Sunday, October 16, 2011

Robert Hooke: a Microrheology Pioneer



I just attended the 83rd Annual Society of Rheology (SoR) in Cleveland, Ohio, and wanted to share some important links between Art/Science and Micro-rheology/Robert Hooke.


Rheology is "the study of the deformation or flow of matter" so SoR attracts a diverse bunch: device manufacturers designing diagnostic, medicinal widgets (blood flow); product and process engineers of paints, cosmetics, and foodstuffs; packaging designers concerned with manipulating molten plastic; petroleum engineers ruminating on extracting oil from the earth; and even biophysicists studying the mechanical properties of cytoplasm.   


The "Father of Microscopy" 
dreamed up the "Spring Constant"


Nerds are often self-deprecating and insecure, so it is refreshing that SoR's diverse participation welcomes people with multidisciplinary backgrounds (like me!).  Although I am a chemist by education, I have more experience performing microscopy and am embedded within a group of product/chemical engineers at work.   Since 2005, I could best be described as a "micro-rheologist" who studies the variation of mechanical properties within soft matter mixtures (more on microrheology below).


When your experience morphs you into being a master of the interdisciplinary, it is refreshing to find a single champion representing your apparently disparate fields of study (and hobbies).  Hence I was delighted to realize that the "father-of-microscopy" Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was the same who dreamed up "Hooke's Law" of elasticity (Hooke's law describes the elasticity of springs which is fundamental to rheology ... “As is the extension, so is the force”); but wait there is more... he was an artist too!  



Scientists were once artists

Of course, cameras did not exist in 1665, so early scientists had to draw their data! Leonardo Davinci's notebook is a classic documentation of this, but consider early anatomists who had to draw fast since their non-refrigerated corpses/subjects decomposed (for more on this, I recommend Kemp's beautiful book: Spectacular Bodies: The Art and Science of the Human Body).



Hooke pioneered the use of the microscope and presented his survey of microstructures to the Royal Society in his "Micrographia, or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses (click to browse the interactive book). Hooke had to draw his observations as he peered into strange, microscopic worlds.




Particle Tracking Microrheology - 
Hooke was a Microrheology Pioneer
Microscopes can be used as rheometers too!  To do this, one needs to be able to document the speed and location of colloidal bits (~1/100 the diameter of human hair) as they jiggle by Brownian motion (thermal fluctuations).  Difficult to do this by hand!

Note that Einstein was key in enabling the use of a microscope to measure one of Chemists' most famous number, the Avogadro constant, being the number of atoms per mole of material; well Einstein set the stage anyway, J.B. Perrin checked this experimentally with a microscope ~1900.

0.53micron particle tracking data from J.B. Perrin ~1913

A field of Particle Tracking Micro-rheology (PTM) has been emerging since the mid-1990's, fueled by the advent of the digital camera.  PTM Practioners will appreciate the often ignored Davidison and Collins' 1976 study of heterogeneous domains within Carbopol slurries in which they relied on Polaroid film and overlays of negatives to capture their data (J. A. Davidson and E. A. Collins, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 1976, 55, 163-169).

In complex fluids (from living cells to cosmetics) we are presented with a mixture of spring-like structures that are much smaller than the eye can detect.  Bulk methods can describe how they look to the eye (a camera) or how they flow as a composite (rheology), but to see measure the landscape of properties we need a microscope to see (a) the structure of the material that has a variety spring-like properties and (b) the rate at which free particles push against them.

PTM tutorials:
For an online tutorial of the nitty-gritty workflow I recommend MIT's website (some example images from there are highlighted below to illustrate how the motion of particles can be tracked); and for an example of how PTM can be used to measure soft matter mixtures I recommend Caggioni's paper "Rheology and microrheology of a microstructured fluid: The gellan gum case (link).




Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Halloween Crafts: Spooky Apple Head Creatures

Crafting Prototype Creatures
image from: Apple Head Dolls & More!
I am designing creatures for the sequel to Lords of Dyscrasia and am exploring possibilities with tangible prototypes.  This process yielded an easily reapplied Halloween craft!

Animating Manikins: The dark hero Lysis reanimated the skeletons and armatures of Doctor Grave's Dissection Theater to form his undead troop, the Red Horde (image below).  Motivated to integrate the mysterious fruit/orchard themes littering the book (the presence of which will be explained in the sequel) with this Horde led me to literally mix (1) apple-head crafts with (2) art manikins.  The results are...

Simple Spooky Apple Head Creatures
Appledolls.org is a nice resource for creating traditional dolls (as seen on Martha Sterwart :)).  Below is my modified method: 
  1. Skin an apple; for a spooky effect, leave some slivers of skin on the face to mimic scars
  2. Carve into a shape such that, when dried, will resemble a head
  3. Ensure it can be mounted to a doll or art manikin; for the art manikin route, carve a hole in the under side of the apple so that it can become a "helmet"--for a tight fit, allow the apple to dry on the manikin head.
  4. Decorate with paint, needles, toothpicks, etc. ; Simple PVA glue makes for good drool!

