Santa Cruz '06: Booze, Broads, and Ballestras

Currently in Earphones: Globus by Epicon, Various songs by Silly Wizard, Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris

Well, it is now kinda noonish Sunday, and I've finally recovered enough to write up the events and anecdotes of Saturdays fencing tourney at Santa Cruz.

Preston was nice enough to give myself and a few other team mates a ride, and I invited him to sleep over the night before so he didn't have to get up REALLY crazy early to get to Davis from Sacramento. We all got up around 4:20ish in the AM in order to meet the other fencers at Starbucks in the U-Mall, and left from there around 5:15. The drive down was fairly uneventful, save for the fact that I got car sick in the exact same places that I did driving down last year. We even had to pull off in the same parking lot (when my stomach cried uncle) as last time. At least it was still on the right route to Campus, and we were able to get some snacks and take a bathroom break at the same gas station after I recovered.

Our car was not only the first there out of the Davisites, but also the first people there for the tourney as well. We had made excellent time and ended up hanging out outside and meeting with the rest of the team as they filtered in.

The tournament was scheduled differently than normal, perhaps for experimental reasons. The usual line up is this: The Novice Foil group gets going early, usually at something like 9 or 10, because they take the longest and should be gotten out of the way first. Then the Advanced Foil, Advanced Epee and Advanced Saber start, each in that order and each within an hour or so of each other. The idea is that there are a crapload of foilists, a mid range of Epeeists, and it doesn't matter how many Sabers there are because they go damned fast. The order was changed to Saber, Foil, then Epee for this tourney, the idea being that we'd get Saber out of the way first, which leaves more strips open for Foil and Epee. Saberists also get the lazy rap for being the guys that get to sleep in, come to the tourney halfway through, etc. etc, so I'm guessing they figured it would get their act together to have them (nearly) first as well.

In practice, it could be called a double edged sword. While the sabers did get done darn quick, there still wasn't a whole lot of open strips. And the Epeeists were sitting around with nothing to do both before they even began, which was closer to 2:00 pm than to the 12:30 (or rather, 1:00, since registration closed at 12:30) start time, and after they were finished doing pools, when there STILL weren't enough strips to go around.

I don't think the waiting around messed up my game much, but there were times when it felt like "Hurry up and go, already!" I think I prefer the original ordering in the end.

I don't have too many anecdotes in relation to my participation. I was in a pool with some nice fellows who I chatted and joked with, and we all had a fun time. The great Vinny Carbone was in my pool as well, and I was a little apprehensive about that, but I did managed to get him to La Belle before he got me. I finished the pools 2-3 (for the non fencers, I won 2 bouts and lost 3), but every bout I lost found me losing 4-5, so I had a fairly good indicator in the end: I seeded 17th out of 30. Oh, and Vinny managed to tear a hole in my old glove, which even TC was incredulous at: "That's like synthetic leather, how the heck did he do that?" I think my glove had just been through too many washings and tournaments, luckily I had a back up. Time for a new equipment run, though!

My first DE was against the cool, cool Tom Ellison. We were pretty easy about it, and he asked me to give the next guy hell if I should win (who happened to be the guy who seeded first, also a cool fellow). I was a little skeptical that I could do well against Mr. Ellison: not only does he do both Saber and Epee, but he's got all sorts of years of experience over me. We had a sad but fun bout, as we were both playing for the Davis team (and having to be in a DE with someone from your own team SUCKS, because no matter who wins, one of you is getting knocked out). Not only that, but we were right next to the Epee DE between Vinny and one of our new Epeeists Brian (a B-level fencer who shares a lot of similarities with Rock). We had a bunch of people from the Davis team cheering us all on, and we just had fun with it. I ended up beating Mr. Ellison 5-4, so at least we got more points for Davis, even if I knocked him out of the running. In my last DE I got steamrolled by Mr. Conor Bowman, the nice fellow who seeded first and who I also faced in my pools. I got one point off on him, but other than that it was pretty much no contest. Ah well.

As a team, we did damn well. Amy Chi pulled out a tied 3rd for Novice foil, which was awesome as all get out: She won her first DE...then her second....and we were all there for the third. She just racked up point after point after point, and this was coming back from a 0-5! We were all very impressed with her performance, and she walked away from it with a medal to boot. In addition, one of our new Saberists, Mike Jumper, pulled off First Place. Chris Wild, who did all three weapons, got into the top ten of each, Ande Huffman pulled some great bouts, and so on.

And now, for the anecdotes. Preston did some reffing for Advanced saber, and he cut a fine figure dressed all officially in a nice shirt-and-tie. His reffing was also of good caliber, being both professional and sticking with his calls. If there's one thing a ref shouldn't be, it is indecisive or apologetic for his calls. What he sees goes, and even if it was something else entirely, you go with his rulings. Of course you can debate a call, but that's only in the worst of situations, which, luckily, are not applicable here.

Concerning Preston and reffing, there was a certain Foilist and Saberist from the academy of Arts Fencing club by the last name of Bessell, and she was a piece of work. She clearly had the skill from competing at a national level, but man, what a personality. Not only did she huff and puff and swear (mostly quietly) when she got scored against, but she also did the "walk all the way down to the end of the strip and back to 'collect' yourself after every score against" so reminiscent of persnickety National fencers. Her hallmark trait was the habit of screaming whenever her blade managed to hit...anything. Or if she THOUGHT she hit anything. And she didn't scream once, oh no: If she did manage to get a point, she'd whip around, throw back her head and scream LOUDER. Much bleeding from the ears ensued (not literally, but it sure felt like it), and I think everyone in the venue developed a nasty twitch. The consolation we received was that all of her team mates didn't have a very good opinion of her. Concerning that bit of info, we all agreed on the car ride home that we felt it kinda unfair that we were painting her black immediately, because for all we saw, she did have some good qualities. In the end, we couldn't really decide one way or the other, after all, we'd only seen her once.

In any case, Preston had the fun of reffing a match with her in it, and a plus in her direction is that she did have legit concerns about calls, which Preston deftly and professionally dealt with ("That may very well have been the case, but that's not what I saw"). As she began to get behind in points, her swearing became more and more audible (which is, of course, a penalty for which you recieve a yellow card). Preston told her to cut it out, which resulted in her screaming a bit louder after every touch. To that, he merely replied "If you're going to do that, you might as well go back to swearing." That shut her up nicely.

The funny anecdote concerning her goes thusly: We were cheering on James M. in his second DE, and TC had developed a fun way for us to cheer. We've kind of adopted a pirate motif as a team, and whenever someone makes a hook sign with their index finger, we're all supposed to mimic the sign and let rip with a hearty "ARRRRG!" It's really fun to do that and cheer on a team mate, and it puts them in a good mood too. After James M. got a point, TC shouted "Hey, James! Do this! ::finger hook::" To that, Mr. Muehlner querulously put up his finger and we all rang out with a mighty "ARRRG!" I'm pretty sure we all caught the smile on Mr. M's usually stoic face (under his mask, even) as he turned back to the bout.

He was doing well, and Bessell was fencing a few strips over. We had let loose with a particularly good "ARRG!"s after Mr. M had scored, and in time with our outburst, and almost in defiance, we heard Bessell's trademark scream. I was standing next to Preston, and he had that look like he REALLY wanted to poke some fun at that, but his sense of decency and not wanting to cause a scene was causing his body to stiffen and to try not to smile. But despite of that, and because we'd endured plenty of accumulated screams from the girl, he let out with a very falsetto parody of her sonic assault. There was a kind of collected pause from the whole venue, and then EVERYONE burst out laughing. Preston was still kinda shocked at his own outburst and didn't immediately want to laugh and claim credit for it, but there was plenty of back slapping and handshakes going on among the Davis team who was near him. I heard afterward that her whole team fell over laughing when they heard it, and rumor has it that even Bessell herself cracked up on the strip. In the end, fun was (hopefully) had by all.

The more serious anecdote was that our star fencer, Chris Wild, went up against her in Foil DE's and, for the lack of a better phrase, schooled her. We were all on the sidelines cheering him on, and a fun by-product of calling someone by their last name led to the fun linguistic entendre of us shouting "Go Wild!" Which, of course, is exactly what we did when he evenly trounced her at the end. It was a very satisfying match.

