Now I'm listening to Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory. I had completely forgotten how much of this album is rap. I remembered how industrial it is, but the rap is everywhere, along with crude 'dance' remix-squeaks of vinyl and plinky plonky electronics... Oh, the year 2000.
The weirdest thing, though, is the melodies - and the lyrics. The actual content is that nu metal going on emo stuff, but much of the way the verses/rhymes click together and the melodies are straight out of a boy band. I suppose that's the nineties for you, but it's so bizarre. I'm fairly certain I never heard it at the time, but the pop instincts are all in there. o.O
The weirdest thing, though, is the melodies - and the lyrics. The actual content is that nu metal going on emo stuff, but much of the way the verses/rhymes click together and the melodies are straight out of a boy band. I suppose that's the nineties for you, but it's so bizarre. I'm fairly certain I never heard it at the time, but the pop instincts are all in there. o.O
I never did that meme that was going around last week or so(?) about various random personality bits and bobs, mostly because I didn't think my answers would be that interesting. (Although, for the record, when we did Pottermore at a friend's house I came out as Gryffindor - and I was quite happy about that. I don't think the others fit!) One thing that really struck me, though, was the number of people who said music wasn't especially important to them, because for me music is absolutely crucially crucial and has been for a long time.
This then got me thinking about various teenage obsessions I had, which brought me back, after a long absence, to AFI - and Black Sails in the Sunset on Grooveshark. There was a time when I was fourteen/fifteen or so that I was convinced that this was the best record in existence, completely and utterly. (And I thought the album cover was a thing of beauty too.) The fact it's not on my iPod and therefore inaccessible to me not via Grooveshark is evidence of how much I dropped it and AFI after I realised I couldn't take any of the horrifically emo lyrics seriously anymore, but it's so weird listening to it now. For a start, it's pretty damn impenetrable - on the first listen through I had absolutely no idea what had attracted me to it at all - but now, as I readjust to the ever-present cymbals, I can hear all the musical turns that I loved... Which is such a bizarre feeling.
The album came out in 1999, and you can really hear that in retrospect. Clove Smoke Catharsis, for example, has some turns that I recognise from things like the Lostprophets' first (and only good :P) album (oh, Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja... Thefakesoundofprogress still defines when I started being a person, in my mind), but I think had entirely vanished in rock music by the late 2000s, which, actually, was all pretty retro by comparison. Now that I can divorce myself from the embarrassment of thinking Black Sails' lyrics were any good, I find the whole thing a really fascinating snapshot of how my tastes expressed themselves back in the day. Because I definitely still like my speed and my harmonies and my syncopation and my cadences, and this is so dense with them.
Anyway, I don't really know where this is going, but it's definitely strange being able to look at this stuff with distance. I used to go to and from school with my CD Walkman, not bothering to change which album I was listening to for days/weeks at a time and I can remember these songs going round and round and round as I trudged back home up the hill with my bag and my viola and my PE kit and my tech folder. No Poetic Device is really not that great a song, but it still puts a smile on my face (even with the emooooo lyrics), because I remember how it used to make me perk up every time it came round on shuffle. And then I get to the massively emo God Called in Sick Today and remember that, oh yeah, 'filigree' is still one of my favourite words...
I'm not sure I'd recommend the album anymore - unless you too feel really emo and want something that will make you feel like random Californian musicians understand. At the same time, it does make me think that guitar music these days is very dull indeed. I mean, what would the equivalent be? Who's looking after the emo!teens now? Where are the Bullet for My Valentine-type bands, which I scorned so hard by 2005, but who were still providing a service (I link to the only song of theirs I ever confessed to finding catchy)? Am I completely missing all the alternative bands out there, or is it true that all the teens are listening to Deadmau5 and Skrillex? I like my electro, but it all seems a bit sad. Where's all the death and pain and blooood gone?
