Now playing: Bruce Broughton - Tombstone (Main Theme)
via FoxyTunes
Just finished out with Track Bits, Episode 5. I ended up digging out an old Top 10 list and fleshing it out, as I was having trouble writing the 5th episode. So what was going to be the 5th will now be the 6th, with this one to tide everyone over until then.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XS7YLJCO
Enough, More Later.
- James
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Fun with Folk Music
Now playing: Bruce Broughton - Arrival In Tombstone
via FoxyTunes
While working today I started listening to the Men of the Robert Shaw Chorale's singing of various sea shanties, which is always a treat, and came across one that I hadn't heard before, but very much liked the tone of. So you all could have an idea of it, I quickly threw together the video below. Have a listen!
Having looked up the song on question on it's wikipedia page, it became apparent that there were a bunch of different sets of lyrics that the tune could go along with, some of which have nothing to do with Santa Anna. However, the lyrics that the MotRSC sing in the above video, sounded a little...off...when it came to the Mexican general. For instance:
He beat the Prussians Fairly,
Way ah, me Santa Anna
He whacked the British nearly,
Along the plains of Mexico.
First off, the battle in question is The Battle of Monterrey, which is already mixed up by the main versions of this song (the British, at the time, were fond of the idea of the Americans being beaten up, so they swapped out the Mexican defeat for an American rout in the lyrics). And secondly, the battle was purely an American/Mexican Affair. If the British ever got involved, they would probably have been on the Mexican side. And even if the stanza in question was about Santa Anna's life in general, I doubt he had much to do with the British, much less the Prussians.
I did some digging online and found an excerpt from an eBook copy of Shanties from the Seven Seas on the song in question ("Santiana or The Plains of Mexico (The benevolent sailor version)"). The author quoted the odd lines in question from another source, saying that it "gives Santiana as having fought the special enemies of Napoleon!" and that "These of course are stanzas from Boney." Being, of course, a shanty about the life and times of Napoleon.
I'm not sure of the how's and why's of the version I've put in the video, but every other version I've heard (in sample form, online) from other groups have used the other sets of lyrics. Whatever the case may be, it was interesting delving into the world of cataloging of folk songs. Remind me to rant about the jig "The Pipe on the Hob" some other time.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
While working today I started listening to the Men of the Robert Shaw Chorale's singing of various sea shanties, which is always a treat, and came across one that I hadn't heard before, but very much liked the tone of. So you all could have an idea of it, I quickly threw together the video below. Have a listen!
Having looked up the song on question on it's wikipedia page, it became apparent that there were a bunch of different sets of lyrics that the tune could go along with, some of which have nothing to do with Santa Anna. However, the lyrics that the MotRSC sing in the above video, sounded a little...off...when it came to the Mexican general. For instance:
He beat the Prussians Fairly,
Way ah, me Santa Anna
He whacked the British nearly,
Along the plains of Mexico.
First off, the battle in question is The Battle of Monterrey, which is already mixed up by the main versions of this song (the British, at the time, were fond of the idea of the Americans being beaten up, so they swapped out the Mexican defeat for an American rout in the lyrics). And secondly, the battle was purely an American/Mexican Affair. If the British ever got involved, they would probably have been on the Mexican side. And even if the stanza in question was about Santa Anna's life in general, I doubt he had much to do with the British, much less the Prussians.
I did some digging online and found an excerpt from an eBook copy of Shanties from the Seven Seas on the song in question ("Santiana or The Plains of Mexico (The benevolent sailor version)"). The author quoted the odd lines in question from another source, saying that it "gives Santiana as having fought the special enemies of Napoleon!" and that "These of course are stanzas from Boney." Being, of course, a shanty about the life and times of Napoleon.
I'm not sure of the how's and why's of the version I've put in the video, but every other version I've heard (in sample form, online) from other groups have used the other sets of lyrics. Whatever the case may be, it was interesting delving into the world of cataloging of folk songs. Remind me to rant about the jig "The Pipe on the Hob" some other time.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Thoughts on Carcassonne (and its expansions)
Now playing: Jerry Goldsmith - The Mutant
via FoxyTunes
I must say, I am quite taken with Klaus-Jurgen Wrede's Carcassonne and all of it's add-ons. It's a nice, kind introduction to the world of German-style board games, and is refreshing after one too many games of Catan. Building a countryside piece by piece and capturing points for completed features manages to be both competitive and very gentle, due to almost no penalties in the scoring process. For a further description of the main game, go check out the link to the wiki-page at the beginning of this paragraph: from here on out, I'm going to give my thoughts on the many, many expansions.
Regular Expansions
1. Inns & Cathedrals
The first expansion to get if you're just starting out, the additional pieces are easy to understand and the additional rules are easy to follow. The inclusion of score markers helps for this and all other expansions, when it's very easy to score over 100 points and thus fly off the original score-board. ***
2. Traders & Builders
Here we start the tradition of additional play mechanics bringing nothing more than egregious point expanders (the Trade Goods and Pig being the main offenders), but the main draw of this expansion is the Builder, which can really shake things up by allowing people to take two turns in a row. Making it easier for players to aim for larger features, although once again being a point multiplier, definitely changes how one plays the game. *****
3. The Princess & The Dragon
Despite owning a copy, I still haven't had a chance to test this expansion out! From what I've read of the instructions, I'm liking the idea of a communally moved dragon that can remove followers (and the additional twist of knight-removing Princess tiles), but the Fairy mechanic seems like it would engender more of a tug-of-war than actual game play. I hope to try this one out this weekend.
4. Abbey & Mayor
This is the poster child for "new game mechanics designed solely to garner more points," but I like the mechanics none-the-less. The "wild-card" Abbey tile is an interesting addition, along with the farmer-shuffling "barn" and traveling "wheelbarrow" pieces. While this expansion might not do anything big in terms of changing game play, I've found enjoyment in it. ****
5. The Tower
Now here's a real game changer! While I found the premise to be interesting, I found the practice to be a bigger change than I thought: The ability to capture other player's pieces changed the whole tone of game play, and much of the easy, kindly nature of the game was replaced with a much more cautious and bitter outlook by the players. My main problem is how unbalanced it feels: it's far too easy to capture other players meeple. Towers can only be built on tower tiles, but the sheer number of these tiles makes the point almost moot. While the original emphasized clever tile placement to edge other players out of points, it seems that the Tower has more emphasis on yoinking meeple back and forth than building interesting features. The one time I played I found the whole affair to be much more spiteful than before, with the spirit of the original (rewarding clever players without penalizing others) almost non-existent. **
Mini Expansions
1. The River I and II
An interesting addition, the starts by laying down a river tile by tile, forming a bigger starting area. The second River expansion adds a split in the river (as well as support for the other expansions). Well worth it for some easy variety. ***
2. King
A sort of port-over of the "Longest Road" and "Largest Army" mechanic from Catan. Whoever builds the largest city gets control of the King, who nets them additional points from every completed city at the end of the game. Ditto for the Robber Baron with roads. More simple variety, but once again in the "earn more points" section. ***
3. Cult and Siege
Here are some interesting additions: Cults are Anti-Cloisters, scoring the same but considered "in contention" if each are placed within a certain distance of each other. Whichever one gets scored first deprives the other of earning points upon completion. Siege tiles, like the "Cathedrals" of the first expansion, deprive cities of any partial points at the end of the game if the city remains incomplete. Instead of knights being stuck, however, players have the option of removing a knight from a besieged city if a cloister is nearby. I'd pick this expansion over "King" if I wanted a more interesting game. ****
4. The Count of Carcassonne
By far my favorite of the mini expansions, this one also changes the nature of the game, but succeeds where The Tower fails. The game starts with a twelve-tile City of Carcassonne that everything gets built around, but players can choose to place one of their meeple in one of the four sections of the city instead of on features as normal, in addition to moving "The Count" to one of the four city sections. Whenever *any* feature is completed, players have the option of "paratrooping" any of their meeple in to the feature from the corresponding section of the city (unless The Count is in that section), forcing the sharing or stealing of points depending on the final meeple-count. Confusing, initially, but incredibly fun when people start using the mechanic. *****
There is a new expansion out called "The Wheel of Fate" that I hope to get my hands on, but it isn't quite an expansion because it can be played by itself in addition to the regular game.
Now, back to bed, I'm still recovering from some nasty bug. :(
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
I must say, I am quite taken with Klaus-Jurgen Wrede's Carcassonne and all of it's add-ons. It's a nice, kind introduction to the world of German-style board games, and is refreshing after one too many games of Catan. Building a countryside piece by piece and capturing points for completed features manages to be both competitive and very gentle, due to almost no penalties in the scoring process. For a further description of the main game, go check out the link to the wiki-page at the beginning of this paragraph: from here on out, I'm going to give my thoughts on the many, many expansions.
Regular Expansions
1. Inns & Cathedrals
The first expansion to get if you're just starting out, the additional pieces are easy to understand and the additional rules are easy to follow. The inclusion of score markers helps for this and all other expansions, when it's very easy to score over 100 points and thus fly off the original score-board. ***
2. Traders & Builders
Here we start the tradition of additional play mechanics bringing nothing more than egregious point expanders (the Trade Goods and Pig being the main offenders), but the main draw of this expansion is the Builder, which can really shake things up by allowing people to take two turns in a row. Making it easier for players to aim for larger features, although once again being a point multiplier, definitely changes how one plays the game. *****
3. The Princess & The Dragon
Despite owning a copy, I still haven't had a chance to test this expansion out! From what I've read of the instructions, I'm liking the idea of a communally moved dragon that can remove followers (and the additional twist of knight-removing Princess tiles), but the Fairy mechanic seems like it would engender more of a tug-of-war than actual game play. I hope to try this one out this weekend.
4. Abbey & Mayor
This is the poster child for "new game mechanics designed solely to garner more points," but I like the mechanics none-the-less. The "wild-card" Abbey tile is an interesting addition, along with the farmer-shuffling "barn" and traveling "wheelbarrow" pieces. While this expansion might not do anything big in terms of changing game play, I've found enjoyment in it. ****
5. The Tower
Now here's a real game changer! While I found the premise to be interesting, I found the practice to be a bigger change than I thought: The ability to capture other player's pieces changed the whole tone of game play, and much of the easy, kindly nature of the game was replaced with a much more cautious and bitter outlook by the players. My main problem is how unbalanced it feels: it's far too easy to capture other players meeple. Towers can only be built on tower tiles, but the sheer number of these tiles makes the point almost moot. While the original emphasized clever tile placement to edge other players out of points, it seems that the Tower has more emphasis on yoinking meeple back and forth than building interesting features. The one time I played I found the whole affair to be much more spiteful than before, with the spirit of the original (rewarding clever players without penalizing others) almost non-existent. **
Mini Expansions
1. The River I and II
An interesting addition, the starts by laying down a river tile by tile, forming a bigger starting area. The second River expansion adds a split in the river (as well as support for the other expansions). Well worth it for some easy variety. ***
2. King
A sort of port-over of the "Longest Road" and "Largest Army" mechanic from Catan. Whoever builds the largest city gets control of the King, who nets them additional points from every completed city at the end of the game. Ditto for the Robber Baron with roads. More simple variety, but once again in the "earn more points" section. ***
3. Cult and Siege
Here are some interesting additions: Cults are Anti-Cloisters, scoring the same but considered "in contention" if each are placed within a certain distance of each other. Whichever one gets scored first deprives the other of earning points upon completion. Siege tiles, like the "Cathedrals" of the first expansion, deprive cities of any partial points at the end of the game if the city remains incomplete. Instead of knights being stuck, however, players have the option of removing a knight from a besieged city if a cloister is nearby. I'd pick this expansion over "King" if I wanted a more interesting game. ****
4. The Count of Carcassonne
By far my favorite of the mini expansions, this one also changes the nature of the game, but succeeds where The Tower fails. The game starts with a twelve-tile City of Carcassonne that everything gets built around, but players can choose to place one of their meeple in one of the four sections of the city instead of on features as normal, in addition to moving "The Count" to one of the four city sections. Whenever *any* feature is completed, players have the option of "paratrooping" any of their meeple in to the feature from the corresponding section of the city (unless The Count is in that section), forcing the sharing or stealing of points depending on the final meeple-count. Confusing, initially, but incredibly fun when people start using the mechanic. *****
There is a new expansion out called "The Wheel of Fate" that I hope to get my hands on, but it isn't quite an expansion because it can be played by itself in addition to the regular game.
Now, back to bed, I'm still recovering from some nasty bug. :(
Enough, More Later.
- James
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Track Bits Episode 4
Now playing: Brian Tyler - Enter The Wormhole
via FoxyTunes
Just put the finishing touches on Track Bits Episode 4, now available for your listening pleasure. I ended up going back to using 30 second clips, but really put a clamp down on example splurging like I did with Episode 3. The episode is about 22 minutes long, and hopefully scripted a bit tighter than previous. As always, Track list is included. Enjoy!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QB4682WK
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
Just put the finishing touches on Track Bits Episode 4, now available for your listening pleasure. I ended up going back to using 30 second clips, but really put a clamp down on example splurging like I did with Episode 3. The episode is about 22 minutes long, and hopefully scripted a bit tighter than previous. As always, Track list is included. Enjoy!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QB4682WK
Enough, More Later.