What ended up seeming to come straight out of a movie was Mr. Wild's last foil match. After fencing bout after bout of all three weapons, he was starting to cramp up really badly. It's a rather unfortunate physiological trait he's got that he cramps like that, and believe me, we had stuffed him full of bananas and gatorade to try and counteract it. His last match ran exactly like something out of a inspirational movie. He was doing well, but after a few points, his sword arm crumpled and he clutched it in pain. After a few seconds and a concerned "you all right?" from the ref, Wild snapped back to attention and continued to fence. After a few more points, his entire upper torso was crumpling after every break in the action, and he would literally be doubled over in pain until the ref gave the "Ready, Fence!" when he'd lock back in and fence like a madman. I swear, I and every other team mate out there were itching to call "THROW IN THE TOWL!!" and run to his assistance, because it was just getting too painful to watch. After it all, we laid him out on the floor and massaged and stretched his poor muscles, but man, that's drama you can't get anywhere else!

After the tourney, we all filtered out and met at a pub for some late night socializing, and although I was feelin' a bit anti-social at the beginning, I warmed up and chatted amiably as the night went on (and no, not because I had anything to drink). The last little snag we visited upon was during the drive back, when Preston and I missed the exit from 880 north onto 680, and we started heading towards the bay. The ironic thing was that I could probably have navigated back to Davis from the point where we figured out that we had missed the merge, seeing that we were in the east bay and I was familiar with 880. However, we did turn back and managed to find the right exit (which was exactly the same shape I had imagined would be there for the traffic direction we were on). Needless to say we got back without too much of a hitch after that.

We ended up getting back in to Davis around midnight, though we had to go drop off our passengers and I chatted a bit with Preston before hitting the sack around 1:45. I'm very thankful that Daylight savings is today, because that extra hour of sleep was VERY much needed.

And that's about it. If I think of any more anecdotes I'll be sure to add them in later.

Enough. More Later,
- James

Distractions

Currently in Earphones: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, RV 315 "Summer" by Antonio Vivaldi.

I really should be studying for my upcoming Classics Midterm, which I am, but blogging counts as a distraction.

My thought for the day is a discrepancy between English and Latin (so we think) pronunciation concerning the offices of the Cursus Honorum (CURSE-us [h]on-OR-um) or "Course of Honors."

Doubtless you've all heard of the titles of Consul, or Praetor, or Aedile, etc. These are all positions in the course, but some of them have weird English pronunciations. I suppose they stem from anglicized ideas of pronunciation, but I think they sound silly.

To begin, Consul sounds the same in both pronunciations (KON-sul or KON-sool). The next step down from that is the Praetor (English: Pree-tur, Classical PRAI-tor, and by the way the "ae" in classical always sounds like a long English "i," which I will represent by the closer English dipthong "ai" [pronounced like "eye"]). Now tell me that first pronunciation doesn't sound goofy! The small vowel sounds in the English fashion feel so diminutive, while the large vowels of the "ai" and "or" give it a more majestic representation.

The same goes for Quaestor (English QWEE-ster vs Classical QWAI-stor). The English sounds too much like the idiomatic term Keyster for my tastes.

The one I don't have too much beef with is the Aedile (English EE-dial vs. Classical ai-DEE-lay). Though the diminutive "ee" is still there, three vowels are a mouthful for an English speaker, and there's no similar sounding English word to mix it up with.

Back to Studying!

Enough. More Later,
- James

Ruat Caelum, Fiat Justitia

Currently in Headphones: "To Isengard" by David Arkenstone, from Music Inspired by Middle Earth

Ganked from my sister's blog...

Find your Celestial Choir

Whoa, image too big to fit on my template? I'd adjust it meself, the cool paper looking background only extends so far. Ah well.

Otherwise, Me likey!

Enough. More Later,
- James

Don't Laugh, this is Science!

Currently in Earphones: Sneakers Soundtrack by James Horner

Here's a Great lecture by the Amazing Randi. Warning: it's long, about an hour and a half, so try to watch it while having the time to see it all.




Enjoy!

Enough. More Later,
- James

(::fumbles::) My Panache!

Currently in Earphones: Cyrano de Bergerac Soundtrack, composed by Jean-Claude Petite

::sips Lady Grey tea:: Ahh, getting back into the swing of living in a house with a kitchen.

Classes are all pretty good so far. Prof. Rex Stem is one of the coolest: he's a new fellow to UCD and is teaching both my Classics 3 (Rome and the Mediterranean) and my Latin 111 ("Silver Age" Latin). He's also one of the most eminently quotable:

"Rome was a laid back cow town before Augustus."

"Rome Sacked Veii in 396 BC, then didn't really know what to do with it. Imagine if Davis one day charged north and sacked Woodland. What the heck would we do with all that wealth and land?"

"The Gauls were so impressed [by their noble and passive resistance] that they ALMOST didn't kill them."

"Afterward Scipio earned the honorary title of 'Africanus,' meaning, of course, 'the man who soundly whupped Africa's tookus.'"

And so on. A very cool fellow.

Both my Philosophy class and my Geology class aren't really anything to write home about. The only love/hate aspect I have is with the Geology portion. While I find the material fascinating and actually enjoy reading the textbook, my professor simultaneously blitzes through her powerpoints, doesn't explain things very well, and can be very difficult to understand.

My job at the Scene shop is chugging along nicely. It's fun to watch things take shape and form, and to almost-literally build things out of nothing. Though I'm getting more adept at using the various circular saws for the multitudinous wood cutting we do, I still shy away from some of the bigger daddies, like the metal saw and the grinders. I'm also getting over the vertigo of the giant Paint Frame that sinks to the basement, about 13 feet below ground level. Having to walk along next to the food-and-a-half wide by 60-70 feet long hole where the frame descends is a little harrowing, especially when navigating the various paint buckets in the paint corner where there's only 3-4 feet of clearance. Other than that, I'm really enjoying working there.

Missing Anja has kind of subsided into a dull ache that I can work around, but the few times I'm able to talk to her make me feel better. She's doing very well in Ireland, and I'm glad she's happy. I only hope that at the end of this all we can still emerge as a "we," or (dare I think it) perhaps an "us." My few female friends have been supportive, however; It's good to know there are others wishing you well.

And on to Soundtrack business. First off, I finally got my hands on a copy of the second-most well known Immediate Music album, "Abbey Road." It's just as cool as "Themes for Orchestra and Choir," and features some great cues. Around the same time, I discovered that a performing group called "Globus" had spun off from Immediate Music (with Goren of the Fayman/Goren duo responsible for most of Immediate Music's library) and, wonder of wonders, went on tour and produced a CD! For Consumer purchase! I was incredibly stoked as I did some research, and found that Globus had a myspace page with a few full-length samples. My high was diminished a bit when I realized that pretty much all the samples (and later, all of the album) were remixed versions of their more famous Production cues. One called "Preliator" was a redone "Lacrimosa" (of the Spider-Man 2 trailer fame), "Diem Ex Dei" was a remixed "Lucius Dei," etc. etc. The remixes were actually quite good, and a copy of the album "Epicon" is working it's way to my doorstep. On a final note, I finally have a genre for the type of music Immediate Music (and other production music libraries) put out: Cinematic Rock. The Myspace page made mention of it.

Secondly, in soundtrackville, I got a copy of Cyrano de Bergerac, or the music used in the 1990 version of the film by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. The fun bit of trivia there was that the composer was asked directly to freely adapt Danny Elfman's "Batman" theme into the soundtrack. Jean-Claude Petite did so, and Elfman naturally sued for plagiarism. The funny thing is that the "Batman" theme isn't even cleverly concealed: it's right there in a few of the tracks, honkingly obvious. What's even more funny (and interesting) is that Petite won, citing that some of Elfman's music was uncannily similar to his own, which, evidently, it was. As Preston said of this anecdote, "I'm borrowing it back."

That's all for now. I'll post about my continuing foray back into fencing at a later date.

