Back to Lethargy

Currently in Earphones: "Nil Se'n La" and "Dulaman" by Clannad, selected songs from Soundtracks too numerous to mention.

And another Quarter done, and I find myself back in the comparitive quiet of my home town.

Finals passed rather unceremoniously, the tests themselves were a lot easier than I expected. Basically said to my Comp. Lit. final after I was finished with it "Now make me a sammitch, Biyotch!" only to be hit from behind with a cruddy grade on my second paper. Linguistics passed without much note, and I was immensely relieved to see that all the passages on our Latin final were ones I was well acquainted with, then consequently pwned it. All in all, I feel I did well, we'll see if the final grades support my hypothesis.

Had a fantastic gift exchange with the housemates last night: received a great scarf from Preston, the "Backdraft" soundtrack from Toes, and a gift certificate for Amazon.com from Tim and Melissa. Toes did his usual burst of brilliance in getting for Bishop/The House a set of four carbine-like, cock-action Nerf Dart guns, and we had an awesome firefight as soon as we ripped the weapons from their packages. I hope we have many epic battles to come with those babies. The only downside to the great fun had by all was the lateness to which it dragged, and my subsequent insomnia, of which I'm going to pay dearly for later tonight after getting up so early in the morning. That's one night I won't soon forget.

Finals week gave ample time to see my Anja, and I spent many an hour blissfully in her arms. Though she has this week off of work, depending on how her chores shape up, she may or may not be able to visit the Bay. I'd dearly love for her to, as I dearly love to see her whenever she and I are able, but should other things take precedence, it shall shape up as it does. Until I see her next, I have only the sweet memory of her warm grin and smiling eyes to keep me company, but it is enough, along with her words. My heart is hers.

Enough. More later.
- James

You can shoot me later....

Currently in Earphones: "Training Montage" by Ed Shearmur, from The Count of Monte Cristo Soundtrack.

And now it's time for some pretentious art-student-y poetry by yours truly. Rest assured this blog will revert to it's better content afterward (or not).

As I exit, I touch the door,

Feel its warmth, and for a moment,

She is there.

I catch an almost-scent of her,

See her shadow in my minds eye,

And then it’s gone.

Later,

I see her words on the screen,

Feels like the first time, though it’s only been

A day.

I

Rest my head on the desk

Trying to feel her soft touch through

The wood.

Enough. More Later.
- James

::hums a few bars::

Currently in Earphones: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Soundtrack by Patrick Doyle.

Ahh, December is upon us!

Nothing to terribly interesting in the past week. Went and saw Narnia on opening night with Julia and Crew. Overall, it was an alright movie. The creature effects were amazing, as usual, seeing that WETA Workshop + ILM = doubleplusgood. All in all, it tried to be Peter Jackson's LotR, but it lacked the depth and gravity that that fantastic trilogy possessed. And even though people rave about the performance of the actress who played Lucy, I say that it was commendable, but only in light of the rather standard performances of the other main actors. Definitely go see it, but don't expect anything fantastic.

(Oh, and as fitting as it is to have Liam Neeson voicing Aslan, the fact that this is his umpteenth time playing a mentor figure, it's getting kind of old)

Classes are finally over, and it's on to finals! Luckily, my finals are in the middle of the week, giving me plenty of time to study and plenty of time to rest up before heading home afterward. I'd love to be able to stay at least until the 18th, but getting down to the bay with all the stuff I plan to bring back down might necessitate a 'rent driving up, which probably isn't an option on Sunday. Ahh well, we'll see what happens.

Anywho, in more recent events, had a nice dinner and a movie with Anja last night. We went to Sophies Thai and had some rather spicy dishes (still delicious), then went and saw the remake of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly. Fantastic adaptation, I must say, though having never read the books, I cannot make any points to how true the movie was to them. I know that Anja mentioned to me that she didn't particularly care for the Austin books, but enjoyed the movie, and I feel rather the same. I found the story to be so-so: it wasn't bad, just didn't quite hit any particular notes for me. The movie, however, was quite enjoyable, and Anja and I finally got to spend some good time together afterwards. ::sighs::

Gadfry, now that it's Christmas, I'm doing the present dance once again. This time, however, I might end up having to get creative, now that my money supply is under a tighter budget, given my need to pay rent and food for a living. My father will be pleased to know that I am continuing searching for a job for next quarter, and have applied online to another student job offered by the UC. I am also going to pay a visit to Bogey's Books and the other local bookstores to see if they need help. Regardless, I've still got some gifts to get before I let the old Debit card cool off.

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, the HP soundtrack for the newest movie isn't half bad, despite the switch from John Williams to Patrick Doyle. I know, "Wow, that's all James has to say about a soundtrack? Usually he gushes on and on about them!" Yeah, well, I didn't say I'd fallen in love with this one, just that it's pretty neat. I'll probably be more highfalutin when the Narnia Soundtrack comes out on the 13th.

Oh, and one of these days, I hope I may be able to fall asleep in my Anja's arms. No hanky panky, mind you, but merely to have a calm, relaxing, peace you get when you fall asleep looking into each others eyes. One of these days, I hope.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Bits and Pieces

Currently in Earphones: "Unleashed" Soundtrack by Massive Attack.

::staggers in:: Whah! Nothing to terribly big to update about.

Lesse, on Tuesday I got to meet with Robert Todd Carroll, the author of the Skeptics Dictionary. Very nice fellow, and I made sure to thank him profusely for his time. I'm glad that he was joyed to see that he had a fan who actually went out and bought a copy of the book (it's also free online) and now have a personally signed edition of the SkepDic on my shelf, Score!

Yeeesh, I just realized that Preston and I have our final scene due in 3 days. Probably should start working on that one.

Today is gonna be interesting: after our big Cioppino shindig yesterday and relative carefree-ness, now I have to hunker down to Latin Homework, a Comp. Lit. Paper, the Scene with Preston, and the remnants of my laundry. Joy.

Goodness, goodness, goodness. My Poor Anja. I've spent some good time with her this week, though she's always seemed on the edge of collapse. Having to get up at 6:30 am every day for has not been kind to her. And as much as I enjoy my time with her (and relish her desire to spend time with me), I'm gonna need to straighten out and not let her stay over so long in the evenings. It was better at the party last night; We (she and I) managed to collectively send her home before midnight. Unfortunately, she still didn't sleep very well and woke with a migraine. ::whines like a puppy:: I just want to squirrel her away and make her sleep for a few days; I get worried when I see her spiraling down the fatigue pit. It usually culminates in her getting sick/a migraine and crashing. I feel helpless and slightly guilty, because at least one of the nights with minimal sleep is usually due to our time together. I wish I could do something.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Have you held your fermata today?

Currently in Earphones: "Siuil A Run (Walk My Love)" as performed by Celtic Women, "The Queen of Argyll" as performed by Silly Wizard.

To counteract the rather bleak previous post, I'll post some lyrics to my current favorite song, "The Queen of Argyll" Here ya go:

Gentle men it is my duty
To inform you of one beauty
Though I'd ask you of a favor,
Not to seek her for a while
Though I own she is a creature
Of character and feature
No words can paint the picture
of the Queen of all Argyll.

Chorus:
And if you could have seen her there,
Boys if you had just been there
The swan was in her movement,
And the morning in her smile.
All the roses in the garden,
They bow and ask her pardon
For not one could match the beauty
Of the Queen of all Argyll

On that evening that I mention,
I passed with light intention
Through a part of our dear country
Known for beauty and for style
Being a place of noble thinkers,
Of scholars and great drinkers
But above them all for splendour
Shone the Queen of all Argyll

So my lads my needs must leave you,
My intention's not to grieve you
Nor indeed would I decieve you,
Oh I'll see you in a while
I must find some way to gain her,
To court her and to tame her
I fear my heart's in danger
From the Queen of all Argyll

So guys, you know how it feels to find a woman like that right? Just blows you away? This song always puts a smile on my face because it reminds me of that feeling. I'd sing it to a depressed female friend to restore her faith in the male component of humanity.

On another cool note, I've corresponded with Mr. Robert Todd Carroll, author of "The Skeptics Dictionary," a must have for all you healthy disbelievers out there. Turns out Mr. Carroll lives in Davis, and I asked him if he could sign my hard copy of the dictionary, to which he gracefully has agreed to. I look forward to next week!