- James
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Track Bits Episode 3!
Now playing: Christopher Young - The Fly II
via FoxyTunes
I finally got off my butt and finished out Episode 3! It's about 10 minutes longer than the previous two episodes, as I had a lot to cover on the current topic.
I apologize in advance for slaughtering many of the composers names, I wasn't able to find any pronunciation help online, so you've got my best guesses.
Anyway, here's the link. Track list is included, as per usual:
Track Bits, Episode 3: Hans Zimmer and Media Ventures.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TR6ED1DD
Enjoy!
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
I finally got off my butt and finished out Episode 3! It's about 10 minutes longer than the previous two episodes, as I had a lot to cover on the current topic.
I apologize in advance for slaughtering many of the composers names, I wasn't able to find any pronunciation help online, so you've got my best guesses.
Anyway, here's the link. Track list is included, as per usual:
Track Bits, Episode 3: Hans Zimmer and Media Ventures.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TR6ED1DD
Enjoy!
Enough, More Later.
- James
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Newest Project: Track Bits
Now playing: Basil Poledouris - Theme from Les Misérables
via FoxyTunes
It all started a few weeks ago, when Preston sent me a link to an article concerning audio fidelity in the digital age, and how, due to the prevalence of Mp3's and those crappy iPod ear-buds, people in general have come to accept sub-par sound quality as the norm. As audiophiles, both Preston and I had an inkling that there was more to be had than simple 128kpbs of sound, so I did some research and put together a little audio demo of the various commonly used file formats and how they stack up on the quality meter.
To do so, I dusted off my old microphone from my KNSL Days (A spoof radio show my high school friends and I did, which ran for about 3 episodes until we graduated) and opened my ancient copy of CoolEdit (now Adobe Audition). Working with the old multi-track editor (and still only using about 10% of the extensive features offered by CoolEdit) got my creative juices flowing, and for kicks I started scripting, recording, and editing a little show about my favorite hobby, soundtracks.
At the end, I had about a 17 minute long show and plenty of ideas for future episodes, so I sent it out to the usual suspects and recieved lots of positive feedback. As I'm working two bare-minimum part-time jobs, I have a lot of time on my hands, and over the past week or two have produced a second episode and currently working on a third. I have no illusions that this'll reach beyond a handful of people, but I enjoy the process and the satisfaction of having produced something entirely my own (and hey, the positive feedback is darn awesome too).
Anywho, I figure I should give a heads up to the 5 or 6 people who still read my blog and who I might not have sent my little show to yet. For those of you already in the know, the following links have at least one new thing you haven't seen yet, tracklists for the episodes. At Preston's suggestion, I've compiled complete lists of all that you have (or will) hear in each episode, however, you'll probably notice that two things are missing: the intro music and the outro music.
This is purposful. Because I'm a fan of mysteries, I've left them un-cited, but name-check the track names in my opening and closing phrase. I know that's not too much to go on, but there are two things in your favor. The first is that both tracks will be from the same score, by the same composer. And the second is that you have a wonderful little invention called the Internet, which should make your search fairly easy. I enjoy leaving something for folks to puzzle over, and this is my way of giving you something to do if you happen to like what you hear in the opening and closing statements.
In any case, here are the links to copies of the show and their respective tracklists.
Episode 1:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4B8FQRA8
Episode 2:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ITHK12AW
As always, if you like what you hear, please pass them on. I'll posting more episodes as I get them completed: the schedule is likely to be erratic depending on my free time and how often I can brainstorm ideas for shows. If you have any soundtrack related topic you'd like me to cover, please comment here or drop me an e-mail. I'm always open to new ideas, so if you've got anything, please let me know.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
It all started a few weeks ago, when Preston sent me a link to an article concerning audio fidelity in the digital age, and how, due to the prevalence of Mp3's and those crappy iPod ear-buds, people in general have come to accept sub-par sound quality as the norm. As audiophiles, both Preston and I had an inkling that there was more to be had than simple 128kpbs of sound, so I did some research and put together a little audio demo of the various commonly used file formats and how they stack up on the quality meter.
To do so, I dusted off my old microphone from my KNSL Days (A spoof radio show my high school friends and I did, which ran for about 3 episodes until we graduated) and opened my ancient copy of CoolEdit (now Adobe Audition). Working with the old multi-track editor (and still only using about 10% of the extensive features offered by CoolEdit) got my creative juices flowing, and for kicks I started scripting, recording, and editing a little show about my favorite hobby, soundtracks.
At the end, I had about a 17 minute long show and plenty of ideas for future episodes, so I sent it out to the usual suspects and recieved lots of positive feedback. As I'm working two bare-minimum part-time jobs, I have a lot of time on my hands, and over the past week or two have produced a second episode and currently working on a third. I have no illusions that this'll reach beyond a handful of people, but I enjoy the process and the satisfaction of having produced something entirely my own (and hey, the positive feedback is darn awesome too).
Anywho, I figure I should give a heads up to the 5 or 6 people who still read my blog and who I might not have sent my little show to yet. For those of you already in the know, the following links have at least one new thing you haven't seen yet, tracklists for the episodes. At Preston's suggestion, I've compiled complete lists of all that you have (or will) hear in each episode, however, you'll probably notice that two things are missing: the intro music and the outro music.
This is purposful. Because I'm a fan of mysteries, I've left them un-cited, but name-check the track names in my opening and closing phrase. I know that's not too much to go on, but there are two things in your favor. The first is that both tracks will be from the same score, by the same composer. And the second is that you have a wonderful little invention called the Internet, which should make your search fairly easy. I enjoy leaving something for folks to puzzle over, and this is my way of giving you something to do if you happen to like what you hear in the opening and closing statements.
In any case, here are the links to copies of the show and their respective tracklists.
Episode 1:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4B8FQRA8
Episode 2:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ITHK12AW
As always, if you like what you hear, please pass them on. I'll posting more episodes as I get them completed: the schedule is likely to be erratic depending on my free time and how often I can brainstorm ideas for shows. If you have any soundtrack related topic you'd like me to cover, please comment here or drop me an e-mail. I'm always open to new ideas, so if you've got anything, please let me know.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Dear Mother Nature
Now playing: Howard Shore - Plasma Pool
via FoxyTunes
Dear Mother Nature -
Hey, I just wanted to check in with you, make sure everything was okay. I got a little worried when you left the party so abruptly like that, and truth be told, it just wasn't the same without you.
I have to admit, I was stoked when the invitation came through a few days ago. It sounded like you were really going to pull out all the stops and just let the clouds rip. It had been so long since you last graced us with pleasing precipitation that my friends and I started talking about it with gusto. "Here comes a storm!" we thought, "Man, we're really in for a treat!" We even didn't mind that the invitation suggested that things could get a little rough: We'd been without such revelry for so long that we didn't care.
And man, when this morning came, you really started to deliver. It was a non-stop event, the water flowed freely, the wind gusted merrily, and fun was had by all (who were inside and dry, but hey, everyone got the invite, so they knew what was coming). It really felt like a return to form, like a herald of a wonderful rainy season to come. The plants perked up and rocked out, and so did we.
It even went on for a number of hours unabated, which was a thing of beauty. You seemed to regain some of the rainy splendor that had been missing from our little corner of California for some time now, delivering an honest-to-goodness rainy streak that lasted for more than an hour or two in between months of dryness.
But, sometime during the early afternoon, you turned the clouds off and sort of wandered away. "Oh, it shouldn't be a problem," we assured ourselves, "The water was getting low, and someone needed to go on a rain run anyway, these things happen, she should be back in no time." But then a weird thing happened, you didn't come back. Oh sure, you kept the sky pleasantly overcast, as if you turned around before you left and said "I'll be right back!", but we waited for a long time. You didn't come back.
Then people started wandering away, the ground started to dry up, and people began to wonder what happened to you. "What could be keeping her?" we thought, "Why did she get up and leave so suddenly?" We did get a hastily scrawled note in your hand, saying something vague about how if Father Sky was in a good mood, you'd come back, but that didn't really convince anyone.
It pains me to admit that I am a bit of the jealous type, and I hope you won't be angry with me when I tell you that I used the local Doppler Radar to find out where you went. But, Mother Nature, I can't tell you how sad I was to see that you'd moved the party over to the Central Valley, leaving us folks here in the Bay high and dry. You're still there right now, whooping it up with Modesto and Stockton with some really heavy precipitation. But it hurts me, even after the fun time we had today, to see you just up and leave without so much as a fare-thee-well, and no promise of any rain in the near future, for me or my friends.
But the Radar, I also admit, is providing me with a bit of schadenfreude: I see that you're slowly backing away from the Central Valley, too, and that soon they'll be just as confused as lonely as I and my friends are right now. I know it's your nature to be wild and unpredictable at times, but it seemed like we really had a good thing going. Sure, Belmont said that they got a little bit flooded and had some traffic jams, and I overheard some of the hill regions muttering about mudslides, but we were ready for that sort of thing.
So, come back, Mother Nature. We're sorry if we said or did anything to upset you. If you'd just come back with more rain and fresh wind, all will be forgiven. If you over-indulged and went and hailed in an alley somewhere, we understand and don't think badly of you for it. Just come back and grace us with your presence again. The party just isn't the same without you.
Sincerely -
San Leandro
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
Dear Mother Nature -
Hey, I just wanted to check in with you, make sure everything was okay. I got a little worried when you left the party so abruptly like that, and truth be told, it just wasn't the same without you.
I have to admit, I was stoked when the invitation came through a few days ago. It sounded like you were really going to pull out all the stops and just let the clouds rip. It had been so long since you last graced us with pleasing precipitation that my friends and I started talking about it with gusto. "Here comes a storm!" we thought, "Man, we're really in for a treat!" We even didn't mind that the invitation suggested that things could get a little rough: We'd been without such revelry for so long that we didn't care.
And man, when this morning came, you really started to deliver. It was a non-stop event, the water flowed freely, the wind gusted merrily, and fun was had by all (who were inside and dry, but hey, everyone got the invite, so they knew what was coming). It really felt like a return to form, like a herald of a wonderful rainy season to come. The plants perked up and rocked out, and so did we.
It even went on for a number of hours unabated, which was a thing of beauty. You seemed to regain some of the rainy splendor that had been missing from our little corner of California for some time now, delivering an honest-to-goodness rainy streak that lasted for more than an hour or two in between months of dryness.
But, sometime during the early afternoon, you turned the clouds off and sort of wandered away. "Oh, it shouldn't be a problem," we assured ourselves, "The water was getting low, and someone needed to go on a rain run anyway, these things happen, she should be back in no time." But then a weird thing happened, you didn't come back. Oh sure, you kept the sky pleasantly overcast, as if you turned around before you left and said "I'll be right back!", but we waited for a long time. You didn't come back.
Then people started wandering away, the ground started to dry up, and people began to wonder what happened to you. "What could be keeping her?" we thought, "Why did she get up and leave so suddenly?" We did get a hastily scrawled note in your hand, saying something vague about how if Father Sky was in a good mood, you'd come back, but that didn't really convince anyone.
It pains me to admit that I am a bit of the jealous type, and I hope you won't be angry with me when I tell you that I used the local Doppler Radar to find out where you went. But, Mother Nature, I can't tell you how sad I was to see that you'd moved the party over to the Central Valley, leaving us folks here in the Bay high and dry. You're still there right now, whooping it up with Modesto and Stockton with some really heavy precipitation. But it hurts me, even after the fun time we had today, to see you just up and leave without so much as a fare-thee-well, and no promise of any rain in the near future, for me or my friends.
But the Radar, I also admit, is providing me with a bit of schadenfreude: I see that you're slowly backing away from the Central Valley, too, and that soon they'll be just as confused as lonely as I and my friends are right now. I know it's your nature to be wild and unpredictable at times, but it seemed like we really had a good thing going. Sure, Belmont said that they got a little bit flooded and had some traffic jams, and I overheard some of the hill regions muttering about mudslides, but we were ready for that sort of thing.
So, come back, Mother Nature. We're sorry if we said or did anything to upset you. If you'd just come back with more rain and fresh wind, all will be forgiven. If you over-indulged and went and hailed in an alley somewhere, we understand and don't think badly of you for it. Just come back and grace us with your presence again. The party just isn't the same without you.
Sincerely -
San Leandro
Enough, More Later.
- James
Friday, October 02, 2009
Review: Calling All Dawns
Currently in Earphones: should be obvious, given the subject.
It's now been well over 3 years since I first heard whispers that Christopher Tin, the composer behind the immensely popular "Baba Yetu", was coming out with a solo album titled Calling All Dawns. I got my first taste of what was to come when Corner Stone Cues (purveyor of the popular "Requiem for a Tower") released a cover of "Mado Kara Mieru," easily one of the highlights of Tin's then upcoming album and a fantastic (and, arguably, better) interpretation.