Enough. More Later,
- James

"Shrines! Shrines! Surely you don't believe in the Gods? Where is your Argument? Where is your Proof?"

Currently in Earphones: "Abbey Road" Album from Immediate Music

Anja's post concerning her religious views have piqued me to explain my own. I was brought up Christian, but my parents were open minded and let me choose my own beliefs. From the time I was little, I always had the desire to learn the truth of things. My mom recalls the time that I asked if Santa was real or not, and she remembers me being pretty young as well. Though I don't remember the moment, she tells me that I was very worried about the whole concept, and very earnest to know the truth. When she did tell me, I was very relieved, either because the idea of a giant man in red breaking into our house was worrisome, or because I had a sense that things didn't really jive in a factual sense. I've always been a realist, not necessarily because I want to know the truth, but because I find that knowing the way things are is infinitely more comforting to me than something unproven but psychologically comforting.

As such, I find that the label Agnostic Realist fits me well. Anja does a good job of describing what an Agnostic is, and as Sam Harris said in his book The End of Faith, "Realists believe that there are truths about the world that may exceed our capacity to know them; there are facts of the matter whether or not we can bring such facts into view." Whatever higher truth there may be about the workings of the universe, it is still far beyond our grasp, if we are even able to comprehend it at all. It just may be that some giant, hoary Caucasian guy is sitting up in a celestial hall moving things about, but I think that is just as likely that it may be something else, and that postulating a human-like influence is rather presumptuous. As Mr. Harris continues to explain, "To be an ethical [or spiritual] realist is to believe that in ethics, as in physics, there are truths waiting to be discovered - and thus we can be right or wrong in our beliefs about them."

Concerning omnism, I think there is some merit in it, but from a different perspective. I don't believe that there are slivers of divine truth in every religion, but rather that there are bits of human truth in them. Each one has a few good things to say about the behavior, ethical or truthful, of people in general. Whether or not they are right about the workings of the cosmos (or otherwise) is something that I believe to be indeterminate.

Though religion may offer explanations that offer spiritual comfort, I find that I am much more in balance knowing the truths of the world as it is. I would rather believe in scientific discovery and inquiry, because its truths are tangible and provable. As the James Randi quote states at the top of my journal, I want to live in a real world. Like learning about Santa, I will be far more relieved to hear empirical study on the matter or to continue to believe that it is simply unknowable. Making up comforting postulations is all well and good, but to believe and act upon them like hard truth is more worrisome to me.

In my defense, I'm not trying to be a cold realist. I'm moved by comforting things, such as William Cullen Bryant's Thanatopsis (http://www.bartelby.net/102/16.html), it is just that I don't go around incorporating it into what I believe is true about the world. There may be human truths and comforts, but to dress them up and twist them into something divine doesn't bode well with me.

So there you have it, my beliefs as an Agnostic Realist out on the table. Hope that clarifies things.

Enough. More Later,
- James

P.S. - As Shepard Book says, "When I talk about belief, why do you always assume I'm talking about God?" Just as I talk about "truth," I'm talking about universal truth, not spiritual or divine truth.

Faber est suæ quisque fortunæ

Currently in Earphones: Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack by Basil Poledouris

I'm still here, just dealing with my lovey being quite a long way away. I miss her terribly.

First day of classes are today, luckily for me I don't have one until noon. And then, it's my only class of the day. Yay!

My new job at the Drama Dept. is going swimmingly. It's fun to work the carpentry shop and have the raw power of making things from the ground up. It was an interesting experience to have one of my overseers say "We need to make a box of these dimensions with x, y, and z..." and then get right to it. I wasn't yet equipped with the mind set to simply go get materials, cut them to size using the various giant, circular saws in the shop, and assembling them with carpenters glue and staples. There's something very Zen about physical work with your hands, and I found the majority of what I was doing quite calming.

Nothing much happening yet, and still getting back into the ol' school groove. I'll post more as my classes start up.

Enough. More Later,
- James

Alea iacta est

Currently in Earphones: "Burning the Past" by Harry Gregson-Williams, from the Kingdom of Heaven Soundtrack

Ave Regina cælorum,
Ave Domina Angelorum:
Salve radix, salve porta,
Ex qua mundo lux est orta.
..Vale, o valde decora...

Hail, Queen of the heavens,
Hail, Lady of the Angels:
Hail, root, Hail, portal,
From whom Light has shone to (my) world...
...Farewell, o most beautiful (one)...

Enough, more later,
- James

::CRASH::....I'm.....OK!!!!!!

Currently in Earphones: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Complete Recordings by Howard Shore.

So, the biggest news so far is my recent incident with a car and a bicycle. I was riding along 5th street after having lunch with Anja on the 26th, and I came to the intersection of 5th and Howard. The light being green and the walk sign on, I thought little of any oncoming cars, and indeed, there were none save one. There was a car traveling up Howard, perpendicular to me, and was making a right turn. I was on the left side of the street, and the car was going to turn across my path and continue in the direction that I came. The car appeared to be slowing down, so I sped up to make the light. As I approached the intersection, I noticed the car wasn't slowing down as fast as I had originally thought. "No problem," I thought, "I'll probably pass in front of it as it slows down before the turn." Only as I entered the intersection, and in the split second that I turned my head to watch the car come up beside me, that I realized the lady (as it happened to be) was still maintaining a good clip.

As this thought travels through my head, the front half of my bike (and my body) just squeeze by the front of the oncoming vehicle before the left side of her front bumper connects with my rear wheel. The bike flies out from under me, sliding down and to the right, while I fly (briefly) through the air and land on my left side, arms outstretched, and skid across the pavement, ending up belly-down about 7 feet from the car. I immediately do a damage check, surprisingly little damage on my right arm, some small abrasions on my right elbow. Nothing on my left arm, but I catch sight of a nasty scrape beginning above my left elbow juuuuust visible on the inside of my arm. That looks to be the worst of it, my right leg is unscathed, midsection is fine, my left leg has some odd scrapes around my sock level, and my left thigh is hurting from where I landed on my wallet. I stagger up and the lady gets out, with an immediate "Are you alright?" I reply wryly, "I'm wondering how my bike is doing."

No broken bones are apparent, but my left side is all sore and the scrape is beginning to sting through the adrenaline. The woman offers to clean off my wound, which I thankfully accept. She's calm and competent, a reflection of things to come. After swabbing my wound with an antiseptic wet wipe, she offers to patch me up, stating that she works just down the street. That happens to be on campus, and I wonder where exactly that might be at the location I'm at. My bike is similar to myself, some good whacks and bangs, but surprisingly intact. The front fork and my handlebars were out of whack; the front tire and the bars pointed in radically different directions. The chain had jumped both sets of gears but was intact. A hunk of plastic was taken out of my brake grip housing, but the grip and cable still functioned. The frame was still intact, but the worst of the damage was a bent back wheel, enough to hinder the rotation.

The lady mentioned her place of work as Hickey Gym, not too far from where we stood. Though she offered to take my bike for me, I played the usual guy and declined, choosing to limp onward with a bike that would no longer roll smoothly. Using the last of my adrenaline, I hefted the frame in my right hand and cradled my damaged left arm, setting out for the Gym. It's a short walk, but the bike got heavier as I went, and I was grateful to be able to put it down and lock it up. The woman led me to a small clinic on the first floor of Hickey, and it looked to be some sort of sports medicine/injury set up; lots of padded, long tables for people to stretch out on.

She had me sit down and immediately set to work, getting out gauze pads, antibiotic gel, numerous wraps and what I at first mistook for Iodine (eek!), but which the woman identifies as betadine (or some such), evidently not nearly as sting-y. Still suffering from the male syndrome and feeling cavalier (as there are some females in the room), I decided to belt out some Silly Wizard to distract myself from the pain of the wound cleaning. I don't know if I impressed anyone, but either the betadines mildness or my distraction was sufficient: the cleaning went without incident. She then slathered on a bunch of antibiotic, taped some gauze pads over the wound, and wrapped that further with some stretchy materiel and finally a bag of ice. Noticing my penchance for sweating profusely at nearly any exertion, the lady did ask concernedly if I was feeling faint, which luckily was not the case.