And on yet another cool note, Anja is coming to visit me during break! She can now finally see that my parents are great people and we're not all crazy!

Enough. More Later.
- James

...Darkness the right hand of Light.

Currently in Earphones: "Estuans Interius" from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.

And the Angel of Mercy looked down on the past,

And staggered backward upon the heat of the blast,

Then the Monster of Jealousy whispered horrid and chill;

The Angel’s wings were stained black and forever were still.

- Rearranged and mangled from Byron a la myself.

Enough. More Later.
- James

The Dance of Blades

Currently in Earphones: "The Count of Monte Cristo" Soundtrack by Edward Shrearmur.

OK, so this has been a while and coming, but here ya go.

The Fencing crew left from Davis around 9:30ish Friday morning. Since we were planning on staying over with the Poly crew, we had twice as much stuff, so the majority of our fencing equipment went with Aljay in his truck. The trip down was relatively uneventful, and we arrived there in the early afternoon.

I tell ya, the Poly crew's (Patrick, Ryan, and housemates) house was situated very oddly. It's a flat that was once a duplex, but had the middle wall knocked out to create a very interesting configuration of rooms and doors. Patrick had a habit of coming in by a different door every time he returned to the house, and we'd always start when he popped up seemingly out of the woodwork. All in all a very nice place, though waaay out in the boonies between a junk yard and PG&E outpost.

The upshot of being in such and odd place was what has been dubbed "Spooling." Right next to their driveway is this giant open-walled shed with large wooden spools (we think that they used to hold cables for PG&E) which vary in size but are perfect for balancing and moving about on like giant wheels. You would stand on top of one and walk forward to move backwards and backward to move forwards, kind of like a clown balancing act. Well, we had a lot of fun seeing how fast and how far we could go on them, jousting on them, and generally goofing around on them. I didn't partake because I wasn't in the mood for any big injuries, seeing that the next day we had the Tourney. It was a fun spectacle to watch, in any case.

The next day we all had a leisurely breakfast, which was the upshot of not being a novice. Novice fencers usually have the earliest call in a tourney, because they take up the most room and usually take a good amount of time to finish up. However, given that we were not Novice fencers anymore, we didn't have to make that call, and instead got to sleep in and enjoy ourselves. The one snag was that we were given mis-information about when the Advanced Foil registration closed, and both Toes and Preston missed out on doing foil as a result. It wasn't too big a deal, because Sabre was both their forte and Toes could still do Epee.

I unfortunately got stuck with some sharks in the pools for Epee (viz, way more advanced fencers than I) including the great Tom Ellison, and only made it 1-4 (That is, won one bout and lost 4 bouts out of 5). The annoying part was that my one victory was against our club president, Fez, who is an excellent Foilist (made 3rd place in the entire tourney) but is just getting in to Epee.

Then, wonder of wonders, before I knew it I won my first ever Direct Elimination. I was going up against a (Santa Cruz?) girl named Alexa who had fenced Epee for 3 years, and yet she had all of the problems I had. After my first bout in the pools in which I got my ass handed to me, TC took me aside and gave me some advice. I was (and still am, to an extent) fencing like a musician; I was too nice, thinking too much, and not having a very competitive edge. TC told me, and I paraphrase "You fence, don't you? Got all the equipment and all? Then by golly, you're an athlete!" To this, I realized he was right, I AM and athlete, and there was a mentality there that wasn't sinking in. "You've got to go in there ready to win," TC told me (paraphrasing again), "because that's what it means to be an athlete. And relax, let your actions just happen. Right now when you're attacking you're like a musket, ::imitates a delayed musket fuse and shot:: you're taking too much time. You need to be more like a contemporary rifle, ::ch-chick-BOOM!!::" In any case, this advice went directly toward my first D.E. bout.

Alexa was a nice enough girl, but after the first few touches, I realized that she had no drive. She would sit in En guard and defend, but make sparse actions against me. As much as I wanted to be nice, I ended up just taking advantage of her (errr, well, not in that way, obviously). I went in relaxed, and just let the touches happen. ::ch-chick-BOOM!!:: got a handshot, ::ch-chick-BOOM!!:: got a beat to her arm, ::ch-chick-BOOM!!:: got another handshot. In the end it was just touch and go. Granted, there wasn't a whole lot of opposition, but it was darn good practice. I walked away with the bout in my favor.

My second D.E. was much more difficult, but twice as much fun. I finally met the twin Epeeists of Cal poly, the two tall and very nordic looking Trent and Troy. I was up against Trent for my second D.E. and met him beforehand via Mr. Ryan Curtis. Trent was fun fellow, right up my alley, and we joked and talked before the match. Both Fez and Ande had given me advice as to Trent's style, so was somewhat prepared when we both hooked ourselves up to the strip.

Since both of our height advantages were null (we're roughly the same height) we both played very cautious, padding just out of each other's distance and gauging each other. The first few touches were back and forth, Trent usually waiting for a counter-attack to my attack and giving little offence. He got a shin-shot off on me, which gave me the idea to copy it. I feinted toward his hand a few times a touch afterward, then zoomed into a crouch and got him squarely on the shin. I resisted the urge to say "Didn't see that one comin', did ya!!" As the match went on, we were basically going point for point. Cody and some of the Davis crew were cheerin' me on on the sidelines. In the end, Trent won, but not before I made him sweat by getting up to 7-7 in a 10 touch match. I was leading when we stopped for our minute break, but my mind then went out the window and his came back to him for the second half. All in all, a great match. I truly said when we shook hands "Whoo! That was a great match! What fun!" We were all smiles.

If there were any other matches to mention, I'm afraid I missed them, being so occupied with Epee. However, Both Toes and Preston placed in the top 8 for Sabre, and also got medals for team Sabre. All in all, Davis did really well, and rocketed up to Second place for the Big Cup. Huzzah to all!

We decided to zoom back to Davis Saturday night rather than Sunday morning, which in retrospect was rather tiring. I regret not hanging out with the Poly crew more afterwards, but Homework called, and we can always do it when they come up for the Davis Tourney.

P.S. I have been in the company of Anja for at least an hour each time for the past few days. I'm getting the niggling suspicion that she fancies me ;). I'll say this, I've enjoyed her company very much, but to iterate what we do here would be improper. Oh, and she's been nice enough to get me some Lady Grey tea, of which you can read an interesting factoid here. My only complaint is that I need to make sure I get enough sleep. No more 8am classes for me, ever! (if I can help it).

Enough. More Later.
- James

Hold on to your hats....

Currently in Earphones: "One Speed" from the Chronicles of Riddick Soundtrack by Graeme Revell.

Don't go away, y'all, I'll update in the next few days with the previous goings on of the Cal Poly Tourney.

Dunno if you ever watched Peewee's Playhouse as a kid, but I'll always remember the various commercial break cuts/ditties: "After theeeese messages, we'll be riiiight...back!"

(And those frikin' odd Twix commercials, I'm scarred for life)

Enough. More Later.
- James

A Woman's Heart.

Currently in Earphones: "Children of Dune" Soundtrack by Brian Tyler.

So yeah, went with Anja to see "A Woman's Heart" at Mondavi last night, was pretty impressed. I'm glad that she and I share the same opinions, though.

First, the first half I found much better than the second, maybe because I'm more of a traditionalist and like the modal and instrumental pieces. It got off to a great start with the amazing Cara Dillion, who had an amazingly sweet and melodious voice. That she started off with her own rendition of "Black is the Color" made my day; it's one of my absolute favorite songs. After a few more nice vocal pieces, Sharon Shannon came down on Accordion and played some wicked reels and jigs of her own making. I really liked how she combined the quick beat and traditional lines with some more classical phrases in her compositions, but needless to say she had everyone bouncing in their seats.

The second half was ok. First off there was Maura O'Connell, this fantastically quirky woman with a lusty alto. She had this huge shock of (looked to be brunette from my vantage point) hair and goofily frumpy clothing, but boy was she having fun! She'd dance around and romance the microphone like a gutsy blues singer. And did she ever have an amazing lung capacity! She held on to notes for what seemed like forever. I liked her soulful repertoire, particularly her "Love you in the Middle," which still touched me even though it's a middle-aged love ballad. Finally there was Mary Black, who although was the more well-known of them all, wasn't particularly impressive. Sure, she had a nice voice, but it was hard to understand her. As Anja so adroitly pointed out, she didn't enunciate and sometimes seemed to be singing around her brouge. Although they all finished out with a few numbers which featured all of them, what was the crowd favorite was the first encore number: Sharon Shannon came out with her squeezebox and sparked the place off with some great fast-moving (Jigs? Reels?). The final pieces afterward seemed underwhelming after such a high-energy finish, but all in all, I liked it all.

