurrence – arg had to point the AI in the direction he wanted with precise and detailed instructions [down to the characters, their clothes, the time of day, viewing angle, weather, texture type, architecture, environment etc.] before he got something that came close to how he had visualized the song’s title.

The second inset [the bottom one] shows an AI-only interpretation of the title of another song by the same artist. Look at it: it’s got tombstones… and it’s blue! Not exactly how arg interpreted the title himself, but he kind of liked how the image looks, and so decided to feature it here as an inset.

Song: Autumn Leaves [1945] and Sketches of Spain [album, 1960] Artist: Various/Miles Davis

A near-literal visual interpretation of a popular jazz standard, this one. The AI produced an acceptable-but-predictable version on its own [see top inset for a sample], and arg felt the interpretation could be much improved by adding a trumpet to the scene…

The bottom inset shows another interpretation – this time of the title of an album – by the AI without any intervention from arg who, not being sure of what locations were being sketched, had to take the AI’s “word” that they were indeed from the specified country. He later combined the separate sketches into the single image seen here.

Song: Crawling King Snake [1941] Artist: Various/John Lee Hooker

You’d hate to come face-to-face with this dude, eh? Cool as this image may look, the AI generated it only after arg – once again – provided detailed and exact directions. Without them, the AI kept rendering generic snake images [see inset for a sample]…

Song: Crystal Planet [1998] Artist: Joe Satriani

Whoa! A planet made of pure crystal! Though the AI did generate vistas of outer space [see inset for sample], this particular interpretation required detailed directions – including the planet’s texture, the star, the rays, the [much] larger planet etc.

Song: Dark Star [1968] Artist: Grateful Dead

A psychedelic rock classic, this song is best heard performed live by the band [legendary, of course!]. This [the main image] is arg/machine HQ-directed AI interpretation. The AI-only interpretation – which is also pretty decent – can be seen as an inset.

Song: Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes [1986/87] Artist: Paul Simon

This fine song – one of the pioneers of World Music – has been a favourite at machine HQ. Not just this song, but the album it’s from has been played countless times over the years. And if you, like arg, always wondered what such shoes looked like… well, now you know! The original AI-only images came close enough [see inset for sample] and arg only had to get the AI to adjust the viewing angle, render some clothing and add more… well, bling!

Song: Dude Looks Like a Lady [1987] Artist: Aerosmith

For some reason, the AI kept generating images of attractive women [inset shows a sample] or men dressed in women’s clothes. That was not what arg had in mind – the song’s title is quite specific – and so he had to issue stern, exact directions. This image – quite close to what arg had in mind – was the result.

Song: Elephants and Flowers [1990] and Raspberry Beret [1985] Artist: Prince

A favourite of arg, this is how he has always visually interpreted the song’s title, with an extra dash of cuteness added! The top inset shows a sample of the less-cute-but-otherwise-acceptable images the AI produced.

The bottom inset is an AI-only interpretation of a second – very popular – song by the same artist. For this one, arg had to instruct the AI to render a painting of a young African American woman wearing a beret of a certain color.

Songs: Fool on The Hill [1967] and Happiness Is a Warm Gun [1968] Artist: The Beatles

Two song titles interpreted visually here. Both songs are classics and remain popular. The inset shows how AI got the first song title almost right [see top inset for a sample] – arg, however, had always visualized a jester, and therefore directed the AI to create the main image [providing details of the time of day, precise location, viewing angle etc.] that you see here.

The other song title – well, the AI kept generating images of smiling, happy people brandishing firearms. Again, that wasn’t what arg wanted. At all. He wanted what you see in the bottom inset, and so got the AI to create it.

Song: Freewheel Burning [1984] Artist: Judas Priest

Here’s how arg has always visually interpreted this heavy metal classic’s title: a night scene featuring a burning wheel with a pronounced science-fiction touch! See inset for a sample of the tamer-but-otherwise-accurate AI-only interpretations, when supplied with just the song’s title.

Song: The Girl with The Sun in Her Head [1996] Artist: Orbital

Another machine HQ favourite, this mid-1990s electronica track. While arg wasn’t too displeased with what the AI generated [see inset for sample], he had always visualized the girl in a field of sunflowers. So there she is…

Song: Hammer to Fall [1984] Artist: Queen

Well… see the inset for a sample of the type of image the AI repeatedly generated. This was so far from arg’s own visual interpretation of the title that he got to work, till he got the apocalyptic scene he wanted. Of course, the hammer hasn’t fallen yet in the song, but arg decided to show what happens once it does – destruction, panic and mayhem. More fun, in other words!

Song: Heartbreak Hotel [1956] Artist: Elvis Presley

This one shouldn’t need any explanations. The AI-only images – the inset shows a sample – usually got the spellings wrong [note the extra ‘L’ in hotel]. arg, however, wanted period architecture and an arid landscape, at a certain time of the day. He also wanted correct spelling. After giving the AI precise directions, he got this image. The AI threw in a human figure [which he hadn’t specified] as a bonus!

Song: Hey Joe [1966] and Voodoo Chile [1968] Artist: Jimi Hendrix

Meet Joe – not the happy dude in the top inset: he’s what the AI kept generating – but the one in the main image. Joe’s goin’ somewhere with that gun in his hand, and you want to know where…

Unhappy with the happy photos the AI was generating, arg stepped in with his own directions to steer the AI towards his idea – a much darker image, of the type that he’s always visualized. So here it is…

The other inset shows an interpretation of the title of a second song by the same artist. This one didn’t require much input from arg, who only had to specify an African American child with a high cuteness quotient!

