I think this is where Modest Mouse peaked, creatively. They certainly made weirder albums, and then subsequently catchier albums, but I think this is where their oddness met best with mainstream accessibility.
4.5/5 - This is probably more a 4.0 for my musical tastes now, but it is polluted by nostalgia.
Unlike that terrible Papa Roach album, this slab of nu metal is actually quite an interesting and worthwhile listen! While there is rapping on one track, I would dare to call this progressive nu metal... albeit, that is usually an oxymoron. I would say this is one of the few pieces of mainstream to come out of this era in time that is actually worth a re-listen. The guitars are groovey (albeit, with fairly simple riffs), the basslines are amazing, and the drums play polyrythms! Plus, the lead scream has a pretty impressive dynamic range, as these songs are all over the place.
3.5/5 - Not ashamed to listen to this, except for when I pay too close attention to the lyrics ;)
Another year down for me.
Since this is the last day... work day, of May I thought I might go ahead and list my bike commuting numbers for the month and some of the things I've seen.
By the time I get back to my car today I will have ridden about 868 miles over 21 work days. All but three days I rode just shy of 42 miles round trip, two days were 45 r/t, and 1 day was 27. This beats my last years record of 823 miles which I thought was already about the best I could possibly do. It's also my very first year that I rode every single day, it helped that it was a good month for weather. I'll probably end up ranked in the top 50 riders in terms of miles out of like 14000 total, and in total I spent about 60 hours in the saddle.
I'm tired, really, really tired. That feeling has seeped into every single thought and aspect of my being. On the weekends I've tried to make plans, but kids allowing I often just find myself laying down and not moving. I'm so tired I have kinda started to understand what crippling depression feels like. But I also feel stronger in general than I have for a long time and the days where the tiredness isn't as bad I actually feel good and quite peppy, so next month when I cut back on distance I think I'm going to start feeling really good most of the time.
Now some of the shit I've seen. First of all I can count about 4 times that I have actually seen shit, real human shit just off the side of the sidewalk. Since a lot of my ride goes through areas where homeless people camp this isn't all that surprising really.
I saw a guy on a unicycle several miles away from anywhere in particular, along one of the busiest and shittiest roads I commute along which has no shoulder, no sidewalk, and the speed limit is 45mph and most of the vehicles are large freight trucks. Hella ballsy as shit.
I saw cyclist get a speeding ticket, he then complained to me before racing on past me, Asshole.
There was the skateboarder who was hit by a car and no one around seemed to be doing anything except one old lady who was calling the paramedics. He was lying in the middle of a 3 lane one way street and cars didn't really seem to know what to do or how to drive around the guy. So I hopped off my bike and checked on the guy, he was conscious but in a lot of pain so I just directed traffic around him until the paramedics arrived then continued on to work.
Saw a car drive the wrong way up a highway offramp and get basically pulverized by a truck coming down. Did not stop for that one.
Also randomly met a girl who was biking to an REI photo shoot, but didn't know how to get there. As it happened it was on my way so she tagged along for a little while, so I might know someone who's going to be in their next catalog.
All in all, an interesting month.
> Saw a car drive the wrong way up a highway offramp
Forgive me for laughing at that one. I'm going to pretend it was some road raging idiot, or some idiot not paying attention, rather than a lost-in-translation type scenario.
You've seen some shit, man. Kudos for breaking the bystander effect and helping the injured guy. I think people in general use the bubble of their cars as shields to deflect civic responsibility. Though some may have already seen the lady calling for aid, I imagine all of those commuters appreciated your efforts to keep traffic flowing as efficiently as possible.
I would love to see time lapse go-pro footage of your average commute.
To start going longer just move out to the valley and you'll have it made. The only reason I can lay down so many miles is because I live out in the 'burbs. I actually noticed a lot of AK teams this year, one team captain in Juneau who I think worked at the brewery posted to the facebook page a lot. There were even some Anchorage teams on there.