In other news, I'm bored of my music collection and want moooaaaaar, but am generally dissatisfied by what's out there. If you're not that into music, be glad this is a restlessness you never have to experience! :D
This then got me thinking about various teenage obsessions I had, which brought me back, after a long absence, to AFI - and Black Sails in the Sunset on Grooveshark. There was a time when I was fourteen/fifteen or so that I was convinced that this was the best record in existence, completely and utterly. (And I thought the album cover was a thing of beauty too.) The fact it's not on my iPod and therefore inaccessible to me not via Grooveshark is evidence of how much I dropped it and AFI after I realised I couldn't take any of the horrifically emo lyrics seriously anymore, but it's so weird listening to it now. For a start, it's pretty damn impenetrable - on the first listen through I had absolutely no idea what had attracted me to it at all - but now, as I readjust to the ever-present cymbals, I can hear all the musical turns that I loved... Which is such a bizarre feeling.
The album came out in 1999, and you can really hear that in retrospect. Clove Smoke Catharsis, for example, has some turns that I recognise from things like the Lostprophets' first (and only good :P) album (oh, Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja... Thefakesoundofprogress still defines when I started being a person, in my mind), but I think had entirely vanished in rock music by the late 2000s, which, actually, was all pretty retro by comparison. Now that I can divorce myself from the embarrassment of thinking Black Sails' lyrics were any good, I find the whole thing a really fascinating snapshot of how my tastes expressed themselves back in the day. Because I definitely still like my speed and my harmonies and my syncopation and my cadences, and this is so dense with them.
Anyway, I don't really know where this is going, but it's definitely strange being able to look at this stuff with distance. I used to go to and from school with my CD Walkman, not bothering to change which album I was listening to for days/weeks at a time and I can remember these songs going round and round and round as I trudged back home up the hill with my bag and my viola and my PE kit and my tech folder. No Poetic Device is really not that great a song, but it still puts a smile on my face (even with the emooooo lyrics), because I remember how it used to make me perk up every time it came round on shuffle. And then I get to the massively emo God Called in Sick Today and remember that, oh yeah, 'filigree' is still one of my favourite words...
I'm not sure I'd recommend the album anymore - unless you too feel really emo and want something that will make you feel like random Californian musicians understand. At the same time, it does make me think that guitar music these days is very dull indeed. I mean, what would the equivalent be? Who's looking after the emo!teens now? Where are the Bullet for My Valentine-type bands, which I scorned so hard by 2005, but who were still providing a service (I link to the only song of theirs I ever confessed to finding catchy)? Am I completely missing all the alternative bands out there, or is it true that all the teens are listening to Deadmau5 and Skrillex? I like my electro, but it all seems a bit sad. Where's all the death and pain and blooood gone?
In other news, I'm bored of my music collection and want moooaaaaar, but am generally dissatisfied by what's out there. If you're not that into music, be glad this is a restlessness you never have to experience! :D
I've been watching the Transport for London accessibility videos about what's available in terms of accessible transport for the Olympics and more generally and thought it might be worth sharing the link around. If anyone's worried about coming to London, then it hopefully gives a good overview of what's available (come to London; it's great!) - but I think the videos are also worth watching just to see how the TfL network works, especially for anyone writing about the city. The one about taxis might be of interest to any of you who write about John in Sherlock, frex.
Here is someone taking a bus to the cricket:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/transportaccessibility/1167.aspx
Here is someone taking a bus to the cricket:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/transportaccessibility/1167.aspx
But this tickles me immensely!
"Who the hell wrote this script? Ah - !"
(This is an ITN video because it was the best quality on YouTube, but there's a little bit of intro you can hear over here.)
"Who the hell wrote this script? Ah - !"
(This is an ITN video because it was the best quality on YouTube, but there's a little bit of intro you can hear over here.)
I have been massively absent, mostly because I have been massively absent. Writing is slow, even though it is materially successful.
The question for today, however, is WHY, BBC, WHY did you not tell me that GRANDMA'S HOUSE IS BACK??? I've seen absolutely no advertising for it at all, either on the telly (not that I watch very often) nor on the website (which I'm on all the time), and this is really something I wanted to know about. Because it is wonderful!
Watch and love and watch...