The concert last night rekindled Anja's desire for the green land, and I support her whole-heartedly in her desire to spend either a summer or a year there. All I know is that, if she wishes to choose the course that will make her happy, I shouldn't have to play a role. If she really wants to spend a year there, I can't be the one factor holding her back. Goodness knows she's putting herself through enough that she can even go to Ireland. If she does choose for the full year, then I only say this to her: If you find someone else, no doubt better than I, I only ask that you not forget me. Love is not a shackle, and as I love you so should I not greedily bind you to me. You must do what makes you happy, the last thing you need are the desires of a foolish man holding you back from better things.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Indeed...

Currently in Earphones: "Doom Service" "Door of Destiny" "Hellstorm" "Power Struggle" by Klaus Badelt.

I froze. What was I to do? Had I heard correctly? What a time for fatigue to dull my senses. If it was, 'twas so out of left field that I had no time to think, only to react. I made my choice, then realized that it was I who was bass ackwards. Damnit! Shame filled me. I was like the dog that cringed away from a friendly hand after being hit too often. Only the hand was her silvery laughter; pure and sweet, without malice, and my mistake made me cringe. One does not merely unlearn years of humility and shame in a moment, and as much as I wanted to be purified then and there, still I tremble. Have patience with me, Cara Mea, and hopeless though we are, I may yet have courage.

Enough, More Later.
- James

Swords, Cloaks and Late Night Happenings.

Currently in Earphones: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Soundtrack.

Man, this weekend was packed.

First off, got up in the wee hours of the morning Saturday to head to UC Santa Cruz for the Tourney. We piled into Bishop's car and raced down, listening to our newest incarnation of the "Beer For Bishop" compilation that's taking our friends by storm, and singing our lungs out all the way (aside from the occasional nap).

Arrived at the UC and unpacked. It was a small tourney in one of their indoor multipurpose courts, nice and comfy. Now, I had never fenced Epee in any sort of tournament before, so I was prepared to get my ass handed to me. TC counseled me as such, and also said "You can be the thorn. As long as you can get some points off on them, it's all good. Just be a nusiance. Come to think of it, we should totally get you a coat of arms!" Well, first match off the bout (to five points) my opponent got a point, 0-1 his favor. Then 1-1, then 1-2, then 2-2. Then all of a sudden it was 3-2, then 4-2, then 5-2! Bout! I'd won! TC was very impressed, as was I. And that was my victory for the day. Everything else was the other fencer whipping the heck outta me. But I got some good pointers from Mr. Ryan Curtis, one of the Cal Poly crew and an excellent Epeeist. My only regret was having my pools include more lefty-fencers than righties.

Things went very swimmingly afterward. Toes fenced both Saber and Foil, and to our surprise not only did well in pools, but knocked out at least 2 D.E.s in each. He even managed to best Bishop, not an easy feat, which was rather bittersweet. On one hand, Bishop had taught Toes well enough to best him, and on the other, he had been beaten.

But the real kudos goes to Preston, who amazed us all.

So there we were, the second round of D.E.s for Saber, and Preston was up against a USFA C Ranked Fencer from Berkeley (for those of you who don't know, A rank fencers are top of the heap). It was a match to 10 touches, and Preston was getting nailed. It was 8 points to Preston's 1 point, and things were looking grim. Ryan, Patrick, TC and some assorted Davis fencers were on the sidelines yelling encouragement, and TC says at this point "Preston! Do something DIFFERENT!!!"

Preston then pauses, cocks his head to the side and thinks for a moment, and then Ryan shouts "BEGGARMAN!" Now, the Cal Poly people have also heard Beer for Bishop, and know as well as all of us that Beggarman is a song with a very fast tempo. We almost see the dawning comprehension bloom in Preston as the judge says "Ready, Fence!" He immediately starts hopping about "like a leprechaun on meth," as he so eloquently retold, and totally throws the Berkeley fencer off guard, landing a neat clean point.

There's a collected vibe of "Cool! It Worked!" that runs through the air, and Preston jigs it up for a point or two more and starts to gain the upper hand. Patrick then shouts "HEART OF THE OCEAN!" in much the same vein: a song with a slow tempo. At the "Ready, Fence!" the Berkeley fencer immediately tenses up, waiting for the fast and furious. It never comes. Preston calmly advances forward in tempo and clunks him upside the head.

This goes on until they are tied: it's 8-8 and the excitement is buzzing. The entire Salle is watching the match, it seems. Preston is mixing it up like mad and we're right there along with it. The other fencer and his coach are grinding their teeth in frusteration. Then it's 8-9, Preston's favor. Then Preston relaxes just enough to get careless. Now it's 9-9, La Belle: Match Point. Tension is thick in the air. We all hold our breath as we hear the familiar "Ready, Fence!" and Preston and the other charge full on at each other. The sound of blades keen through the air as they swing, and our hearts stop for the nanosecond between the time we hear the box go off and we look at the indicator lights. One Light. A Clean Hit.....Preston's Point.

The Davis/Cal Poly Crowd goes absolutely apeshit. Cheering, hooting, howling, and much back slapping and congratulations ensue as he gets unhooked from the strip. As the Berkeley fencer consulted with his coach, we could almost here them saying "What the hell is a Beggarman?!?!?" An amazing match. Though Preston didn't manage to win the following bout afterwards, it remains the high point of the day. We didn't go away empty handed though; through a technicality we won 3rd place Team Saber. We didn't have any girls at all show up, which was sad in itself, but it also disqualified us from any team scoring (That is, the collective points of all who fence advanced Foil/Saber/Epee). However, there were only two groups who qualified to win Team Saber, and since we placed highest after them, we won third by default. The trophy is on our mantle; Preston earned the right to keep it.

So After staying up for 20 hours on Saturday for all the Tourney related activities, I hobbled through Sunday and most of Monday in recovery. Monday night, though, was a total blast. The great Aljay held a Halloween party at his place (conveniently located on the same street that Anja resides) and we all went out trick-or-treating. Of course, being a bunch of college kids, we devised a new way of making it more legitimate. We had Mike, one of the more musically talented in our party, bring his accordion, and he taught us a very catchy song that he and others had devised earlier. It's a crazy little ditty, and it goes something like this...

"Please give us some Candy,
Starving college students need food!
Please give us some Candy,
Our Stomachs will surely thank you!

Please give us some Candy,
Boy, that would surely be keen,
And we hope that you may have
a Fantastic Halloween!"

Needless to say, we brought a smile to many a face, and tons of extra candy from all the appreciative people as we went door-to-door caroling, as it were. It brought smiles to our faces to hear family after family go "This has been the highlight of our evening!" We even had one house where a husband and wife answered the door, and just before we were about to break into song, the woman said "Wait! I just put our 8 month old to sleep..." ::we all deflate:: "...but I'm gonna go get him up, he should see this!" ::we all resume:: A kind soul even gave us $20 with the admonishment "Go get yourselves a pizza!" We all agreed it was Mikes, what with carrying his accordion around. In any case, we had a blast, and were totally making plans for next year: we'll have more instruments the next time (I on my fiddle, of course)! It was the best Halloween I've had in ages.

Of the time I got to spend with my dear Anja, I will only say this: Although I may be lacking for sleep because of it, the time I spend with her has been the best. The only thing I wish to be able to happen now is for us to fall asleep in each other's arms without care for the next day. I cannot say this enough: I care for her more than I can put in words. I am hers.

But soft, I have homework to do!

Enough, More Later.
- James

Chug-a-chug-a-chug

Currently in Earphones: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Soundtrack by John Williams.

Whoof! Blazin' right along!

Need only 200 words more for my Ling. Paper. I'll finish it tomorrow and not have to worry about it for the next few days. Now all I need to do is continue with Latin, catch up with some Comp. Lit. busywork and start THAT essay, etc. etc. Manageable stuff.