My innocent assailant and now helpful Samaritan helped me outside, and it was here that I finally got a cohesive whole of her character. I took comfort in our similarities that we both remained calm and cool in the face of the accident, an aspect indicative of her occupation as medic. While her stoic nature occluded any large emotion, I could still see her feelings of guilt and desire to make things as well as possible. I awkwardly conversed on the topic of my bike, hanging between thankfulness at the circumstances of my accident (her helpfulness and the luck of place and profession) and desire for just reparations. In the end, I accepted her offer to drive my bike to the shop and submit it for repairs. She naturally offered to pay for the repair, which I gratefully accept. After the shop, she then drove me home, and gave me some last notes and pointers for taking care of myself.

I've been doing fairly well since. My leg is mostly better while my arm remains sore and my scrape (which not only starts on the inside of my arm, but curves around toward the back) looks to take some time to heal. I am eternally grateful to have gotten out like I did and to have someone as kind, helpful, and opportune as that lady fulfill such an unfortunate role.

In other news, I got the Special Edition (or Extended Unrated, depending on what side of the box you read) of Enemy of the State to stave off boredom. Now, I won't go too much into how I thought of it, I'll only say that there's enough extra footage to almost garner an "Extended" in it's title, but I'd argue that "Special Edition" fits it better.

What's the difference, you ask? So glad you have done so...Here are the myriad titles given to DVDs.

DVD has become a fantastic medium for the Directors Cut. Now, the Directors Cut (referred to as "DC' from here on out) is an old form. As many of you may or may not know, the director does not get the final say in what form his film goes out to theaters. There are executives in the company funding the film that also get a say in what does and does not make it into the final cut. Some reasons are financial; they want the movie shorter so they can show it more often, some reasons my be personal or opinion oriented, but what you see in the theater sometimes isn't what the director intended you to see. Hence, the idea of a "Directors Cut:" the preferred edit of the film put together by the director without any outside influence. If directors are famous or lucky or what have you, it used to be that such cuts would be cleaned and released to the public, either in theaters or direct to video. With the advent of the medium of DVD, such cuts are easier to put together and release, and thus have they proliferated.

The DC is usually characterized by inclusions of small moments, entire scenes, and even whole plot points put back into the film, sometimes altering huge portions of the story in favor of the directors vision. The most recent example of a drastic and welcome DC was Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven 4-disc set. In this case, there were many rumors beforehand that the original cut of the movie had been mercilessly edited by the studio executives and left a shell of it's former self. While this theatrical release did only middling well, word got out of the longer, better cut existing and perhaps being released. Sure enough, some time later the DC was released to large critical acclaim, though the lack of a proper theater run for it left its supporters mostly in the internet crowd. The Kingdom of Heaven DC is a near completely different movie, with large sub-plots included, numerous scenes that fully flesh out characters and more. From an opinionated standpoint, I would argue that this DC rivals even that of Scott's acclaimed Gladiator in terms of how good a film it is, but that is for you to decide on your own.

Speaking of Gladiator, that brings me to the form of an Extended Edition. An extended cut can have all the same attributes as a DC, but the noticeable difference is that it may or may not be approved by the director. As Ridley Scott mentions in his introduction to the Extended Edition of Gladiator:

"This is not the directors cut, the directors cut is the length that went out in theaters, the one that you've already seen, probably. This has a lot of scenes in it that were removed during the editing process and might be worth seeing."

An Extended cut with the approval of the director is usually a fun foray out, a gift to fans and movie-philes or an experiment, but not necessarily what the director intended. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is also a fine example of the Extended Edition. Peter Jackson and crew were perfectly fine with the theatrical cuts of each of the movies, but they put together extended cuts to see their other ideas breathe, and to allow people to see more of what they had up their sleeves.

An Extended cut without the directors approval usually is no different, though sometimes a cut can be released that is "extended" in that it has more scenes and such, but said cut was never put together by the original director. Who exactly does the cut isn't usually public knowledge, but if a director divorces him or herself from the cut, their name is removed from the directing credit and sometimes is replaced with "Alan Smithee," and anonymous penname that serves as a placeholder and flag that the director had nothing to do it. The recent release of the 1983 Dune in extended form is an example of this.

Then, at the bottom of the heap, we have the Unrated Edition. These cuts have very little changed in them, save for more blood, gore, violence, nudity, sexual situations and/or explicit language than the original cut. That's it. The only point is to re-introduce a movie that got heavily censored by the MPAA, usually to meet requirements for a certain rating. I have mixed feelings about Unrated editions, as they are usually released seemingly to garner more money for the studio than to show something different. However, there are good reasons to release Unrated editions. The only example I can think of was when the gory, unforgiving Alien and Predator series combined to produce the rather tame (in comparison) AVP. The unrated cut was more or less a boon to the gorehounds who loved the previous incarnations of the franchises.

There's also the weasel-y Extended Unrated Edition, which at base should be a combination of the last two types. More often than not, the studios (or whoever puts them together) include juuuuust enough extra scenes or footage to earn an "extended" on it's title, which makes the rather simple "unrated" version seem better by a longer name. There can be good extended, unrated cuts, and the recent release of Enemy of the State satisfies my definition of both titles.

Finally, there's the Special Edition, which may or may not have an altered cut, but is sure to include more extras than the standard release. Like the previously mentioned, the extras can be paltry or plentiful, depending on the decisions and resources of the studio putting it out.

So, there you have it. I hope this clears up any confusion you may have the next time you go out to buy a DVD.

I'll be at the SF Ren Faire this weekend, and I'm greatly looking forward to it and spending time with my Anja.

Enough, More Later.
- James

Pirates and Rings

Currently in Earphones: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 soundtrack by Hans Zimmer

Righty, so I saw Pirates 2 with Anja about two weekends ago. Not too bad. I certainly had fun watching it. If one keeps in mind that it's half a movie (*cough* Matrix Reloaded *cough*, and don't go saying "Just like Two Towers" either, that's the middle of a known trilogy), it can be enjoyable. For the most part I've hear a lot of "meh"-type reviews and opinions. I have only two gripes...

1. Naomi Harris and her thick, thick, Jamaican accent. Interesting character, well portrayed, but did anyone else have trouble trying to decipher her lines? I think I got every one in three.

2. Davy Jones: if only they did more with his character. So he took out his heart for love of a woman? Fantastic! Tell me more....no really, tell me..........you mean I have to wait for the final movie to hear anything more? Gah! You were sympathetic to Barbossa in the first movie because you understood his plight: we love bad guys because they are so multifaceted. The script writers and director certainly were trying: if you see the movie again, watch Bill Nighy's eyes as Jack tells him of Will's situation ("He's trying to get back to his fiancee..." etc. or whatever Jack said). Through all that CG, tell me you can't see the humanity there! The problem was that it was so underplayed as to get lost amid the action and the struggle for the heart; "Awww, that's too ba--OMG, KRAKEN!!!!"

It seems to me that we fear Davy Jones because he controls the beastie. My sister admitted to me that she nearly burst out laughing every time she saw Jones on screen, because he just didn't have the ominous presence other villains have, and he looks kinda comical. I mean, c'mon! He's got an octopus for a face! That doesn't mean *I* thought he looked comical, but I can see the point. In my view, how cool is the first time Jones is on screen? With the Pipe? Admit it, you didn't expect that little touch.

On a small sidenote, it appears that the old-guard Soundtrack collectors are up in arms over the Zimmer/Media Ventures interpretations of swashbuckler music. (Note, this is intended for hardcore audiophiles, skip the links if you A. like the music for the Pirates movies so far, or B. don't want to read through musical drivel).

Secondly, I went to see and listen to the Lord of the Rings Symphony as the tour passed through SF. Davies Hall was packed to the gills with not only Symphony buffs, but LotR geeks as well. It made for a nice mix as at least a 100 voice choir, girls choir, several soloists, a full symphonic orchestra and various other instruments belted out Howard Shore's musical masterpiece.

