Friday, July 2, 2004

Politics, blackouts, nuts, fruits, cubes, and why it sucks being me.

Today's OCRemix: "Groove" Panzer Dragoon (Genesis) Remix by McVaffe. The second Remix I got by McVaffe I commented earlier sounded quite similar to the mix from Vortex "Groove-Mecha", when in a flash of insight, I only thought so because I had gotten the titles confused the first time around. In order to remedy this, and find the true origin of my interest in McVaffe's tunes, I looked it up: groove: n. 1: A long narrow channel. 2: A fixed routine. So...basically the term "groove" refers to something almost repetitive, hence the reason why McVaffe's two mixes sounded similar at a glance. Well, it is still a mystery why sometihng "repetitive" would be "good" but McVaffe's mix is, without a doubt, "good". Bongos for intro, with flute and strings being our meat-and-potatoes combo throughout the mix, and, as djpretzel commented, sound like something from a certain Eastern martial arts flick. Have fun. Elections in Canada took place a few days ago, and, much to my surprise, my dad had been engaging in political activism the weeks before the election, in support of the leftist underdogs, the NDP (New Democratic Party). The Liberal party, the main and usually most popular party in Canada, have been acting rayther strangely under the leadership of our ex-Minister of Finance, Paul Martin, so my dad, being the cool guy that he is, decided to dance to a different beat, so to speak, and went around town acting in support of the NDP. For a quick rundown of how politics in Canada work, the first thing you have to understand is that we elect parties instead of individuals, and furthermore, it's not exactly a perfect democracy either. Each region in Canada falls under a certain number of "seats" in the entire country (I think there are 255 total.) and each region has a fixed number of "seats" based on it's size. The votes counted in each region form a "seat", and that "seat" goes in support of the party. Since the number of "seats" in a region and the size of the region can be disproportional, a political party can win a "seat" even if it has fewer votes in that area. There are four main parties in Canada. Liberal, Conservative, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois. The Conservatives act much like George W. Bush down in the States, and the Bloc Quebecois are mostly supported in Quebec, as they are a soverigntist party, and usually seem to act in Quebec's best interest. HOwever, for this reason, they want Quebec to be considered independent from the rest of Canada, and otherwise, have few other useful ideas. A party needs 155(?) seats total to be considered a "majority government", and act without the consent of the other parties. However, it is rare that a single party can win over 155 seats in one go, so they have to ally themselves with another party to form a government. The Liberals and Conservatives are polar opposites, and therefore cannot work together. The Bloc Quebecois are separatists, so they can't work too well with anyone else either. So the NDP and the Liberals are probably the best match. However, if no party, or combination of parties, can form a majority government, then they will have trouble passing bills in government, since they cannot agree on most important issues. Therefore, a vote of non-confidence is passed, and there has to be another election next year. ...that's our political system for ya. Anyway, we had a huge group from the NDP visit to watch the elections at my place, invited by my dad. It was actually cool, even though my French was imperfect. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, even though the NDP didn't do as well as we had hoped. It seemed more like a big sports party than an election. That same weekend, my friend Steve went away on a camping trip, and left me his Gamecube for the duration! I played Phantasy Star Online ep.1 and 2 (offline, of course), Animal Crossing, LoZ: The Wind Waker, and Eternal Darkness. So far, I must admit that I am having the most fun with Eternal Darkness, and have almost finished the game already. I'm in the middle of Edward's Chapter, and have been able to stay more or less sane, but where is the fun in that? So far, hallucinating is more fun that I had thought, but I still need to steel my nerves and summon my great sense of humour if I want to get through the game without being scared to death. It's a phenomenon known as the "Steven L. Effect" which my friend, Steve, and Shinmaru possess quite a bit of: the wit necessary to turn Eternal Darkness into a comedy by observing the little quirks the game has to offer. Quite a useful skill, guys. Anyway, the most recent RPG I have joined: Apartment Bldg. C is looking to be quite fun so far, as I harass Shinmaru's character with copious amouts of spare change as rent. Furthermore, we are being attacked by killer squirrels, in a scenario where we must find the penny that powers the fusebox, which, I just realized after playing Eternal Darkness, that there is a reference to the game in that scenario (so far, I can't be sure if Shinmaru is even aware that this scenario could be interpreted as a reference.) In any case, if you have no idea what I am talking about, please ask, and I'll have to reply some other time, as I am falling victim to carpal tunnel syndrome from so much typing. This...is why it sucks being me. -WDS- P.S. I've started making my own music. I'll put it up here, once I can find a place to upload it. Look forward to it!

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