Had a very heartening day at fencing. Earlier on I was seriously doubting that I'd do well at all at the upcoming Santa Cruz Tourney (Yes, Mom and Dad, you're welcome to come if you'd like to haul yourselves down to Santa Cruz. I'll send you more info when I get it). I had missed the last two practices to work and Baroque Ensemble, and previously had been beaten into the ground by Matt Rock. Now, I learned two things this practice: 1. I am a fair hand with an Epee (once I get some tactics in) and 2. I need some foundation before any of Rock's tactics settle in.

Cathy, Matt's girlfriend, explained it very well to me: He's not a very good teacher in that he instructs you as if you were about to go fence somewhere his level. Now, that's all well and good, to be learning some advanced stuff, but if you're fresh into Epee (or not wanting to be really, really good this instant) it's not so cool. However, as Thoreau once said (and I paraphrase), "If you build your castles in the air, worry not. That is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."

The foundation came from TC, who graciously allowed me some private time to polish the hunk of raw ore that is my Epee skill with him. I was greatly relieved to hear that I could ask him for some time for private tutelage and that he would grant it, should he have the time. I also was able to fence Seymon and score a good amount of hits against him. Matt should be happy to know that I feinted distance against him, intentionally falling short to lull him closer, then going in for the kill. BOO-YAH!

Incidentally, there's a new fencer named James (now I REALLY need a nickname!) who's fenced Epee for 4 years in High School. The only thing is that he now has to get a foil base from TC before he's allowed to fence Epee again. Seems like a nice guy.

My poor, dear Anja. She has been wrestling with a twingy migraine for a week or so now and it had her against the ropes, but now it managed to throw her out of the ring. She skipped school today because of that and her jaw kept locking up. My mom has kindly pointed out some articles on the subject which I've dutifully forwarded to Anja. I hope she finds something to help her get better, but it's difficult with her difficulty swallowing pills. She's been telling me that she's really up for a change of scene, and I offered her a visit/stay for a bit in the Bay when Thanksgiving come around. Mom, Dad, I hope you don't mind if she does like to take up the offer, though it's probably not going to be so. She has the usual Family Gathering to go to, but she'll make an attempt to shrug it off, though I'm not sure how successful it will be. I care for her very much.

But soft, I have homework to finish!

Enough. More Later.
- James

Yet Another Quick Update

Currently in Earphones: "The Mermaids Tears" and "The Rowan Tree Trilogy" by Jeff Victor, "The Dragon's Breath" by David Arkenstone, "Skellig" by Loreena McKennitt.

Things are chugggin' right along.

I should probably get a job: luckily the University has all sorts of student jobs. What's lookin' best right now is being a Shelver at Shields Library. My only qualms are the hours: weekends, must keep all hours during Finals week, and an extra 7 hours during the last two weeks of the quarter. I'll meditate on it for a day or two, but I'm guessing I'm gonna be going for it. Goodbye, free time....At least it's money.

Gotta get working on my Linguistics Paper. The first part is due in a week.

The UCD Drama dept is having their second annual costume sale this weekend, should be fun. We're going to camp out early in the morning to get some good pickings.

8am classes blow. I'm never going to take them again if I can avoid it. At least Drama 10 is interesting enough to merit me dragging my butt outta bed at 6:30 that I may be there, scrubbed and satiated, on time.

Some Latin for my dear Anja: "Rosa Rubicundior, Lilio Candidior, Omnibus formosior, semper in te glorior!" Te amo, Cara Mea.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Hip Hip....HUZZAH!

Currently in Earphones: "Sahara" soundtrack by Clint Mansell. "The Dragon's Breath" by David Arkenstone.

Wow, so that's what a renaissance fair is like.

Roll call of who all was there: From the Casa de Espada de Davis (our house), Myself, Preston (with his current interest, Kyong Hwa), and Robert (with his girlfriend Lisa). And group no. 2, dear Anja and her friends Lisa and Michelle.

I have been to the Dickens fair before. But that, at worst, was a bunch of pretentious, annoying idiots who liked flouncing about in Victorian costume and sawing away at unconvincing accents.

Okay, so the reason for this negative turn was a particularly annoying event early on during the Ren Fair today, but other than that, the day was cool.

Now, I knew that there are usually a few loonies who take everything to the extreme and make some weird crap go down, usually involving an unsuspecting civilian-dressed person who's just there to soak it in. I've had similar encounters before, so I was ready for some strange shit. But this one just rattled me...

Sascha and I were play-fencing with empty hands, just having a glorified poking war. Now, this dude, who was over-acting to begin with (but who had some suavitude to him) sidles up to us and makes a big show of "Don't stab women, embrace women!" (with the usual flowery elocution) in demonstration to me and with the various ladies in our party. Who should he grab but Anja?

So I'm not getting angry or anything: I've got some stability because I was expecting this, but I'm off balance all the same because he's not letting me get a word in edgewise. He's leading me on to calling him out ("Here, you hold her, like this, etc...[to Anja] You see his face? I see jealousy there!") and there is no malice or otherwise, he's doing it all in play. But once again, for the life of me, he wasn't letting me collect my wits to deliver anything diplomatic or (if I was fast and lucky enough) witty.

He was playful enough to keep putting a hand to the side of my face in demonstration ("You hold women!"), with which I kept gently grabbing and pushing aside. Between these vocal salvos and otherwise, I was struggling to find words of my own to rebuff the cur. Now, it looked as though he was a nice enough guy, so I wasn't interested in chewing him out, but I eventually gave up and played into the short way out. I let all expression fall from my face, took a good grip on his hand, and said softly "Unhand my woman!" Not the words I would have used had I the choice, for he was baiting me towards such a cro-magnon-like response.

But it did the trick, and he bowed in apology before I could stammer out "or I shall have to challenge you to a duel!" I would have duelled him in all earnestness, yet still in play, as I had no interest in actual blood sport. As we left we were all laughing about it naturally, but I still felt I had some matter of honor to settle, some reason left unexplained. That, unfortunately, was what stuck with me, that un-balanced-ness.

Not to say that there were other good things that I forgot. There was an uproariously funny troupe called The Sound and the Fury who did their own play, "Testiculese and ye Sack of Rome," the self-advertised "dirtiest play of the faire." It was basically a long string of sex jokes, but well put together and well executed. To mention some off-color material, they used a joke with word-play on "vas deferens" in the punchline, which elicited a good giggle from myself and the rest, to which the performers replied: "Ahh, a College-age group!"

Saw the Jousting tournament, which had all the theatricality (and better jokes) as any of those "Camelot"-dinner-and-a-floor-show actors-whacking-each-other-with-swords performances, but had real, honest-to-goodness, no-holds-barred jousting. Real whacks and everything. Nothing too spectacular, but you could tell when a hit landed: "CRAASH!!"

We picked up some great, hearty food. Preston with a full leg of turkey, and the rest with some beautifully rich soup in a bread bowl. We watched some Morris Dancers and Scots/Irish dancers while chonkin' on the grub, and it was then that we actually met back up with Anja and co.

What had happened: The house crew (viz, Preston, I, et. al.) got separated from the Anja crew as we were looking through all the booths, and we decided to head over to the Jousting match and hope to meet up with them on the off-chance that they were going there too. After the match, we went back to the food area and ate, during which we found each other again.

After that we wandered about some more, and eventually caught the middle of "The Bold and Stupid Men," a well done act about how to be overtly and comically chivalrous. There was some fun theatrical swordplay, but it was also clear that the fellows were no slouches with blades. As Preston remarked later: "There were some well done technical disengages and takes, and even one of the more theatrical 'circular-disarm' moves, though with quite a bit of skill in it." Normally I'm not up for any kind of audience participation, but in a play like this (and with the already theatrical quality of most of the audience) it was a joy to watch the two men instruct people in how to POSE...like a man, STRUT...like a man, and BOW to a lady...like a man!

We goofed about in the various clothing booths for a little afterward, and my only regret was not trying on some of the loose-sleeved, renaissance men's shirts that merited their own booth. The various cloaks were cool enough, but I think I'll be able to get stuff like that at the upcoming Costume Sale in the UCD Drama dept.