The question for today, however, is WHY, BBC, WHY did you not tell me that GRANDMA'S HOUSE IS BACK??? I've seen absolutely no advertising for it at all, either on the telly (not that I watch very often) nor on the website (which I'm on all the time), and this is really something I wanted to know about. Because it is wonderful!
Watch and love and watch...
Can we please talk about The Mummy Returns? I'm not sure there's anything else I've ever seen on screen that exemplifies my taste in entertainment so well. It of course wouldn't be the same without The Mummy backing it up, but it just takes all the great things that film had going for it and runs, runs, runs - especially towards running gags (which I adore). I love how camp it is, I love its magic books and its silly flashbacks and its daft prophecies, I love its adventures in dirigibles, I love the costumes and the music and the shots of the sun, I love Ardeth Bay's love for tommy guns and that Rick's taught Evie how to beat people up, I love every single word and expression Jonathan produces, I love that half the film's in (probably terrible) ancient Egyptian, I love that Alex speaks American slang with his little Just William voice, I love Horus the falcon, and I love that there's a whole chase/fight scene on a Number 12 bus.
There.
This is, erm, probably the reason why I never get into stuff like The Wire, isn't it?
There.
This is, erm, probably the reason why I never get into stuff like The Wire, isn't it?
Never set a scene in KFC, especially if you haven't had any breakfast. It will lead to you wanting KFC. And then finding out that the only one in your city just so happens to be about three minutes from your front door. You then be mired with indecision about whether to go and get some for lunch, and will probably give in...
Related to this scene however, how much is KFC in the States? Could you feed two people with ten dollars back in 2002? What drinks do they serve? I remember it being Pepsi, but you don't want to drink Pepsi cola (obviously) so the option over here is (obvs) Tango, but I'm not sure that gets around much in the States. Do Pepsi places do Mountain Dew? Would people drink Mountain Dew with KFC? What does it even taste of? 7Up is my back up option, but it's quite a boring choice.
Oh, I iz hungry. I need a shower, but my housemate's having one and that will take time... I might just throw on some clothes and venture forth. For chicken, which I haven't had since I was about 17. (Strangely enough, KFCs relatively rare over here compared to McDonald's and Burger King. Or maybe this isn't strange?)
(Also, why am I trying to write something so long? It's going to send me mad...)
ETA: Well, that was fairly greasy and unpleasant. Tango's nice, though. I like how my chip bag is telling me 'crunchy, hot, delicious, tasty, delicious, golden' and even 'excite the senses', as a list of all the things its chips failed to achieve...
Related to this scene however, how much is KFC in the States? Could you feed two people with ten dollars back in 2002? What drinks do they serve? I remember it being Pepsi, but you don't want to drink Pepsi cola (obviously) so the option over here is (obvs) Tango, but I'm not sure that gets around much in the States. Do Pepsi places do Mountain Dew? Would people drink Mountain Dew with KFC? What does it even taste of? 7Up is my back up option, but it's quite a boring choice.
Oh, I iz hungry. I need a shower, but my housemate's having one and that will take time... I might just throw on some clothes and venture forth. For chicken, which I haven't had since I was about 17. (Strangely enough, KFCs relatively rare over here compared to McDonald's and Burger King. Or maybe this isn't strange?)
(Also, why am I trying to write something so long? It's going to send me mad...)
ETA: Well, that was fairly greasy and unpleasant. Tango's nice, though. I like how my chip bag is telling me 'crunchy, hot, delicious, tasty, delicious, golden' and even 'excite the senses', as a list of all the things its chips failed to achieve...
Love the music, but tend to forget it's mostly about sexual people trying to get off with each other. Still, it's amusing to learn the language of 'no, fuck off' in taking people's hands for a twirl rather than a snog. Also, interpreting friends' signals and abetting them in an exclusionary hug. Hugs are nice.
All the same, it leaves me deaf as fuck all. Which is fun, cycling home...
On the feedbackathon, which I've seen around: it sounds really fun! But there's nothing I much care about feedback for under ten thousand words, and since you can only have one fic over that in your three, I'm stuck thinking everything would be very artificial and empty. (I fear it may well be that these days anything under ten thousand words tends to be something I came up with for larks. What does that say about me?)
