I'd like to take a minute and thank all you good dads out there for doing your jobs properly. People such as my brother and a good number of my friends.
My dad's not included because he's an asshole.
15 June 2008
25 May 2008
Concerning Recording Artists
A thought occurred to me today as I was listening to t.A.T.u.'s "Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)" from their first English album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. Pretty much everything I'd heard about Yulia's vocal fold cyst attributed it to the fact that she traditionally had the really high, yelling parts in the duo's songs. As I listened to Clowns, I realized that a huge part of the problem was also the way in which she sings -- you can actually hear the strain on her voice during her parts of the song. Presumably, though, her vocal therapy also involves some voice training to prevent her from damaging her vocal cords that way again.
While I'm on the topic of singing, and even though this blog has a total of one reader at this point (hi Kiwi!), I feel like I should note that I've made a number of my songs available on last.fm. While I'm reasonably certain that if I ever release Prelude to a Swan Song that won't be the final tracklist, I'd rather keep all my uploads in one convenient place for now. So if you happen to have stumbled upon the blog, go check my stuff out!
While I'm on the topic of singing, and even though this blog has a total of one reader at this point (hi Kiwi!), I feel like I should note that I've made a number of my songs available on last.fm. While I'm reasonably certain that if I ever release Prelude to a Swan Song that won't be the final tracklist, I'd rather keep all my uploads in one convenient place for now. So if you happen to have stumbled upon the blog, go check my stuff out!
10 May 2008
Odd...
I've just noticed a marked similarity between the drumming in the Powerpuff Girls opening theme
and the Amen Break, but it's pretty clearly not a sample. Huh.
and the Amen Break, but it's pretty clearly not a sample. Huh.
08 May 2008
Music nerding
Right, I think I can declare myself a well-rounded nerd now.
I read, I'm more-or-less computer savvy, I'm getting into comics, I game... and now I'm a music nerd. You know how I know?
Well, I've taken to listening to my local classical music station in the car to try to broaden my horizons, and what should come on this morning but the finale of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. When it got to the huge choral Ode to Joy bit, I cranked the volume because, let's face it, it's best enjoyed loud.
After a few minutes I realized I was lightly headbanging. So yes, much nerdity.
It occurred to me that Beethoven had a lot of balls. Most lesser composers would write that bit, think "Holy God in Heaven, this is the glorious finale to my piece!" and call it a night. Beethoven, on the other hand, wrote that, then went "Eh, I can outdo that," and wrote another bit that would make a glorious ending.
Then he looked at that and went "I can fucking outdo that, too." So he wrote yet ANOTHER bit to finish it off. That's just genius.
I'm inclined to agree with Hideaki Anno that the 9th Symphony is the pinnacle of human culture. Kind of depressing to think it's all downhill from there, but hey, what are you gonna do?
I read, I'm more-or-less computer savvy, I'm getting into comics, I game... and now I'm a music nerd. You know how I know?
Well, I've taken to listening to my local classical music station in the car to try to broaden my horizons, and what should come on this morning but the finale of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. When it got to the huge choral Ode to Joy bit, I cranked the volume because, let's face it, it's best enjoyed loud.
After a few minutes I realized I was lightly headbanging. So yes, much nerdity.
It occurred to me that Beethoven had a lot of balls. Most lesser composers would write that bit, think "Holy God in Heaven, this is the glorious finale to my piece!" and call it a night. Beethoven, on the other hand, wrote that, then went "Eh, I can outdo that," and wrote another bit that would make a glorious ending.
Then he looked at that and went "I can fucking outdo that, too." So he wrote yet ANOTHER bit to finish it off. That's just genius.
I'm inclined to agree with Hideaki Anno that the 9th Symphony is the pinnacle of human culture. Kind of depressing to think it's all downhill from there, but hey, what are you gonna do?
17 January 2008
A couple of updates
I'm sorry it's been forever, except for that one self-pitying post which never happened. Thought I'd do some updates on a couple of things.
City of Heroes - I've cancelled my account for now. Not because I'm not having fun with it, but I don't really have the disposable income to pay for it right now and my free trial was up. I may play again when I have more money.
Snow - I still hate it. And plows.
My health - Shitty once more. I can't use my nose most of the time and my throat tends to get really dry and painful. Also I need to lose weight.
Miscellaneous - I'll be getting a car next week, more than a month earlier than I expected, because the early withdrawal penalty on my CD is much lower than I anticipated.
City of Heroes - I've cancelled my account for now. Not because I'm not having fun with it, but I don't really have the disposable income to pay for it right now and my free trial was up. I may play again when I have more money.
Snow - I still hate it. And plows.
My health - Shitty once more. I can't use my nose most of the time and my throat tends to get really dry and painful. Also I need to lose weight.
Miscellaneous - I'll be getting a car next week, more than a month earlier than I expected, because the early withdrawal penalty on my CD is much lower than I anticipated.
19 December 2007
Sorry
Sorry I've been posting so irregularly lately. I've got a lot of homework and finals coming up and I've been tired and I've got a killer headache right now. When I have more time/feel better I'll do a sort-of review of CoH.
17 December 2007
The Weekend
Well, it took a little longer than I expected, but here's the actual update.
I started playing City of Heroes on Saturday and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I've already got four characters and now I'm going to work on leveling them up, although I may just get rid of my blaster. I like the backstory I came up with for him, but I'm just no good at playing a ranged fighter. I'll probably post their profiles sometime soon.
It snowed yesterday, which was no fun. I've lived all my life in New England and lost my affection for snow in my early teens, when my contribution to the shoveling stopped being aesthetic and started to actually matter. My uncle snowblowed the walks, which was nice, but I did end up having to do a substantial bit of the driveway and the stairs. Those weren't too bad, but then the goddamn plows came along and I had to clear out the stuff they covered over, which killed my back for the rest of the day.
This is the last time I will rant at length about snow, I promise.
The Jimmy Olsen comic I ordered a few weeks ago came today, and as expected the inside wasn't quite as batshit as the cover. I'll think about doing a writeup of it sometime.
I started playing City of Heroes on Saturday and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I've already got four characters and now I'm going to work on leveling them up, although I may just get rid of my blaster. I like the backstory I came up with for him, but I'm just no good at playing a ranged fighter. I'll probably post their profiles sometime soon.
It snowed yesterday, which was no fun. I've lived all my life in New England and lost my affection for snow in my early teens, when my contribution to the shoveling stopped being aesthetic and started to actually matter. My uncle snowblowed the walks, which was nice, but I did end up having to do a substantial bit of the driveway and the stairs. Those weren't too bad, but then the goddamn plows came along and I had to clear out the stuff they covered over, which killed my back for the rest of the day.
This is the last time I will rant at length about snow, I promise.
The Jimmy Olsen comic I ordered a few weeks ago came today, and as expected the inside wasn't quite as batshit as the cover. I'll think about doing a writeup of it sometime.
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