Poor, dear Anja. She came down with a migraine part way through the day. I went into my customary "low-alert" mode: ears pricked and eyes open in order to help ease any aggravating stimuli that might make things worse. This, of course, pretty much only entailed me with keeping the sun out of her face and being as gentle as possible. Having a mom who gets migrains has, I hope, tuned me in at least a little to that kind of stuff.

Turns out that her group didn't click very well with the rest of us. Anja was put in the awkward position of trying to at least reconcile her two charges, a feat which I heard later didn't turn out very well. In any case, she's feeling pretty crummy today, so after I do my few chores and homework I hope to be able to ease her.

To end on a nice note, she came back to our house (along with our other guests, though not the other two in Anja's crew) and we all cooked dinner. I won't go into too much detail of the short time we had with each other afterward, but it was so nice to be standing in each others arms, and feeling this sort of magic rise out each other by being on the same brainwave: listening to the above mentioned Celtic song and looking into each others eyes.

Reader, I worried earlier when getting to know Anja. I worried that I might not come to love her. I cared and still care for her very much, yet as I have discovered, there seems to be a fine line between loving and caring for someone. Maybe I'm still settling the differences between Passionate love and Companionate Love, as so nicely outlined by our Psych. Profs. But I tell you, Reader, whatever stoicism that has stilled my heart in the past is gradually dissolving. For once, I have hope.

But enough of my prattling. I'm sure you're anxious to be getting back to your life after such a lengthily post.

Enough, More Later.
- James

Attack in Prep

Currently in Earphones: "Ghosts Love Score" by Nightwish.

This is a prep attack for an inevitable Sunday post entailing the ensuing Renaissance Fair.

::plays the Song of Storms backwards::

This should be fun!

Oh, Reader: Her name is Anja. Dear, sweet, beautiful Anja. By her loving caresses do I let my hardened heart be softened. In her soft brown eyes do I lose myself, and within her loving embrace do I forget my troubles. Her name is Anja.

Enough, More Later.
- James

We're on a Roll

Currently in Earphones: "Summon the Worms" "Fear is the Mind Killer" and "The Jihad" from Children of Dune composed by Brian Tyler. Shawshank Redemption Soundtrack by Thomas Newman.

I suppose a new post is in order.

Finally got my class schedule worked out. Now I've got two awesome professors instead of two mediocre ones. A Prof. Benware for my Ling 1 and Prof. Runden for Latin 100N. Benware is way cool, and we are constantly exploring new languages to demonstrate different morphologies for the time being. I also found out from him why Eastern Indian dialects sound so odd to the English ear: they make use of a retroflex. To demonstrate: make the "tuh" sound like you're saying "to." Notice how the tip of your tongue touches the upper palate of your mouth just behind your front teeth. Practice saying "Ah-tah, Ah-tah" that you may get the sound in your ear. Now, instead of using the tip of the top of your tongue, curl the front of it and say "tah" with the underside of the tip. The "tah" should come from the area of your mouth closer to your throat, not from the upper front like a English "tah." It is the use of this retroflex that produces that kind of, say "chewy" (for the lack of a better adjective) dialect, at least to the English ear.

Prof. Runden is just a blast. I won't go into detail, just give you one of his off-the-cuff quotes that I had the foresight to write down: "Romans fall into [using] indirect statements like drunks fall into gutters." This is gonna be fun.

Reader, I must confess. There is a new woman in my life. I will not mention names or specifics, because I don't want to break any privacy and trust that we have. All I will say is that I am amazed that we click as well as we do, as well as the fact that she wants to see as much of me as I see of her.

Reader, a personal diversion, if I may...

The last few times I went out with women, through whatever reasons of their own, I was invariably not seeing as much of them as they wished to see of me. Both times I ended with the painful question of "Is it I that is wrong, is it I who is wanting too much? Am I such a horrible person for wanting to spend as much time with them as I do?" Both times I chalked it up as my failure, but this time, with this woman.....I am constantly amazed and delighted.

To continue, I spent last night with her until the wee hours of the morning, savoring every second of it. The price that I had to pay was one of time. I had an 8am class the next morning, and I paid it in full:

Today was absolutely crazy. I had classes all throughout the day, with breaks long enough for me to get bored and short enough that I couldn't go home. Drama 10 from 8am-10-am, Linguistics 1 from 11am-12pm, Latin 100N from 1pm-2pm, 2 hour break to go home for 15 minutes, Comp. Lit. Discussion from 4pm-5pm, run home for a 15 minute dinner, then over to Hickey Gym for Fencing from 6pm-9pm, in which I get the snot beaten out of me while learning valuable ways to stab people. Whoooo!

And now to go stumble into bed.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Additional Tidbit

Currently in Earphones: "Agnus Dei" from the Mass in G minor by Ralph Vaughn Williams.

As much as I detest ganking insipid online personality quizzes, I just had to put this next one up. The other two are just kinda neat.

James Pridham Keith's Aliases

Your movie star name: Cheetoes Freeman

Your fashion designer name is James Brussles

Your socialite name is Jamie San Francisco

Your fly girl / guy name is J Kei

Your detective name is Lizard San Leandro

Your barfly name is Oreos Wine

Your soap opera name is Pridham Kenilworth

Your rock star name is Chocolate Cheetah

Your star wars name is Jammer Keidas

Your punk rock band name is The Stoic Flapjack

The Amazing Meganame Generator

The following silliness are all products of my own brain.

The new breakout band The Stoic Flapjack presents their new album, Spasmodic Mushroom! With such original hits as "The Sizzling Eagle," and "Carp Flap Fever," it's a must have for all you crazy indie folk! Includes bonus cover of "Hot Sex Madrigal in the Middle of my Tights."

New, from the James Brussles clothing and accesory line, comes....VEGGIE WEAR.

Because I'm a freak with pronounciation, you will now speak my Star Wars name as such..."YAM-air KAI-das." You are now my death commandoes, who shall spread my name and my teachings througout the galaxy! I WILL CONTROL THE SPI--...nevermind, wrong story.

And Now for something completely different....

You Are A Weeping Willow Tree

You are a dreamer, and you're into almost any kind of escapism. Restless and capricious, you love to travel to exotic places. You are easily influenced by others, as long as they don't pressure you. You tend to suffer in love until you find that one loyal, steadfast partner. An empathetic friend, you love to make others smile and laugh.

What is Your Celtic Horoscope?

Then just for the hell of it...

Your Irish Name Is...

Quinn Healy

What's your Irish Name?

Righty, I won't do that again for a while.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Tidbit

Currently in Earphones: "I'm Not Driving Anymore" and "Drinking Song" by Rob Dougan.

"He that is jealous is not in love." - Saint Augustine of Hippo

If this is true, I'm screwed. Will I ever not feel hints jealousy at specters of old lovers in any girl I get intrested in? Effin'-A, they're intregral parts of any of our histories: those who have moved and loved us. While most of me realizes and understands this, a small part of me will always regret not being one who earned a place in her heart. Whenever a potential lady tells me of a sliver of her past: one who wrote her a heartfelt poem, or sung her a crooning melody, a part of me says (while the stars fill her eyes) "Damnit! *I* wanted to do that!"

Enough. More Later.
- James

No, I'm not dead....

Currently in Earphones: "Children of Dune" soundtrack by Brian Tyler.

I'm still here! Fully moved in at Davis and beginning classes.

Wow, I sure lucked out with choosing housemates. They're all fencing buddies and great people to hang with. We've got the place clean as a whistle in order to dispell that nasty idea that all boy's places are unclean and smelly. We've had a few old-fashioned, friend-filled, parlor-games-included dinner parties, and boy were they fun! We're now making it a policy (especially for people of the female persuasion) that our door is always open and ourselves always willing to make good food should they feel like dropping by. I think we're off to a good start of a (hopefully) good year.

Classes are good so far. Linguistics 1 looks to be a usual tromp through introductory territory. My new Latin professor looks competent, if rather eccentric (in addition, we've got a female brit in the class with a lovely cockney accent, transfer student I imagine, and seemingly more knowledgeable about Latin than the rest of us). I immediately liked our Professor for Comp Lit 6. I was sitting down in lecture, right after a Bio Sci class, and there were some notes and prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and whatnot on the chalkboard. In walks this somewhat bedraggled prof wearing a greasy T-shirt with a dress-coat thrown over it. He walks briskly up to the chalkboard, whips up a piece of chalk, quickly scrawls "B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T" across the notes and circles it, then turns laughing to the other professor and embraces him. I immediately thought "I'm gonna like this guy!"