My housemate is awesome; she left the light on by the door.
God, I am trashed. And apparently I didn't turn off the computer when I left, so I've just run down a load of battery on my bluetooth mouse that I just replaced. Sigh. Learn to exist, Quin.
Byes.
All the same, it leaves me deaf as fuck all. Which is fun, cycling home...
On the feedbackathon, which I've seen around: it sounds really fun! But there's nothing I much care about feedback for under ten thousand words, and since you can only have one fic over that in your three, I'm stuck thinking everything would be very artificial and empty. (I fear it may well be that these days anything under ten thousand words tends to be something I came up with for larks. What does that say about me?)
My housemate is awesome; she left the light on by the door.
God, I am trashed. And apparently I didn't turn off the computer when I left, so I've just run down a load of battery on my bluetooth mouse that I just replaced. Sigh. Learn to exist, Quin.
Byes.
Gaaaaaaang...
12 October 2011 14:35Unimportant are my ear travails and bootcamp Spuffy-writing in light of this:
37 Languages, 37 Plays, 1 Theatre: The Globe goes Olympic!
I'm on the Globe mailing list and I just got an email about it (public booking opens on the 17th) - the theatre's inviting thirty-seven international companies to each do one of Shakespeare's plays and putting them all on over the course of six weeks. Intriguing, I thought; how fun. And then I saw this:
For those of you feeling athletic we have a number of tempting ticket offers for you to try, including the "Yard Olympian" - giving you chance to see every production for £100!
And it was like a proper stars in my eyes moment. I want to do it so badly... The logistics don't seem that unsound - I have no idea when my first year report deadline will be, but going up to London once every two days is not actually that infeasible in my position. The train fare would be the kicker, but if they let you put rail cards on season tickets it possibly wouldn't be too bad? Especially with the tickets being so cheap for the plays (yeah, this is standing, but I've done the yard before and it wasn't so terrible - you just need to make sure you have a sturdy waterproof if it looks like rain). As a yardling you don't get the shiny multi-performance rewards, which is a bit of a shame, but I'm not sure it would be worth getting £10 crap-seats just for a drinks reception with no one I'd know and a complete works I could just buy (the memento would be nice, but I'm sure there'll be programmes, and the yard's more fun).
This probably needs mentioning to my supervisor. But, oh, for some reason I just can't stop imagining the end of that six weeks, bone tired from the routine but full to the brim of languages and playness and Shakespeare - I would actually have seen them all! That would be a memory.
My mum's up for Much Ado in French... Anyone fancy the rest?? :P
37 Languages, 37 Plays, 1 Theatre: The Globe goes Olympic!
I'm on the Globe mailing list and I just got an email about it (public booking opens on the 17th) - the theatre's inviting thirty-seven international companies to each do one of Shakespeare's plays and putting them all on over the course of six weeks. Intriguing, I thought; how fun. And then I saw this:
For those of you feeling athletic we have a number of tempting ticket offers for you to try, including the "Yard Olympian" - giving you chance to see every production for £100!
And it was like a proper stars in my eyes moment. I want to do it so badly... The logistics don't seem that unsound - I have no idea when my first year report deadline will be, but going up to London once every two days is not actually that infeasible in my position. The train fare would be the kicker, but if they let you put rail cards on season tickets it possibly wouldn't be too bad? Especially with the tickets being so cheap for the plays (yeah, this is standing, but I've done the yard before and it wasn't so terrible - you just need to make sure you have a sturdy waterproof if it looks like rain). As a yardling you don't get the shiny multi-performance rewards, which is a bit of a shame, but I'm not sure it would be worth getting £10 crap-seats just for a drinks reception with no one I'd know and a complete works I could just buy (the memento would be nice, but I'm sure there'll be programmes, and the yard's more fun).
This probably needs mentioning to my supervisor. But, oh, for some reason I just can't stop imagining the end of that six weeks, bone tired from the routine but full to the brim of languages and playness and Shakespeare - I would actually have seen them all! That would be a memory.