Song: Highway to Hell [1979] Artist: AC/DC

Demons… from Down Under! This [main image above] is the sort of vision arg’s mind had conjured up way back in his school days, when he first read this classic rock track’s title on the 1979 album it’s from... and here’s that vision realized, several decades later!

When given the song’s title alone, the AI generated generic highway-and-red-skies images [inset shows a sample]. To get the fiercer, horror-oriented image you see here, arg had to give the AI detailed directions [because the devil, as always and particularly in this image, is in the details!]

The only thing he forgot to get the AI to add to the scene is a Demons Crossing: Drive Fast… Or Be Eaten sign!

Song: Insane in The Brain [1993] Artist: Cypress Hill

arg wasn’t too pleased with the kind of visuals the AI was generating for this song’s title on its own. These typically featured a human brain in strange, abstract environments – see inset for a sample, which shows a human brain on fire. arg, on the other hand, had always wanted a human face to go with the insanity. After giving the AI specific directions to this end, the main image above was created…

Songs: Jumping Jack Flash [1968] and Dead Flowers [1971] Artist: The Rolling Stones

The top inset shows a sample of the type of images the AI generated without any machine HQ intervention. It’s a literal interpretation of this classic song’s title… and not acceptable to arg, who had always imagined the song’s titular character to be a non-corporeal and sinister entity, always manifesting itself with a flash and lots of smoke! So he got to work, and directed the AI to render Jack as he [arg, that is] has always wanted him [Jack] to look like… so heeeeere’s Jack!

The second inset interprets another song by the same band. Here, arg directed the AI to render a bouquet-like arrangement, and also specified what flowers to include. Nothing fancy.

Song: A Love Supreme [1964] Artist: John Coltrane

Looks funky, doesn’t it? This is a machine HQ-directed AI interpretation of a legendary 1964 jazz track [from an album with the same name]. Again, simply entering the title typically generated romantic images of happy couples [see inset for a sample]. So arg decided to give the AI some precise directions to get it to produce a more abstract visual – one that comes somewhat close to his own interpretation [which has always been rather abstract]…

Song: Material Girl [1985] Artist: Madonna

When provided with just the song’s title, the AI went on generating renderings of young women [see inset for a sample], getting the “girl” part of the title right. Then arg stepped in, gave precise instructions to create an image that comes closer to his own [somewhat-literal] visual interpretation of the title. Here it is…

Songs: Moonchild [1969] and Moonchild [1988] Artists: King Crimson and Iron Maiden

Many music lovers will point out that there are multiple tracks with this same title. True – arg himself is aware of at least two, both of which he has tried to interpret visually here. First, however, let’s take a look at what the AI created – see top inset for a sample. Upon arg’s intervention and after being properly directed, the AI generated the more celestial and fantasy-oriented main image you see here. He freely admits that he had Botticelli’s Birth of Venus in mind when directing the AI.

Inset two shows arg’s interpretation of the second song, which is much darker and heavier. This image, of a pretty-but-menacing supernatural/extra-terrestrial female entity, was created to arg’s satisfaction only after he directed the AI to generate the entity’s eyes and horns as per his specifications.

Song: Space Lab [1977] Artist: Kraftwerk

Ooh! Outer space… where this laboratory is located! Funky! The inset shows a sample of what the AI generated when offered just the song’s title. It shows a laboratory as well, but the images looked a little staid… and there was no hint of outer space! The main image – created after arg specified the viewing angle, the interior, the laboratory’s location etc. – on the other hand, looks more dynamic… and arg loves the view from that window!

Songs: Space Oddity [1969] and Life on Mars? [1973] Artist: David Bowie

Though the AI’s own visual interpretation of this classic song’s title is good enough [see top inset], arg felt his own interpretation, developed over the years, came closer to the song’s atmosphere. So he directed the AI to generate the main image… and here it is.

The other inset is a visual interpretation of the title of a different song by the same artist. Guided extensively by arg, the AI generated this rather fanciful [and quite unscientific] Martian vista.

Songs: Space Truckin’ [1972] and Smoke on The Water [1972] Artist: Deep Purple

As can be seen from the sample of the images the AI generated for this song’s title [top inset], it [the AI] came pretty close to arg’s own interpretation, only he has always visualised a much grander vista with multiple [colossal] planets, stars and galaxies making their presence felt strongly. arg, therefore, directed the AI to generate this interpretation [main image] instead.

The other inset shows the interpretation of a second, legendary rock/metal track by the same band. This one is only AI, as arg didn’t see the need for any further directions.

Song: Speed Demon [1989] and Thriller [1983] Artist: Michael Jackson

Again, while the AI got the general idea right [see inset], arg wanted the rider to sport a helmet [with funky red horns!] and a more modern motorcycle that was colour-coordinated with the rider and his outfit. He also wanted a more dramatic, darker image with more sense of speed. The main image is what the AI created following arg’s directions.

The legendary status of the second song – and of its video – makes a new interpretation totally redundant. But arg decided to include one anyway. See the bottom inset – this is a recreation of a scene from the video’s famous transformation sequence, as generated by the AI following specific directions issued by arg. Not too complicated, this one.

Songs: Spiral Architect [1973] and Fairies Wear Boots [1971] Artist: Black Sabbath

Without arg’s input, the AI produced images that all resembled the one seen in the top inset: architecture with a distinct spiral element. Not good enough for arg, who always envisioned something more awe-inspiring, like an outer-space scene with a gravity-defying, mysterious alien machine… like the one you see in the main image. By the way, don’t be surprised if this device – or a variation of it – turns up in The Apocalypse Project [links elsewhere] in the future...