It was a six movement "best of" performance, with the first half composed entirely of the main cues from Fellowship and the second half being roughly divided in two between Towers and RotK. There was also a bit of a lightshow and a montage of John Howard and Alan Lee's concept art for the films synched to the music. It was a lot of fun, and I came away with a cool poster to boot.

I came to appreciate how much thought goes into balancing orchestral elements when mixing a soundtrack, for I noticed a number of discrepancies between the performance and the recordings as I know them. For the most part, the performance was spot on, but there were a few sections when the choir, or the brass, or the percussion (especially the percussion) drowned out almost every other element. For instance, when performing "The Ring goes South" from Fellowship, there was a cool but loud (seemingly)-taiko drum line that I'd never heard before propelling it onward. I liked it, but felt it could have been toned down to allow the main Fellowship theme a chance to shine through. Also, during "The White Tree" from RotK, there's a great racing string line through the big, heroic Gondor theme. However, the brass completely dominated in their statement of the theme, and much else was lost.

Though there were other instances of the like, what comes to my mind now was having a classically trained choir alone perform the vocal parts. During "Khazad-Dum" when the recording people and Shore struck upon the wonderful idea of recruiting big, beefy football players for the guttural chanting, only having a bunch of reedy, starched choir men try to attempt it was kinda painful. For one, they weren't miked, so the had to belt out what they could at the top of their lungs to be heard. Secondly, what they could belt out was more like a shout than a grunt, which came close, but in the end was unsatisfying.

In the same vein, they had the choir people do some of the smaller solos. While the "Lament for Gandalf" worked well enough, hearing Viggo's little ditty in "The Return of the King" done as an operatic bass was a little strange. The performance in general suffered from the "lets race through all the big, cool themes because we're on a time constraint," and as a result, I don't think they had the presence they should have had. All in all, not bad, but having the recordings so firmly ingrained in my mind made me a little biased to alternate interpretations.

So, while not the perfect marriage of soundtrack and symphonic performance, it was still a lot of fun. Plenty of standing ovation to be had at the end, and quite worth it.

And that's about it for me.

Enough. More Later,
- James

On the Dune Adaptations

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

I have recently acquired and watched the much talked about 1983 version of Dune directed by David Lynch. Having finally read the book a few summers ago and having enjoyed it immensely, I was lucky enough to have a roomate own a copy of the Sci-Fi miniseries, which sparked my interest in the '83 movie adaptation.

I had been told that Lynch had a habit of being very strange, so I was prepared to see wierd things when I popped the DVD into my player. Indeed, in the theatrical cut, every scene featuring the Harkonnen clan oozed bizzarity: from the strange idea of "heart plugs," to Brad Dourif's quirky and odd portrayl of Piter de Vries, to the almost stock rendering of the Harkonnen clan into a group of cackling, sadistic and bloodthirsty madmen. Those were the only things I found immediately odd, the rest was...interesting.

I was prepared for a fairly wide departure from the novel: when one sets out to adapt a massive story and squeeze it into a chunk of 2 hours, things need to be altered, changed and cut to make it work. What I didn't realize was just how close to the book Lynch made the first half of the movie.

Imagine, if you will, that Dune is comparable to an opera. Imagine also, that you are going to purchase a recording of the opera. In this metaphor, the Book is the complete 5 CD set, replete with a large commemorative booklet (introductions and the extensive glossary) and perhaps some unused arias uncovered by a protege (abandoned chapters or the like). The Sci-Fi miniseries is nearly the same, clocking in at about 4 CD's but missing a few duets and ritornellos. All told, not bad, but also not nearly as good as the entire opera (for us bibliophiles, is there really any movie as good as the book it's based off of?).

The '83 version, in the same vein, are almost exactly like a "Highlights" CD of a big opera. It has all the big, famous movements and defining songs, but lacks any connective tissue. The recording is of pretty high fidelity (the stuff in the movie that was true to the book I liked the same, if not better, than the Sci-Fi version), but only if you've heard the entire opera do you know where and how the movements fit together, and the little incidental music that fills in the gaps and makes it complete.

With that in mind, I found that I enjoyed Lynch's portrayal. My knowledge of the book filled in the gaps, and allowed me to enjoy it without feeling too jerked around. I can see how someone who doesn't know the story could get mighty confused at the yanking back and forth, but for me it worked well.

My one main problem with Lynch's version was: why make the Baron and the other Harkonnens so one-dimensional? Rabban I understand, he's a big idiot galoot to begin with, so the scene where the Baron is egging him on where he's chewing his cud and grinning like an idiot makes sense. Feyd-Rautha I can also, albiet less, understand. He's a bloodthirsty hound and dandy with a few tricks up his sleeve, but Sting probably could have done more than just knowingly smirk at the camera for all of his scenes. What I liked about the Sci-Fi version, in comparison, was the higher level of intruige going on: assasination attempts, political machinations, etc. The only thing that stopped the miniseries from being better (in that respect) was, as Alexandria DuPont put it, "The way more than one scene with Ian McNiece's Baron ends with him laughing like a mustache-twirling Scooby-Doo villain."

And now, for my rant about the "Extended Edition." An explanation of the various cuts can be found here. My first reaction is to say that the extended cut is the better, if not best version of the film. Although the narration consisted of removing Irulan's voice and using an unnamed (but not all together unpleasent) male voice, I found that it wasn't as bad as I had heard it to be. The majority of complaints stated that it was too repetitive, but I only found that the case in a few instances. Otherwise, it helped enhance and explain more of what was going on: this would be the version I would show to the Dune un-initiated. Fortunately, since there is a lot of internal dialoge featured in the movie, there was lots of extra footage lying around of characters looking pensive to lay voice-overs on to. Characters are better introduced and more fully explained, though situations tend to be just as briefly illustrated as in the theatrical cut. Also, the more bizzare and graphic Harkonnen moments are removed: The Baron's murder of the servant, Rabban's crushed-creature cocktail, and the Baron hocking a huge loogie into Lady Jessica's face. Personally, I think this is better, and less of a departure from the original characters.

Now, on to my gripes. The first is minor, and almost excusable. In the opening of the movie (past the well intentioned but overly long and plodding prologue) shots of the Harkonnen Ornithopter used later in the movie for Paul and Jessica's flight from Arrakeen are reused. The one shot in question is one where the two Atriedes are clearly visible, which is a complete non-sequitur. Wisely, whoever cut the film didn't include the same shot in the original scene later in the movie.

Second, any additional scenes of the Fremen, like the fight with Jamis, the killing of the little-maker, and the rest all are lacking the blue-eye effects. True, the extra scenes don't have a whole lot of Fremen-looking-straight-at-the-camera, but all I'm asking is a little continuity. They even repeat the shot of Mother Ramallo giving her prophecy, although it's at a medium range instead of a close up, and all of the sudden she's human. It was jarring to me, though perhaps not as much to others. Still, in the words of George Carlin, "All I'm askin' is for a little consistancy."

Third, and somewhat minor, was the deletion of Paul's line "We must walk without rhythm, so we don't attract the worm." OK, so that aspect of desert travel on Dune was only in the theatrical cut for a few seconds, but damnit, I liked it! I thought it was genius to include such a concept as having the worms sensitive to human footfalls in the book, and it added a whole 'nother layer of difficulty to Paul and Jessica's journey. Given that it was totally eliminated in the Sci-Fi series, I was happy just to see a nod to it in the theatrical cut. Imagine my dismay when it, too, fell by the wayside in the extended verison.

And finally, fourth and most important: dialogue mis-synchronization. I can't tell if this was a problem with the DVD encoding or the editing of the film, but several key scenes in the extended cut had the pristine music, sound-effects, and other audio elements all in place, yet the dialogue was off from the picture by at least a half second. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it is more than noticable to even the average layperson. It only takes part of a second to really mess up dialogue, and such it was for the Prologue, the first Harkonnen scene, and (most greviously) the final confrontation between Paul, the Emperer and Feyd-Rautha.