Everything has finally come together and Calling All Dawns is now available for public consumption, and I must say: I am very, very impressed with what Mr. Tin has cooked up. The main sticking point for me was the thematic cohesiveness of it all. It's been said that the 12 pieces are supposed to represent the cyclical events of life, death, and rebirth (or Day, Night, and Dawn), and musically they accomplish this very well. I'm to go on a track by track analysis from here because there is a lot to point out.
1. Baba Yetu: My initial impression upon hearing that Baba Yetu was going to open the album was, I admit, somewhat scornful. Make no mistake, it's a fantastic piece and deserves every bit of praise that it gets. But, as it's been highly overplayed and hyped to the heavens, I was definitely feeling like Mr. Tin had been resting on these laurels a tad long. These feelings were immediately put to rest when I took a listen to this new, re-arranged version of Baba Yetu.
Not only is it the piece that you know and love, but Tin smartly incorporates motivic elements from the other pieces from Calling All Dawns into it (something we'll see a lot in the coming pieces). Right at the beginning the male solo hums the first few bars from "Kia Hora Te Marino," a fact well documented by other reviewers as giving a great circularity to the album. The song then heads into familiar territory, the Soweto Gospel Choir giving a wonderful rendition of this now classic piece. Things get interesting around 2 minutes in, after the main body of Baba Yetu has sung. At 2:03 a solo flute pipes out the 5-note motif to "Lux Aeterna," followed immediately by a solo oboe playing the "Yomei..." stanza from "Mado Kara Mieru." The orchestra then slowly builds into a full bodied da capo, but overlapped with a horn, then a string rendition of the motif from "Kia Hora Te Marino." It's all these little touches and references that really made this track shine for me, and brought a fresh take on this old piece.
2. Mado Kara Mieru: Easily the biggest powerhouse of the album, Corner Stone Cues chose wisely in picking it for a balls-out, trailer music cover. While Tin has access to some more high profile signers, this rendition has a reduced chorus and different drumming group. It's very much it's own piece, containing little to no references to any other on the album, but that doesn't stop it from being a stand out cue. I find that I like the percussive variations better in this version than the cover, though the small group of singers can't compare with a 100 voice trailer music choir belting out the main chorus at the end of the piece. Each version has it's merits, and I fully suggest listening to both versions to determine for yourself which version you like better. Churning, powerful, and majestic.
3. Dao Zai Fan Ye: Calming down from the previous cue with a more quiet and contemplative tone, this is another one of my favorites. There's some wonderful counterpoint in the duet, and I love the elegant grace and occasional melancholy the melodic lines entail. Once again, a stand alone piece, with no references to any other, and once again, still a fine addition.
4. Se E Pra Vir Que Venha: This and the following piece I like to refer to as "E.S. Posthumous filler." It's all very pleasant sounding, and the soloist does the sort of melodic wandering I associate with adapting a somewhat free-form poem into music, but it doesn't really go anywhere. Sure, there's dynamics and some nice orchestral range, but it very much feels like a low key piece that occasionally peppers some of E.S. Posthumous' albums (or in the case of Cartographer, all of it). Pleasant, but easily forgettable. Also, I'm not sure if this is a cultural thing, but Dulce Pontes comes across as really nasally to me.
5. Rassemblons-Nous: The second of the "E.S. Posthumous Filler" pieces (and commonly pointed out that it's the only piece to have electronic backup), an equally "ehh" cue, at least for me. I can't help wondering if Tin is friends with/owed a favor to Jon Goldman, the lyricist: it's easily the most wordy of all the pieces and suffers the same kind of melodic (though once again, pleasant) wandering that "Se E Pra Vir Que Venha" fell victim to. There's some nice swelling of the chorus and orchestra here and there, but once again, didn't really do anything for me.
6. Lux Aeterna: I will admit that my predisposition to the Latin tongue is responsible for some of my enjoyment of this piece, but it makes a nice contrast the big, swelling pieces that come before. Musically spare, it starts off with harp and voice, eventually segueing into more full bodied orchestral statements culminating in a string and horn statement of the 5-note motif introduced by the female voice. After being inundated with orchestra richness for the past 5 cues, it can be a little jarring to hear such a spare and quiet piece, but I find it a nice change of pace.
7. Caoineadh: Once again, I'm very fond of the stylings of Anonymous 4, which is probably colored my enjoyment of this piece. It expectedly wavers between medieval sounding chords and lonely Celtic lament from the ladies in question, and halfway through the orchestra joins in for some underscore and a finally a swelling re-statement of the secondary theme (which shows up around the halfway point as well).
8. Hymn do Trojcy Swietej: Clocking in at over 6 minutes, this is the longest and slowest piece on the album, which is fitting considering it's the end of the "Death/Night" part of the album. Interestingly, we finally get a reference to a previous piece again: a solo flute comes in at 4:04 and at 6:08 with the figure that appears at 3:19 in "Mado Kara Mieru." Both solo voice and choir come to prominence, and despite having considerable volume in places, it's probably the quietest piece of them all.
9. Hayom Kadosh: Here's where things get really interesting. This starts of the "Dawn/Rebirth" segment of the album, and from here on out each piece flows into the other without break. This makes for a wonderfully cohesive listening experience and is easily the most enjoyable aspect of Calling All Dawns. This is also the shortest piece on the album, but that doesn't stop it from being chock-full of other references to previous cues, played underneath the main song. At 38 seconds in a solo flute pipes the "Kia Hora Te Marino" motif, echoed by an oboe, which at 58 seconds returns with"Lux Aeterna." Two flutes very faintly come in with "Dao Zai Fan Ye" at 1:05, and at 1:11 it's the oboe again with the "Yomei..." stanza from "Mado Kara Mieru." Finally, at 1:27 the strings play the previously mentioned 3:19 figure again from "Mado Kara Mieru." I am deeply impressed with how rich this piece is, despite only clocking in at 1:45, it easily outshines the end of the "Day" segment.
10. Hamsafar: The resounding cymbal crash that ends "Hayom Kadosh" begins this piece, a wonderfully melodic blend of soloist and chorus. No references to other pieces here (Tin seems to have used them up for the moment), just the piece itself. If I have one problem, it's that the chorus to this piece (despite being in Farsi), sounds entirely too similar to "Baba Yetu." My beef being that it sounds like it's sung by the same handful of blond, college-age sopranos that so defined Tin's first piece. Surprise surprise, a quick look at the liner notes reveal that it's Talisman, the Stanford A capella group Tin's been involved in. While it worked for "Baba Yetu," the lack of any other vocal range rubs me the wrong way here, the melodic construction in addition to this sounding too similar for my ears.
11. Sukla-Krsna. Whoa! All my complaints about samey-ness just flew out the window. Roopa Mahadevan and Misha Chowdhury provide a breath of fresh air with their traditional stylings and must have given some pointers to the Talisman singers. Also, I definitely giggled when Tin decided to go full-blown trailer cue ending on this piece. I totally expected some grim title drop for an action film after the tam-tam crash at the end. :)
12. Kia Hora Te Marino. I would almost describe this as an extension of Baba Yetu, indeed, the two pieces are warm, uplifting and in the same key. Hearing the Maroi Chant in the background was really awesome, including the solo chant starting at 1:35 (though I will say, it sounds eerily similar to the slightly mush-mouthed singspiel that the main singer of Kila employs, despite the fact that one is in Maori and the other in Gaelic!). There is one last call-back, with a full orchestral rendition of "Hamsafar" at 1:17, but aside from that, the piece is by and large it's own thing. Once again, as this piece is very similar to "Baba Yetu:" If Tin is making any references to one within the other, I can't tell.
So, aside from some minor gripes with a few songs, I very much like this album. If there is anything that I might have missed (i.e. "Rassemblons-Nous totally has a theme, you hater, and it's referenced in etc. etc.") please let me know. Aside from that, I give it a hearty recommendation to one and all. Well done, Mr. Tin!
Enough, More Later.
- James
It's now been well over 3 years since I first heard whispers that Christopher Tin, the composer behind the immensely popular "Baba Yetu", was coming out with a solo album titled Calling All Dawns. I got my first taste of what was to come when Corner Stone Cues (purveyor of the popular "Requiem for a Tower") released a cover of "Mado Kara Mieru," easily one of the highlights of Tin's then upcoming album and a fantastic (and, arguably, better) interpretation.
Everything has finally come together and Calling All Dawns is now available for public consumption, and I must say: I am very, very impressed with what Mr. Tin has cooked up. The main sticking point for me was the thematic cohesiveness of it all. It's been said that the 12 pieces are supposed to represent the cyclical events of life, death, and rebirth (or Day, Night, and Dawn), and musically they accomplish this very well. I'm to go on a track by track analysis from here because there is a lot to point out.
1. Baba Yetu: My initial impression upon hearing that Baba Yetu was going to open the album was, I admit, somewhat scornful. Make no mistake, it's a fantastic piece and deserves every bit of praise that it gets. But, as it's been highly overplayed and hyped to the heavens, I was definitely feeling like Mr. Tin had been resting on these laurels a tad long. These feelings were immediately put to rest when I took a listen to this new, re-arranged version of Baba Yetu.
Not only is it the piece that you know and love, but Tin smartly incorporates motivic elements from the other pieces from Calling All Dawns into it (something we'll see a lot in the coming pieces). Right at the beginning the male solo hums the first few bars from "Kia Hora Te Marino," a fact well documented by other reviewers as giving a great circularity to the album. The song then heads into familiar territory, the Soweto Gospel Choir giving a wonderful rendition of this now classic piece. Things get interesting around 2 minutes in, after the main body of Baba Yetu has sung. At 2:03 a solo flute pipes out the 5-note motif to "Lux Aeterna," followed immediately by a solo oboe playing the "Yomei..." stanza from "Mado Kara Mieru." The orchestra then slowly builds into a full bodied da capo, but overlapped with a horn, then a string rendition of the motif from "Kia Hora Te Marino." It's all these little touches and references that really made this track shine for me, and brought a fresh take on this old piece.
2. Mado Kara Mieru: Easily the biggest powerhouse of the album, Corner Stone Cues chose wisely in picking it for a balls-out, trailer music cover. While Tin has access to some more high profile signers, this rendition has a reduced chorus and different drumming group. It's very much it's own piece, containing little to no references to any other on the album, but that doesn't stop it from being a stand out cue. I find that I like the percussive variations better in this version than the cover, though the small group of singers can't compare with a 100 voice trailer music choir belting out the main chorus at the end of the piece. Each version has it's merits, and I fully suggest listening to both versions to determine for yourself which version you like better. Churning, powerful, and majestic.
3. Dao Zai Fan Ye: Calming down from the previous cue with a more quiet and contemplative tone, this is another one of my favorites. There's some wonderful counterpoint in the duet, and I love the elegant grace and occasional melancholy the melodic lines entail. Once again, a stand alone piece, with no references to any other, and once again, still a fine addition.
4. Se E Pra Vir Que Venha: This and the following piece I like to refer to as "E.S. Posthumous filler." It's all very pleasant sounding, and the soloist does the sort of melodic wandering I associate with adapting a somewhat free-form poem into music, but it doesn't really go anywhere. Sure, there's dynamics and some nice orchestral range, but it very much feels like a low key piece that occasionally peppers some of E.S. Posthumous' albums (or in the case of Cartographer, all of it). Pleasant, but easily forgettable. Also, I'm not sure if this is a cultural thing, but Dulce Pontes comes across as really nasally to me.
5. Rassemblons-Nous: The second of the "E.S. Posthumous Filler" pieces (and commonly pointed out that it's the only piece to have electronic backup), an equally "ehh" cue, at least for me. I can't help wondering if Tin is friends with/owed a favor to Jon Goldman, the lyricist: it's easily the most wordy of all the pieces and suffers the same kind of melodic (though once again, pleasant) wandering that "Se E Pra Vir Que Venha" fell victim to. There's some nice swelling of the chorus and orchestra here and there, but once again, didn't really do anything for me.
6. Lux Aeterna: I will admit that my predisposition to the Latin tongue is responsible for some of my enjoyment of this piece, but it makes a nice contrast the big, swelling pieces that come before. Musically spare, it starts off with harp and voice, eventually segueing into more full bodied orchestral statements culminating in a string and horn statement of the 5-note motif introduced by the female voice. After being inundated with orchestra richness for the past 5 cues, it can be a little jarring to hear such a spare and quiet piece, but I find it a nice change of pace.
7. Caoineadh: Once again, I'm very fond of the stylings of Anonymous 4, which is probably colored my enjoyment of this piece. It expectedly wavers between medieval sounding chords and lonely Celtic lament from the ladies in question, and halfway through the orchestra joins in for some underscore and a finally a swelling re-statement of the secondary theme (which shows up around the halfway point as well).
8. Hymn do Trojcy Swietej: Clocking in at over 6 minutes, this is the longest and slowest piece on the album, which is fitting considering it's the end of the "Death/Night" part of the album. Interestingly, we finally get a reference to a previous piece again: a solo flute comes in at 4:04 and at 6:08 with the figure that appears at 3:19 in "Mado Kara Mieru." Both solo voice and choir come to prominence, and despite having considerable volume in places, it's probably the quietest piece of them all.
