Ayther Stroem

Predict me in the crowds

2007-10-09T23:04:00.001+02:00

Funny feeling to have made 0.16 US-dollars today by predicting the near outcome of an actual event in a futures-market. My total earnings are 0.40 US-dollars. I've made three valued predictions until now. Maybe I should rename the blog "Oracletruthspeakerforeverwise" ;-)

I've been facinated by the whole "wisdom of the crowds" concept for awhile, but it's not until now that I'm a beta-tester for a new online service that I get to experience it for real, and make a tiny amount of real money. As my rankings (hopefully) improves I will get a bigger slice of the cake. KATCHINGGGGG

I do believe prediction-markets could be the next big thing on the web, and that 2008 will become "the year of prediction-markets".

Clearing the path

2007-10-02T14:07:00.000+02:00

I have been struggling quite a bit to get comfortable with new tools. Sometimes it's the simple things that are the hardest to achive, but then all of a sudden, it's there right infront of you. Then it's just a matter of remembering which buttons you pushed ;-)

Bought Daniel Johnston live from some town in Germany after listening to one of my favorite songs of his (and of all) the beautifully tragic "Story of an artist".

Can't help to think of Neil Youngs "rule" that its an artists obligation to swim out of his depth, to never just stay put on safe grounds. And good old Friedrich Nietzsche also said something about it being beautiful when man tries to rise above himself and in the proces perishes.

I do believe there is a hidden power in fragile, limping creations. Often they are very calmly centered in their energies/expressions because they are not trying to be anything else than exactly what they already are. Of course mainly because they do not have the power to transform themselves. A curse and a blessing at the same time.

But then again to be able to get things done/rocking whatever ;-) you sometimes have to know where you are going to be able to look up and see where you are going so you don't get lost.

The unfocused focus, a mind like water. Like my old teacher said "you have to make your eyes blur to truly see the outlines of what you are drawing, to make the clutter of unnecessary details disappear". The great american painter Edward Hopper was master at this, as was the great danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi.

Behind the veil

2007-09-18T16:32:00.000+02:00

Let it fly, let it loose, like a goose, like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir. And in the end it will hopefully all come together and make some kind of sense.
Did sit down at the kitchen tabel to do some analouge drawings with my daughter. I really gotta get better with just pencil and paper. For her it is still just play and a game of the imagination, and it shows in her wonderful compositions. For me that freedom only comes infront the computer. Not good enough Mr. Bond ;-)

Robot's dream and tracing androids

2007-09-16T14:22:00.001+02:00

I was checking out a legal!, free, on-demand, streaming-music-service and made a playlist with guitarmusic. So there I was listening quite a bit to Joe Satriani and "One Robot's Dream" from the album "Super Colossal". To justify time spendt I at least had to make up something with no robots in it, only pretty androids preparing to conjure up some electric sheep.

Miami me too

2007-09-13T21:15:00.000+02:00

I remember Miami and my friends, Gonzalo and Komzu. We were the rainbow coalition, Komzu from Tanzania, Gonzalo from Panama and myself from Denmark. Driving all the way from Chicago to the beach in one strech. We were a bit tired when we got there ;-)
It was a great year 1988

Colour me happy

2007-09-13T18:33:00.001+02:00

It's such a joy when "unfocus" and fun merges in a stream that makes decisions move smoothly along and on the way allows you to pick up the crumbs of chanceful encounters!

Indian summer

2007-09-13T13:06:00.000+02:00

Midt september, the sun is shinning, my frontdoor is open, I can hear the birds singing and feel a gentle breeze flowing through the house. So what of the summer we were cheated of ?
If I can have a couple of weeks with this weather all will be forgiven, almost ;)

Mind like water

2007-09-13T09:38:00.001+02:00

A colleague of mine wrote aboute GTD (Getting Things Done) and in his article he mentioned the concept of being in a mental state of "mind like water".
Whenever I am so lucky to forget myself in front of the computer, making music or collages I do believe I enter this state of blissfull "absolute certainty sans judgement". Its wonderful when it happens. Let all our days be like that :)

We are ready

2006-09-18T15:16:00.000+02:00

To do what is important is our goal of today