The tightly edited prologue was the first time I noticed it, when the cuts to the multiple oil paintings of scenes from the movie started to not match up with the narration. The Barons big speech in the first Harkonnen scene (before he flies out of his chair) saw a similar lag between mouth movement and recorded dialogue starting a half-second after. The same held for the final duel between Paul and Feyd, made worse for me because the extended edition included gobs of background music in the soundtrack which (for me) fleshed out the musical soundscape from the spare and quiet theatrical cut. I don't know who's fault it is, but it is absolutely un-acceptable; un-acceptable for a distributor to sell an obviously broken and unfinished product. I love the Extended edition, but Universal is going to get a terse letter from me on this subject.

So, all in all, I generally like the various adaptations out there. I tend to agree with the various gripes and accolades given to them (for an interesting take if you've seen both adaptations check out DuPont's review of the Sci-Fi series, namely the section titled "Elements I would personally pluck from Lynch's Dune and digitally insert into Harrison's Dune had I money and technology and copyrights to spare"). For those wanting to see the movie, I say read the book or a synopsis first, so you can enjoy how it's adapted without having to follow the labyrinthine plot.

And that's enough on Dune for the time being.

Enough, more later
- James

Edit - I just went back and watched the two editions close together, and found a few more things. The first, it seems that the dialogue might have been a DVD player problem, as when I popped the extended edition into my Laptop, the dialogue seemed to have synched better. However, I believe that to be a trick of the mind: I watched the theatrical cut, and found that there was only one line of mis-synchronized dialogue in the final fight, but the rest fell into place. It looks as though whoever edited the extended cut put that one line back into synchronization, but then didn't shorten up the space it created, throwing off all the rest of the dialogue in the scene. Shame.

Secondly, I watched the prologue again, and found that it looked more to be a case of someone pre-timing the visuals and the narrator making timing changes so as not to sacrifice clear speech for synchronization. The voice over does synch over the long run, but bits and pieces run too slow or too fast. As my friend Maria would say "Boo-urns!"

Life Update

Currently in Earphones: Omnis by Anuna

Time for an update, methinks.

Right now I'm procrastinating on an English paper, and soon afterwards my Term paper for Latin. I can't friggin get my head around this final paper on Drama, and I think I'm going to be producing my more thinly disguised bubulum stercus than anything else.

Got a glut of new consumer goods, including the "lets throw on some more EPK fluff" version of The Mask of Zorro, On Guard, and the unrated version of Boondock Saints. Oh, and the kick-arse Anuna album as mentioned above. I am happy in that respect.

The lease for next year is coming together, just need a few more checks for the deposit and screening fees and then I get to turn it in to our landlady.

My god, this is the last week of classes. What's kind of sad is that dead day and the few days with no finals during finals week will be the only real "summer vacation" I'll have. I start work on the 17th. Thank god for Weekends.

My poor Anja has been sick this weekend, so I haven't had too much time with her. Hopefully I'll get some good time with her over my scant summer vacation, and hopefully our promise rings will come in the mail soon.

Sorry for the telegraphic post, got to get back to work.

Enough, more later.
- James

"...And what if thou withdraw / In silence from the living?"

Currently in Earphones: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Soundtrack by Danny Elfman.

Wow, Anja and I have hit Seven months of being together. What else can I express other than the usual swell of happiness and contentment at the fact? I love her dearly, and am so lucky and blessed that she loves me the same. Here is to the more months to come spent happily together: E tenebris lux!

Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it before, Danny Elfman kicks amazing musical ass. Going through my under-listened Charlie and the Chocolate Factory score reminds me thus.

Also, I now own a copy and have a fair to middlin' respect for Brotherhood of the Wolf, the second film by Christopher Gans. For the good, I have this to say: Highwayman's Coats + Tricorn Hats + Quarterstaffs + Rain = really cool. It's too bad the shorter version of the opening fight is the one that made it into the final cut; the extended version under the deleted scenes is pretty neat. But when watching the latter you start to marvel more at how extremely durable the peasant thugs are and less what a neat can of whup-ass is opened by our two protagonists. Oh, and as cool and prop-worthy the Henson studio's Beast of Gévaudan is, you'll either like it or hate it. Personally, it would have been cool to have it really be some werewolf type creature instead of...Well...That would be spoiling things.

In school news, I need to be writing a paper in English 3 with poetry comparison. I chose one from the text and my personal favorite, William Cullen Bryant's Thanatopsis. Although my prof, the soon-to-be-off-to-Germany Katharina Schwarz, warned me against the difficult analysis ahead of me, I like the poem enough to put a good effort toward it. What drew me toward it initially (when I read it in high school) was it's lyrical and comforting view of death along with the fact that he wrote the first part when he was 17.

And, for a final bit of news, I got a summer job doing logistics (read, figure out the best way to do great hunks of labor, then do it) work for the UC. Still need to go through a background check and a few more bits of paperwork, but it looks to be profitable, if not intensive.

Enough. More Later,
- James

PS - My back bike tire sprung a leak again, damn it! Turns out it was because the valve of the inner tube hadn't come through the hole in the rim smoothly, and a small crease developed in the tube, visually represented by the valve going gallywunkus at an odd angle instead of straight out. Sure enough, when I dismantled the tire at the bike barn, I could hear the air leaking out of the creased side of the tube. To add insult to injury, there weren't any more extra-tough tubes available, and although I saved a couple of bucks, regular tubes look really flimsy in comparison to those thicker hombres. Ah well, everything is back together and working smoothly. As Preston pointed out, in relation to my luck with my bike, I should be called Mal: "Did the primary buffer panel just fall off my gorramn ship for no apparent reason?"

::Stumbles In::

Currently in Earphones: "The Road to Camelot" by David Arkenstone, "Media Vita," "Si Do Mhaimeo I," "Eiri na Greine / The Rising of the Sun," "Winter Fire and Snow," and "Heia Viri" all by Anuna.

I know it's probably bad form to post another "I'll be back to posting real posts shortly" post, but time (and better news) still avoid me. The Davis Tourney went pretty well. I got knocked out my first D.E., but not after giving Mr. Andrew LeBeau of Cal Poly a tough time. The final score was his 6 to my 5 after a full (5? 6?) minutes of the bout.

In case people haven't been bugged about it yet. I'll be commandeering the other side of our current portion of the duplex on Scripps next year. I'm still searching for at least one other person that we may have a compliment of 4 in the house total. Fencers should know the place from armory sessions (the one next year will just be a mirror image). So far the person would be sharing the 14.5ft by 12.5ft master bedroom with me. Rent is very reasonable. Let me know, any of you people who I know, if this sounds accommodating and you don't have any other plans.

I finally have more books for fun reading! Picked up a copy of Stephen King's "The Stand" after watching the '94 mini-series with Anja. Also finally got a copy of Sabatini's "Bellarion." It's fun so far, but I still prefer Scaramouche and Captain Blood.

Latin 102: Roman Comedy is lots of fun, though kinda hard, but the prof makes up for it. Nothing like the universal comedy of seeing the god Mercury trip up (scripted) over some awkward lines and then having to linguistically pick himself up and shake himself off ("For it is just to give justice to just people, though not injust things to just people, and not just things to injust....just to....to injust......ANYWAY, as I was saying...").

Anyway, looks like this post is a tad longer than I originally intended. Now off to homework that I may visit Anja's extended family for Easter tomorrow.

Enough. More Later,
- James

::Surfaces::

Currently in Earphones: "Serenata" by Immediate Music

Yes, I'm still here. A few hectic weeks at school when I realized all my projects were coming up followed by being sick, followed by....I don't know, being lazy. As of now, need to finish up my 3rd part of my Anthro Paper, then work on my final project for Communications. Got my Latin paper to write, but that's not due for another two weeks.

Anja wants to come visit during spring break, makes me happy. We two are chugging along just fine, watching movies, hanging out and the like. Am also happy to note that she'll be here in Davis longer than I expected; she won't be bouncing off to Ireland after her trip to Germany with her family (in May?) because she's not going, just her dad. That means she'll probably be here for the rest of the school year. Makes me happy :).

That's all for now, pardon the simple syntax of my sentences, I just got up.

Enough. More Later.
- James

P.S. Whoa! I just realized that I missed the anniversary of my Blog! Cheers and the like for a year of scribing!

"We have here; a bovine interlude."