9. Hayom Kadosh: Here's where things get really interesting. This starts of the "Dawn/Rebirth" segment of the album, and from here on out each piece flows into the other without break. This makes for a wonderfully cohesive listening experience and is easily the most enjoyable aspect of Calling All Dawns. This is also the shortest piece on the album, but that doesn't stop it from being chock-full of other references to previous cues, played underneath the main song. At 38 seconds in a solo flute pipes the "Kia Hora Te Marino" motif, echoed by an oboe, which at 58 seconds returns with"Lux Aeterna." Two flutes very faintly come in with "Dao Zai Fan Ye" at 1:05, and at 1:11 it's the oboe again with the "Yomei..." stanza from "Mado Kara Mieru." Finally, at 1:27 the strings play the previously mentioned 3:19 figure again from "Mado Kara Mieru." I am deeply impressed with how rich this piece is, despite only clocking in at 1:45, it easily outshines the end of the "Day" segment.
10. Hamsafar: The resounding cymbal crash that ends "Hayom Kadosh" begins this piece, a wonderfully melodic blend of soloist and chorus. No references to other pieces here (Tin seems to have used them up for the moment), just the piece itself. If I have one problem, it's that the chorus to this piece (despite being in Farsi), sounds entirely too similar to "Baba Yetu." My beef being that it sounds like it's sung by the same handful of blond, college-age sopranos that so defined Tin's first piece. Surprise surprise, a quick look at the liner notes reveal that it's Talisman, the Stanford A capella group Tin's been involved in. While it worked for "Baba Yetu," the lack of any other vocal range rubs me the wrong way here, the melodic construction in addition to this sounding too similar for my ears.
11. Sukla-Krsna. Whoa! All my complaints about samey-ness just flew out the window. Roopa Mahadevan and Misha Chowdhury provide a breath of fresh air with their traditional stylings and must have given some pointers to the Talisman singers. Also, I definitely giggled when Tin decided to go full-blown trailer cue ending on this piece. I totally expected some grim title drop for an action film after the tam-tam crash at the end. :)
12. Kia Hora Te Marino. I would almost describe this as an extension of Baba Yetu, indeed, the two pieces are warm, uplifting and in the same key. Hearing the Maroi Chant in the background was really awesome, including the solo chant starting at 1:35 (though I will say, it sounds eerily similar to the slightly mush-mouthed singspiel that the main singer of Kila employs, despite the fact that one is in Maori and the other in Gaelic!). There is one last call-back, with a full orchestral rendition of "Hamsafar" at 1:17, but aside from that, the piece is by and large it's own thing. Once again, as this piece is very similar to "Baba Yetu:" If Tin is making any references to one within the other, I can't tell.
So, aside from some minor gripes with a few songs, I very much like this album. If there is anything that I might have missed (i.e. "Rassemblons-Nous totally has a theme, you hater, and it's referenced in etc. etc.") please let me know. Aside from that, I give it a hearty recommendation to one and all. Well done, Mr. Tin!
Enough, More Later.
- James
Thursday, September 10, 2009
::dons the grammarian hat::
Now playing: Jeff Rona - Sparrowhawk
via FoxyTunes
Okay folks, I know the English language is mutable and all that, but can we please stop using the phrase "begs the question" when we really mean "raises the question"?
Begging the question (from the Latin petitio principii, "assuming the initial point") is a very specific logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is included in the premise, e.g. "we need to ban his filthy books from the library" (Why? Because they're filthy. But we haven't actually proven that that's the case, just assumed it in the initial premise).
This wouldn't be so bad if begging the question had something to do with raising a question, but it doesn't. They are two completely different things semantically. For the love of god, English is already a giant beast of a language with a heap of irregularities, we don't need any more ambiguities! I believe Stoppard says it best...
"[Words are] innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they’re no good any more..."
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
Okay folks, I know the English language is mutable and all that, but can we please stop using the phrase "begs the question" when we really mean "raises the question"?
Begging the question (from the Latin petitio principii, "assuming the initial point") is a very specific logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is included in the premise, e.g. "we need to ban his filthy books from the library" (Why? Because they're filthy. But we haven't actually proven that that's the case, just assumed it in the initial premise).
This wouldn't be so bad if begging the question had something to do with raising a question, but it doesn't. They are two completely different things semantically. For the love of god, English is already a giant beast of a language with a heap of irregularities, we don't need any more ambiguities! I believe Stoppard says it best...
"[Words are] innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they’re no good any more..."
Enough, More Later.
- James
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Oh Boy...
Now playing: Robert Folk - Ace In Africa
via FoxyTunes
There goes the next few days, Hulu just re-posted Season 1 of Lost. My thinking: "Everyone I know raves about this, I guess I'll just start with...the......pilot......"
::HOURS LATER::
"CURSE YOU J.J. ABRAMS! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO ENTERTAINING?"
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
There goes the next few days, Hulu just re-posted Season 1 of Lost. My thinking: "Everyone I know raves about this, I guess I'll just start with...the......pilot......"
::HOURS LATER::
"CURSE YOU J.J. ABRAMS! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO ENTERTAINING?"
Enough, More Later.
- James
Sunday, August 02, 2009
So Much for That
Now playing: Klint - Diamond
via FoxyTunes
Well, it's finally happened. I transgressed the "no copyrighted material" rule on YouTube one too many times and had my channel taken down.
For the most part, I knew this was going to happen. Sooner or later a company was going to stumble on a clip or two that they didn't want up and exercise their ownership rights to have it taken down, and that would be the last straw for YouTube (just how many transgressions are never explicitly stated). I understand that, and can live with it.
However, the lack of consistency between different company's policies is part of what led to the creation of my channel to begin with. Some companies don't mind that the clips exist, and simply have them blocked in certain countries. Most of the time that country is "the USA," which spelled trouble for most of my subscribers, but I did have a handful of international folk who found my clips useful, as access to the movies in question were limited in their locale.
More importantly, some companies didn't seem to care at all. Very, very often I'd find not only unaltered clips, but entire movies posted to YouTube (separated into 10 minute chunks, as per usual for free accounts. How one goes about getting a paid account is still something shrouded in mystery to the layman). My usual check to see if a company cared or didn't care was to do a search for any pre-existing material. If all I found were the occasional amateur music video and trailers, it was usually a bad sign for posting clips of the movie in question.
And I didn't even mind if one of my postings was swiftly taken down. I can appreciate a company keeping a tight lid on its property, as long as it's swift and efficiant. What I really didn't like was posting a clip and then months (or years!) later suddenly getting a notice of removal by so-and-so inc.
The last straw to break YouTube's back happened to be a clip from Tartakovsky's Clone Wars, something I've had up for ages now. That it had become a very popular clip, garnering well over 10,000 views (a minor victory for a backwater channel like mine), no doubt led to it's getting noticed. However, given that some of my most popular clips have racked up over 30,000 views and remained un-deleted (and being from noticable films!), I can't help but feel a little off-put by the disapora of mind-sets when it comes to claiming copyrights.
And so, though I'm not entirely surprised by the disbarring of my account, I'm still a little bitter about the lack of consistancy when it comes to the disposal of content-IDing.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
Well, it's finally happened. I transgressed the "no copyrighted material" rule on YouTube one too many times and had my channel taken down.
For the most part, I knew this was going to happen. Sooner or later a company was going to stumble on a clip or two that they didn't want up and exercise their ownership rights to have it taken down, and that would be the last straw for YouTube (just how many transgressions are never explicitly stated). I understand that, and can live with it.
However, the lack of consistency between different company's policies is part of what led to the creation of my channel to begin with. Some companies don't mind that the clips exist, and simply have them blocked in certain countries. Most of the time that country is "the USA," which spelled trouble for most of my subscribers, but I did have a handful of international folk who found my clips useful, as access to the movies in question were limited in their locale.
More importantly, some companies didn't seem to care at all. Very, very often I'd find not only unaltered clips, but entire movies posted to YouTube (separated into 10 minute chunks, as per usual for free accounts. How one goes about getting a paid account is still something shrouded in mystery to the layman). My usual check to see if a company cared or didn't care was to do a search for any pre-existing material. If all I found were the occasional amateur music video and trailers, it was usually a bad sign for posting clips of the movie in question.
And I didn't even mind if one of my postings was swiftly taken down. I can appreciate a company keeping a tight lid on its property, as long as it's swift and efficiant. What I really didn't like was posting a clip and then months (or years!) later suddenly getting a notice of removal by so-and-so inc.
The last straw to break YouTube's back happened to be a clip from Tartakovsky's Clone Wars, something I've had up for ages now. That it had become a very popular clip, garnering well over 10,000 views (a minor victory for a backwater channel like mine), no doubt led to it's getting noticed. However, given that some of my most popular clips have racked up over 30,000 views and remained un-deleted (and being from noticable films!), I can't help but feel a little off-put by the disapora of mind-sets when it comes to claiming copyrights.
And so, though I'm not entirely surprised by the disbarring of my account, I'm still a little bitter about the lack of consistancy when it comes to the disposal of content-IDing.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thoughts on "Roger Zelazny's Visual Guide to Castle Amber"
Now playing: Christopher Young - The Church Chase (Part 1)
via FoxyTunes
(The following assumes you have passing knowledge of The Chronicles of Amber. If not, go brush up.)
Despite the crying of other Amber-fans that it's riddled with inaccuracies, I ended up getting a copy of Roger Zelazny's Visual Guide to Castle Amber mainly for the illustrations of the castle, and more importantly, the Trumps.
The more equivocal of the reviewers on Amazon soothed that it's "one artists take on what he thinks the castle and Trumps look like," and it certainly is at that. It was brought home to me that Zelazny was rather spartan in his descriptions of the characters (thoughtfully reproduced in the Guide), so I can't blame the illustrator for liberties taken when there's a dearth of information to begin with.
So, to the stuff I like best: the nitty-gritty of the Trump illustrations.
On Benedict: I don't remember Zelazny saying that he has a thing for Japanese culture and weapons, but then again, it's been a while since I've read the Corwin chronicles. Due to the illustrators choice with Corwin (more on that later), this Benedict looks a bit more stocky than the "tall and dour, thin; thin of body, thin of face" that Zelazny describes him as. Other than that, the illustrators guess is as good as mine.
On Bleys: Since he's so often described as being boisterous and fun loving, I've always imagined him having a more round figure, but still strong, in the cartoonists "Good-hearted brute" frame category. The illustrator makes him more standard in size.
On Brand: He looks good, like Brand ought to look, in my opinion. I've always imagined a Three Musketeers era Jeremy Brett as a good fit for Brand: a slightly twitchy, young looking bi-polar mad genius. Tell me you don't see it, Amber fans!
On Caine: Perfect, except: Mutton-chops, Mr. Illustrator? Really?
On Corwin: One word, OMGWTFTIMOTHYDALTON. Given that Corwin is never really described in full except for eye color and hair color, I can see why one could easily fit whatever actor they think might work. But the illustrator so transparently used Dalton's likeness that I wonder if he even tried to come up with something on his own. Dalton's face looks a bit too lantern-jawed for my taste as Corwin, but to each their own.
On Dalt: One ugly mother, no complaints there.
On Dara: Pitch-perfect! The hair, the build, the face, it all works. It almost looks like a slighter version of Angelina Jolie, though given that the book was made in '88, I doubt she was in promonance then.
On Dierdre: I tended to get the Princesses mixed up, due to Zelazny's penchant for wonderfully detailed descriptions that are also nearly impenetrable. For the longest time I thought Flora was Brunette and Dierdre was blond (What? Dierdre sounds like a blond name to me...), but more on that later. The illustration is fine and dandy.
On Eric: I always thought Eric had a more solid and square frame, as a counterpoint to (my perception of) Corwin's more slight build. But this Eric looks regular, still big and tough enough to be a threat to Corwin, but I suppose "big" and "tough" should be reserved for Gerard.
On Fiona: Damn, that's one foxy looking lady. I never really got that Fiona was a redhead, though I'm sure it was mentioned a number of times. To me, she was always "that lady that disappeared whenever shit hit the fan," making her very, very obnoxious (a point the Guide makes as well) as she usually was in possesion of the answers as to why fecal matter made contact with spinning blades in the first place.
On Flora: Due to the rather fanciful description of her at the beginning of Nine Princes in Amber, I didn't figure out that she was blond until halfway through the series. The Wiki editors describe her as the "typical dumb blond," although blessed with all the magical and mental prowess of an Amberite. The illustration looks fine.
On Gerard: It may just be me, but this Gerard looks entirely too merry. I know Zelazny wrote that he's laughing in his Trump picture, but he looks too harmless, not the powerhouse that subdued both Benedict and Corwin.
On Julian: I've always imagined Julian as having a young face, maybe because he's one of the youngest of the Princes to begin with. The illustrator went the opposite way, giving him a lined face, aquiline nose, and forked beard. Very Snape-like. Zelazny's description is once again somewhat vague on the facial details aside from the fact that he looks rather "evil," but I can imagine a sort of Sephrioth-like quality could work as well.