The other inset shows arg’s interpretation of a second song by the same band. He directed the AI to focus on the lower half of the mythical being’s body – with only a part of her colourful wings visible – to highlight her… boots!

Song: Stairway to Heaven [1971] Artist: Led Zeppelin

This one should be easy too! The inset shows a sample of the [rather predictable] interpretations the AI came up with on its own. Again, arg had always imagined a… well, sleeker and more abstract scene. So he provided precise details of what he wanted… and here’s the result!

Song: Tea in The Sahara [1983] Artist: The Police

This one required some off-AI adjustments. First see the passable interpretation the AI generated [inset]; for his own interpretation [main image], arg first got the AI to generate what he wanted [the camel, the sun etc] and then imported the image into an image editor and selectively blurred certain background elements, creating the depth-of-field effect you see here. [That he could’ve possibly directed the AI to achieve this effect occurred to arg much later… but that’s okay: a little elbow-grease never hurt anyone!]

Song: Water Girl [1986] Artist: Zakir Hussein [R.I.P], Hariprasad Chaurasia, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek

Inset: sample of the AI’s interpretation of the song’s title. Main image: arg’s take. That the AI could follow his instructions – which were quite detailed – this accurately and generate this sweet Indian village scene was indeed a delightful surprise to arg.

Songs: Welcome to The Machine [1975] and Shine on You Crazy Diamond [1975] Artist: Pink Floyd

Many, many, many years back, arg had created – for that “small personal website” he mentioned in the introduction – a rendering of a 3D scene: his own interpretation of this song’s title. That version showed a young boy facing the viewer, as he looked into “The Machine”.

For this new version, arg thought he’d create a scene from the other side, with the boy’s back to the camera, so we – the viewers – could also get a look at what he faces… and here it is – a 2024/25 “remix” of arg’s original interpretation from the early 2000s. As usual, the top inset shows how the AI interpreted this classic’s title.

The bottom inset shows an AI-only interpretation of the title of another song off the same album as the first one. Though aesthetically not too impressive [compared to the kind of visuals the band is known for], arg is including it only because he was amused by the AI’s [visual] allusion to another legendary album by the band. Fans of the band will recognize it too!

…so, what’s the verdict? Once arg was reasonably satisfied with an image, he imported it into an image editing application and tweaked/refined it further [brightness/contrast adjustments, major colour palette modifications, selective blurring and the like]. Occasionally, he’d have to add or remove elements as well. All these alterations always brought the image even closer to his own interpretation.

And now, here’s what arg has learnt about using AI, and he will use a simple workplace metaphor here: as of now, it’s best to treat AI as a resourceful and technically-skilled “intern”, whose “work” needs to be checked/verified rigorously by the user [the “boss”, if you will], who must then employ his/her/their analytical skills, experience, intuition and imagination to shape the final output...

...and that is exactly what AI currently means to arg: a technically-skilled assistant who must be guided with very precise directions to achieve the result he wants, and not what it [the AI] thinks is right.

Overall, however, arg must admit that has been quite happy with this AI Project: the severely-restrictive conditions he currently operates in makes AI a viable alternative to watching his laptop struggle with complex 3D scenes… and then take hours to render them [it’s like watching paint dry, but substantially more boring].

With that, good reader, we come to the end of this lengthy magical, mystery AI tour. Hope you enjoyed it as much as arg did!

Up next! Unless he’s derailed by obstacles and problems, arg has plans to post new content from the various machine HQ projects – Professor Fear, The Lost Saucers, the Marvinverse and yes – The Apocalypse Project [here, here and also here] in the coming weeks! And then there’s the machine HQ AI Project Spotify Playlist... so stay tuned to the machine HQ blog and the machinstagram too!

[arg-machine]

Shock Engine Theme: sounds, samples & loops...

Well, here they are! After alluding to them repeatedly, arg has finally managed to gather up some of the various “bits and pieces” that, together, make up the Shock Engine Theme – the most recent audio track from machine HQ.

Thankfully, no new problems arose between the last blog post and this one… and so here they are this week – selected sounds, samples and loops from the Shock Engine Theme.

The “bits and pieces”… To begin with, arg is providing these audio elements “dry” – stripped of all the audio processing and/or effects they were subjected to within the track. However, where possible, he has added short descriptions of the kind of processing and effect that were applied to them.

And what elements are included? The different ambient elements – one short, the other slightly longer – that were combined to create a brief ambient-noise intro, the simple beat/drum loop, basslines, pad sections and guitar chords.

Note: the guitar chords are also “dry”. Users are expected – and encouraged – to route these through their preferred setup[s] to get them to sound radically different!

Also included is the spooky lead melody. This melody was played on a free [old] software synthesizer called Spook Keys, which emulates the Theremin.

Within the actual track, arg did not use the synth’s built-in delay effect, employing a different, more-configurable one instead. He also tweaked the synth's parameters to “get” the sound he wanted, to which he then applied some EQing and a bit of reverb.

So that’s what you’ll get, folks… if you want ’em, that is. All elements are in high-quality WAV format, available for download as a RAR archive [30 Mb] from this download location.

That’s it for this post, stay tuned for a lot of funky and/or exciting stuff – from Professor Fear, Lost Saucers and The Apocalypse Project... and let's not forget The Marvinverse! [see here for details] – that arg will be posting in 2025… provided he’s not derailed by obstacles and problems, of course.