My mum's up for Much Ado in French... Anyone fancy the rest?? :P
*looks pitiful*
1 September 2011 20:02My class went on an outing today, but I completely lost track of time this morning, so I was rushing out of my room and forgot my suncream for our long walk in the sunshiny woodland. And now my neck is all burnt, to the point where I'm sitting here and can feel the heat radiating up towards my face. Waaaaaah!! :( (There was of course also a thunderstorm after the bus got back to town, just in time for my walk home, so, combined with the burning, my current look is essentially a drowned rat who's been cooked in a skillet for a while. :( )
Although we did go on a wine tasting after the walk, which was very enjoyable. And I did buy some nice red wine for my parents and S (my supervisor, whom I've been wanting to buy a post-master's-cheers-for-putting-up-with-my-whinging-and-my-sarcasm-and-helping-me-get-good-marks-and-please-continue-to-put-up-with-me-for-three-more-years present), as well as a bottle of bizzarely nice lemony-fresh rosé (I'm not generally a fan of rosé) for somebody. Possibly me.
And I made a My Little Pony version of myself, though that's possibly less interesting... (The following codes give you a pony who should be waging war with books in the library background: Body - 1D3B005404FED5D1FEEEE300601877C50UI1837208001002817500005100000F107F3FCC004CB2 Accessories - 066CC660160403066CC660FEC40035657002FEE10000000050000004FEE100A130D23066CC66 )
Although we did go on a wine tasting after the walk, which was very enjoyable. And I did buy some nice red wine for my parents and S (my supervisor, whom I've been wanting to buy a post-master's-cheers-for-putting-up-with-my-whinging-and-my-sarcasm-and-helping-me-get-good-marks-and-please-continue-to-put-up-with-me-for-three-more-years present), as well as a bottle of bizzarely nice lemony-fresh rosé (I'm not generally a fan of rosé) for somebody. Possibly me.
And I made a My Little Pony version of myself, though that's possibly less interesting... (The following codes give you a pony who should be waging war with books in the library background: Body - 1D3B005404FED5D1FEEEE300601877C50UI1837208001002817500005100000F107F3FCC004CB2 Accessories - 066CC660160403066CC660FEC40035657002FEE10000000050000004FEE100A130D23066CC66 )
Blog Post 1, Cazza 0
12 August 2011 15:31I hope this isn't poor taste, but, as they say in the vernacular, I LOLed:
'In a nod to his felonious Bullingdon days, David Cameron uses the gangster term “sick” in order to describe his restaurant-smashing kindred spirits.'
...
PS. I swear, whenever there's a shot of Cazza in government, Clegg is always sitting there looking like he's actually dying. That frown is practically a fissure in his face these days. Not that Osborne looks much better. Or different.
'In a nod to his felonious Bullingdon days, David Cameron uses the gangster term “sick” in order to describe his restaurant-smashing kindred spirits.'
...
PS. I swear, whenever there's a shot of Cazza in government, Clegg is always sitting there looking like he's actually dying. That frown is practically a fissure in his face these days. Not that Osborne looks much better. Or different.
So when I volunteered to help at a conference, I thought it might be a pain. And it's true that I'll have to be in at 9.30 tomorrow morning - but I forgot that when the Classics Fac throws a party, what it actually throws is fuckloads of free wine. And cake in this instance (cake to take home!!). And lets me meet and make friends with a load of drunk randomers. It's times like this I remember why I don't want to leave.
Oh, and I wrote fic - here and here. I need to reply to LJ comments when it's not playing silly buggers. Spuffy phone convos: gloomy argument and phone sex. Free of content AO3 reckons needs a warning. I'm quite happy with them really, but then I spend most of my fic time pleasing myself. Though my email says that you, Bogalog, have been obtuse about something somewhere where I need to be sober to respond to the sarcasm properly.
Why didn't I bring home more free cake?
Oh, and I wrote fic - here and here. I need to reply to LJ comments when it's not playing silly buggers. Spuffy phone convos: gloomy argument and phone sex. Free of content AO3 reckons needs a warning. I'm quite happy with them really, but then I spend most of my fic time pleasing myself. Though my email says that you, Bogalog, have been obtuse about something somewhere where I need to be sober to respond to the sarcasm properly.
