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
Saturday, February 28, 2009
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
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