On Llewella: All I remember is that she has Green hair and keeps to herself. The illustration looks fine to me.
On Luke: Pretty good, actually. My only beef is that in the description they make no mention that he's Rinaldo, Brand's son, even though the Guide was written when a good number of the Merlin Chronicles were already out (The Luke/Rinaldo connection was revealed at the end of the first freaking book of second set of Amber novels), and Dalt is mentioned as an Amberite by way of an illegitimate liason by Oberon. Consistancy, please!
On Mandor: Perfect again, though I imagined he would look a lot younger. As a general rule, I always imagined the Amberites and Chaosians having exceptionally long youth as well as age, and that only the oldest of the siblings (Benedict, Eric, and [crap!] Corwin, I guess) would start to show it. Mandor, despite his age, seemed to suggest youthfulness in appearance, if not in words and deeds.
On Martin: I find it interesting that the illustrator chose to show Martin in his Earth-Punk getup, rather than the more traditional Amber clothes that he wears earlier on in the series. You know, when Brand created his freakin' Trump!
On Merlin: Can you say "carbon copy"? Dalton's face makes another appearance, though now he's dressed in an earth business suit. Look, I know he looks like his dad, but this isn't generation xerox, here!
On Random: Not bad at all. Random being another character who's facial features are very vague, I think the illustrator did a good job on this one.
On Vialle: Oh, that's right, she did get immortalized in a Trump. She...looks fine?
On Oberon: Kingly and forbidding. I also dig the giant two handed sword. For some bizzare reason, when I started reading the books I began picturing Oberon with that crazy antler-crown that King Balor wore in Hellboy II. Probably because I associate the name "Oberon" more closely with the fairy king of Shakespeare. Good illustration.
On Dworkin: Not bad, looks like a mad, hunchbacked version of Oberon, which makes sense.
I should actually go and read the text that makes up the majority of this guide. I'm off!
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
(The following assumes you have passing knowledge of The Chronicles of Amber. If not, go brush up.)
Despite the crying of other Amber-fans that it's riddled with inaccuracies, I ended up getting a copy of Roger Zelazny's Visual Guide to Castle Amber mainly for the illustrations of the castle, and more importantly, the Trumps.
The more equivocal of the reviewers on Amazon soothed that it's "one artists take on what he thinks the castle and Trumps look like," and it certainly is at that. It was brought home to me that Zelazny was rather spartan in his descriptions of the characters (thoughtfully reproduced in the Guide), so I can't blame the illustrator for liberties taken when there's a dearth of information to begin with.
So, to the stuff I like best: the nitty-gritty of the Trump illustrations.
On Benedict: I don't remember Zelazny saying that he has a thing for Japanese culture and weapons, but then again, it's been a while since I've read the Corwin chronicles. Due to the illustrators choice with Corwin (more on that later), this Benedict looks a bit more stocky than the "tall and dour, thin; thin of body, thin of face" that Zelazny describes him as. Other than that, the illustrators guess is as good as mine.
On Bleys: Since he's so often described as being boisterous and fun loving, I've always imagined him having a more round figure, but still strong, in the cartoonists "Good-hearted brute" frame category. The illustrator makes him more standard in size.
On Brand: He looks good, like Brand ought to look, in my opinion. I've always imagined a Three Musketeers era Jeremy Brett as a good fit for Brand: a slightly twitchy, young looking bi-polar mad genius. Tell me you don't see it, Amber fans!
On Caine: Perfect, except: Mutton-chops, Mr. Illustrator? Really?
On Corwin: One word, OMGWTFTIMOTHYDALTON. Given that Corwin is never really described in full except for eye color and hair color, I can see why one could easily fit whatever actor they think might work. But the illustrator so transparently used Dalton's likeness that I wonder if he even tried to come up with something on his own. Dalton's face looks a bit too lantern-jawed for my taste as Corwin, but to each their own.
On Dalt: One ugly mother, no complaints there.
On Dara: Pitch-perfect! The hair, the build, the face, it all works. It almost looks like a slighter version of Angelina Jolie, though given that the book was made in '88, I doubt she was in promonance then.
On Dierdre: I tended to get the Princesses mixed up, due to Zelazny's penchant for wonderfully detailed descriptions that are also nearly impenetrable. For the longest time I thought Flora was Brunette and Dierdre was blond (What? Dierdre sounds like a blond name to me...), but more on that later. The illustration is fine and dandy.
On Eric: I always thought Eric had a more solid and square frame, as a counterpoint to (my perception of) Corwin's more slight build. But this Eric looks regular, still big and tough enough to be a threat to Corwin, but I suppose "big" and "tough" should be reserved for Gerard.
On Fiona: Damn, that's one foxy looking lady. I never really got that Fiona was a redhead, though I'm sure it was mentioned a number of times. To me, she was always "that lady that disappeared whenever shit hit the fan," making her very, very obnoxious (a point the Guide makes as well) as she usually was in possesion of the answers as to why fecal matter made contact with spinning blades in the first place.
On Flora: Due to the rather fanciful description of her at the beginning of Nine Princes in Amber, I didn't figure out that she was blond until halfway through the series. The Wiki editors describe her as the "typical dumb blond," although blessed with all the magical and mental prowess of an Amberite. The illustration looks fine.
On Gerard: It may just be me, but this Gerard looks entirely too merry. I know Zelazny wrote that he's laughing in his Trump picture, but he looks too harmless, not the powerhouse that subdued both Benedict and Corwin.
On Julian: I've always imagined Julian as having a young face, maybe because he's one of the youngest of the Princes to begin with. The illustrator went the opposite way, giving him a lined face, aquiline nose, and forked beard. Very Snape-like. Zelazny's description is once again somewhat vague on the facial details aside from the fact that he looks rather "evil," but I can imagine a sort of Sephrioth-like quality could work as well.
On Llewella: All I remember is that she has Green hair and keeps to herself. The illustration looks fine to me.
On Luke: Pretty good, actually. My only beef is that in the description they make no mention that he's Rinaldo, Brand's son, even though the Guide was written when a good number of the Merlin Chronicles were already out (The Luke/Rinaldo connection was revealed at the end of the first freaking book of second set of Amber novels), and Dalt is mentioned as an Amberite by way of an illegitimate liason by Oberon. Consistancy, please!
On Mandor: Perfect again, though I imagined he would look a lot younger. As a general rule, I always imagined the Amberites and Chaosians having exceptionally long youth as well as age, and that only the oldest of the siblings (Benedict, Eric, and [crap!] Corwin, I guess) would start to show it. Mandor, despite his age, seemed to suggest youthfulness in appearance, if not in words and deeds.
On Martin: I find it interesting that the illustrator chose to show Martin in his Earth-Punk getup, rather than the more traditional Amber clothes that he wears earlier on in the series. You know, when Brand created his freakin' Trump!
On Merlin: Can you say "carbon copy"? Dalton's face makes another appearance, though now he's dressed in an earth business suit. Look, I know he looks like his dad, but this isn't generation xerox, here!
On Random: Not bad at all. Random being another character who's facial features are very vague, I think the illustrator did a good job on this one.
On Vialle: Oh, that's right, she did get immortalized in a Trump. She...looks fine?
On Oberon: Kingly and forbidding. I also dig the giant two handed sword. For some bizzare reason, when I started reading the books I began picturing Oberon with that crazy antler-crown that King Balor wore in Hellboy II. Probably because I associate the name "Oberon" more closely with the fairy king of Shakespeare. Good illustration.
On Dworkin: Not bad, looks like a mad, hunchbacked version of Oberon, which makes sense.
I should actually go and read the text that makes up the majority of this guide. I'm off!
Enough, More Later.
- James
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Your Daily "Wha-?"
Upon the suggestion of a number of friends, I've started to read Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, and for the most part it's not bad. It suffers a bit from some clunky world-building exposition, of the "Our Heroine is attending school! Let's listen in on what she's being taught" method. To be sure, the history of the Ersatz Europe where the French have become the pinnacle of civilization is definitely interesting, it's just that the story tends to jerk back and forth between narrative and exposition.
But the one thing that made me do a double take was the following: When we come to an explanation of one of the "13 Houses of Sluts" as a waggish friend once put it (who's a avid fan, let me assure you), the way they choose their recruits is as follows. "'It begins with the lesson of the spiced candies, of course; you know this? No? We do it with children of six. An adept explains that the pleasure of the taste is due to the touch of pain the spice provokes. Those who understand, we keep; others will have their marques [debts] sold.'"
This, by the way, is Valerian House, known for it's S&M bent (which Our Heroine is biologically inclined towards, don't ask, just read the book). Let me get this straight, you keep six-year-olds to be inducted into a life of masochism because of their penchant for spicy effin' food? Just because someone doesn't mind a burrito that bites back a bit is not a good indicator that they would enjoy being scourged for shits and giggles! What the Hell!
Once again, though, the book isn't that bad. It's rather heavy on the scheming and intrigue, and as of the moment, fuzzy logic.
Enough, More Later.
- James
But the one thing that made me do a double take was the following: When we come to an explanation of one of the "13 Houses of Sluts" as a waggish friend once put it (who's a avid fan, let me assure you), the way they choose their recruits is as follows. "'It begins with the lesson of the spiced candies, of course; you know this? No? We do it with children of six. An adept explains that the pleasure of the taste is due to the touch of pain the spice provokes. Those who understand, we keep; others will have their marques [debts] sold.'"
This, by the way, is Valerian House, known for it's S&M bent (which Our Heroine is biologically inclined towards, don't ask, just read the book). Let me get this straight, you keep six-year-olds to be inducted into a life of masochism because of their penchant for spicy effin' food? Just because someone doesn't mind a burrito that bites back a bit is not a good indicator that they would enjoy being scourged for shits and giggles! What the Hell!
Once again, though, the book isn't that bad. It's rather heavy on the scheming and intrigue, and as of the moment, fuzzy logic.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Friday, June 26, 2009
Bandwagon Time!
Now playing: Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us
via FoxyTunes
Since the rest of the internet is spilling over with anecdotes, I figure I'll throw my own in on the subject of Michael Jackson. I prefer to remember the earlier times when he was the pinnacle of absolute fucking cool, rather than the more cringe-worthy later years.
The first song of his that I ever listened to was the early nineties "Black or White." My fellow "grew-up-in-the-90's" brethren and sistren will attest to how often it was on the radio, and how frickin' infectious it was. When we got our first CD player, "Dangerous" was one of the first albums we got to go along with it. I didn't know my dad had gotten it, and when he skipped forward to track 8 and cranked it, I totally thought (from across the house), that the opening audio vignette were my neighbors having an argument! Needless to say I was quite pleased to be proven wrong.
I remember asking for "Bad" soon after that, and had a heck of time getting it. My aunt got me "Thriller" for my birthday by mistake and I was utterly heartbroken. I was a stupid, stupid kid. I did, of course, warm up to it, and that copy is still sitting in our CD collection.
My last little anecdote was when HIStory came out in '94, and I first heard it on NPR of all places. I don't remember exactly what the program was about, aside from that it was about his new album, but it was probably about the controversy over "They Don't Care About Us," and they played a minute long clip from it. I just thought it sounded really damn cool, and my dad got me the album as benevolent largess when we finally payed off the mortgage to our house.
Anywho, there's my little tribute to MJ.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
Since the rest of the internet is spilling over with anecdotes, I figure I'll throw my own in on the subject of Michael Jackson. I prefer to remember the earlier times when he was the pinnacle of absolute fucking cool, rather than the more cringe-worthy later years.
The first song of his that I ever listened to was the early nineties "Black or White." My fellow "grew-up-in-the-90's" brethren and sistren will attest to how often it was on the radio, and how frickin' infectious it was. When we got our first CD player, "Dangerous" was one of the first albums we got to go along with it. I didn't know my dad had gotten it, and when he skipped forward to track 8 and cranked it, I totally thought (from across the house), that the opening audio vignette were my neighbors having an argument! Needless to say I was quite pleased to be proven wrong.
I remember asking for "Bad" soon after that, and had a heck of time getting it. My aunt got me "Thriller" for my birthday by mistake and I was utterly heartbroken. I was a stupid, stupid kid. I did, of course, warm up to it, and that copy is still sitting in our CD collection.
My last little anecdote was when HIStory came out in '94, and I first heard it on NPR of all places. I don't remember exactly what the program was about, aside from that it was about his new album, but it was probably about the controversy over "They Don't Care About Us," and they played a minute long clip from it. I just thought it sounded really damn cool, and my dad got me the album as benevolent largess when we finally payed off the mortgage to our house.
Anywho, there's my little tribute to MJ.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Your equation for the day
Now playing: James Newton Howard - The Egg Travels
via FoxyTunes
1/2 Terry Gilliam + 1/4 Dhalgren + 1/4 chop-socky = Six-String Samurai
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
1/2 Terry Gilliam + 1/4 Dhalgren + 1/4 chop-socky = Six-String Samurai
Enough, More Later.