[arg-machine]

Have a Merry aXemas... or else!

That’s right folks – best aXemas wishes and season’s greetings to all friends from arg and machine HQ! And while we’re at it, a very happy 2025 to y’all too! Now, to business... [by the way, if you like the header image, you can click it to see a larger version!]

Early wishes! Originally, arg had intended to publish selected sounds, samples and loops from his Shock Engine Theme this week. However, life intervened, throwing up an obstacle… and arg had to devote a certain amount of his time to resolve it. Consequently, the sounds, samples etc. will now be published next week – provided, of course, no further problems arise. Sorry.

New tasks… The new year will bring with it certain tasks that arg has set for himself. These include locating old photographs of Professor Fear and of his bizarre crew [who, according to reports from early 1900s, were known as Fear’s Frighteners].

arg has also learnt of the existence of a few photos of Dame Despair – The Professor’s devoted female assistant. He’d like to find these too!

And then there’s The Chaos Express – a specially-designed steam train The Professor used at the peak of his show business career to take his spectacle to various cities. As can be easily guessed, arg would love to find some photographs of this train as well…

[This is not to say that he has been idle all this while – see the Professor Fear-related material arg has posted in the past few weeks here, here and also here.]

…and more! Besides these Professor Fear-related tasks, arg would also like to revisit his Lost Saucers concept [see some images here and here] and expand/flesh it out some more… plus there’s The Apocalypse Project [links below] which will require a new news report… or two!

So those are arg’s tasks for 2025 at this point. As usual, the results of his efforts will be published online for y’all to see… unless, of course, he’s derailed by new problems and obstacles!

And that’s it for this post. Once again, season’s greetings and a happy new year to all friends… and don’t forget to check out The Apocalypse Project [on mastodon, on tumblr and on twitter/X] and visit the machinstagram too!

[arg-machine]

Books read recently...

Well, looks like December 2024 is going to be a busy month for machine HQ. Provided he’s not plagued by any problems, arg plans to make public selected sounds, samples and loops from his most recent audio track – the Shock Engine Theme. Before that, however, he’ll be posting previously-unseen material from the Professor Fear chronicles, like those he’s already posted here, here and also here. So as y’all can see, he’s going to be somewhat occupied preparing/readying material for these posts…

…and kicking things off is this latest instalment of Books Read Recently, the second one this year [here’s the first, published a few months ago]. Like all previous instalments, this one also features books he’s either read [since the previous one went online], is currently reading or intends to read in the coming weeks.

End-of-year books! Here they are – books arg has read and enjoyed [or intends to read and hopes to enjoy]. Titles from related genres [or with similar themes] are listed in the Also Recommended sections. Ready? Here we go…

“Have you ever wondered how ordinary people end up enmeshed in extreme cults? Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about history’s most notorious cults – and the people who join them – is packed into this accessible, engaging volume. Walk in the footsteps of those who were lured into such sinister groups as:

Branch Davidians: This cult was waiting out the Apocalypse when the FBI infamously raided their compound in Waco, Texas.

Los Narcosatánicos: This group of drug traffickers in 1980s Mexico committed human sacrifice and believed their leader had magic powers.

Breatharianism: Breatharians believe that humans can live on air alone, and their founder claimed to have gone without food for seventeen years.

NXIVM: This twenty-first-century cult attracted celebrities and engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, and racketeering under the guise of personal development seminars.

Heaven’s Gate: The Heaven’s Gate UFO cult ended in the suicide of thirty-nine members who believed they would ascent to a spaceship after death.

In this fascinating collection, weird history expert J. W. Ocker sheds light on the terrifying attraction of cults, demonstrating the elasticity of belief, the desperateness of belonging, and the tragedy of trust.”

“Los Angeles, 1916: Photographer Bill Ogden has opened a portrait studio in the seedy noir world of early Hollywood, where he is joined by his granddaughter, Flavia – a woman in need of a fresh start after bludgeoning her drunken, abusive husband to death in Wichita. Though his business is mainly legit, Bill finds himself brushing up against the porn industry growing in the shadows of the motion picture mainstream.

When a series of grisly murders take place across the city, Bill and his capable granddaughter are pulled into events as tricky and tangled as anything this side of The Big Sleep. We meet dreamers, opportunists, washed-up former stars and starry-eyed newcomers, a cast of unforgettable characters living on the margins looking to make a quick buck, launch a career, or just keep their family together.

The Devil Raises His Own is at once a stripped-down noir thriller and a panoramic look at Los Angeles at the beginning of motion pictures – a Boogie Nights set in the era of D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin from one of the best crime novelists working today.”

Also recommended: White City by Dominic Nolan, The Collaborators by Michael Idov and The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley.

“Elemental Forces is the fifth volume in the non-themed horror series of original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer, and edited by Mark Morris.

This new anthology contains twenty original horror stories, sixteen of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in horror, and four selected from the many stories sent to Flame Tree during a short open submissions window. A delicious feast of the familiar and the new, the established and the emerging.”

Also recommended: Night Side of the River by Jeanette Winterson and Where the Dead Brides Gather by Nuzo Onoh.

“When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide...

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.”

Also recommended: The Missing Family by Tim Weaver, I Might Be in Trouble by Daniel Aleman and Think Twice by Harlan Coben.

“A Navajo Ranger’s chilling and clear-eyed memoir of his investigations into bizarre cases of the paranormal and unexplained in Navajoland.

As a Native American with parents of both Navajo and Cherokee descent, Stanley Milford Jr. grew up in a world where the supernatural was both expected and taboo, where shapeshifters roamed, witchcraft was a thing to be feared, and children were taught not to whistle at night.