The Red Horde: reanimated armatures, skeletons, and art manikins from Lords of Dyscrasia
The Next-Generation Red Horde?




Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Lords of Dyscrasia Promotions - Free Books!

In hopes of generating customer reviews (ratings, etc.), I am luring victims readers with promotions:

1) Through Halloween 2011 (10/31/2011), I am giving away free paperbacks of Lords of Dyscrasia via Goodreads.com (open to U.S. and Canada due to shipping constraints). Goodreads assigns winners randomly from a list of anyone who requests to be included. 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Lords of Dyscrasia by S.E. Lindberg

Lords of Dyscrasia

by S.E. Lindberg

Giveaway ends October 31, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

2) LibraryThing.com (click link) will be hosting a Giveaway of 50 ePubs. This is the easiest way to share the novel globally (Giveaway starting Oct. 1st 2011).  LibraryThing offers a few types of Giveaway programs, this Member version selects winners randomly from any who request it.

3) Read the ePub and get a free paperback! I am offering complimentary signed paperbacks to those who post on-line ratings, reviews, or testimonials. The first chapter is free, and full version only $2.99. Click here to find out how to sample the ePubs
ForeWord gave it 5/5 stars. Do you agree?
Read the review!
Foreword Clarion Review gave Lords of Dyscrasia 5 stars!

"...Outside of the works of Poe and Lovecraft, there are few, if any, novels comparable to this one...
Beowulf comes to mind both for its epic quality and bloody action...

The pace is nearly breathless...
Lindberg, who also created more than 50 illustrations and the cover for this book, makes the majority of current popular fantasy fiction read like recipes by comparison.  Lords of Dyscrasia is highly recommended, though not for the faint of heart."

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Five Star ForeWord Review of Lords of Dyscrasia


Created a new Reviews Tab that includes this; added here as a Post to broadcast the news!








ForeWord Clarion Review
FICTION: FANTASY
S. E. Lindberg
Ignis Publishing LLC
978-0-615-39286-8
Five Stars (out of Five)
September 2011

"...highly recommended, though not for the faint of heart..."

“Diary, I tallied the Dissection Theater’s subjects again.”

So begins the debut novel of Massachusetts native and chemist-by-day Seth Lindberg. This decidedly dark fantasy is heavily influenced by Dante, Poe, Lovecraft, and a great love for weird tales.

Opening the novel is the narrator, Dey, a seer and the stepson of Endenken Lysis. Endenken’s father, the leader of Clan Lysis, has recently died. In fact, much of Dey’s and Endenken’s world is dying. Humans and gods (both insectoid and avian) are infected with dyscrasia, a blood disease that is fatal to all who contract it. Endenken’s ancestors, the Picti, endeavored to save their gods through a complicated ritual that allows the Lysis clan to bear descendants who may eventually find a cure for dyscrasia. However, nothing is that simple. In the process of conducting the rite to pass his clan’s powers onto him, Endenken rejects his inheritance in favor of saving his wife and finding a way to end the blood plague.
Outside of the works of Poe and Lovecraft, there are few, if any, novels comparable to this one. It has a bardic tone, as if it was a tale told over many nights. Beowulf comes to mind both for its epic quality and bloody action.
"The pace is nearly breathless..."
Imagery shifts from mundane to surreal in the same paragraph. The pace is nearly breathless, though it never feels forced. Lindberg’s love of the English language and his admiration for Dante in particular are obvious on every page. The melancholic dread that Poe and Lovecraft were so skilled at creating is matched—and at times exceeded—in Lindberg’s prose: "I stared upward at a skull and heap of bones. I knew only the soul of a man spoke to me, and that astral, red warmth emanated from the charnel pile. A woman’s skeleton lay near—her hands gauntleted with insectan claws belonging to some eldritch creature and her head helmeted with a gargantuan bird skull, much like my own."

Apart from a rather obsessive attachment to the words eldritch and ichorLords of Dyscrasia is carefully crafted and fits well into the weird-fiction canon. Given that Poe and Lovecraft have been dead for decades and still remain popular, Lindberg’s novel should find a ready-made audience in readers of the macabre and strange.

Lindberg, who also created more than fifty illustrations and the cover for this book, makes the majority of current popular fantasy fiction read like recipes by comparison. Lords of Dyscrasia is highly recommended, though not for the faint of heart.

- Janine Stinson

"...makes the majority of current popular fantasy fiction read like recipes..."