- James
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Thoughts on Leiber's Lankhmar Series
Now playing: J. Ralph - Kansas City Shuffle
via FoxyTunes
I finished the last of the collected Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series about a week ago, and found them to be quite satisfying on the whole. For those who like wry Sword and Sorcery, the first five collections are easily some of the best of the various short stories, novelettes and novellas. Things start to slow down around "Swords and Ice Magic," and "The Knight and Knave of Swords" is only worth it for the soon-to-be-described "The Mouser Goes Below."
Despite being highly proficient in armed combat and possessing an occasionally uncanny intuition about magical dealings, both heroes fit the oft described "closer to true human stature" aspects that the series is famous for (as opposed to the superhuman Conan and Tarzan of the time). I appreciated Fafhrd and the Mouser's occasional philosophical and practical ruminations on their various love affairs, mining occasional insight on the nature of men and women and providing a nice break from the plot every now and then.
While Fafhrd and the Mouser each frequently have a girl of the week, the encounters are never cheapened by the virtue of their oft occurrence. Leiber wisely has his heroes remember and recall their amorous escapades in each subsequent story (when applicable), often fondly and with new insight in light of their newest adventure.
I got the feeling that Leiber would have liked to delve more into the details of the hero's sexual conquests, both in light of the note on the previously mentioned Wikipedia page mentioning an excised sex scene from the novel "The Swords of Lankhmar" at the editors behest, and at the rather large swerve in Leiber's final Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story, "The Mouser Goes Below."
Throughout nearly all of the stories, the heroes sexual encounters are illustrated briefly and with minimum detail; enough for some lightly thrilling erotic flavor, but never overdone. In "The Mouser Goes Below," for whatever reason Leiber completely pulls out all the stops and gives the readers a number of steamy, highly described erotic scenes, both of the moment and recalled from the past. The scenes in question are titillating, to be sure, but so much out of the blue as to be somewhat shocking. "Awww, he won't go there. Whoa, is he going there? Describing that?... Well, now."
The only other nitpick concerning "The Mouser Goes Below" is this: Throughout the stories our heroes have two wizardly mentors, Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. Neither of them are assigned a sex, and if they are even human is a contention challenged by the later described seven tentacular eyestalks that Ningauble possesses. All of the sudden in the last story, Ningauble suddenly becomes a "he" and Sheelba a "she." This is only annoying in that, first, they are always referred to as "wizards," even in this final tale, and secondly, their having sexes was never something that influenced the stories. It feels more than a little tacked on and merely served as an annoyance, and whatever Leibers reason for doing so is beyond me.
In any case, I would still fully recommend the Lankhmar stories to all who enjoy fantasy, as they are well written, entertaining, and fun. Also, like Zelazny, the fight scenes are described in fencing terms, which is always a plus :)
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
I finished the last of the collected Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series about a week ago, and found them to be quite satisfying on the whole. For those who like wry Sword and Sorcery, the first five collections are easily some of the best of the various short stories, novelettes and novellas. Things start to slow down around "Swords and Ice Magic," and "The Knight and Knave of Swords" is only worth it for the soon-to-be-described "The Mouser Goes Below."
Despite being highly proficient in armed combat and possessing an occasionally uncanny intuition about magical dealings, both heroes fit the oft described "closer to true human stature" aspects that the series is famous for (as opposed to the superhuman Conan and Tarzan of the time). I appreciated Fafhrd and the Mouser's occasional philosophical and practical ruminations on their various love affairs, mining occasional insight on the nature of men and women and providing a nice break from the plot every now and then.
While Fafhrd and the Mouser each frequently have a girl of the week, the encounters are never cheapened by the virtue of their oft occurrence. Leiber wisely has his heroes remember and recall their amorous escapades in each subsequent story (when applicable), often fondly and with new insight in light of their newest adventure.
I got the feeling that Leiber would have liked to delve more into the details of the hero's sexual conquests, both in light of the note on the previously mentioned Wikipedia page mentioning an excised sex scene from the novel "The Swords of Lankhmar" at the editors behest, and at the rather large swerve in Leiber's final Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story, "The Mouser Goes Below."
Throughout nearly all of the stories, the heroes sexual encounters are illustrated briefly and with minimum detail; enough for some lightly thrilling erotic flavor, but never overdone. In "The Mouser Goes Below," for whatever reason Leiber completely pulls out all the stops and gives the readers a number of steamy, highly described erotic scenes, both of the moment and recalled from the past. The scenes in question are titillating, to be sure, but so much out of the blue as to be somewhat shocking. "Awww, he won't go there. Whoa, is he going there? Describing that?... Well, now."
The only other nitpick concerning "The Mouser Goes Below" is this: Throughout the stories our heroes have two wizardly mentors, Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. Neither of them are assigned a sex, and if they are even human is a contention challenged by the later described seven tentacular eyestalks that Ningauble possesses. All of the sudden in the last story, Ningauble suddenly becomes a "he" and Sheelba a "she." This is only annoying in that, first, they are always referred to as "wizards," even in this final tale, and secondly, their having sexes was never something that influenced the stories. It feels more than a little tacked on and merely served as an annoyance, and whatever Leibers reason for doing so is beyond me.
In any case, I would still fully recommend the Lankhmar stories to all who enjoy fantasy, as they are well written, entertaining, and fun. Also, like Zelazny, the fight scenes are described in fencing terms, which is always a plus :)
Enough, More Later.
- James
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Stuffed into the (nonworking) fridge
Now playing: Danny Elfman - Hulk's Freedom
via FoxyTunes
So earlier this week, in the midst of this random heat wave we've been having, our fridge decided to crap out on us. I don't know which came first, but Mom realized it was probably time to clean out the dust bunny colony from the cooling array, and (after? before?) found that the bunch of ice cream we were keeping in the fridge was being maintained at the consistency of thin gazpacho.
Apparently a previous warning sign was that the fridge was running nearly 24/7, as opposed to the usual series of on and off. Mom and sis just went out and got a new fridge today, though it won't arrive until Saturday. Having a barely functioning fridge has done a rather interesting thing, in that not only has it drastically cut down on us buying cold/frozen stuff, but everything else as well, seeing that we do our Family-of-4 shopping at Costco nowadays. No use going to get food at Safeway when it'll all be gone by the end of the day, and no use going to Costco if all we're going to pick up is a handful of stuff.
Make no mistake, we've got plenty to eat, but now have a larder and fridge that are steadily getting more and more empty. It's an odd feeling, being deprived of modern food storage methods, and makes me think about how food storage/consumption varied in the days before electric cooling.
Spent the last weekend hanging out with Patrick and co., first a game night on Saturday, and then hanging out with a smaller group in and around Japantown on Sunday for the Cherry Blossom Festival and parade. As I was arriving at City Hall (and the beginning of the parade route), I saw a convertible with the sign "Grand Marshal, George Takei." No shit, *the* George Takei? I looked at the occupant, sitting high and wearing somewhat nonedescript clothing and a white baseball cap. Of course, he was looking away, so I spent a second or two looking at the sign and back trying to be sure, when he then turns around. Holy shit, it *is* George Takei!
Also spent the last week watching the Bourne Trilogy, and it is as good as people say. It was quite satisfying by the third movie, after much globe-trotting, fisticuffs and narrow escapes, to have the big bad (upon first seeing Bourne), say "Jesus Christ....That's Jason Bourne."
And if all that previous wasn't exciting enough, I'm going paintballing with Patrick and co. for his birthday this Saturday. Never done it before, but it should be awesome.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
So earlier this week, in the midst of this random heat wave we've been having, our fridge decided to crap out on us. I don't know which came first, but Mom realized it was probably time to clean out the dust bunny colony from the cooling array, and (after? before?) found that the bunch of ice cream we were keeping in the fridge was being maintained at the consistency of thin gazpacho.
Apparently a previous warning sign was that the fridge was running nearly 24/7, as opposed to the usual series of on and off. Mom and sis just went out and got a new fridge today, though it won't arrive until Saturday. Having a barely functioning fridge has done a rather interesting thing, in that not only has it drastically cut down on us buying cold/frozen stuff, but everything else as well, seeing that we do our Family-of-4 shopping at Costco nowadays. No use going to get food at Safeway when it'll all be gone by the end of the day, and no use going to Costco if all we're going to pick up is a handful of stuff.
Make no mistake, we've got plenty to eat, but now have a larder and fridge that are steadily getting more and more empty. It's an odd feeling, being deprived of modern food storage methods, and makes me think about how food storage/consumption varied in the days before electric cooling.
Spent the last weekend hanging out with Patrick and co., first a game night on Saturday, and then hanging out with a smaller group in and around Japantown on Sunday for the Cherry Blossom Festival and parade. As I was arriving at City Hall (and the beginning of the parade route), I saw a convertible with the sign "Grand Marshal, George Takei." No shit, *the* George Takei? I looked at the occupant, sitting high and wearing somewhat nonedescript clothing and a white baseball cap. Of course, he was looking away, so I spent a second or two looking at the sign and back trying to be sure, when he then turns around. Holy shit, it *is* George Takei!
Also spent the last week watching the Bourne Trilogy, and it is as good as people say. It was quite satisfying by the third movie, after much globe-trotting, fisticuffs and narrow escapes, to have the big bad (upon first seeing Bourne), say "Jesus Christ....That's Jason Bourne."
And if all that previous wasn't exciting enough, I'm going paintballing with Patrick and co. for his birthday this Saturday. Never done it before, but it should be awesome.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Monday, April 13, 2009
Gear Changing the Social Tendencies
Now playing: Miklos Rozsa - The Legend And Epilogue / The Falcon And The Dove
via FoxyTunes
Time to dust off the ol' blog! I just got increased hours at work, which means I'm working four hours a day instead of two. Had to re-shuffle the schedule a bit, but hopefully things will begin to fall into place.
Considering the current economic situation, I've been doing rather well: a well paying job that I can stay at home to do, good relations with the folks to make living at home easier. I've even been reaching out more and trying to visit friends on a more regular basis. Ever since I binged on the numbered list section of Cracked.com and came across this, I realized how important it was to get away from the computerbox more often than I do (and be a more sociable creature in general).
I still find I'm in the process of transitioning out from the college mindset in terms of social gatherings. When your in school, everyone is nearby and in sync with you: you're all taking classes and you all have the same schedule. When you get out into the working world, you can't just call up folk when you feel like it and expect them to have time right away, planning must needs be involved.
Even more importantly, a certain amount of pro-action and ability to be mutable: Not only do you need to be active in planning things if you want them to happen, but also you should be able to roll with the punches of things don't work out. If someone was busy when you were in college, you could pretty much count on them being available within the next few days. When you're out and all of a sudden weekends are pretty much the only free time, it can take weeks to coordinate a get together. There was a lunch with some co-workers that my dad planned that was delayed nearly a month and a half due to changing schedules. The down-shot was how long it took, but the upshot was that it was lots of fun and quite enjoyable.
In any case, I'm happy that I have at least a few friends in the Bay who I can visit with some regularity. Toes is back in Palo Alto, and though may be the furthest commute-wise, is someone who I end up seeing regularly. Patrick and co. have moved a little closer, and I need to take more advantage of Matt's welcome, even if Patrick isn't available. And hopefully I'll be able to re-connect with Nina for a MST3K marathon sometime soon. Juggling engagements was never something I've had to do before, but I find it immensely enjoyable when things work out and think the effort is well worth it.
And now I must be off, the dishes call to me, "Jaaames! You should at least do something to compensate your parents for giving you free food and rennnnt!"
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
Time to dust off the ol' blog! I just got increased hours at work, which means I'm working four hours a day instead of two. Had to re-shuffle the schedule a bit, but hopefully things will begin to fall into place.
Considering the current economic situation, I've been doing rather well: a well paying job that I can stay at home to do, good relations with the folks to make living at home easier. I've even been reaching out more and trying to visit friends on a more regular basis. Ever since I binged on the numbered list section of Cracked.com and came across this, I realized how important it was to get away from the computerbox more often than I do (and be a more sociable creature in general).
I still find I'm in the process of transitioning out from the college mindset in terms of social gatherings. When your in school, everyone is nearby and in sync with you: you're all taking classes and you all have the same schedule. When you get out into the working world, you can't just call up folk when you feel like it and expect them to have time right away, planning must needs be involved.
Even more importantly, a certain amount of pro-action and ability to be mutable: Not only do you need to be active in planning things if you want them to happen, but also you should be able to roll with the punches of things don't work out. If someone was busy when you were in college, you could pretty much count on them being available within the next few days. When you're out and all of a sudden weekends are pretty much the only free time, it can take weeks to coordinate a get together. There was a lunch with some co-workers that my dad planned that was delayed nearly a month and a half due to changing schedules. The down-shot was how long it took, but the upshot was that it was lots of fun and quite enjoyable.