In his youth, Milford never went looking for the paranormal, but it always seemed to find him. When he joined the fabled Navajo Rangers – a law enforcement branch of the Navajo Nation who are equal parts police officers, archaeological conservationists, and historians – the paranormal became part of his job. Alongside addressing the mundane duties of overseeing the massive 27,000-square-mile reservation, Milford was assigned to utterly bizarre and shockingly frequent cases involving mysterious livestock mutilations, skinwalker and Bigfoot sightings, UFOs, and malicious hauntings.

In The Paranormal Ranger, Milford recounts the stories of these cases from the clinical and deductive perspective of a law enforcement officer. Milford’s Native American worldview and investigative training collide to provide an eerie account of what logic dictates should not be possible.”

“A terrifying tale of supernatural horror set in a cursed Louisiana bayou, from the minds of legendary film maker George Romero and bestselling author Daniel Kraus.

In 2019, while sifting through University of Pittsburgh Library’s George A. Romero Archival Collection, novelist Daniel Kraus turned up a surprise: a half-finished novel called Pay the Piper, a project few had ever heard of. In the years since, Kraus has worked with Romero’s estate to bring this unfinished masterwork to light.

Alligator Point, Louisiana, population 141: Young Renée Pontiac has heard stories of “the Piper” – a murderous swamp entity haunting the bayou – her entire life. But now the legend feels horrifically real: children are being taken and gruesomely slain.

To resist, Pontiac and the town’s desperate denizens will need to acknowledge the sins of their ancestors – the infamous slave traders, the Pirates Lafitte. If they don’t... it’s time to pay the piper.”

Also recommended:The Crows by C. M. Rosens and Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen.

“In Iran, a curator has gathered foreign journalists for a VIP tour of her latest creation. As the guests wander her museum's halls, she shares the struggles she's faced in bringing together this exhibition of her profession – especially the gender inequity she's battled for her entire career.

But the Sound Museum is no ordinary institution. It is a museum of torture, wrought from the audio recordings pulled from interrogation rooms and prison cells. And the curator – her unbroken monologue drifting through archives, philosophy, and dreams – is only too happy to share her part in this globe-spanning industry.

With sensuous and lyrical prose, Sound Museum bears witness while calling into question the act of witnessing, drawing the reader into the uncomfortable position of confronting one woman’s psyche; evil, yet completely blind to her own depravity.”

Also recommended: Ghost Mother by Kelly Dwyer, Dogs and Wolves by Hervé Le Corre and The Madness by Dawn Kurtagich.

“A woman falls to her death from a London bank’s twenty-fifth-floor roof terrace.

You're arrested for her murder. You tell the police that you had only met the victim the previous night at your office party. She was threatening to jump down from the roof, but you had talked her down. You've got nothing to do with this tragedy. You're clearly being framed…

So why do the police keep picking holes in your story? Even your lawyer doesn't seem to believe you. It soon becomes obvious that you're keeping secrets. But who are you trying to protect? And why?”

Also recommended: The Suspect by Rob Rinder and Such Lovely Skin by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne.

machine HQ's Retro Pick!

Famously adept at telling tall globe-spanning tales of alternate-history/SciFi adventures and at cadging [countless] cigarettes from fellow boarders, Mr Ghanashyam Das [a.k.a Ghanada] is an institution!

There is no corner of the world that he hasn’t set foot in – from darkest interiors of Africa to bleakest Himalayan snowscapes [where, as he claims in a tale, he once battled the Abominable Snowman or the Yeti!], no danger that he has failed to avert [including – again as he claims in his tales – preventing major disasters and wars!] and no villains he has left unpunished [including Nazis, mad scientists and evil warlords!]. Why, he’s even been to… Mars! [if you believe his stories, of course...]

First appearing in the mid-1940s, a few of Ghanada’s famous tales are available in English in Adventures of Ghanada [2006, National Book Trust, India] and in Mosquito and Other Stories [2004, Penguin, India] – great places to make your acquaintance with this classic character!

And that’s it for this Books Read Recently post; visit The Apocalypse Project [on Mastodon, twitter/X and tumblr], check out the machinstagram and stay tuned to machine HQ blog for more funky stuff coming this month!

[arg-machine]

machine HQ December 2024 playlist

arg returns with a brand-new machine HQ playlist this month! Yes, just because he’s been busy with Professor Fear [and his infernal Shock Engine] doesn’t mean he hasn’t been listening to music! This new playlist, for December 2024, features music he’s already played here machine HQ, and also includes songs from albums he plans to listen to in the near future.

This new playlist, because it covers a one-and-a-half/two-month period, has more songs than has been usual for these machine HQ playlists so far.

News! Next month – provided no problems arise, of course – arg intends to upload and make public selected sounds, samples and loops from his most recent audio track, the Shock Engine Theme [link above]. You may find these of interest… if you liked the track, that is.

Now, let’s get back to the new playlist, with its winter-themed cover image…

Winter Songs… …and to somewhat counter December’s cold embrace, arg decided to begin this new playlist with a hymn to fire [sung in ancient tongues]. Other than this, the playlist is just like those published previously: it features music from a wide range of genres, including hard rock and rock, metal; dub and reggae; funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, blues and blues-based rock; electronica, ambient and dark ambient, tribal; pop, the occasional movie soundtrack and world music. So go listen to it on Spotify!

And that’s it for this post! Visit The Apocalypse Project [on Mastodon, twitter/X and tumblr], check out the machinstagram and stay tuned to machine HQ blog.

