Friday, April 9, 2004

Take a hit, why don't ya?

Today's OCRemix: "thebattleofstringsandacellphone" Final Fantasy 9 Remix by zid. Even if you didn't like FF9 very much, This remix might amuse you more than any of the others. For one thing, you'll probably like the acoustic guitar skills of zi, and, in a surprising twist, his ability to incorporate the use of his cell phone into the mix. Yes, it's true, this guy uses his cell and guitar to make music. Some people found the cell to be the best part, but I preferred the way that zid used the acoustic guitar to make this remix, and, somehow, made it work quite well. Listen to this if you are a fan of acoustic, or, for that matter, cellular phones. Well, nothing much newsworthy this week, except for that fact that I'm working to get some RPG's back in business, but, for now, some things have been going on, and people out there, you'll have to forgive me for not appearing for a while. For one thing, I've started mentioning myO to my friends, and got someone I know to try putting up a myO site. Normally, this is something I wouldn't do, as I prefer to maintain anonymity over the net. Then I thought: hey, I'm not really saying anything here that I wouldn't tell my friends about in real life anyway, so the way I see it, I can just mention it to them, and if they don't like it, too bad. If they do, that's cool too. I figure that it's not really...logical, to put something up on a site that it's okay for strangers to read, but not friends you know personally. On another note, laws in Canada seem to be changing in the past while. Last week, the Supreme court ruled that music sharing on the net in Canada is now legal. Apparently, their take on the issue was along the same lines as books and photocopiers in the library. You're allowed to photocopy parts of books in most public libraries, so, people should be allowed to get tracks from CDs for no charge as well. There's probably going to be some more argument over this, but for now, my friends seem pretty happy with it. I fear that I am losing some of my edge for writing. The ideas just don't seem to come as well anymore, and, unfortunately for me, our English class has not done some creative work for a while now. Another thing, ACO didn't have their monthly writing contest this time around, so I've got little to do there anymore, and even the Adventure Arena seems to be experiencing some downtime lately, so there's not much to do there. The way I see it, when I have some writing to do, I can write more and more and not have to stop. When there's a good active RPG around, I usually post in that, then update myO and maybe think about something to write in ACO. If there's nothing to write about, then I get really stuck. The blade dulls, so to speak. However, I gave Laeth E'Thae another go, and I think the music list is just about done. The only thing now is to add a front and back cover, and, if I can convince my friends to help me, some artwork for the inside. Here's the list: (Song-Artist-Album) "Wanderers" Laeth E'Thae OST: The Grudge - Tool - Lateralus Re-Entry - Limp Bizkit - Results May Vary Take It All - TrustCompany - The Lonely Position of Neutral Soil - System of a Down - System of a Down Wish - Alien Ant Farm - ANThology Fly From the Inside - Shinedown - Leave a Whisper Unwell - Matchbox Twenty - More Than You Think You Are Ruled by Secrecy - Muse - Absolution Go - Andy Hunter - Exodus Lateralus - Tool - Lateralus Minerva - Deftones - Deftones Ok, so I've managed to more or less divide the whole deal into four main parts. They are as follows: Intro: The Grudge, Re-Entry Time: 11:13 This section blows you right into the action at the start, featuring the powerful, yet somewhat depressing beat of The Grudge. Tool really sets the right mood. A world falling apart, spurred by hate, and people cry for change and the madness to end. Our heroes decide to break this monotony of death and despair, thereby ending this "grudge". However, this also is a good piece for my two main characters, who seem to be facing their own grudge as well, and are trying to deal with it. Re-Entry is something to get you back into the heavier beats, with an almost-nu metal beat to it, as the only lyrics include: "all around the world/you know me/we know you". Such is a beat to set the mood to an open world, as I said, paralysed by fear and anxiety, and yet, somehow, these people come to save it. How? We are not sure, but the fact remains that they know and love this world, and this world knows them in return. 2nd Quarter: Take It All, Soil, Wish Time: 10:58 Prepare your eardrums as you break into the heavier nu-metal junk of mine with the second part of my CD, where the heavier nu-metal comes in. Take It All was something that just came to me while listening to my ancient TrustCo album, and I thought that it works on two levels, as a fight song, and as a hard, but depressing, piece about death and suicide for my protagonist, Kaze. Naturally, Soil would have to come in for the exact same reasons, and, it works on an excellent level to bring the power, lyrics, and decibel level up one or two notches to act as a paragon for Kaze's mind set, of growing insanity and depression, as his thoughts turn to violent death. Wish, I am not too sure about. It struck me as a good piece to use, but I'm not sure why. It hits me as a piece of fight music, but after listening to it, it gives me an idea of what happens when you start to observe everything around you, and imagine just how useless everything feels at times. Hence the use of the song. (I used the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater remix for this edition, as it seemed to be just a bit more chaotic than the original, and a bit more dissonant. I liked it.) 3rd Quarter (downtime): Fly From the Inside, Unwell, Ruled by Secrecy, Go Time: 19:19 The longest quarter of this CD gives you some time to relax from the hectic first half, and what better way to do that then with a bit of Matchbox Twenty and Muse sandwich, with Shinedown to leave us with a bit more nu-metal aftertaste, and a little techno Go for a little change of pace. Shinedown's Fly From the Inside was not so much about the characters as it was bout the whole world. The dreams of the world, the people of the world, the goals of all the characters combined, the wanderers, the dreamers. Whatever you want to call them, I felt that Shinedown's bit worked well to convey that, and the fact that it's a cool song in my book didn't hurt. Matchbox Twenty and Muse were Arcadia's choices, so I can't really speak much for them, she chose them for her own reasons, and although I can't give any details. I have to admit they do fit nicely in with the rest of the tracks. Especially Muse's Ruled By Secrecy, which has an air of mystery and depression to it, which, as I said before, adds to the story as a whole. Go is a bit more of a fight song, in techno, and with a bit of a spiritual side to it. I don't listen to it much anymore, as I prefer my other tracks, but for some reason, it just seemed to belong here. Outro: Lateralus, Minerva Time: 13:38 The last quarter of "Wanderers" is a little kick out of our world, if you get what I'm saying. For one thing, Lateralus is one of Tool's better pieces, if I do say so myself, and I like it because it struck me as a song about trying hard to find something, and working to achieve your goals and dreams, and essentially, wandering. In a flash of inspiration, I found that the song could be about all the characters, instead of just mine, as it's about humanity and trying to search for what you want. Be it peace, or heaven, or anything else you can think of, this song works to convey that. Minerva, on the other hand, is a last, moaning and groaning nu-metal Deftones bit which I really love, because it gives you that last kick of depression as you leave this sad world of ours, and wonder what happens next, giving you a chance to go back and listen to The Grudge and Re-Entry all over again. This is why I like the structural arrangement of my list, as it seems to make you go into a loop as you listen to it. Well, I still have yet to find a couple of songs to complete the list, but that's about it for my contribution. Again, if anyone from the RPG (or even someone who has just read it or thinks they have something to add) that is the reason we all have comment boxes here. Wow, I am so tired now, I think I'll just sit back and not move from my chair for the remainder of the evening. Ate logo, all. -Won-daa-shot

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