In any case, I'm happy that I have at least a few friends in the Bay who I can visit with some regularity. Toes is back in Palo Alto, and though may be the furthest commute-wise, is someone who I end up seeing regularly. Patrick and co. have moved a little closer, and I need to take more advantage of Matt's welcome, even if Patrick isn't available. And hopefully I'll be able to re-connect with Nina for a MST3K marathon sometime soon. Juggling engagements was never something I've had to do before, but I find it immensely enjoyable when things work out and think the effort is well worth it.
And now I must be off, the dishes call to me, "Jaaames! You should at least do something to compensate your parents for giving you free food and rennnnt!"
Enough, More Later.
- James
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Help!
Now playing: Tone Loc - Funky Cold Medina
via FoxyTunes
For the first time, my knowledge of soundtrack-y stuff has completely failed me. I've heard about 10 seconds of a western sounding, "Rawhide"-like orchestral piece that is most definitely by Ennio Morricone (Rhythmic guitars, human whistle as primary instrument, men chant/shouting nonsense).
I first heard a second and a half of it in this hilarious anti-cocaine ad from across the pond ("Pablo!" ::whipcrack::)
But just recently I heard it in the opening 45 seconds of it in this Samsung LED Sheep ad!
Somebody help, I have no idea where this song is from!
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
For the first time, my knowledge of soundtrack-y stuff has completely failed me. I've heard about 10 seconds of a western sounding, "Rawhide"-like orchestral piece that is most definitely by Ennio Morricone (Rhythmic guitars, human whistle as primary instrument, men chant/shouting nonsense).
I first heard a second and a half of it in this hilarious anti-cocaine ad from across the pond ("Pablo!" ::whipcrack::)
But just recently I heard it in the opening 45 seconds of it in this Samsung LED Sheep ad!
Somebody help, I have no idea where this song is from!
Enough, More Later.
- James
Saturday, February 28, 2009
TA-DA
Now playing: Jerry Goldsmith - The Warriors
via FoxyTunes
I finally (with the help of a fellow YouTuber) got the knack of getting my videos to be displayed in the coveted "Watch in HD" mode, which of course was simply ripping clips to a larger resolution. Indeed, I recently found that my most recent attempt at a music video would, given the proper processing time, be viewable in Higher Quality than when initially uploaded. And so, without further ado, my most recent effort.
(Note, head over to the video's page and check the info box on the right for a link to the high quality version)
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
I finally (with the help of a fellow YouTuber) got the knack of getting my videos to be displayed in the coveted "Watch in HD" mode, which of course was simply ripping clips to a larger resolution. Indeed, I recently found that my most recent attempt at a music video would, given the proper processing time, be viewable in Higher Quality than when initially uploaded. And so, without further ado, my most recent effort.
(Note, head over to the video's page and check the info box on the right for a link to the high quality version)
Enough, More Later.
- James
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Guess I'll just have a seat...
Now playing: Alan Williams - Amazon
via FoxyTunes
Man, all my male friends who are close by geographically have g/f's and most likely have plans for Valentine's, and I'm caught in a double bind with my female friends because they either have significant others or if not, just "hanging out" on V-Day seems kinda awkward. Guess I'll just sit here, then.
Also, the Dollhouse pilot was OK, it had a little bit of that Whedon sparkle around the edges, but didn't blow me away. Maybe I just had inflated hopes after I was exposed to the awesomeness that is Firefly, but either way, I'll give it a few more episodes to develop before I toss it into the "ehhh" bin.
What I am very much liking is "Lie to Me," and I was very upset to learn that it didn't air this week due to a *shudder* American Idol Two-Hour Special. Oh Hulu, you are going to ruin my life.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
Man, all my male friends who are close by geographically have g/f's and most likely have plans for Valentine's, and I'm caught in a double bind with my female friends because they either have significant others or if not, just "hanging out" on V-Day seems kinda awkward. Guess I'll just sit here, then.
Also, the Dollhouse pilot was OK, it had a little bit of that Whedon sparkle around the edges, but didn't blow me away. Maybe I just had inflated hopes after I was exposed to the awesomeness that is Firefly, but either way, I'll give it a few more episodes to develop before I toss it into the "ehhh" bin.
What I am very much liking is "Lie to Me," and I was very upset to learn that it didn't air this week due to a *shudder* American Idol Two-Hour Special. Oh Hulu, you are going to ruin my life.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Quickly! Randomly!
Now playing: Immediate Music - Sargon's Legion
via FoxyTunes
I'll preface this by saying that I really like Three Panel Soul. But their most recent comic struck an odd chord with me. I thought it was kinda neat, but for some reason, "beating the devil at mancala" struck me as insufferably, boastfully lame. Don't ask me why, it just did. To illustrate, I came up with my own quirky version (unillustrated, because I haven't drawn since High School).
I once beat the Devil at a game of Nine Men's Morris. Fortunately for me, he didn't know that it was just a more convoluted game of Tic-Tac-Toe, and easily winnable if you know the trick of it. I won from him his sense of decency, which he was surprisingly loath to part with and which gave off a golden glow. Never really did much with it, but it did keep my room heated during winter.
"But the comic has him being mundane with the Devil's SOUL!" you say. To which I say, "Yes, but confusing devil with a non-western chess-equivalent does not a victory make." The standard horses are beating the devil/Death at chess, or perhaps a fiddling contest. There was something very "oooh, look at me!" about the whole age 16/mancala thing that rubbed me funny, and don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the litotes of the punchline. However, there was something about the whole setup that seemed to prematurely deflate the whole concept from the get-go. I wish I could better articulate this vague disgust and why it gnaws at me so, but I think I'll just have to recite the MST3K Mantra a few times and move on.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
I'll preface this by saying that I really like Three Panel Soul. But their most recent comic struck an odd chord with me. I thought it was kinda neat, but for some reason, "beating the devil at mancala" struck me as insufferably, boastfully lame. Don't ask me why, it just did. To illustrate, I came up with my own quirky version (unillustrated, because I haven't drawn since High School).
I once beat the Devil at a game of Nine Men's Morris. Fortunately for me, he didn't know that it was just a more convoluted game of Tic-Tac-Toe, and easily winnable if you know the trick of it. I won from him his sense of decency, which he was surprisingly loath to part with and which gave off a golden glow. Never really did much with it, but it did keep my room heated during winter.
"But the comic has him being mundane with the Devil's SOUL!" you say. To which I say, "Yes, but confusing devil with a non-western chess-equivalent does not a victory make." The standard horses are beating the devil/Death at chess, or perhaps a fiddling contest. There was something very "oooh, look at me!" about the whole age 16/mancala thing that rubbed me funny, and don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the litotes of the punchline. However, there was something about the whole setup that seemed to prematurely deflate the whole concept from the get-go. I wish I could better articulate this vague disgust and why it gnaws at me so, but I think I'll just have to recite the MST3K Mantra a few times and move on.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Chambers Passage and Thoughts on Moorcock's Elric
Currently in Earphones: Quantum of Solace soundtrack by David Arnold
So I've finally started reading The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers, and found a little passage that rather eloquently sums up where things went wrong in a long-past affair of mine...
"Whether because I am so cowardly about giving pain to others, or whether it was that I have a little of the gloomy Puritan in me, I do not know, but I shrank from disclaiming responsibility for that thoughtless kiss...Others who habitually do their duty and find a sullen satisfaction in making themselves and everyone else unhappy, might have withstood it. I did not. I dared not."
- The Yellow Sign
But back to the literary side of things, I only allowed myself to start reading Chambers when I had finished the collection of Elric stories I had bought a few weeks ago. Elric seems to me to be the Linkin Park of Swords of Sorcery, though a bit more refined. The moody, brooding character (both excellent words to use if you were playing a drinking game with any of Moorcock's stories featuring him) channels the teen crack-cocaine blend of angst, alienation, and cool. I now have a list of sci-fi/fantasy books that, had I read them in High School, I probably would have thought them to be the COOLEST THINGS EVAR. The Elric stories fit this description to a "t," and yet, coming to them now and having sampled far more in terms of authors and genres, I find them only entertaining/interesting/passable.
That's not to say that there's nothing to like. I particularly enjoyed the four part Stormbringer and what's essentially the origin story, The Dreaming City. And as I've said before, it was a wise decision on Moorcock's part to include the character of Moonlgum as a friend and foil to Elric. I don't think I could have endured endless stories of Elric moping about by his lonesome without a lighthearted character to balance him out (Although, at the end of Sad Giant's Shield Moonglum seems to totally break character for a scene, which threw off my appreciation a bit). I do recommend the Elric stories to all who enjoy a bit of fantasy, but you'll probably be more disposed to them if you were ever a teenage boy (or perhaps girl, if you were really gloomy).
Anywho, I'm off to read more Chambers.
Enough, More Later.
- James
So I've finally started reading The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers, and found a little passage that rather eloquently sums up where things went wrong in a long-past affair of mine...
"Whether because I am so cowardly about giving pain to others, or whether it was that I have a little of the gloomy Puritan in me, I do not know, but I shrank from disclaiming responsibility for that thoughtless kiss...Others who habitually do their duty and find a sullen satisfaction in making themselves and everyone else unhappy, might have withstood it. I did not. I dared not."
- The Yellow Sign
But back to the literary side of things, I only allowed myself to start reading Chambers when I had finished the collection of Elric stories I had bought a few weeks ago. Elric seems to me to be the Linkin Park of Swords of Sorcery, though a bit more refined. The moody, brooding character (both excellent words to use if you were playing a drinking game with any of Moorcock's stories featuring him) channels the teen crack-cocaine blend of angst, alienation, and cool. I now have a list of sci-fi/fantasy books that, had I read them in High School, I probably would have thought them to be the COOLEST THINGS EVAR. The Elric stories fit this description to a "t," and yet, coming to them now and having sampled far more in terms of authors and genres, I find them only entertaining/interesting/passable.
That's not to say that there's nothing to like. I particularly enjoyed the four part Stormbringer and what's essentially the origin story, The Dreaming City. And as I've said before, it was a wise decision on Moorcock's part to include the character of Moonlgum as a friend and foil to Elric. I don't think I could have endured endless stories of Elric moping about by his lonesome without a lighthearted character to balance him out (Although, at the end of Sad Giant's Shield Moonglum seems to totally break character for a scene, which threw off my appreciation a bit). I do recommend the Elric stories to all who enjoy a bit of fantasy, but you'll probably be more disposed to them if you were ever a teenage boy (or perhaps girl, if you were really gloomy).
Anywho, I'm off to read more Chambers.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Meeting an Escapee
Now playing: Brand X Music - Spawn
via FoxyTunes
I was hanging out with friends PST and KW last night, and learned an interesting thing about KW's roommate, L. Turns out she comes from a family of LDS folk (read, Mormons), and ended up leaving the church when she reached the age of reason and realized how much of her time was being leeched by church activities and restrictions. We only got the 10-minute version, but through a combination of determination and what I can only describe as GUTS, she officially cut her ties with the church.
It was interesting to hear that everyone who's baptized into the LDS church actually gets put into a registry and is even given an ID number. So it's kind of a big deal to get yourself removed from the roster, especially if you're a female! She mentioned how she had to get a male relative to talk to the bigwigs on the phone in order for them to take her seriously, which really got my hackles up, but she ended up victorious, and even had the letter to prove it. It was a terse piece of communication, but had the usual "if you ever want to rejoin" statement at the end.
PST wryly quipped how he was disappointed they didn't have a "please find enclosed one (1) soul" bit, what with how bureaucratic the whole process looked.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
I was hanging out with friends PST and KW last night, and learned an interesting thing about KW's roommate, L. Turns out she comes from a family of LDS folk (read, Mormons), and ended up leaving the church when she reached the age of reason and realized how much of her time was being leeched by church activities and restrictions. We only got the 10-minute version, but through a combination of determination and what I can only describe as GUTS, she officially cut her ties with the church.
It was interesting to hear that everyone who's baptized into the LDS church actually gets put into a registry and is even given an ID number. So it's kind of a big deal to get yourself removed from the roster, especially if you're a female! She mentioned how she had to get a male relative to talk to the bigwigs on the phone in order for them to take her seriously, which really got my hackles up, but she ended up victorious, and even had the letter to prove it. It was a terse piece of communication, but had the usual "if you ever want to rejoin" statement at the end.
PST wryly quipped how he was disappointed they didn't have a "please find enclosed one (1) soul" bit, what with how bureaucratic the whole process looked.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Current Book List and Lovecraft Encapsulated
Now playing: Brunch - Imagine
via FoxyTunes
Being out of college means I now have more time for fun reading! For those interested, here's the current rundown:
Finished:
Currently Reading (from "still warm from my hot little hands," to "gathering dust on my bookshelf"):
Up Next:
And now, for your entertainment, Condensed Lovecraft. Spoiler Alert! You have been warned:
Enough, More Later.
- James
P.S. I get to keep my job! Yay!
via FoxyTunes
Being out of college means I now have more time for fun reading! For those interested, here's the current rundown:
Finished:
- The Dupin Tales by Edgar Allen Poe. Of which there are three: The first, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," being amazing and a classic. The second, "The Murder of Maire Roget," having dulled with age (ripped from the headlines of the time, Law and Order Style). The third, "The Purloined Letter," more subdued, but equally cool. For added interest, imagine Jeremy Brett saying all of Dupin's dialog in the Sherlock voice.