[arg-machine]

To begin with good reader, nothing you see and/or hear on this page is complete. But before arg explains further, it’d be best to meet the good [or is it “the bad”?] Professor…

Enter… Professor Fear! Victorian/Edwardian London. Professor Fear [though he’s not known by that name in his early days] is a much sought-after builder of stage props and devices/illusions for performing magicians. He has a reputation for radical and often-bizarre concepts and designs – so much so that after a while, he becomes frustrated with the mundane and [in his opinion] ordinary designs/devices he is typically commissioned to build.

So he decides to enter the show business himself. Aided by his devoted younger sister [who he employs as his assistant both on and off stage], he styles himself as Professor Fear [as in “Professor Fear’s Pulse-pounding Plethora of Pandemonium & Perils!”]. His increasingly-macabre and uncanny spectacles gain him much public adulation… till he decides to unveil his “infernal Shock Engine” [built after years of research into the Occult and various Forbidden Sciences].

Long story short: in its debut appearance, the Shock Engine malfunctions, mutilating the sister and turning her into… well, that’s classified at this point. Sorry. Anyway, there is much public outrage [and yes, shock too] and his performances and devices are considered ungodly and declared illegal. Worse, he's now a fugitive from justice...

The Professor, desperate to survive, now gravitates to crime. He helps ruffians, highwaymen and robbers perfect their plans, often building them devices and contraptions that aid them in their nefarious enterprises. He is a great success at this – almost a natural! At one point, his services are utilized [and even praised] by none other than that other professor – Professor Moriarty!

Again, dissatisfied by the mundane and [in his opinion] ordinary crimes he is asked to help perpetrate, the Professor decides to mount his own criminal endeavour. Once again, he enlists his devoted-but-now-not-so-human sister as his assistant and readies himself to unleash his now-much-more powerful infernal Shock Engine upon the unsuspecting masses…

It is not known at this point whether or not the Professor is a part of machine HQ’s Apocalypse Project [see here, here or here to learn more about The Project].

Incomplete music… This new machine HQ track – the Shock Engine theme – begins with a brief ambient segment. But this isn’t what the Engine sounds like! Yes, at this point arg isn’t sure what the Engine sounds like, as a lot of it depends on the Engine’s design – and that hasn’t been finalised yet. More on this a few paragraphs later…

Moving forward to the theme’s second segment now. Here, we encounter a short spoken-word segment [“I think of it as... SHOCK treatment!”]. Ideally, arg would’ve preferred to have a snippet from the Professor’s now-notorious introduction to the Engine when it was first unveiled… but that is not a possibility as of now.

Also in the second segment, arg would’ve liked to put in a guitar solo right after the aforementioned spoken-word segment. That, alas, is also not possible as of now, as arg is currently forced to compose and create music – and everything else – with only a general-purpose laptop and no other equipment…

Listeners are therefore requested to consider these elements [or their lack thereof] as placeholders – to be replaced with the “real thing” when possible. The track, meanwhile, should be regarded as a proof-of-concept demo.

And that’s about it. You can listen to the Shock Engine theme here, or on machine HQ’s SoundCloud page… or you can download it as a 320kbps zipped mp3 file from this location.

Unfinished Engine… The theme’s artwork features a version of the Engine that isn’t final. Initially, the Engine was just a large hunk of machinery with lots of pipes, valves and gears. Then it was a large hunk of machinery [with lots of pipes, valves and gears] vaguely resembling an insect. This was when arg decided to add to it an angry-looking skull [based on this very old machine HQ 3D model]. Eventually, the Engine evolved to the version seen here, though arg still thinks it should have some insect-like features…

Remember! This theme, like all machine HQ tracks, was mixed and mastered for headphone playback only. Also, because this music – and everything else that machine HQ currently produces! – is created on a general-purpose laptop, arg isn’t really very happy with the overall quality… but he does what he can with whatever resources he has at his disposal.

That’s it for this new machine HQ music post; visit The Apocalypse Project [links elsewhere], and don’t forget to check out the machinstagram too!

[This post is published under the https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ license.]

[arg-machine]

Comics at machine HQ

Well, looking back at the posts on this blog, arg sees that it’s almost time for a new Comics at machine HQ post, since the most recent one was published nearly half-a-year ago! So here’s one this week!

As regular visitors to this blog know, arg has been tackling a crisis arising out of a family member’s passing and, with so many issues to be resolved, he hasn’t been able to read as many comics and/or graphic novels as he’d have liked to… As a result, this instalment of Comics at machine HQ has fewer titles than usual.

And yes, though not all the issues have been resolved, things are gradually returning to a new normal and this, as he explained in his previous post, may mean that arg will finally be able to get back to machine HQ work [provided no new hurdles/problems arise]...

Anyway, let’s move on now, to the comics/graphic novels that arg has enjoyed in the past few months…

Funnybooks! Here are the comics/graphic novels arg has read [and enjoyed!] in the last few months. All titles are arranged alphabetically, and related titles – or titles from related genres – are listed in the Also recommended sections. Keep in mind that a few of these titles are suitable for mature readers only.

“In 1969, a feisty new comics magazine emerged to rival the popular horror magazines Creepy and Eerie: Web of Horror. Conceived by a plucky, independent publisher, Web of Horror showcased instant classics of horror and science fiction by such rising stars of comic art as Bernie Wrightson, Michael Kaluta, Bruce Jones, Ralph Reese, Frank Brunner, Roger Brand, and Wayne Howard, as well as seasoned veterans such as Syd Shores and Norman Nodel, illustrating stories written by Otto Binder, Nicola Cuti, and others.