Monday, September 5, 2011

FAQ - Dyscrasia Fiction

With the eBooks of Lords of Dyscrasia now available (for Kindle, Nook, and iPads, etc.--click here to learn more) I have been fielding many FAQ's.  In response, a dedicated Blog Page now answers them!  I provide the content as a "Blog Post" here:



Frequently Asked Questions of S. E. Lindberg

What is "dyscrasia"? 
SEL: Literally, dyscrasia means “a bad mixture of liquids.”  Historically, dyscrasia referred to any imbalance of the four medicinal humors professed by the ancient Greeks to sustain life (phlegm, blood, black and yellow bile).  Artisans, anatomists, and chemists of the Renaissance expressed shared interest in the humors; accordingly, the scope of humorism evolved to include aspects of the four alchemical elements (water, air, earth and fire) and psychological temperaments (phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholic and choleric).  In short, the humors are mystical media of color, energy, and emotion; Lords of Dyscrasia presents them as spiritual muses for artisans, sources of magical power, and contagions of a deadly disease; the book explores the choices humans and their gods make as a disease corrupts their souls, shared blood and creative energies.   

Sounds deep.  The target audience is not Young Adults then?  
SEL: Correct.  Lords of Dyscrasia is not for the young adult crowd.  If the rating procedure for video games were applied, the book would probably be rated M for Mature; film rating equivalent would be R for Restricted. 

Are you as dark in person as your characters are presented? 
SEL: Cripes, no.  I enjoy depictions of scary things, but in real life I steer away from them.  In truth, I feint in the presence of blood and have difficulty being violent—even to bugs, since the potential crunch of an exoskeleton really freaks me out.  I dump all my fears into my art.  If the horrors appear vivid, it is because my nightmares are too. 

Seriously, authors and artists of fantasy are often attuned to the differences between reality and the worlds they create—in fact, speculating about the boundaries between is a common motivation.  But speculations are not desires.  Nor does art directly represent the artist—usually, art reflects the emotions the artist wants you to experience.  When I am reading, I want to experience the unknown, to explore the realms of the dead, and to be terrified.  When I put books down, I like to enjoy some dark chocolate and strong coffee (extra cream) as I stroll in my yard (avoiding bugs). 

Why write?  
SEL: I desired a blend of horror and fantasy that I just could not find, so I decide to write what I wanted to read.  I was inspired by the pulp masters of the ~1930’s, but historically pulp short fiction has not translated well in novel length form.  The high density adventure of Robert Ervin Howard, the poetic macabre of Clark Ashton Smith, and the weirdness of Howard Phillips Lovecraft worked best in small doses.  I aimed to blend those styles into a series of connected chapters—each, in original form, being an independent but connected short.  But a unifying story arc evolved, so ultimately Lords of Dyscrasia works as a single novel rather than an open-ended yarn.

Why illustrate, and what is your method?  
SEL: Sometimes words are limiting; sometimes drawings are too.  A blend is nice for weird subject matter, since a goal is to describe characters or atmospheres in limited detail.  Especially with weird fiction, artists must be careful not to reveal too much of the supernatural horrors since there exists an expectation that these subjects either (a) cannot be described fully since they are so bizarre and have never been described before, or (b) they can be defined well, but readers want to contribute and fill in details with their own imagination.  Hence abstract drawing styles and poetic word choice work well for this genre, as they provide the expected blend of clarity and ambiguity. 

Logistically, illustrations provide an easy way for readers to browse for exciting sneak-peaks.  To maintain this in eBook design, it was important to include a navigational table-of-contents to ensure that readers could still flip from picture to picture get a glimpse of action-to-come.

I often draw several elements of a composition on paper and draw a schematic to help me orient the images later.  I draw with any pencil or pen I can find; then I scan the drawings into a computer and enhance the images with Photoshop.  I have to work to blend the separate elements into a single illustration.  I work only in grayscale; if the images are colorized, like the book cover, all the hues have been created digitally.

Is there a sequel planned?  
SEL: Yes.  For better or worse, I still have more fears to share, and you can expect more Dyscrasia Fiction™.  The sequel is in progress; the working title is Vivisecting Angels. I’ll be posting illustrations and excerpts on www.selindberg.com before its official release.


How many Seth Lindberg's write horror? 
SEL: Well, at least two.  There is a disambiguation in order since there is another Seth Lindberg (middle initial "M") who is one year older than myself who has edited and published horror fiction (notably contributing to the anthologies Denying Death and Orpheus Haunting the Dead).  To differentiate myself, my novel is publicized under "S.E. Lindberg."  SML's website is :http://sethlindberg.com/  


Sunday, August 28, 2011

Free eBook Previews for PCs eReaders, Kindle, iPad, and the Nook!

As of Aug 25, 2011, a variety of ePub editions of Lords of Dyscrasia are available for sale for only $2.99.   Time to check out the Free Samples for eBooks and PC’s, Kindles, Nooks, and iPads!  These previews equate to the first 40pages of the paperback (due out in a few weeks).