Currently in Earphones: "Kill Bill Vol.2" Soundtrack, CutThroat Island Soundtrack by John Debney.

Quick update for y'all. The most notable thing happening this week was the sudden loss (that is, non-death-related departure) of my Communications 3 Professor, Mr. Paul Duax, full story here...yes that was MY class he pulled this in.

I'm saddened by his leaving, and even feel somewhat betrayed that he chose to leave at this time, when I'm taking this class with the combined aspects of my high-level enjoyment of his lectures and the need for this as a requisite of my Communications major. Rather ironic that when I broke the story to Anja, it was the first time I'd mentioned his name and her response was "Oh, I know him, known him all my life and went to school with his children!" The one time I have an excuse to talk to him and introduce myself with more than a "Hi, my name is..." happens just after he tells us he's never going to see us again (in the context of the class, that is).

In other news, I went and saw the group Leahy at Mondavi with Anja and Preston last night. They were quite a group, and we had a lot of fun. Poor Preston had quite a day and dozed off a bit during a number or two, but they got rollicking enough by the end that we all got energized. They are all siblings, and Preston and I noticed a pan-family idiosyncracy among the guys of the group (who all happened to play fiddle): they all had a little twitch they did with their bow-arms just before they started playing, presumably picked up from getting their sleeves out of the way. I enjoyed Wicked Tinkers more, but Leahy had their appeal. After all, it takes some skill to play fiddle and tap-dance at the same time.

Meanwhile, back at school, I'm starting to worry a little about taking 18 credits. I'm sure it will be fine, but all of a sudden seeing my Latin term paper (nothing too special), my continuing Anthro Fieldwork Paper, and some various communications projects come screaming onto my docket of "Projects you need to start worrying about now" has got me a little twitchy. I'll make some headway on them this weekend.

By the way, the soundtrack to "CutThroat Island," a little known '95 film with Matthew Modine and Geena Davis has now hit my top 10 list of "Most Cool-Ass Soundtracks out There." They released a special 2-disc expanded version of the score in '04, which was kinda nice given that I only just heard about this soundtrack at the end of '05. However, that didn't preclude all the local media stores from not carrying it, much like most of my odd little movie-music obsessions. I would describe it as the quintessential swashbuckling score; big, brash, sweeping, and full of energy. Though somewhat lacking a hummable theme, as opposed to Klaus Badelt and the Media Ventures Crew in Pirates of the Caribbean or virtually ANY John Williams piece, I would argue that Debney's score has more "Avast, me hearties, raise the Jolly Roger, yo-ho-ho, pieces of eight, etc etc" in it, in comparison to the others. Listen to the samples (that Filmtracks so nicely provides) in the first link of this paragraph and tell me I'm wrong!

Two final parting shots: One, the title of this post is verbatim from my Latin Professor today, introducing section 7 of Livy's Ab Urbe Condita, look it up if you don't believe me. Second, yes, I know it's uncharacteristic of me to make my posts link city, but I figure I might as well give those who are interested a leg up when they invariably get those "Who-with-the-WHAT-now?" thoughts that spring up when I rant on and on about obscure soundtracks.

Enough, More Later.
- James

"Yer right about that, Ronnie, hand us your knife..."

Currently in Earphones: Equilibrium Soundtrack by Klaus Badelt (finally!!!)

Took this from Anja's, because I figure I need another post.

[ ] I am shorter than 5'4.
[x] I think I'm ugly sometimes.
[x] I have many scars.
[x] I tan easily.
[ ] I wish my hair was a different color.
[ ] I have friends who have never seen my natural hair color.
[ ] I have a tattoo.
[x] I am self-conscious about my appearance. Well, kinda
[x] I've had braces.
[x] I wear glasses.
[ ] I would get plastic surgery if it were 100 safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
[ ] I've been told I'm attractive by a complete stranger.
[ ] I have more than 2 piercings.
[ ] I have piercings in places besides my ears.
[ ] I have freckles.

Family/Home Life

[ ] I've sworn at my parents.
[ ] I've run away from home.
[ ] I've been kicked out of the house.
[x] My biological parents are together.
[ ] I have a sibling less than one year old.
[x] I want to have kids someday. But give me my freedom for the next ten years at least!
[ ] I've had a child.
[ ] I've lost a child.


School/Work

[x] I'm in school.
[ ] I have a job.
[ ] I've fallen asleep at work/school.
[ ] I always do my homework.
[x] I've missed a week or more of school.
[x] I've been on the Honor Roll within the last 2 years. So much fluffy High School Honor Roll mentions made me feel that the Dean's Honor list was just as meaningless, until my parents found out.
[ ] I failed more than 1 class last year.
[ ] I've stolen something from my job.
[ ] I've been fired.

Embarrassment

[ ] I've slipped out a "lol" in a spoken conversation.
[x] Disney movies still make me cry. Only if the word "Pixar" is mentioned. Those guys are geniuses!
[ ] I've peed from laughing.
[x] I've snorted while laughing.
[x] I've laughed so hard I've cried.
[ ] I've glued my hand to something.
[x] I've laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose. Milk, of course
[ ] I've had my pants rip/drop in public

Health

[x] I was born with a disease/impairment. Does Asthma count?
[x] I've gotten stitches.
[x] I've broken a bone. My wrist and my arm.
[x] I've had my tonsils removed.
[x] I've sat in a doctor's office with a friend. Does significant female other count?
[x] I've had my wisdom teeth removed.
[ ] I had a serious surgery.
[x]I've had chicken pox.

Traveling

[ ] I've driven over 200 miles in one day.
[ ] I've been to Canada.
[ ] I've been to Mexico.
[ ] I've been to Niagara Falls.
[ ] I've been to Japan.
[ ] I've Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
[x] I've been to Europe.
[ ] I've been to Africa.

Experiences

[x] I've gotten lost in my city. Rouen goofed the heck outta me
[x] I've seen a shooting star.
[ ] I've wished on a shooting star.
[x] I've seen a meteor shower.
[x] I've gone out in public in my pajamas.
[ ] I've pushed all the buttons on an elevator
[ ] I've kicked a guy where it hurts.
[ ] I've been to a casino.
[ ] I've been skydiving.
[ ] I've gone skinny dipping.
[ ] I've played spin the bottle.
[ ] I've drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
[ ] I've crashed a car.
[ ] I've been Skiing.
[x] I've been in a play.
[x] I've met someone in person from the internet.
[ ] I've caught a snowflake on my tongue.
[ ] I've seen the Northern Lights.
[ ] I've sat on a roof top at night.
[ ] I've played chicken.
[x] I've played a prank on someone.
[x] I've ridden in a taxi.
[x] I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
[x] I've eaten Sushi.
[ ] I've been snowboarding.

Relationships

[ ] I'm single
[x] I'm in a relationship.
[ ] I'm engaged.
[ ] I'm married.
[ ] I'm a player, what can I say?
[ ] I've gone on a blind date.
[x] I've been the dumpee more than the dumper.
[x] I miss someone right now. My Anja
[x] I have a fear of abandonment.
[ ] I've cheated in a relationship.
[ ] I've gotten divorced.
[x] I've had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
[x] I've told someone I loved them when I didn't. In retrospect. But even then, who knows?
[ ] I've told someone I didn't love them when I did.
[x] I've kept something from a past relationship.

Sexuality

[ ] I've had a crush on someone of the same sex.
[ ] I've had a crush on a teacher.
[x] I am a cuddler.
[ ] I've kissed in the rain.
[ ] I've hugged a stranger.
[ ] I have kissed a stranger.

Honesty/Crime

[x] I've done something I promised someone else I wouldn't
[x] I've done something I promised myself I wouldn't.
[ ] I've snuck out of my house.
[ ] I have lied to my parents about where I am.
[ ] I am keeping a secret from the world.
[x] I've cheated while playing a game. I have the vague sense that I have, but can't remember specifics
[ ] I've cheated on a test.
[x] I've run a red light. ...on a bike
[ ] I've been suspended from school.
[x] I've witnessed a crime. A Police officer getting shot on the street where I live in my hometown, or at least, the aftermath.
[x] I've been in a fist fight. ...that lasted all of ten seconds
[ ] I've been arrested.
[ ] I've shoplifted.