Now, over 50 years later, Fantagraphics presents the complete Web of Horror in one expertly edited and designed volume. In addition to all three published issues, this collection includes over a dozen stories intended for subsequent issues that have been rarely or never-before published, several long thought to be lost and recently unearthed…” Pretty freaky!

Also recommended: Epitaphs from the Abyss, Tales of the Unnamed - The Blizzard, The Midnite Show, Brynmore and Destiny Gate.

“Compelled to oblivion, driven to entropy, all life in our cosmos can only end in one place: COMPLETE ANNIHILATION! For the first time in 70 years, the limitless fury of EC Comics rages back to life to shred the very fabric of the universe itself and wrench bizarre tales of time and space into our dimensional plane!

Our guides across this double-sized, 40-page introduction to a cosmic maelstrom of strange extra-terrestrial entities, malevolent scientists, and terrifying technological catastrophes? Learn to fear the void with the irradiated imaginations of various acclaimed writers and artists.

The unpredictable return of EC Comics continues with the quantum comics event of the millennium! Galaxies will collapse. Space-time will be distorted. And your very will to exist, too, shall be broken… Just remember: it's all in the name of science!” A lot of fun, this one.

Also recommended: Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 44, Dandelion, Cyn, Crave, The Singularity and Hexagon Bridge.

arg loooves ducks! Especially when they’re called Daffy or… Donald! And yes, that short-tempered, lovable waterfowl is now 90 years old!

“In honor of Donald Duck's 90th anniversary, join us in tracing his comics career from 1934 to the present!

Carl Barks' Lost in the Andes and Don Rosa's Return to Plain Awful take the Ducks to the legendary land of square eggs while Romano Scarpa's Legend of Donald Hood pits Donald against Scrooge in a feature-length Sherwood Forest spoof! Marco Rota's Life and Times of Donald Duck traces our hero from birth as a wild duck in a nest, while William Van Horn's The Black Moon finds outer-space peril threatening Duckburg!

From Daisy to Gladstone to Gyro and the Beagle Boys, the gang's all here for an unprecedented look at everybody's favorite duck!”

Also recommended: The Goon - Them That Dont Stay Dead, Groo - In the Wild, Marvel and The Heavy Bright.

“Andrew Vachss' writing has been described as ‘red-hot and serious as a punctured lung’ (Playboy), hypnotically violent… made up of equal parts broken concrete block and razor wire’ (Chicago Sun-Times), and ‘short and choppy, like the ticking of a time bomb’ (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

In this graphic novel, dozens of comics writers and artists bring to life an assortment of Vachss' trademark life-at-ground-zero stories. This edition of Hard Looks contains 15 entries from the first Dark Horse edition as well as "Half Breed," a never-before-published prose story by Vachss, with illustrations by Geofrey Darrow, creator of Shaolin Cowboy and conceptual designer for The Matrix trilogy of films. Darrow also provides a new cover illustration.”

Also recommended: Leone - Notes on Life, Pocket Full of Rain, Seoul Before Sunrise, The Really Complete Paradise Too, Memoirs of a Man in Pajamas and Monica.

“An FBI agent from the cult crime beat and a woman with a past linked to the Satanic Panic are drawn into a terrifying hunt for an insane killer hiding in the shadows of the underworld. Can you ever escape your past, or are all your bad decisions just more ghosts to haunt you, wherever you go?

Houses Of the Unholy is a riveting horror thrill ride from bestselling creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the award-winning team behind Criminal, Reckless, Night Fever, and Where The Body Was.”

Also recommended: The Horror, Men of Wrath, FATCOP, Out of the Blue - The Complete Series, Ain’t No Grave, Lost Boy and Invisible Wounds.

…and now, it’s time for a machine HQ’s Retro Pick!

“Sandman Mystery Theatre was an ongoing comic book series published by Vertigo Comics, the mature-readers imprint of DC Comics. It ran for 70 issues, one annual, and a cross-over special between 1993 and 1999 and retells the adventures of the Sandman, a vigilante whose main weapon is a gun that fires sleeping gas, originally created by DC in the Golden Age of Comic Books. In a similar vein to Batman, the Sandman possesses little to no superhuman powers, though he has minor precognitive abilities through his prophetic dreams, and relies on his detective skills and inventions.

In this film noir-like series by writers Matt Wagner and Steven T. Seagle, Wesley Dodds (the Sandman) and his girlfriend Dian Belmont (daughter of the District Attorney) encountered several, often grotesque, foes in multi-issue storylines…” Classic stuff!

That’s it for this new comics/graphic novels list, visit The Apocalypse Project on Mastodon, twitter/X and on tumblr, and don’t forget to check out the machinstagram too!

Header image features artwork from Weird Work and from Voices That Count - A Comics Anthology by Women.

[arg-machine]

machine HQ September 2024 playlist

Well, here’s a new machine HQ playlist, with over half-a-day of musical goodness! We’ll discuss it in some detail a few paragraphs later; first, however, let’s see what’s been happening at machine HQ…

News! Following the family crisis that befell arg, he was waiting for certain governmental processes to begin. These have now begun, and arg thanks all concerned officials, departments and organizations who made the experience as smooth and as stress-free as they could.