Here’s how to get your free previews (excerpts): 
1) Follow the below Links to the Lords of Dyscrasia storefronts:
2) Click on the appropriate Send Sample to PC or device option (see below figure):
ePubSAMPLE

3) Browse your FREE sample on your PC or mobile reader!  Don’t have the FREE eBook readers yet?  Follow the below links, then after installing them, get the samples! Note: you do not have to own a Kindle or Nook to get the PC versions to work!
ePubPCreaders

4) Navigate by chapter, or by illustration caption!  Easily browse all the grotesque images!
ePubTOC

Monday, August 1, 2011

Dejarnette Sanitarium; a vacation to Silent Hill?

 Silent Hill (SH) Ambiance – Benchmark Design
Just vacationed with the family, the key destination being the natural dye making workshop in Monticello, Virginia (to boost my dye making hobby--Link).  After traveling through the Appalachian Mountains and renting a hotel overlooking an abandoned Sanitarium, I began to feel the “Silent Hill” experience. 

Although not a proper Sword & Sorcery world, SH allows for an awesome degree of supernatural exploration– a feature once integral to the originating pulps that inspired the genre (Howard, Smith, Lovecraft); the Hill does have the prerequisite elements: ruins, creatures, alchemy (witchcraft).  The series sacrifices some action elements to amplify the horror of battling the unknown.  It grounds readers in abandoned towns filled with ghosts, only to use that foundation as “reality” to take readers into the next level of horror (“nightmare realm”) in which the cracked paint peels of walls and flies away, and hell (in multiple carnations) overwhelms all.   Silent Hill pushes the boundaries of horror in every way, from its character designs, settings, and story.

In Silent Hill 1, I was horrified to be chased by knife-wielding dead children in the Midwich Elementary school.  But that experience pales in comparison to the debut of Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2 (room 307 Wood Side’s apartment), in which the butcher-like-demon rapes the four-legged mannequins (that is correct…one torso, four legs).  Your character is forced to watched from within a closetthe scene is more bizarre than gory.  If Pyramid head or his victims looked more human, than the effect would be lost—that would be too real, less scary.  Silent Hill wants you to feel vulnerable and pressured by forces you cannot describe.  The fantasy element is crucial.  The balance of implicit vs. explicit gore and horror is tough to achieve, but we can learn from masters Like Frazetta (link to earlier post). 

Room 307 of Wood Side apartments: Pyramid Head rapes headless mannequins in Silent Hill 2 game–very spooky


The 2006 movie's version town of Silent Hill is located in West Virginia. The town was abandoned after a fire started in the underlying coal mines, much like the real town of Centralia, PABasing fantasy from real foundations gives our art credibility; the story way be weird as hell, but will be believable at some level.  Suckers like myself cannot stop thinking about the possible truth to ghost stories when they experience settings that evoke the haunts:
The Appalachian Mountains
The below aerial imagery from the Silent Hill movie shows a road in the Appalachian Mountains; in the leading car are a mom (Rose Da Silva) and daughter (Sharon), driving toward the titular town to confront the haunts that plague Sharon’s dreams. A police car follows.
silent Hill -2
Our recent drive through West Virginia (our images below), sets the stage; map included in case you want to trek over.
P7150136P7140065
Dejarnette Sanitarium
Spooky Abandoned Hospital
So after hours of driving in the mountains, we stop at a Hotel in Staunton, VA.  Staunton is not haunted, but we unexpectedly chose a hotel overlooking a beautiful boarded building (~the intersection of highway 81 and route 250 near the Frontier Museum); From our hotel view (below, looking eastward).   
sanitarium-Staunton VA
Turns out, it this is an abandoned children’s sanitarium named after the leader Doctor DeJarnette.  Due to Doctor DeJarnette’s eugenics project, many inmates were reportedly sterilized in the basement against their will (his butchery and sexual motivations reeks of Pyramid Head).  Ghosttowninfo.com - Dejarnette Sanatarium (link) offers interior images and Project Energia Buran offers as a video tour (embedded below)! To be clear, my family did not tour the facility!  It is riddled with asbestos and is hardly a family destination.  This is not Silent Hill!  There is nothing explicitly terrifying about this image; implicitly, it is creepy as hell!


Virtual Tour of the Sanatorium
Project Energia Buran (2007) tours the Sanatorium for us!

Persistent, Amplified Silent Hill Feelings
Every SH game visits a hospital; I think every one has ghost- or living-children running amongst them.  Alchemilla Hospital (left image below) and Brookhaven Hospital (right image) are fictional hospitals that are frequently visited in the Silent Hill games. A blog post cannot due these justice…I suggest you get the games and explore them.  You will be scared…and you can pretend you are experiencing the haunted (possibly) DeJarnette Sanitarium!  Be careful.  Once you play the games, you may not be able to stop thinking about the horrors the evoke!  Awesome!