Todd Rundgren has never shied from tackling new and interesting technologies, from his solo one-man-band recordings and performances through his early and frequent use of synthesizers, his use of the Phillips CD-i for No World Order, the CD-e for The Individualist, making The I songs available for download from the Internet. All were attempts to find new and better methods to make the path from his imagination to his audience as direct as possible. He seems to expect his special Do-It-Yourself ethic from his audience, too. We fans must get a CD-i player to interact fully with NWO; we must have our computer chops together well enough to download large sound files. Now, we must have an internet connection, a powerful World Wide Web browsing program, and a fairly powerful computer decked out with multimedia goodies in order to take full advantage of Todd's newest project, the WWW site Waking Dreams.
Waking Dreams is a place where Rundgren can display his audio and visual work without having to go through traditional marketing channels. The site is still in its infancy. A basic framework is in place, but there are only tantalizing hints of what might fill it in. Those of you who are able to browse the World Wide Web should check out http://www.wakingdreams.com/ to see the beautiful graphics and get a sense of what's where. I'll give you an idea about what you might find when you get there and what pitfalls you might encounter on the way.
[Warning: tech-talk ahead. If you don't understand the next paragraph fully, try to memorize a few of the buzzwords. Then you can impress your friends as being either hip or a geek, which may be the same thing, depending on your friends.]
Before you attempt to go to Waking Dreams, you should be technologically prepared. The site makes heavy use of high-quality graphics, and high-tech features like MIDI music, frames, and java scripts. You should use a frames-capable browser like Netscape 2.0 or later or Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.0 or later. There have been quite a few reports of people being greeted with nothing but a blank blue screen. I have seen this myself when using an earlier version of Netscape. This is probably due to using a browser that can't respond properly to the java scripts imbedded in the page. Your computer should be able to display 256 or more colors, or you won't see the graphics in all their glory. A curious thing about the site -- it's much slower to load when I open it at work, where I am directly connected to the internet, compared to when I dial in to a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP) with a 14.4 kbps modem, the page actually loads faster! I attribute this to the fact that my computer at home is decked out with an accelerated video graphics card, and is sound- and MIDI-capable. My computer at work is short on memory and has no sound capability -- which does not, however, prevent the Waking Dreams page from sending the MIDI file to me anyway (whereupon I get an error message from Netscape telling me it can't start the MIDI file - duh! Isn't there some way for the page's script to test to see if I am MIDI-able or not?).
To get to Waking Dreams, you must have an internet connection through a service provider that allows you to browse the World Wide Web (WWW). If you do, fire up your browser and load the following Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
The opening web page greets you dramatically with a pulsing light icon and a MIDI file playing (surprise!) Pulse. The visual style, similar to that found on the computer portion of The Individualist CD-e, is something of a '50s/'60s sci-fi aesthetic (think "Jetsons" or "Forbidden Planet".) You are warned to relax, as this is a "media-intensive" site, and they are right -- be patient! From here you can go in any of 5 different directions by clicking these links with your mouse:
The Waking Dreams Collection
The Waking Dreams Collection is the on-line store where you can order TR-related merchandise. The Individualist CD-e, and TR-i Live In Cyberia are currently available. A hint: once you get into this area, it seems to be impossible to gracefully get out again. The trick, I discovered after some flailing, is to click on the "Waking Dreams Collection" graphic in the upper left-hand corner.
The Utopia Grokware Vector
The purpose of this area is unclear. There is a cool animated Grokware "screen-saver" graphic that is different every time you go there. Links for Todd, David Levine, and Michele Gray don't go much of anywhere yet. One link goes to a placeholder graphic that says "Still coming on - try again later."