The less stress arg experiences – and the less time he spends tackling these [and other related] issues – the more energy and effort he is able to invest in machine HQ work…

News! …which brings us to this next bit: arg has decided to begin work on some new music. The new track – scheduled for release in October 2024, provided no problems arise – will be related to a story arc that arg developed several years ago. Whether or not this arc will be/is a part of machine HQ’s Apocalypse Project [see here, here and also here] is yet to be decided. More information will be made available when the track is released next month. Meanwhile, you can check out the graphic-design/3D modeling post that arg published previously.

This new collection of jams… Owing to the aforementioned family crisis, arg wasn’t able to publish playlists in July and August, and this new one attempts to fill this gap by incorporating music that he plans to listen to over the next few weeks. Of course, he has already heard about thirty per cent of the music in this new playlist and intends to listen to the rest soon…

Note: as long as arg’s oppressors continue to stubbornly refuse to listen to reason, he’ll not be able to listen to music as regularly as he did in the past. This means machine HQ playlists will probably not be published on a monthly basis, but once every two or three months. Kindly keep in mind that any problems, hurdles and/or other difficulties that may arise will delay or even prevent the compilation [and publication] of these playlists. Apologies in advance.

Like the previously-published machine HQ playlists, this new one features music from a wide range of genres as well. There’s hard rock and rock, metal, dub and reggae, funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, blues and blues-based rock, electronica, ambient and dark ambient, tribal, pop, the occasional movie soundtrack and world music. So go listen to it on Spotify!

And that’s it for this post. Visit The Apocalypse Project [links above], check out the machinstagram and stay tuned to machine HQ blog…

[arg-machine]

A project for friends...

Well, arg’s back! No, he’s still not done with managing the family crisis that began last month, but he’s gradually getting a handle on things that need immediate attention. And while a return to his old schedule remains impossible as long as the Local Oppressors obstinately continue to refuse to listen to reason, arg has decided to resume his machine HQ work.

So when his friends at Mastodon requested him to create a commemorative image to celebrate 600+ posts, arg happily agreed to do so...

Quick and simple! The first thing arg decided was to stay away from complicated and effort/time-intensive concepts, since managing the family crisis still has top priority. This meant concepts like the time machine or the electric bulb [both of which required new 3D models to be built] were out.

After giving the matter some thought – and going through the library of 3D models he has built up over time – arg came up with the fun idea of presenting the friends’ Mastodon microblog as a compilation CD, since he already had a 3D CD case + CD model set built years ago [for this old post].

Some context: back in the 1990s, when he was much younger, arg frequented local music stores [yes, there were such things as music stores back then!], where he almost always came across rows-upon-rows of inexpensive CD compilations of local “film music”.

Using those compilations he remembered from his youth as foundation, arg decided to proceed with this microblog-as-compilation-CD concept. He loaded the old models into his 3D modeling/rendering software and took them for a “test spin”. This work-in-progress render was later posted on Instagram, and can be seen here.

CD art and source files… His next step was to create custom designs for the CD booklet cover and for the art on the CD itself. This he did over the next few days, using a lot of 2D – and a little bit of 3D – design work. You can see the result of arg’s efforts below:

Now that the image has been completed and posted on social media platforms, arg has decided to make the source files for the CD booklet cover and for the art on the CD itself available for download. The files are in PSD [Photoshop Document] format and can be downloaded as a 6.5Mb zipped archive from this location.

Note: do keep in mind that arg uses a version of Photoshop that probably qualifies as an antique now, so whether or not these files can be loaded in newer versions… he has no clue!

Also remember that owing to the interference by the Local Oppressors, arg is currently forced to use only a general-purpose laptop to create all machine HQ content: be it design, music or 3D scenes/images. This, needless to say, greatly limits the scope of what he can create.

The finished image! After applying the textures, arg rendered the 3D scene and tweaked the render a bit in Photoshop. If you haven’t seen it already… well, here’s how the whole concept turned out:

Note: this final image was also posted on Instagram a couple of days back, and can be viewed here. And what about his Mastodon friends? Well, they say they like it!

And that, good reader, is the story of how these old 3D models acquired new lives through this commemorative image project. All that now remains to be done is for arg to assure readers that he really hasn’t forgotten about that time machine blog post he hinted at: he will indeed publish it in the near future. So stay tuned to the machine HQ blog!

Till then, however, you can always visit The Apocalypse Project [on Mastodon, twitter/X and tumblr] and also check out the machinstagram every once in while…

[arg-machine]

Updates + machine HQ's June 2024 playlist

June 1, 2024 Update: the family member has been re-admitted to the hospital this afternoon following health complications.

A shorter and somewhat-incomplete playlist this time, owing to a family medical emergency that upset the established routines here at machine HQ. This medical emergency, that has led to a family member first receiving a temporary (external) pacemaker and then a permanent one, has now been brought under control (hopefully).

While this worrying and expensive emergency was unfolding, arg could only think of how, had it not been for the illegal and unprovoked interference by certain local politicians, the local entertainment business and some sections of the local media – interference that has cost arg over twenty valuable and productive years of his career – he’d be in a much stronger position to tackle this crisis. This is why arg requested the Copiers of Hindustan boys to continue posting, if only as a sign of protest against these local oppressors.

Now, the music… Like the previously-published machine HQ playlists, this new one features music from a wide range of genres as well. There’s hard rock and rock, metal, dub and reggae, funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, blues and blues-based rock, electronica, ambient and dark ambient, tribal, pop, the occasional movie soundtrack and world music. So go listen to it on Spotify!

And that’s it for this post. Visit The Apocalypse Project [on Mastodon, twitter/X and tumblr], check out the machinstagram and stay tuned to machine HQ blog…