I haven't had my Intro to Acting class yet, but I hope the 8am call is worth it.

We had a great dinner party last night that went well into the wee hours of the morning. I'd write more, but I really need my sleep.

Enough. More Later.
- James

James has been Stunned!

Oh, Fuck...Jeezuz! Damn....God....Frickin..........Hello!

Advent Children.....Oh God...gonna have an anyerism here....So woth the twelve hour download.......GODDAMNN.....::babbles like a fanboy::

One thought before I slip back into nonsensical babbling, didn't that last scene look somewhat like a...I don't know....BAPTISM? Be cured of your Geo[STIGMATA] with this [HOLY] water! You gotta be on your toes for the christian propoganda!

(All kidding aside....FUCK....YES....so cool....I'm dyin here.......)

Enough, More Later.
- James

I'm not very good at thinking up titles when I'm tired.

Currently in Earphones: "Teardrop" by Massive Attack (Also known as the main theme for House, M.D.), a crapload of Chieftains music.

Last day of work today. Kinda anti-climactic; we had far more cashiers than we needed, so I ended up being Relief. Shortest....shift.....ever. Only had to relieve 3 cashiers, and they were all on time as well. I was in and out and finished by 2:30, which is around the time when Relief is SUPPOSED to get out on normal days. Of course, summer being the crazy thing it is, that's never the case. I may yet be back for another round.

House, House, Hooooouuuuuse......M.D. I just acquired the first season of that brilliant show and spent all of yesterday watching it. I'm now going through the "watching-it-all-again-with-family" phase and will undoubtedly be entering the "watching-it-all-again-with-friends" phase, which I am looking forward to immensely. I'm also prepared to go though all the good parts of Blackadder to really mess with my friends' minds (just to show that before he played a sarcastic, sardonic and narcissistic American Doctor, Hugh Laurie played both an upper class, empty headed British twit [Jeeves and Wooster] and an...umm, upper class...empty headed British twit [Blackadder III]. What range!).

On the low point of the day, I got that twinge of jealousy when you realize that some of your friends have closer circles of friends that don't include you in them. At worse, Elite-ism ruining my day, at best, cheap dismissal.

Oh right, the trial is over, I can talk about it now. Kinda boring in retrospect actually. We were called to decide if some Buddhist monks (Cambodian, at that) had a right to stay at an Oakland Temple, which had recently been taken over by an International Buddhist Non-Profit Corporation, when they had refused to sign loyalty oaths agreements to abide by the rules, etc. Things got fairly complicated, but only after all the witnesses were called did the judge dismiss us, citing that the legalese for what kind of tenants the monks were had just been solidified and rendered any argument null. Hence, we were thanked and booted out. I just can't wait for my check to come, pithy though it is for 5 whole days sitting around hard work.

Seeing how I'm crashing like every mis-diagnosed patient crashes (and burns, usually in a spectacular medical fashion) in every episode of House, I'm going to obey nature and slip into stasis mode. That's sleep for all you plebians.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Light is the Left Hand of Darkness....

Currently in Earphones: Braveheart Soundtrack by James Horner, "One Speed" from The Chronicles of Riddick by Graeme Revell, "The Rescue" from The Great Raid by Trevor Rabin.

Whoof, what a packed last week or so. I'll start at the beginning...

I ended up meeting up with Preston and Liz at my house come Saturday morning, before our foray into the City. Liz was beautiful and windswept in a nice, So-Cal, Spring dress and Preston his usual dapper self with trademark Red Fedora. I was a tad taken aback yet honored for the dress up: For a trounce around the City I was thinking some nice comfey regular wear, but it felt good to have friends that considered something so banal as my B-day an occasion for nice dress. Had a nice introduction of my friends to my parents and provided some food to the travelers (one of whom didn't eat breakfast beforehand). We scooted on out fairly quickly.

Poor Mr. Thomas had just had his wisdom teeth out and was low on energy, though he was still his scrappy self for the duration of the trip. I did hear he crashed pretty hard on getting back to Roseville that night, I hope he's feelin' better!

We all assembled in Union Square after the usual greetings. We decided on the tried-and-true Boudin's for lunch, though we learned with dismay that Sascha was restricting the Gluten in her diet (nutritionists orders). Though that meant Salad for her as opposed to one-and-only Clam Chowder in a San Francisco Sourdough Bread Bowl, she was nice enough to humor us and grab a bite to eat there anyway. Was pleased to note that everyone enjoyed the kind of Loft/Cafe setting of the Boudin's on Market Street (not the mention the food!) and am sure that will be filed away for future use in the heads of all that were present.

Oh, we'd stopped by the Music Center of San Francisco, a "Nice little hole-in-the-wall" as Preston stated, and browsed their sheet music selections. The Second floor loft-like store isn't much to look at (and it's selection of Viola Music is rather limited) but it's full of character. We drifted about there for a bit before heading to Boudin's.

After eating we ambled over to the Metreon. I think Toes and Sascha were getting rather tired of it by then, but Preston and Liz hadn't yet seen it in it's fullness. Preston regaled us with his tales of visiting the Metreon during his stay in SF for the HALO shindig and we browsed about. I did make a point to say that everything there was awfully expensive, and yet it took the revelation that you had to spend a minimum of $5 on an Arcade card to play in their overblown Noiseland to deter Preston and Toes. Took our leave and went to the playground at the Moscone Center.

Toes and I had a lot of fun running about the play structures while the others looked on, and we eventually settled down and played a game or two of Fluxx. Fun game, that. I know it's the point of the game to have always changing rules, but it always feels very insubstantial to me. I mean, you can set up all sorts of intricate rules and regulations with the cards you can play, but all it takes is one person with the right card to turn everything upside down and suddenly win. I guess the thrill is in not knowing what is going to happen next. I'm not complainin', though: I won the second game.

It was about 4-ish after we finished and we were all feelin' tired. Preston suggested finding a Jamba Juice or some smoothie joint, and we gathered the last of our energies and headed back toward Market.

The hilarious anecdote of the day follows: As we were on our way back toward the main drag, we all took notice of two Asian girls, very well dressed and primped, walking toward and past us. Upon seeing them, Preston points to the sky as if in inspiration accompanied by the verbal "Ah!" and pulls a 180, speeding to catch up with them. Now, Preston may have some rakish tendencies, I don't know, but I believe we were all thinking in that second, "Preston see pretty girl, Preston go after pretty girl?" It wasn't until a second later as I turned my head to follow his progress that I see it. One of them is drinking from a beverage cup, and what does it say on it?

That's right.

Jamba Juice. This, of course, causes us all to break into silly/relieved laughter to realize he was just after directions and not digits, and marvel and it. That's goin' in the record books. Though the girls were pretty, so I can understand if it was otherwise.

We stumble about a bit looking for the Jamba Juice, and after some directions we finally get there. More eating/chatting ensues, and we go for a brief trot through Virgin before all piling into BART and heading back toward the East Bay.

The rest is fairly simple. We crash at my place and debate what to watch for a bit: nothing too long you see, Preston and Liz had to get back to Davis that evening and we didn't want to stretch anything out. We decided on an episode of Firefly, and now I'm hooked. People go their respective directions and I crash myself.

There will be a more interesting story regarding my subsequent Jury Duty, but given that I'm still now in the Trial, I can't talk about it per judges orders. Kind of along the lines of "Don't talk about the case with anyone, including your fellow jurors, or we'll staple you're head to the wall" admonitions. I can say this, it is a Civil Case, so nothing very interesting like a murder or such. Still though, I don't know if I could decide on whether or not to send someone to prison.

Enough, More Later.
- James

If there were reason for these miseries.....

Currently in earphones: Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique)

::semi-hopeful opening::

::gushing review of soundtrack::

::mediocre anecdote::

::thinly-veiled admission of Single-tude::

::Pause for literary bitch-slap by a certain Epeeist::

::Lament::

::spiral into madness::

Enough, More Later.
- James

Breathe Deep, Seek Peace

Currently in Earphones: "Finale (Furiant)" from Dvorak's Czech Suite, "A Number of Microphones," "On Her Majesties Secret Service," "Bigger?" and "Cominagetcha" by Propellerheads.