Why didn't I bring home more free cake?
I don't know why I persist in wandering over to Whedonesque every now and then, but I happened to come across one of the preview images for the Angel and Faith comic and discussion about whether or not it actually looked like London. I have to say, I wasn't feeling it - but I found it interesting trying to pin down exactly why that was. And so, with my thesis done and handed in and a yawning afternoon of mindless nothing ahead of me, I started dabbling with my ancient copy of PSP4 and altering everything that niggled at me. Outside of a mawkish curiosity, I don't have much interest in A&F as a comic, so it was more of a London fandom enterprise than anything, but I'm interested to know what people think places the scene and what doesn't, especially if it's different to what I think...
( Please bear in mind that I'm not an artist (/am crap with colours and perspective) and my capability with the clone tool is limited at best. )
( Please bear in mind that I'm not an artist (/am crap with colours and perspective) and my capability with the clone tool is limited at best. )
1. Why does Sainsbury's use milk in their flapjacks? It's sickly and completely unnecessary.
2. Why am I so sensitive to the taste of milk in sweet things? This is like when college ruined baklava by lacing the whole lot with cream.
3. Why are ablative absolutes so inelegant in English? I don't think I should be penalised in a classics essay for clearly having read too much stuff that uses them.
4. Why doesn't anyone like gerunds? They only want to be free...
2. Why am I so sensitive to the taste of milk in sweet things? This is like when college ruined baklava by lacing the whole lot with cream.
3. Why are ablative absolutes so inelegant in English? I don't think I should be penalised in a classics essay for clearly having read too much stuff that uses them.
4. Why doesn't anyone like gerunds? They only want to be free...
...is tiring. But also strange. My weekends usually consist of such an intense level of bugger all that it's quite standard for me to get to half past three on Saturday and not really be sure what I've done for the last five/six hours. I've stopped questioning it, so I take that as acceptably dead time - but that means that now I've plonked myself back at home (and discovered that it is in fact half past three), it feels like I've somehow managed to do a load of work in negative time. Saturday's only just begun, clearly - but it also included six hours of library time? The sums don't add up...
/random.
/random.
Yoyo Petzi and Gill
29 April 2011 14:02Thanks for the tinfoil hats! They are keeping me safe from both aliens and the wedding. (Though I think the old Bleep-Bridge Bubble may have helped as well. :P ) I plan to use them as boats forthwith.
ION apparently there's been massive rioting centred around a Tesco in Bristol? I hadn't heard about it until today, but it seems strange and a little scary. Not to mention the US tornadoes. Keep safe, world!
ION apparently there's been massive rioting centred around a Tesco in Bristol? I hadn't heard about it until today, but it seems strange and a little scary. Not to mention the US tornadoes. Keep safe, world!
DST YOU ARE MY BANE
31 March 2011 10:12I am having serious issues with getting my morning routine to reset an hour earlier. As in it's not happening. Hence why I am not ready to leave even though it's already five past ten. (Hence why I'm not currently getting ready to leave even though it's already five past ten.) I keep waking up at seven eight and lying there thinking 'but this is such the perfect time for sleeping; I am exactly the perfect temperature to enjoy lounging in bed; it would be a waste to get up now...'. And then I'm tired and do nothing until nine ten.
(Yes, clearly my life is so terrible; cry me a river, Quin; etc. etc. But setting your own schedule is hard day after day. :( )
(I should point out, however, that, rather obviously, I have no trouble going to bed at the rescheduled time in the evening.)
((PS. Question - if you were faced with a fanvid to one of the Cage Against the Machine mixes of 4'33'', would you watch it? It's Spuffy...))
(Yes, clearly my life is so terrible; cry me a river, Quin; etc. etc. But setting your own schedule is hard day after day. :( )
(I should point out, however, that, rather obviously, I have no trouble going to bed at the rescheduled time in the evening.)
((PS. Question - if you were faced with a fanvid to one of the Cage Against the Machine mixes of 4'33'', would you watch it? It's Spuffy...))