Did you all notice that at one of the levels of sponsorship for the Reading Rainbow kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)the reward is a private dinner with LeVar Burton and getting to try on the Geordi viser?
And of course the kickstarter is not without controversy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/05/28/you-might-want-to-reconsider-that-donation-to-the-reading-rainbow-kickstarter/ (www.washingtonpost.com)
Personally as long as you don't view the show as "teach kids to read" but "teach kids to love reading" then I think it is still a very positive thing. Both goals are good and worthy.
For me, this album is where Meshuggah finally achieved their goal of polyrhythmic dominance. While I think some of their later albums are better and more refined, this album is a classic and essentially helped usher in an era of technicality in the metal scene.
4.5/5 - Excellent. Nothing and ObZen take the sound further, but this is where the madness began.
So I get selected to be on some sort of reality TV show. To pass the first round, I have to come up with an original song. This puts me at an extreme disadvantage, but I try for it anyway. I imagine what sort of sea shanties the Borg would sing on their cubes as they dominate the galaxy.
I don't remember what eventually happened, but I do remember my first line was:
We are many, we are one!
I imagined it to have sort of a "yo-ho-ho" vibe to it.
So apparently Howard Jones is pretty bitter at his former band mates in Killswitch Engage... enough so that he formed a super group with a couple other metal dudes and wrote a song specifically lambasting them for his time in the band! IN any case, this is high quality (i.e., above average guitarwork) but typical metalcore, with sensitive lyrics (per Killswitch Engage II and Blood Has Been Shed, the former of which is the best metal breakup album of all time) and enough melody to pacify the casual listener.
3.0/5 - Good. I like the heavier songs more, as the touchy feeling songs feel more creepy than anything for the most part.
SPDCA: Studio Ghibli Films
Written between flights and travel over the last two weeks.
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Sunday nights are the worst nights to watch Ghibli films.
Sundays, for me, are the days that are filled with the least. The days where I'm least likely to leave the house, least likely to clean, least likely to be productive in some way. Not that the preceding Saturday or Friday work out any better, but the tangible passage of time is felt on a Sunday. On a Sunday evening is when it catches up. When the paralysis of choice had led you accomplish nothing but refresh the feed aggregator aggregator and feel weird. 8pm rolls around and you wonder where your day has gone since you woke up at 9:30 that morning.
That's just me, anyway. I think a lot of people just watch Game of Thrones. Or Mad Men? Or spend time with their family? Anyway. Sunday nights are when an empty house feels alone. But watching a Studio Ghibli film does a great job at delaying the inevitable. Until, say, 10pm or so. Then you just lay awake wondering about what it was you just spent the last two hours watching, and how it somehow managed to get under your skin.
Studio Ghibli, if you haven't heard of them, is a Japanese animation studio, whose filmography contains some of the most popular, stylistic, and influential animated films since the 1980's. Their attention to artistic detail, strong but effective narrative messages, and whimsical characters have made them the Pixar to the Disney of Japan's animation industry. Curiously, Studio Ghibli films are distributed by Disney in the US, and have John Lasseter and other Pixar alumni in charge of the American versions of the script and voice-overs.
So, much like my machete-through-jungle hack-and-slash expeditions through a subset of Star Treks, Babylon 5's, or any other show I've picked up in the last few years, I started in on Studio Ghibli and its related films without realizing it. The earliest Studio Ghibli film I can recall watching was Princess Mononoke, at a sleepover at a friend's house, somewhere at or after 1998. I think it was a friend of a friend who had brought it over, as they worked in a movie store and had access to the latest releases. He brought over Princess Mononoke and Golden Boy. They put on both while everyone else played Warhammer 40K (something I never quite got into). Princess Mononoke was the animated film that beat Titanic at the box offices in Japan, had been nominated for an Academy Award, and had recently been released with dialog recorded by famous American actors. Golden Boy was a short, 6-episode anime miniseries that featured Kintaro Oe, a student of life, who in each episode traveled to a new town and somehow got into a situation with female nudity.