- The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales by HP Lovecraft. Varying in their quality, but all sufficiently creepy. More on that to come.
- Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. Once again proves that, no matter what it may be, if it's authored by Gaiman I should buy it on principle, because I've never been disappointed by him so far.
- Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief by Maurice LeBlanc. Neat, fun, and clever stories, though the Lupin/Holmes crossover could have benefited from a smarter Holmes. Definitely worth a read.
- Roman Blood by Steven Saylor. How could I have MISSED this? Roman History plus detective mystery (calling him Gordianus the Finder, I SEE WHAT YOU DID, THAR). Lurid, well researched and gripping. I kept imagining a slightly younger David Bamber as Cicero, Michael Gambon in Eddie Temple mode as Sulla, and, weirdly enough, Daniel Craig as Gordianus.
Currently Reading (from "still warm from my hot little hands," to "gathering dust on my bookshelf"):
- Elric, Stealer of Souls by Michael Moorcock. Volume 1 of the collected Elric stories, and the first I've read of him. I can see why the character of Elric was a hit with moody teens back in the '60's (and today), and I appreciate that Moorcock paired him with a foil in the early stories. Speaking of imagining actors who look nothing like the way the characters are described, Nathon Fillion as Moonglum, anyone? And after his turn as Prince Nuada, you KNOW Luke Goss would be the perfect Elric.
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Fascinating stuff, but sadly in the "if there were no other books to read" category. I'll have to bring it with me on a vacation sometime.
- Sahara by Clive Cussler. Maybe if it wasn't too pedestrian an adventure, or maybe if his writing had more meat and less sparkle, I don't know.
- Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany. How can it be so neat and yet so hard to get through (I'm looking at you too, Return to Neveryon)?
Up Next:
- The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories by Robert Chambers. I've been going on a "seminal works" kick (cf. Poe's Dupin Tales), and this naturally followed from Lovecraft.
- Chronicles of the Lensman, Vol 1 by E.E. "Doc" Smith. Once again, seminal work, but this time of the "Space Opera" genre (think Star Wars).
- The Evidence of the Sword by Rafael Sabatini. A collection of short story mysteries by the king of the swashbuckler novel. I can't wait!
- The First Swords by Fred Saberhagen. Alright, so I've already read most of this series, but I got the first trilogy in a shiny new compilation and want to re-read them.
- The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. I enjoyed The Gunslinger and eventually want to see if the rest of the Dark Tower series is as good.
And now, for your entertainment, Condensed Lovecraft. Spoiler Alert! You have been warned:
- Dagon: Man gets thrown overboard, later witnesses the sea evaporate. After traveling along the drying sea floor, goes over a hill and witnesses a giant man-fish-thing worshipping a grotesque statue. Escapes, goes mad, writes an account, commits suicide.
- The Statement of Randolf Carter: Hi, my name's Randolf Carter. You probably won't believe me, but I followed a friend of mine to this evil looking cemetery where he disappeared into a crypt and never came out again. Oh, and I heard a big evil voice.
- Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermayne and his Family: The great grandfather who started this whole mess found a village of missing-link ape-men in Africa, married its princess and started a line of children who all were rather queer and had ape-like tendencies. Arthur Jermayne, the last in the line, finds this out and commits suicide.
- Celephaïs: Man attempts to return to a dreamlike town he believes he came from through lots of drugs and daydreaming. He returns by following his visions and diving into the final portal. The next day a drugged up hobo is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Surprise!
- Nyarlathotep: Man hears about this Egyptian looking dude called Nyarlathotep, who has been going around giving shows where he shows people "the truth," but pretty much everyone comes away from them stark raving mad. He goes to see a demonstration and, of course, loses his mind.
- The Picture in the House: A young man stops for shelter from a storm in an early American New England house. He notices creepy scary cult books in the study. Having seen a well thumbed page depicting cannibalism, he meets with the resident of the house who admits to committing cannibalism due to the influence of the book, and just before the young man can go mad from seeing blood dripping from the ceiling, the house falls in.
- The Outsider: This guy is completely alone in a giant castle which appears to be in an endless forest. Fed up with being alone, he climbs to the top of the highest tower, which, in actuality, is in the basement of a church. After wandering outside, he happens upon a party, and when he approaches the people all go mad with horror and flee. He sees an ungodly monster, but realizes that it's just a MIRROR, OMG.
- Herbert West - Reanimator: Herbert West tries to reanimate somthing. He fails. He tries again, it almost works. He tries again, it sorta works. He tries again, it is very close to working. He almost tries again, but he gets ambushed by his previous efforts and is torn limb from limb.
- The Hound: Two men, for reasons unknown, dabble in every single dark, occult thing you could imagine. Then they steal the wrong bauble from the wrong corpse and get hunted by a demon hound. The first one gets killed by it, and the second one commits suicide before being killed.
- The Rats in the Walls: A man buys and fixes up his ancestral home in Briton, even though the locals know something he doesn't. Haunted by the sound of thousands of rats in the walls, he and his friend (and eventually the police), follow the sounds to a dead, underground city where a secret cult, founded by his ancestors, did dark deeds and raised humans (who were bred a few steps back down the evolutionary ladder) for sacrifice. The party gets separated, the lights go out, the rats close in, and the man goes mad.
- The Festival: A man returns to his ancestral home in New England in time for "The Festival," in which the inhabitants of the town (who, it turns out, aren't at all human), worship some dark monstrosity in a cave. The man gets out, gets knocked out, and finds himself in a more normal version of the town he was just in.
- He: Young, disillusioned poet living in the city meets with a mysterious man who shows him older parts of the city. Turns out the man is incredibly old and has inherited crazy-mystic-time-altering-Indian powers from the native Americans his ancestors double crossed. The poet flubs up and the Indian spirits get in, bent on revenge. The poet escapes and never sees the man or his house again.
- Cool Air: A young man meets a genteel doctor who lives on the floor above him in a tenement and who always has an abundance of cooling units in his room. The two become friends and help each other, until the cooling begins to break down. The man finds the doctor has turned into a puddle, and that he'd been keeping himself alive through will-power and refrigeration and had been clinically dead for EIGHTEEN YEARS, OMG.
- The Call of Cthulhu: A young man pieces together a puzzle involving simultaneous dreams on a certain day, a weird statue, an account of an interrupted "voodoo" ritual, and a story of a sailor and shipmates who encountered a city in the waves and woke a sleeping cosmic horror. Turns out the statue was an image of that horror, the ritual was part of a cult worshiping that horror, the dreams were the preparatory call of that horror, and had the sailor not run over the horror with his boat (but didn't kill it), this demon-god CTHULHU would have made the world mad and devoured us all. Close call, eh?
- The Color Out of Space: A strange meteorite lands in a rural town and contains a color that no science can identify. Things seem to thrive on the farm that it lands on, but slowly the life gets leeched out of everything, the inhabitants go mad, and the police arrive just in time to see a giant, amorphous thing that can only be that color rocket back into space. BUT NOT ALL OF IT LEFT.
- The Whisperer in the Darkness: Strange creatures are seen after a large flood in the mountainous regions of New England. The narrator and one other man (who lives in the mountains) investigate to find that the creatures are sentient and just want to live in peace (but could wipe us out if they wanted). However, they're giving the other man a hard time, and eventually correspondence between him and the narrator reach a fever pitch. All of a sudden, the tone and information of his letters change, oddly, and he invites the narrator back to his house, where he explains the wonders of what he has learned from these creatures. He still acts odd, and when things really start to get weird, the narrator decides to escape, but finds that he can't find his host, but stumbles on HIS FACE AND HANDS ONLY, OMG.
- The Shadow Over Innsmouth: A college student, traveling through New England, decides to visit the port town of Innsmouth. Most of the people there are all rather odd, looking partly fishy. He learns from the soused, "mad" old timer that the head of the town made a pact with some fish people who lived near the reef in the bay: in exchange for plenty of fish (and some otherworldly baubles) the townsfolk would sacrifice children and interbreed with the fish folk, which is why everyone looks so odd. The jig having been turned in an upward direction, the student makes a thrilling escape through the half-breed infested town and witnesses a summoned horror that causes him to black out. Once home, he does some genealogical research and finds that he's been related to the half-breed fish people all along! As he ages he gets fishy-looking too and eventually wants to head back to Innsmouth.
- The Haunter in the Dark: An artist investigates an evil looking church shunned by the townspeople and finds some nameless horror living in the attic of the steeple. Having awoken it by fiddling with an otherworldly crystal in the bell-tower, he retreats to find that the creature can only move in the dark. The townsfolk keep a candlelight vigil outside the church once they hear the re-awakened horror moving around in there, but a large storm knocks out all the power and all the light the people set up. The monster flies across town and kills the artist.
Enough, More Later.
- James
P.S. I get to keep my job! Yay!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Oh Yeah!
Now playing: Trevor Jones - Pteranodons
via FoxyTunes
For all you UCD folk and Zero Punctuation Fans, here's a little something from his latest review that should make you happy...
I was thrilled to see a glimpse of the UC seal when Yahtzee did his usual split second illustration of "You see...", but imagine my surprise to see that it was none other than the Davis seal. That's freaking awesome! Don't know if it was on purpose (UCD has the best and easiest to find graphics of these things?), but it's certainly cool.
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
For all you UCD folk and Zero Punctuation Fans, here's a little something from his latest review that should make you happy...
I was thrilled to see a glimpse of the UC seal when Yahtzee did his usual split second illustration of "You see...", but imagine my surprise to see that it was none other than the Davis seal. That's freaking awesome! Don't know if it was on purpose (UCD has the best and easiest to find graphics of these things?), but it's certainly cool.
Enough, More Later.
- James
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Further Pictorial Proof
Now playing: Mark Mancina - Saya's Victory
via FoxyTunes
Words cannot describe just how awesome John Scalzi is. Full of energy, quick on his feet, full of wit and snark, he is every bit as one comes to see him after reading his blog or a number of his books. It was a great night of comedy and tomfoolery, and I'm glad John and Mary had as much of a blast doing it as we the audience had in seeing it.
Enough. More Later,
- James
via FoxyTunes
Words cannot describe just how awesome John Scalzi is. Full of energy, quick on his feet, full of wit and snark, he is every bit as one comes to see him after reading his blog or a number of his books. It was a great night of comedy and tomfoolery, and I'm glad John and Mary had as much of a blast doing it as we the audience had in seeing it.
Enough. More Later,
- James
Pictorial Proof
Now playing: Immediate Music - Divide And Conquer
via FoxyTunes
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/01/17/an-evening-at-borderlands/
Step 1: Click Link
Step 2: Take a look at the face just peeking over the bearded guy on the right side of the frame.
Step 3: Take a guess at who that is.
Oh yeah, I saw Scalzi, and it was good. Further pictorial proof to come.
Enough. More Later,
- James
via FoxyTunes
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/01/17/an-evening-at-borderlands/
Step 1: Click Link
Step 2: Take a look at the face just peeking over the bearded guy on the right side of the frame.
Step 3: Take a guess at who that is.
Oh yeah, I saw Scalzi, and it was good. Further pictorial proof to come.
Enough. More Later,
- James
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Trailerheads Rejoice!
Now playing: Immediate - Prometheus Rising
via FoxyTunes
(Click the picture for product page, DO EET NAOW)
It's finally happened! Immediate Music, one of the biggest production music libraries out there, has granted a long held wish to fans and has made available for public consumption a selection of their most used cues! Unlike the preivious "Epicon" (which is also worth your while), which took the underlying melodies of their music and added more popular trappings of lyrics and a rock band, "Trailerhead" features only lightly edited versions of such sought after cues as "Lacrimosa" (Lacrimosa Dominae), "Serenata" (Serenata Immortale) and "Epicon" (An Epic Age).
I encourage all you folk who I turned on to Production music to go and get this album, we owe it to Immediate Music for going out of their way to make sure we could get their music LEGALLY. Seriously, step away from that Rapidshare link or torrent file, this is well worth your cash, especially in this era of affordable, DRM-free downloadable albums from Amazon. Go to!
Enough, More Later.
- James
via FoxyTunes
(Click the picture for product page, DO EET NAOW)It's finally happened! Immediate Music, one of the biggest production music libraries out there, has granted a long held wish to fans and has made available for public consumption a selection of their most used cues! Unlike the preivious "Epicon" (which is also worth your while), which took the underlying melodies of their music and added more popular trappings of lyrics and a rock band, "Trailerhead" features only lightly edited versions of such sought after cues as "Lacrimosa" (Lacrimosa Dominae), "Serenata" (Serenata Immortale) and "Epicon" (An Epic Age).
I encourage all you folk who I turned on to Production music to go and get this album, we owe it to Immediate Music for going out of their way to make sure we could get their music LEGALLY. Seriously, step away from that Rapidshare link or torrent file, this is well worth your cash, especially in this era of affordable, DRM-free downloadable albums from Amazon. Go to!
Enough, More Later.
- James
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