Thursday, October 2, 2003

Back From a Little Rest...

Well, as the subject says...I'm back from my little vacation. I went to Phillip Island with my family from Saturday to Wednesday. It was pretty good, but it gets a little boring if you stay there for a week or more. I had to actually cut my vacation short by a few days, because I've got too much stuff to do around here. In particular, I have a school project to finish off. And I had a few other miscellaneous things to attend to. Still, I enjoy Phillip Island. It's not too far away and it's very relaxing. It is definitely great to get away from the faster pace of things around home. I bought myself a cool new ring, too. If I can somehow get a picture of it, I'll post it up here. ~_^ I'm also excited about new updates for myOtaku. In particular, one of the biggest new updates is a funky HTML generator tool. Maximus (former theOtaku staff member) coded it for us. Adam showed me a rough version yesterday...and I'm very impressed. It looks like it'll be a great little tool for people who aren't very good with HTML. It's kind of like the system we have for OtakuBoards, where you choose your font colour, size and type face. Anyway, my new computer arrives tomorrow. It's kind of annoying at the moment, because I not only have to set it up in here, but I have to move this computer to my dad's office. And then he wants me to set up his banking on there and such. Plus, I have to rearrange this entire study, which will take me quite some time. Thanks to my sister in particular, the room can get very disorganized. But as I've gone through things and started sorting stuff out, I've actually come across some old CDs and things like that. You know, CDs that I was convinced my father had taken and forgotten about. He tends to do that quite often, unfortunately. In particular, I came across an album called Open Space. It's basically just a compilation of various kinds of new age music, as well as some "mild" dance and other stuff. It's pretty good, generally. I've found a few tracks on here that I've been listening to lately, simply because I haven't heard them for a while. I have a few favourites on this album, too. One is a song called Embrace, by Endorphin. Endorphin is an Australian artist who generally does dance/new-age pieces. His music is unique, particularly when he performs live. Electronic music, being what it is, can be very difficult to "perform" in a live space. I tend to liken the creation of electronic music to the creation of an image in Photoshop or Illustrator. With accoustic music, you can really just sit there and do it in front of an audience. And in the same way, with say...cartoons/portraits/face painting, you can really make it an interesting visual performance for a live audience. Whereas with a digital application, it tends to be something of a more scientific process...or at least, not something that will necessarily draw a crowd as a performance. But also, of course, one does need significant skill to properly manipulate Photoshop or Illustrator. There are a lot of people who can do the more basic things, but there are few who can really manipulate these applications in an expert manner. In regard to graphics, I'm definitely someone who fits into the former, rather than the latter. And so, with electronic music, there are obvious limitations to performance. However, some groups (particularly Endorphin and Basement Jaxx) incorporate a lot of visual elements into their live appearances. I notice that Basement Jaxx in particular is very heavily involved in utilizing both live performers and expansive video graphics. Though, I'm not particularly a huge fan of that group...but they're certainly quite good in their own way. Endorphin, unlike Basement Jaxx, tends to go for a more "surreal" atmosphere. Essentially, he focuses a more of his attention on very elaborate lighting effects and stylized video graphics. Basement Jaxx, on the other hand, tends to be far more energetic and vocally powerful. It's an interesting contrast and I find it interesting to note how different electronic music artists present their work in the public space. This also reminds me of Kosheen. I've seen Kosheen perform live a couple of times, on TV. And I can tell you one thing for certain; their vocalist (I don't know her name) has an outstanding voice. Specifically, her live performance is virtually flawless. Even when I've seen some of my favourite rock bands perform live...their live singing can be a bit off for various reasons. Obviously, they aren't necessarily going to sound like what's on the CD. However, Kosheen really do somehow manage to achieve this. It's quite amazing...and it's one thing that always increased my respect for the group, even though I really only like a few of their songs. I've also been listening to Missing, by Anything But the Girl. Frankly, I don't like any other songs that I've heard from them. And that's a shame, because I do like Missing. It's not a profound song in terms of a message or anything of that nature...but if you listen to the radio edit version (ie: the more "accoustic" version, rather than a clubby remix), you'll notice quite a lot of aural depth there. I also like the vocal quality, partly because I'm not hearing another "dance/pop" female voice. Although, bar some exceptions, this song is about as close as I get to dance music in general. Oh well. Time for some quizzes, eh? Tarzan! What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!) brought to you by Quizilla Congratulations!! You're a smart sophisticated and beautiful martini!! What Drink Are You? brought to you by Quizilla You are The Oracle, from "The Matrix." Wise, kind, honest- is there anything slightly negative about you? You are genuinely supportive of others. Careful not to let people take advantage of you, though. What Matrix Persona Are You? brought to you by Quizilla

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