I stayed awake for Golden Boy. I fell asleep during Princess Mononoke. I was 13, and it was, what, 4 in the morning? Give me a break. I mean, I eventually went back and watched Princess Mononoke. I also went back to see Golden Boy. Consequently, it was even more hilarious after I got more of the adult humor. No regrets, but it's nowhere near the caliber of Ghibli films.
Anyhow. While I watched plenty of other anime films and TV shows after, I didn't revisit the Studio Ghibli films until at least a decade later, and these only at the recommendations of others. And even then, a good three years after they were suggested. Apparently, my "stack of media to consume" is massive. And I'm bad about getting around to it.
I believe I watched two Ghibli films in 2011. I watched no Studio Ghibli films in 2012 (though, I know that I rewatched Princess Mononoke at some point, but unfortunately never recorded that fact). I watched four Ghibli films in 2013. I watched twelve Ghibli films in 2014. I watched a lot of them on quiet nights after work. I watched too many on Sunday nights when I couldn't sleep.
Studio Ghibli films have an interesting, well... texture to them. Something you can feel, but you can't quite describe unless you see them yourself. The subject matter of the films have a very wide range. The films themselves are beautiful to watch, even for somebody without an understanding of however many thousands of man-hours would have gone into hand-animating some of the scenes. Their style lends a quality to the character's animations that I've only really seen with some of the first classically animated Disney films. As such, many of the more involved animated sequences stand up incredibly well, despite being animated some 30+ years ago.
Many of the films focus around common, humanist themes, particularly with a bent towards environmental conservation and anti-violence and anti-war. Some are subtle, some are absolutely not. Many offer strong, independent male and female characters, ranging from toddlers to the elderly (and some teenagers-transformed-into-grandmothers as well). Some offer a slice of a character's life, a core sample of everything that can happen in and around a person in a particular time. The environments and the spectacle of the background of the film always offer interesting complexities on top of the story (however, some can be a little strange at times).
So, the question is: why do these appeal to me at all? Aside from an incredibly high production value, they generally don't have the classical tenets of things Josh likes: space, robots, and journeys to the dark depths of the soul. In fact, some films are purely about romance (or even worse: teen romance). Some are simply recollections of someone's childhood (also, with the romance). Some are tongue-in-cheek comedies about atomic Japanese family life. Some are, quite frankly, a little sub-par. Some are children's stories about raccoons with huge, magical scrotums (which was fun to watch sitting between my mother and grandmother on an airplane).
What appeals to me about Studio Ghibli films? It's that each film is a new time and a place, with people to meet and stories to tell. They are like being able to see someone's dreams, and to not have to be afraid of them, or committing your suspension of belief towards them. And it is because in every film, characters fidget, and move, and make mistakes, and do the small things that people do despite the fact that they are animated. The attention to detail in between the punctuating moments in the films are something unique and enchanting, making them vehicles to somewhere when you are sleepless and nowhere.
I won't go into detail about each film. That would take ages, and most of the films are worth seeing, even if you never get past the box office juggernauts. Ask if you need a recommendation on where to start.
My favorites are probably between Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky. Mostly because they are the films that jump-started me into finishing this journey about a year ago. Also becaues they are Ghibli films that do have the Josh-tenets for the most part, and inspire me in my own writing and storytelling.