Drugs/Alcohol

[x] I've consumed alcohol. Wine or Champagne in polite company, and only a taste
[ ] I regularly drink.
[ ] I've passed out from drinking.
[ ] I have passed out drunk at least once in the past 6 months.
[ ] I've smoked weed.
[ ] I've taken painkillers when I didn't need them.
[ ] I've eaten shrooms.
[ ] I've popped E.
[ ] I've inhaled Nitrous.
[ ] I've done hard drugs.
[x] I have cough drops when I'm not sick. Once, when I was a kid: they taste good, damnit! There wasn't any candy and I had a sweet tooth
[ ] I can't swallow pills.
[ ] I can swallow about 5 pills at a time, no problem.
[ ] I have been diagnosed with clinical depression. Wouldn't be surprised.
[x] I shut others out when I'm depressed.
[ ] I take anti-depressants.
[ ] I'm anorexic or bulimic.
[ ] I've slept an entire day when I didn't need it.
[ ] I've hurt myself on purpose.
[ ] I'm addicted to self harm.
[ ] I've woken up crying.

Death and Suicide

[ ] I'm afraid of dying.
[x] I hate funerals.
[x] I've seen someone dying.
[x] Someone close to me has attempted suicide. Yeah, that made my night...
[ ] Someone close to me has committed suicide.
[ ] I've planned my own suicide.
[ ] I've attempted suicide.
[ ] I've written a eulogy for myself.

Materialism

[ ] I own over 5 rap CDs.
[x] I own iPod or MP3 player. Why use it when you have a perfect beauty of a laptop?
[ ] I have an unhealthy obsession with anime/manga.
[ ] I own multiple designer pants and shirts, costing over $100 a piece.
[ ] I own something from Hot Topic. They have some cool T-shirts, but ehhh....
[ ] I own something from Pac Sun.
[ ] I collect comic books. And Manga.
[ ] I own something from The Gap.
[ ] I own something I got on e-bay. Amazon, yes, eBay, no.
[ ] I own something from Abercrombie.

Random

[x] I can sing well. I can carry a tune, which is more than most people
[ ] I've stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant.
[x] I open up to others easily. Depends on who they are
[x] I watch the news. In whatever form I can get it.
[x] I don't kill bugs. Awww, poor little fellahs!
[x] I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for the sake of being able to rhyme.
[ ] I curse regularly. People freak out when I do..."James, how could you?"
[x] I sing in the shower. And get standing ovations from my housemates. Boo-yah!
[x] I am a morning person. Depends on the day. Weekday, hell yes. Weekend, no way.
[x] I paid for my cell phone ring tone. My brick has a custom ring
[x] I'm a snob about grammar. Moreso than others.
[ ] I am a sports fanatic.
[ ] I twirl my hair
[ ] I have "x"s in my screen name
[ ] I love being neat Half the time. When it suits me
[ ] I love Spam
[ ] I've copied more than 30 CD's in a day. Does 10 gig worth of music from my Comp to my player count?
[x] I bake well. Cook well, yes. Baking too, I suppose.
[ ] My favorite color is either white, yellow, pink, red or blue.
[ ] I would wear pajamas to school.
[ ] I like Martha Stewart.
[x] I know how to shoot a gun. Well, had some practice with some Airsoft pistols.
[ ] I am in love with love.
[ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS. Ahh yes, for when presentation masks the fact that you have absolutely nothing to say.
[ ] I laugh at my own jokes.
[ ] I eat fast food weekly.
[x] I believe in ghosts. In my imagination, but not in reality.
[x] I am online 24/7, even as an away message. Most of the day, but not nights
[ ] I've not turned anything in and still got an A in a certain class.
[ ] I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.
[x] I am really ticklish.
[ ] I love white chocolate. Chocolate isn't white, it's black.
[ ] I bite my nails.
[x] I play video games. Now and then, used to quite a bit.
[x] I'm good at remembering faces. When I put my mind to it.
[x] I'm good at remembering names. When I put my mind to it.
[x] I'm good at remembering dates. When I put my mind to it.
[x] I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. One step at a time, eh?

A more informative and better post coming up next.

Enough, More Later.
- James

I am a Consumer Whore!

Currently in Earphones: "Stargate" soundtrack by David Arnold.

...And how! I just realized for the first time about a day ago how Amazon.com has me by the balls. Not only do they have endless recommendations based on what you buy and what you say you own, but in an unholy conjunction with Soundtrack.net and Filmtracks.net work to produce the most sinister of money holes to pull and tug at my wallet.

Case in point: I had just used my little bit of fun money I allot myself to buy a soundtrack and a book off of Amazon, and no sooner had I sold another portion of my soul to the great consumer gods than I stumble across a review of a soundtrack on Filmtracks that squees with joy over the greatness that is John Debney's score to Cutthroat Island. I make the mistake of listening to some sample clips and am likewise reduced to a quivering mass of overwhelmed fanboy as the best sounding swashbuckler music graces my ears for a tantalizing 30 seconds a pop. I must have this soundtrack. However, I did not snap it up, surprising myself with the sheer willpower of waiting for my next round of fun-cash to come to maturity.

Laugh if you want, but I was both elated and horrified at the pure, unadulterated want that ran through me. I'm glad I was able to weather that burst of consumerism and not blow the cash immediately, but it was honestly frightening to feel that. I mean, my cash flow for the time being isn't positive, or even a slowed negative. I suppose it could be worse: I could have more expensive hobbies, I could be extremely cash strapped, I could be a lesser man and give in to my whims more often. Still, I wish I didn't have to be frugal to the point of paranoia. Ahh well, this is life.

In other news, school is well. Communications 3 looks to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys: a topic that intrigues me and a kick-ass professor. Cultural Anthropology retains an intriguing topic, Latin 101 is a tad easier but with an odd prof, and Classics 30 is pure candy. Lots of reading to do, but nothing organized time can't handle.

Also, started an Internship with my old Anthropology prof. I'm organizing a huge set of field data on Titi monkeys done by a late Grad student. Well, so far this consists of taking written field notes and transferring them to a virtual map of the area, assigning coordinates to the fact that at 19:14:33 on 3/19/02 monkey A began calling at 20 m S of 10T:0153. Whee! With hope I shall be able to work with the 40 hours of footage for a change of pace after getting the hang of the data entry.

Baroque Ensemble is back in action, once I get the date of next performance I shall pepper it to all interested parties. Anja is also back in action with a better schedule, though now we have 3 cellos (herself included) which is an insanely large bass section in baroque terms.

Speaking of Anja, we went and saw a production of Metamorphoses, a contemporary play based on Ovid's collection of myths. I believe my parents saw it at the Berkeley Rep a few years back, but it was a very interesting play: You know its fun when the story of Phaethon is transliterated to "Dad, give me the keys to your car!"

Ahh, but now 'tis time for me to wax the poetic lover, probably much to the dismay of my more realist-minded housemates. My poor Anja has just had her wisdom teeth out and is kind of in-and-out of recuperation. She rallied enough to watch Sin City with me and the day afterward to go see the play, but alternately she just had to take the drugs and go sleep off the pain. I haven't gotten what I consider a good, full few hours with her yet, but I hope to get at least a little more before school starts again. Ahh, if only I could hold her in my arms for a night without break. Once again, I emphasize, not sexually, but merely sharing the sweet company of one another. My other housemates have the luxury of whiling away the night in pleasant repose with their loves, yet I cannot, for my love's family wishes a curfew that must be honored. It is so hard to leave my lady when she must finally go, were it not for my respect for her and her own I would sweep her back, bundle her up and fall asleep by her side. I long for her and miss her as I'm sure she misses me. Now I can only await her recovery and hope for better future days.

Enough. More Later,
- James

Buh-guh!

Currently in Earphones: "Loops of Fury" by The Chemical Brothers. "Song 2" by Blur.

Yes, I'm still alive. I shall update when my new quarters classes get into better swing and I have more to write about. You've not heard the last from me.

Enough. More later.
- James