Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR is a short fiction by J. R. Carpenter about her adventures with Montreal-based artist Ingrid Bachmann's hermit crab Pookie during the month June of 2009. Pookie's website is: http://digitalhermit.ca/ Pookie is also known as Pookie 14.Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR is generated by a Python script adapted (with permission) from a 1k story generator written by Nick Montfort. In July 2009, in a blog post, Nick Montfort wrote: "J. R. Carpenter, author of Words the Dog Knows, Entre Ville, The Cape, and other fine works of e-lit, print, and xerography, has delightfully re-purposed one of my 1k story generators to have it tell stories involving her and a hermit crab named Pookie. The program has grown to about 2k, but it uses the same simple (and surprisingly effective) method as my first generator does: It simply removes all but 5-9 sentences from a sequence, eliding some of what's been written. Sometimes the reader is left to wonder who the hermit is."In July 2009, NYC-based artist/programmer Ravi Rajakumar ported the Python script into Javascript to create a web browser friendly version of the Chronicles of Pookie & JR. http://luckysoap.com/pookieandjr/In December 2010, Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR and three other generators adapted from scripts by Nick Montfort appeared in a print book called GENERATION[S] published by Vienna-based TRAUMAWIEN.In November 2011, Laura Borràs Castanyer translated Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR into Spanish and Catalan.
Catalan (Valencian)
Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR: JR has a friend over for drinks and forgets to introduce Pookie. Pookie watches, but what does he see?. The next morning, JR goes for a long walk; Pookie does not. The contents of JR's suitcase spill across the polished floor. Live and let live, Pookie's nonchalant attitude seems to suggest. JR cooks slowly, foraging in this strange kitchen. Pookie keeps his thoughts to himself. Pookie's full name is Pookie 14. To be continued...
Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR: Previously, Pookie and JR had only ever met at parties. Pookie and JR exchange knowing glances. JR has been wearing the same shirt for days now. JR changes Pookie's water. Pookie makes a mess of his feeding dish. JR crumbles Pookie's hermit crab food pellets into bite-sized bits. Pookie will eat miniscule amounts of anything except meat and dairy. The cafe across the street is only noisy until eleven or so. Late one night, Pookie and JR listen to a chained dog's howls. Pookie's full name is Pookie 14. JR is in hiding. To be continued...
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To view the Python version, Download the file http://luckysoap.com/stories/PookieAndJR.zip to your desktop and unzip. On a Mac or Linux system, you can run the story generator by opening a Terminal Window, typing "cd Desktop", and typing "python filename.py". Hint: look for Terminal in your Utilities folder. On Windows, you will probably need to install Python first: version 2.6.5. Once Python is installed you can double click on the file and it will automatically launch and run in the terminal window. Every time you press ENTER a new version of the story will appear.
Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR is a short fiction by J. R. Carpenter about her adventures with Montreal-based artist Ingrid Bachmann's hermit crab Pookie during the month June of 2009. Pookie's website is: http://digitalhermit.ca/ Pookie is also known as Pookie 14. Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR is generated by a Python script adapted (with permission) from a 1k story generator written by Nick Montfort. In December 2010, Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR and three other generators adapted from scripts by Nick Montfort appeared in a print book called GENERATION[S] published by Vienna-based TRAUMAWIEN.In November 2011, Laura Borràs Castanyer translated Excerpts from the Chronicles of Pookie & JR into Spanish and Catalan.
Following Genette's forms of paratextuality, the process of quoting or re-writing in this poem involves a hypotext - the antecedent literary text (Clarice Lispector's "Amor") - and a hypertext, that which imitates the hypotext (the poem "Amor de Clarice"). Both hypotext and hypertext were performed and recorded by Nuno M. Cardoso, and later transcribed within Flash, where the author completed the integration of sound, animation, and interactivity. Following the hypotext/hypertext ontology, there are two different types of poems. In half of them (available from the main menu, on the left), the main poem (the hypertext) appears as animated text that can be clicked and dragged by the reader, with sounds assigned to the words. In these poems, the original text (the hypotext) is also present, as a multilayered, visually appealing, but static background. The sound for these movies was created by Carlos Morgado using recordings with readings of the poem. In the other half of the poems (available from the main menu link on the right), the same animated hypertext/poem is present, but the hypotext in the background of the previous is replaced by video frames, animated and manipulated by Ana Carvalho. The sound files for these movies was designed by Luis Aly, integrating recordings with readings of the short-story.
(Source: Author's description from the Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 2)
Previous publication: R. Torres, et al. (2005) Amor de Clarice - Poema Hipermédia, CD-ROM multimédia, CD audio e livro, Ediões Universidade Fernando Pessoa.
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Flash plugin required. Click on the words "INICIAR POEMA" on the bottom of the main presentation page. There are 52 poems that have an average duration of one minute each, and they can be browsed from the main menu, or, in both linear and random ways, using the icons on the top of each movie.
Nuno M. Cardoso: voice
Ana Carvalho: video
Carlos Morgado: music
Luís Aly: sound