Work continues as per usual. Sitting in booths and smiling to the populace. I like to think that I'm customer friendly: I do my best to be polite and deferential. I just hate how one dissatisfied customer can ruin your whole day, even if they are polite about it. I try to treasure and hold on to the people who give encouragement, but they just don't stick in the mind like angry ones. A few days ago the cashier I was training and I were on the receiving end of a not-nasty-but-heartfelt barb, and he wasn't angry, just forceful. As is per usual, it felt like it was directed right at us, the Cashiers. But, once the customer saw me cowering in supplication and my co-worker on the verge of tears, he relented a bit, acknowledging that it wasn't our fault per se. On the upshot, I learned how to work the Credit Card machine in the Back Entrance for refunds.

Damnit, My buddies and soon to be roomies need to get together for a jaunt around the City! But darned if Preston has a job that keeps him away from the comp all evening and makes him very hard to contact. It would have been cool to go do something with Sascha and Toes in the meantime, but our respective jobs aren't letting us.

Gonna go help my old buddy Daniel T. set up his new comp tomorrow. I think I'm gonna ask him for some payment for my time: I've put in so many man hours on his old toaster of a comp (and learnt the hard way that new programs and old OS don't mix very well) that I think I deserve a little compensation. Hell, he even mentioned it himself a while back, and I'm gonna take him up on his offer.

I was reading an article in the Chron this morning about how Special FX have so taken over movies that directors rely more on it than on anything else. Now, since I don't yet own the mega-edition of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (And have only read one article on the Making of), it came as a surprise to know that they did, in fact, use CG for some of the shots. What I wanna know is, for all of you who saw Master and Commander, did YOU figure out there was CG in it? I certainly didn't! (Not before reading the making of stuff, that's for sure) Now isn't THAT a measure of how good CG work is?

I know though, in an age where we can create entire undead armies, make a flaming man fly through skyscrapers and create other such fantastic things, replication of EARTHLY realism may seem ho-hum. But isn't it true that we look for REALISM in general when admiring CG work, whether it be fantasy or more commonplace? There is always a certain amount of suspension of disbelief when dealing with fantastic images: we don't REALLY believe that a big red man with horn-stubs and a stone hand will come crashing though the BART station, battling a slimy, evil creature while we're waiting for our train to Daly City. But do we believe that that creature really did have the strenght to knock the red man flying into theceilingg without thinking that there were some invisible wires attached to the red man, and presumable a team of guys on the other end of the rope going "NOW!!!"

So I guess the question is, not that do we believe these things can exist in the world we live in, but could they exist in a world LIKE ours, at least when dealing with fantasy.

Enough. More Later.
- James

One o' these days...

Currently in earphones: "Ironclad" from the Sahara soundtrack by Clint Mansell, "Blind Pew" from the Treasure Island Soundtrack by The Chieftains, "The Fighting Donellys" and "Fighting for Dough" from the Far and Away soundtrack, composed by John Williams and performed by The Chieftains.

An update wouldn't go amiss.

Finished off the Jenny Lin Summer Music program tonight. The usual bunch of pop and showtunes with some gutted classical thrown in the mix. I do it because there are some good people and friends and the great Mrs. Meier conducts.

On a slightly different note, my chicken-itude never ceases to amaze me. I see the same few girls that I wouldn't mind talking to for the third year in the row, and I still don't work up the nerve to go talk to them, even though some of them are stand partners with good friends of mine. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! On the upshot, there's a nice violist/alto (voice) who wants to collaborate with me next year for a chamber piece. However, she seems to already be attached. I'll take what I can get.

In other news, I got some more Chieftains music (as my above Now Playing list attests). The first is their sparse contributions to John Williams' score to Far and Away, which like many of the soundtracks I buy, I have never seen. It's pretty basic Williams, easily identifiable and very hummable. He composed all the music, has some pretty good Irish in the mix, and has the blessing and performance of The Chieftains to bolster it. The two tracks I mention are the only ones featuring the Irish group, consequently my favorites, along with a great action cue titled "The Land Race."

The second of three discs new in my collection is simply titled "Film Cuts" and is a collection of all the compositions/arrangements of Irish stuff done by The Chieftains for various movies. I was disappointed to find that most of the stuff they'd done were copy and pastes of tracks from their albums, obviously done at different recording sessions. The only stuff of note that I enjoyed was their score to Treasure Island, which, although not stunningly original, featured more interesting variations on old trad. Irish tunes as to make them interesting. My favorite being the track mentioned above and an interesting arrangement of "The Morning Dew," otherwise known as "The Hare in the Heather."

And finally, what arrived today, the soundtrack to the movie Sahara scored by Clint "Requiem for a [Atonal] Dream" Mansell, and yet another movie I threw money at for the music and not the film. Here's how it went down. I had purchased the soundtrack to that awesome piece of cinema, Batman Begins, and shortly thereafter received an e-mail from Amazon.com going something like this: "We see you've purchased X, and since we've noticed that not only do the majority of people who buy X buy Y as well, but seeing that Y is just coming out and will be on sale, we were wondering if you'd fancy a listen?" X being the Batman Begins soundtrack and Y being the Sahara soundtrack, I decided to listen, knowing how much the former rocked my socks.

One listen to the first track and I was sold. I didn't know ol' Mansell had it in him do to the kind of sweeping, bombastic, horns-blaring-sexy-James-Bond-themes, having only sampled his score to "Requiem for a Dream" featuring the very modern and atonal Kronos Quartett. Suffice to say, I've only listened to the big action cues since the soundtrack had arrived at my doorstep, being that kind of junkie. The only comparison I can make is the "Kingdom of Heaven" soundtrack with its combos of pounding action interlaced with ethnic, though not nearly as fun as this soundtrack right here. Once again, having never seen Sahara, I can't pass judgment on the movie, but a good friend of mine told me that it was fun. From the sound of the music (and various reviews I've read), I can guess that this was a rollicking romp that didn't take itself too seriously, and all the more power to it. This music is gonna be on my playlist for a while.

And that's enough of that, I've got a 9 am call tomorrow morning for the Zoo, and seeing that it's now 11pm, I should get some sleep!

Enough. More Later.
- James Keith

Quick update

Got my Old Job at the Oakland Zoo back. Come visit me!

I think I finally figured out that "Keys to Your Heart" test-thing that's been floating around the net. Here's some updated results from my taking it. Does the world make sense, or do you make sense of the world?


Frikin Space for no reason again!!

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance.

In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you.

You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is low. Even if you're tempted, you'd try hard not to do it.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Let's see if people ignore this....

Currently in Earphones: "Molossus" from the Batman Begins Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, "Ned Kelly" from the Ned Kelly Soundtrack by Klaus Badelt, "Rannoch Moor Suite" from the Rob Roy Soundtrack by Carter Burwell.

Fine, I'll post, but it's gonna be short, damn it!

Job search becoming futile. I've got a line up with some chick in the Chamber of Commerce for Job Help for Teens, but that's all of next week. It's darned humbling to send in your resume to a bunch of places, show up, have good interviews, and get turned down anyway. All the freakin' same too..."Wow, you're a good lad, but I've already got the team I need for the summer. Ya never know though...." Yeah, and pigs might fly.

I'm not doin' the fast food crap. Period. Baskin Robbins may be my last line of defense. But who the heck is gonna want a guy for two months? I'll keep my head up, but next time I'm getting started earlier with the job search.

It's not gonna kill me to be without work, but it's frikin' annoying!

Enough of that, for all you zero ladies out there who fancy me, I'm warmin' my engine up again for another three beats of that endless waltz: Love, Breakup and loneliness (yet again). It must not be enough that I learn from my mistakes and don't commit them again; I have to make new ones. Perchance Lady Luck with stick with me this time, and not wander all over the room and blow on some other guy's dice (Go Guys and Dolls!).

SINGLE: Tall male, 19. Stable personality. Twitchy around reminders of the past. Can write poetry, play Viola, serenade, et cetera. Avoidant of "Friend Zone" at risk of personal health. Like a good dog, hates being left alone and enjoys cuddling. If he likes you, you'll know. If he doesn't, he'll tell you. Seeking woman of similar attributes. Music- and book-lover a plus! Inquire Within.

Enough. More Later.
- James

The End is Here!.....Wait, just kidding....