It should be noted also that most of these films involved either the writing, directing, or production (or some combination thereof) a one Hiyao Miyazaki. Called the Walt Disney of Japanese animation, it was very interesting to see the progression of his career through his films. It was also interesting to see how different these movies became with his increased or lesser involvement, and also with the involvement of his son, Goro Miyazaki. It's hard to imagine how one person could be such a massive influence on a project the size of a feature film, no less to maintain such an output over the course of 30+ years in the industry. Sadly, his latest film, The Wind Rises, was announced to be his final film, after which he says that he is retired. Though it seems he has made this claim a few films before, being an octogenarian decreases the likelihood of further films benefitting from his vision. Studio Ghibli will continue, no doubt, and I will continue to enjoy their output, so long as there are sufficient English language subtitles and voice-overs. I maintain an optimism that they will continue to create artful films that can be enjoyed across ages, languages, and cultures.
Finally, a few weeks ago I was checking out at the self-checkout at Fred Meyers. I was supposed to bring a dessert, and I found that they started selling gelato like they do ice cream. Working my happy discovery through the scanner, I overheard two of the hovering teenage clerks talking about Miyazaki. "Yeah, he did a bunch of 'em, like, Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away, and that new one... what's it called?"
In a social outburst normally reserved for imagined conversations I make up in the shower, I actually interjected. "The Wind Rises," I told them. Of course, they didn't hear me, or, didn't expect that I was listening. "The Wind Rises," I repeated a little louder. "Right! Yeah, this guy knows what I'm talking about." We had a brief conversation. I told him I'd seen The Wind Rises a couple of days before, and that it considerably less whimsical than the other Ghibli films. I made an awkward goodbye, and took my bags of gelato.
It was one of the more gratifying conversations I've had with strangers in recent memory.
Black Meddle, while a bit tongue in cheek, is a pretty accurate summary of this album: black metal base with Pink Floyd-esque psychodelic undertones. And, somehow, it mostly works! I've listened to Part I, and didn't enjoy it nearly as much as this release - they've refined the experimental approach a bit more to create a pretty cohesive sound. I was never a fan of trve black metal, but with a bit of an industrial edge and a good dose of spacey guitar interludes, it kind of transcends the genre and becomes something fresh and new!
3.5/5 - Very good. A tough listen, but it takes black metal into new places that I didn't really think were possible!
Building Environment Control software has been one of the ripest fruits out there, and everyday I don't hear of a widespread attack/malware on them I'm surprised.
Wanna know how to kill the nation's power grids?
1 A hacker could gain access to the building environment controls for a city, turn on everything he could to maximum.
2 Electrical demand would increase faster than power companies would be able to generate more power to compensate.
3 brownouts lead to equipment failures, leading to blackouts
4 blackouts last longer than they should because the amount of equipment to be replaced is greater than A) number of spares the utilities have on hand and B) greater than the number of spares that manufacturers can produce in a short timeframe.
No one has realized how easy it would be to hack into building software. No one has realized the widespread damage that could be caused.
It's going to be sad when you miss the birth of your firstborn child because you're being detained by the homeland security/FBI folks due to posts on a message board read by 20 people.
Dear government types: my husband is the nicest guy in the planet and would never knowingly harm a person or target infrastructure.
Once upon a time, I was huge on live albums... primarily inspired by Metallica and Iron Maiden's live output (S&M and Live After Death are probably my two favorite live albums of all time... and I searched long and hard for the definitive live version of Hallowed Be Thy Name), but carried forward into whatever band I was obsessed with (I spent SO MUCH money on Incubus live albums). I have since moved away from live albums since they rarely are an upgrade over the studio recording, although I still like a good live video to work out to (LIVE BRUTALITY).
I bought Live on Earth because I thought it came with a video recording and would love to see Sir Russell Allen wail... but, alas, no DVD, just CDs. However, this recording turned out to be one of the best live recordings I have heard in many a year, so it turned out alright. All of the performers are just... incredible. And hearing many alternate versions of Ayreon songs was really cool.
3.5/5 - Very good live album. Can't really rate it much higher because there's only a few songs that I'll come back to, but man... Arjen knows how to pick talent for his projects!