The Mystery School
Alcazar, The Mystery School, is the creative heart of the site. It really is a mystery - the school is not yet open, and its purpose is not yet clear. You are allowed to examine a history, description, and catalog of School sites. Here's an excerpt from the intriguing description of the school:
"The ancient school of Alcazar, in recognition of the species capacity and necessity to create extraordinary individuals is now manifest in the outer world and is accepting novices for study and instruction in esoteric and intimate domains of knowledge and experience. The campus at Alcazar was founded and accredited in 1996 to serve the needs of knowledge seekers in the newly discovered etheric territories. The curriculum revolved around Art and Technology, particularly the hidden mechanisms and meanings that infuse and inspire these disciplines."
You can peruse the School, but be prepared to wait for some large images to download to you. They are worth the wait, though -- beautifully made computer graphics, done in a style that resembles the computer game Myst. You feel like you're looking at a real, though dreamlike, place; serene, scholarly, idyllic. You can almost hear the rustle of academic robes as students stroll together, locked in intense and excited discussion of new ideas.
It's interesting to speculate what this area of the site might turn into. The campus could be an adventure game. The various buildings of the school could be meeting places for us users. The possibilities are endless.
News and Information
Here, Todd briefly discusses (albeit vaguely) the purpose and goal of the site:
"What does The Interactivity Poster Child and his band of merry
collaborators do when their plates get so full of good ideas and
opportunities that you can barely think let alone finish anything?
Start a company and get some help of course!
The CEO Formerly Known As TR-i Formerly Known As Todd Rundgren"
"- News is where you find the latest grist from the Waking Dreams Media Mill.
- Innovations will give you details about our Tricky Gadgetry and Mysterious Ways.
- Studios lets you in on the sights and sounds coming out of the Waking Dreams Factory.
- People helps you locate a Waking Dreamer to discuss your ideas with."
None of this is actually in place yet, but it sounds promising!
Opportunities
Shades of The Beatles' Apple Corp! This is Waking Dreams' help wanted section. Listen to this:
"We're Looking For A Game Wizard! We need a head who's comfy with the gnarly end of simulation technology and wants to get in on the ground floor of some exciting projects and alliances and have a freakin' good time while working in your own home and attending corporate retreats in tropical locations. If you're toiling in obscurity because no company is good enough or fun enough, or if you've done it all already and need a challenge, consider sending us a resume just in case this is what you've been waiting for!"
Sounds great, doesn't it? I wish I qualified! This is another hint of exciting things to come. I think of the 3-D, virtual reality techniques found in computer games, Nintendo, and Sega, and the exciting innovations in computer animation, and I imagine them applied to the Alcazar School. Imagine taking a virtual stroll through the Campus Archives, and the Student Union -- a true Waking Dream! These are only speculations, but they point out the breadth of possibilities.
Waking Dreams is a place rife with possibilities. Although the site doesn't DO a whole lot yet, it has a visual and conceptual sensibility and style that promises a fascinating future. It's unfortunate that the technical demands on Joe and Jane User are so great. Many people will undoubtedly be prevented from enjoying the site due to their slower, older, but otherwise quite capable computers. Many others will miss it due to lack of ownership and interest in computers of any kind. Todd has recently discussed his idea of making the internet a primary distribution channel for his music and other projects. This is both a fascinating and an disturbing notion. On the one hand, his product would be available straight to the public whenever Todd decided it was ready. On the other hand, those (current and potential) fans who don't own a computer may be left out, or at least suffer a delay until the product gets distributed through the traditional channels.
Still, you can't accuse Todd of complacency. It seems that if he has an idea/vision, he'll use the tool that can best realize the vision. Some practical matters such as cost to the audience, or market availability or longevity of the technology (CD-i, for example) may be overlooked or de-emphasized along the way. In my opinion, this is as it should be when considering Todd the Artist. He's the man with the idea, and he needs to use whatever tools it takes to make that idea live in the physical world. In this case, the tools we need to receive the art are available to everyone, although it may be a stretch for many today. Tomorrow, the technology will be commonplace and no one will give it a second thought. I expect that, by then, Todd will have wrung much out of the World Wide Web that's interesting and useful to him and he will be moving on to even newer, greener techno-pastures. There's always more.