Currently in Earphones: Ocean's Twelve Soundtrack by David Holmes

Greetings all!

These have been some eventful last few days.

So yesternight I was puttering about on the laptop and happened to catch a rather interesting headline in Google News..."Tsunami Warning Issued for California Coast" or some such...And my initial reaction was "Oh, funky."

Evidently a 7.1 quake hit off the coast and a 5.0 hit north of the bay, probably far enough away not to rattle the Golden Gate. A Tsunami warning was issued and alertness was stressed. Not 20 minutes afterward, after which I was busy telling people about said event, an update was posted to the extent of "Whoops, Sorry. No big waves after all. Just kidding!" I then felt it my duty, seemingly being the only one up on this stuff, to update everyone I just told with the decidedly less interesting (but more safe). I'd already been the bearer of false news a week before (albeit for something not quite so potentially lethal, viz whether or not a movie was being shown), so I was in no interest to keep the title.

Had my Anthro Final, and what happened? The multiple choice section had me scratchin' my head (nothing especially bad, just took more time) and I breezed though the short answer section. Guess which part I studied for and which part I scanned over, deeming it fairly unimportant beforehand? I'm gonna pass this class, and with a non-shabby grade to boot, I'm sure of it. So I'm not worried.

Went with Sascha and Toes to see Batman Begins. WOW. That movie owned me. Everyone must see it. It's got Swords! And Explosions! You'll like it! My only qualms were that the fight scenes were shot entirely too close to the action and the Scarecrow was an awful sissy. Granted, he was really creepy and has my favorite line....Grunt: "Who is it?" Him: "It's the bat...man!" I'll say no more, but you all must see!!!!

I'm kinda sad-hat because I just picked up the "Ocean's Twelve" Soundtrack, specifically for the music that played during the scene where Le Renard dances through the laser traps, but I don't think it's on here! There's some good tracks here on the order of "Swing/Jazz Heist Music" that's particularly titillating, but darn it, I wanted that song!

Gotta start some serious packing, I'm goin' home tomorrow! Farewell, Davis, until next September!

Enough. More Later.
- James

Toooo much free time...

Currently in earphones: "Lilium ~opening version~" by Konishi Kayo and Kondoo Yuk, "Mass in G Minor" by Ralph Vaughn Williams.

Greetings all,

One of these days I'll wise up and find classes with finals that DON'T land days apart. This extra time is dulling my knowledge, and it's all I can do to drag myself back to the review questions and scribe down some more answers. Oh well, hopefully I'll finally get together with Whitney and get some serious studying done, not to mention compare notes with Jon. Poor guy, I hope he realizes the goof I made with calculating the number of review questions.

On another note, this has caught my interest of late...

(WARNING, SQUEAMISH SHOULD NOT PARTAKE! Some material judged disturbing by many)

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/243164

Now, this exemplifies "Goth" in essence. Vaguely Victorian in dress and speak, mildly morbid (or severely, depending on your level of squeamishness) and having a obsequious obsession with the occult and occlusive oddities. The problem with "Goth" is that it gets all too hammy and pretentious all too easily. This flash animation, however, is a prime example of, as one user put it, "a non-try-hard noir." All too often, "Goth" comes across as "Ooo, look at me! I'm all dark and depressed and creepy. Aren't I cool?" As a result, I don't have much respect for it. Well done "Goth" I appreciate and find entertaining, but the majority of those who claim it are either those in it for the attention and shock value or those so dismally arrayed socially and mentally that you wonder how they function. How can you honestly give credence to something like that?

Anywhos, only a few more days, and the first year of college is over. Yikes! How'd that happen? Didn't I just move in? A whole lot has happened, academically and socially. And man, oh man, how I wished High School was that productive in this sense! I've grown more in this one year than in most of my pre-college years put together. And yet, there is still a lot I wish to do. I want this year to go on for another few months or so: Get to know my dorm buddies better, not worry about rent or food, take more lower-division classes without feeling hounded by deciding on a major, and solidify my existing friendships without worrying about adjusting to relocation. It was long, and I've had a lot of experiences, good and bad. But I both am glad that it's over and still yearning for more.

Uhh, yeah. That's about it for now. I have chocolate. Life is good.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Hah-Whack!

(Nota Bene, the comments section is enabled for all users for a reason, anyone and everyone is allowed, nay, encouraged to talk back to my entries. Live life on the edge! Say what's on your mind!)

Currently in Earphones: "Mass in G Minor" by Ralph Vaughn Williams, "Titus" Soundtrack by Elliot Goldenthal.

Greetings All,

Two down, one to go. My good grade on the final Psych Test means that I'm getting a B+ in the class as it is. Odds are with the favorable curve (brought about by the bitching of the students who didn't study well enough), it'll be bumped up to an A.

Took the Latin final today. Andrea, Carla, Trina, Preston and I all wore makeshift Togas to bolster our spirits. Unfortunately, the translation portion was somewhat tough, but I aced the vocabulary, grammar and comprehension. Now all that's left is the Anthro. I hope to get some studying in with Jon and Whitney between now and weds.

Yes! I don't need to mess with my bed. Since it isn't "lofted" per se: it isn't up on the height extentions, there's no need for me to bring it down. Ms. Molly Kinnear left today, and 'twas a sad goodbye. Lovely Molly was a fellow violist and loved to hear me practice. I'll miss having that appreciative ear in the dorm for these last few days. To bring back to point, she de-lofted her bed to the same height as mine and said it was ok. I need the length for my great height, and it's one less thing to do in these final days.

I've acquired two more movies for my "theatrical fencing" collection; the 1952 version of Scaramouche (with Mel Ferrer and Stewart Granger) and the 1993 version of The Three Musketeers (with Kiefer Sutherland as Athos, Charlie Sheen as Aramis, Tim Curry as the Cardinal and a young Chris O'Donall as D'Artagnan) and yes, it's the Disney version.

While Scaramouche feels closer to real fencing (Though it illustrates virtually every cliched bit of movie swordsmanship, including "The Back up the Stairs Retreat," "Swinging back into the Fray," and "The Circular Flip from-Opponents Hand Move," as shown here), I knew that this version of Musketeers had some vestiges of the right stuff when I saw parries in one and two in the first fight between D'Artagnan and foppish Girard (played by Paul "Golic from Alien 3" McGann, making an aweful fool of himself).

A week or so ago at Pizza after fencing, Fez brought the PS2 to hook up to the TV and we watched a bit of the Richard Lester version of The Three Musketeers (Go Christopher Lee!), of which TC fully applauded for being the best adaptation out there. I'm anxious to obtain a copy; so far Ihaven'tt been totally impressed with what I've seen (from the confused "The Musketeer" to the so-so '93 version).

Oh, and I've acquired a nickname in Fencing. So far, only Cenzo and TC have taken to it. "Snoop" they call me, of Vinnie's own making. Don't know where it came from, I would say it's short for Snoopy. In any case, perhaps it will spread, perhaps not. However, all fencers agree, I need one. There are too many tall guys and not enoughmemorablee names. I suppose I could adopt "Robert," given that everyone knows him by "Toes" and the rest usually call me, accidentally, by his name. They say it's too confusing, but hey, why try to fix what seems to work? (Though whenever Matt or TC or others call "Robert!" and it seems to be in my direction, I usually just turn and say "Robert?" which is enough to elicit a "Uhh...Damnit! Sorry James!").

Urf! It is now 12:30, Saturday morning. I've got plenty of time between now and my last final, but I wanna get stuff done early. For now, off I go into the Morpheus' purple cloak (doesn't even rhyme!).

Enough. More Later.
- James

Mr. Aelius, White Courtesy Phone....

Hello all,

Yes, I'm still here. Finals are upon us. Only a few more days of classes to go. Just need to put the finishing touches on my second Anthro Paper, study for my Psych Test, my Latin Final, arrange for my packing and departure....

Oh, and by the way, if your a fencer and in search of a good movie, don't see "The Musketeer" with Tim Roth and Justin Chambers. It's high on the "What the Fuck?!?!" scale, even if it looks pretty. Evidently they spent all their money on sets/costumes/choreography and not enough time on the script or the opening titles. Eugh! Go for Richard Lester's version with Christopher Lee. Kick ass.

I'll update more when I have the time.

Enough. More Later.
- James