Ah, the return of the depressed Finns is upon us! With the last album aptly entitled One for Sorrow, you know that these guys' brand of melodic death metal presents a bleak worldview. The lead screamer noted the song Ephemeral from this album is the most optimistic song he's ever written... here's the chorus:
"Dying doesn't make this world dead to us.
Breathing doesn't keep the flame alive in us.
Dreaming doesn't make time less real for us.
One life, one chance, all ephemeral."
So yeah, this album is a nihilist's paradise. But man the music is good! Oddly enough, fellow Finns Omnium Gatherum (what's up with the -um's in Finland?) lost one of their guitarists to this band... and made the bands sound EVEN MORE alike. While Beyond is a better album, it's also more optimistic... and therefore less metal ;)
3.5/5 - Very good depressing Finnish melodeath.
Well, this album was an undertaking - Devin Townsend never skimps on material, and it came with a bonus album. I funded the bonus option via Pledgemusic, along with apparently every other metal head in existence (it ended up being like 550% funded - but that means a ton of money for Z2!!!!). This is one of Townsend's most melodic and chill offerings. The main album is a concept album about a person getting stranded on an alien planet that is sentient and feeds off of fear... in the style of downbeat country. It sounds a lot like the soundtrack to The Drowned Man (for the western sections). It is weird, but works oddly well, if a bit bloated with self-indulgent ambient sections. The woman he got to do the majority of the vocals is an incredible singer, and she is really what makes this album great.
The bonus album is leftovers from Townsend's previously released Ghost. You can tell these songs were the nucleus for what became the Casualties of Cool tracks. While individual songs don't standout, as a chill and somber listening experience, it excels as a whole. Nice music for thoughtful reflection.
3.5/5 - Very good album. Different than anything he's released while still have a Devin sound, I can't wait to see what he puts out next... because it is a sequel to Ziltoid the Omniscient (which is one of the best metal releases ever!).
I was not very impressed by the first Glitch Mob release; however, that album was apparently written as introverted music to be listened to on headphones, which isn't really my cup of tea for electronica. The new album, on the other hand, is supposed to be the extroverted counterpart to be played in the clurb - which I am much more on board with. And it shows, because I think this album has some very interesting upbeat tracks... whilte the slower songs, again, aren't my favorite.
3.5/5 - Very good electronica. The upbeat tracks are a delight, while the slower songs drag.
played online for the first time in a while last night. got called a faggot and a cunt like 30 times over the course of 15 minutes while doing some races that I don't even know how I started in the first place. Then the whole angry red dot thing was weird.
And turns out still only ranked like 27 online. Yup, it were a good night.
they changed the player icons in the minimap. The bounty icon used to be a solid red dot with a black crosshair X behind it.
clean mental state people (or people who haven't killed other players in a while) are white dots.
Solid red dots (without a black crosshair X behind them) are people who have done nothing but mayhem, killing other players & etc
If you are somewhere on that spectrum, your player icon will be shaded red according to where you fall on the spectrum, but not bright red.
If you have a bounty on you, no matter your mental state, your icon will be a skull & crossbones. Your icon will still shade/color according to your mental state
Player icons also change if you are in your apartment/garage.
This is the best retro thrash I have heard in a LONG time, although that's not saying much (most retro thrash is meh at best). Probably because it is a rifftastic technical display of neoclassic shred (for the most part). So many incredible riffs. The vocals are pretty one dimensional, but such is most true thrash (albeit, these are a little on the death-y side).
3.5/5 - Very good. The cover of Moonlight Sonata (Act 3) is especially impressive.
I like The Pineapple Thief, but I like Katatonia much more. The mashup of these two bands was something I could not miss. Unfortunately, it turns out to be more Bruce Soord than Jonas Renkse musically (meaning it often meanders in mid-tempo that I find boring after a while)... but the despair and depression present in the latter is certainly still there lyrically, even if his typical vocal melodies are not.
2.5/5 - Pretty typical dirge-y prog rock. I expected a bit more. Hopefully if they continue it will be better next time.
