Rob and his lead guitarist friend Joe were supposed to attend this past Saturday's session, which was going to be our first time as a four piece group, but they cancelled out, citing an unexpected obligation on Rob's part that day. We're having some differences of opinion regarding how important it is to play out (Rob is eager to do it and I don't want to unless I think we've gotten to a certain level of quality), as well as musical taste differences (Rob would like to play heavier music than I can sing), but I'd thought we'd worked out those issues and were more or less on the same page. Maybe not...
Jason and I still got together and had an enjoyable (if not particularly notable) session. We played a brief jam with me on bass, then I moved to guitar for the songs we've been working on.
Every time I think we've turned the corner, something seems to go wrong with this project. On the other hand, I've been able to regain my old musical chops and more, so I consider it a success already in that respect. It might be time to change our methodology or format somehow, though, since it hasn't been working out with the existing approach. I'll have to ponder this for a while and see what options we might have.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Three Brief Movie Reviews
"Open Your Eyes" (Abre los Ojos) was the original Spanish film that was later re-made as "Vanilla Sky" starring Tom Cruise. Having the choice between the two, I opted for the original, which is almost always better. As it turns out, I'd actually seen more of "Vanilla Sky" on TV one day than I'd realized and can say that there's actually little difference between the versions. The remake had an obviously bigger budget and gets the edge on acting from what I'd seen, but the difference in results was so marginal that I was just as happy watching the original. While the ultimate twist wasn't really that much of a surprise, it was executed well enough. Recommended if you like your brain bent on occasion.
The musical version of "The Producers", on the other hand, was bad enough that I didn't even get through the whole thing. I was a big fan of the original non-musical version, and the acting in the original was so much better that the difference was startling. The songs were forgettable except for "Springtime for Hitler", which was in the original version anyway. I love most of Mel Brooks' work, but this one fell entirely flat for me.
I also had to turn off "Forbidden Zone" after little more than the first 10-15 minutes. I actually enjoy the right kind of bad movie, but this was definitely not the right kind. I rented it on the basis of Danny Elfman's involvement and reviews describing it as the "Citizen Kane" of bad movies. The best way I can describe it is that they did a live action version of a Betty Boop era cartoon, dropping vulgarities into the mix as quickly as they could think of them. It might be fun to watch with a room full of ripping drunk buddies hooting at it, but I doubt it even then. It's almost worth renting for the amazing awfulness of it all if you have Netflix and all it's going to cost you is time, but whatever you do, don't spend money to see it.
I've probably turned off fewer than five movies ever once I started watching them, and now I've done it with two within a week. I might have to be a little less experimental for a while.
The musical version of "The Producers", on the other hand, was bad enough that I didn't even get through the whole thing. I was a big fan of the original non-musical version, and the acting in the original was so much better that the difference was startling. The songs were forgettable except for "Springtime for Hitler", which was in the original version anyway. I love most of Mel Brooks' work, but this one fell entirely flat for me.
I also had to turn off "Forbidden Zone" after little more than the first 10-15 minutes. I actually enjoy the right kind of bad movie, but this was definitely not the right kind. I rented it on the basis of Danny Elfman's involvement and reviews describing it as the "Citizen Kane" of bad movies. The best way I can describe it is that they did a live action version of a Betty Boop era cartoon, dropping vulgarities into the mix as quickly as they could think of them. It might be fun to watch with a room full of ripping drunk buddies hooting at it, but I doubt it even then. It's almost worth renting for the amazing awfulness of it all if you have Netflix and all it's going to cost you is time, but whatever you do, don't spend money to see it.
I've probably turned off fewer than five movies ever once I started watching them, and now I've done it with two within a week. I might have to be a little less experimental for a while.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Zenkaikon
My wife and I went to an anime convention in King of Prussia this past weekend. I've been to many game conventions before, and we've gone to science fiction conventions together before, but this was something different. There was a similarity in the nature of fandom, each with their own set of references. The biggest differences were in age and the amount of costuming. We were among the oldest people there, and roughly 20-30% of the crowd was in some kind of outfit you definitely wouldn't wear on the street.
The con was going to have room for 1500 people, so they sold 1300 pre-reg tickets and saved the remaining 200 for people who showed up at the door. By the time we got there (about 9 AM), the line was backed up a good long way, and shortly thereafter the non-reg line was backed up around the side of the hotel. I'd have given up pretty quickly if I had shown up that day knowing the number of non-prereg tickets available, but maybe some of the fans weren't aware of those numbers. It was clear that this con needs a much larger facility in the future, as they turned away at least a couple of hundred people.
So, we spent nearly two hours standing in line, even though we were preregistered. The good thing about that was that it gave us plenty of time to peruse the people in costume. I fully admit to being clueless as to who most of them were supposed to be, but some of them had obviously put some serious time and money into those outfits, and it was fun to watch people trying to achieve the impossible appearance of animated characters. This was starting to get a little old as the temperature dropped, my feet got tired, and the group of teen girls in line behind us started singing Backstreet Boys songs to amuse themselves.
We reached the dealers' room (my wife's main target) shortly after we got in, where I was delighted to find one of my old game convention friends I haven't seen in quite a while, along with his three daughters and wife. His daughters were all anime fans, and the two older girls were in full regalia. I recognized one of the costumes as being from the movie "Princess Monanoke" and I don't have a clue what the other one was. She had long green hair and a black outfit with gold trim. My old friend and I caught up on old times and exchanged introductions to wives, then my wife and the girls got back down to business exploring the dealers' room.
It was no surprise that roughly a third of the dealers' room was devoted to cosplay outfits, and so was of little interest to my wife. She did find a few things, such as a prop watch from the "Full Metal Alchemist" series, but was disappointed that the art room was relatively small and didn't have anything she wanted.
We couldn't make it to any of the panels because I had Mike H's last session to attend at home, but that wasn't much of a problem because the only panels of interest to my wife were either scheduled for much earlier (before we were able to get in) or much later (we would have been disinclined to stay that late anyway). I was very happy to have run into my old friend Delfino and truly didn't mind people-watching while my wife searched for anime treasure. She was delighted that I came along to keep her company, so it was basically a good day all around.
The con was going to have room for 1500 people, so they sold 1300 pre-reg tickets and saved the remaining 200 for people who showed up at the door. By the time we got there (about 9 AM), the line was backed up a good long way, and shortly thereafter the non-reg line was backed up around the side of the hotel. I'd have given up pretty quickly if I had shown up that day knowing the number of non-prereg tickets available, but maybe some of the fans weren't aware of those numbers. It was clear that this con needs a much larger facility in the future, as they turned away at least a couple of hundred people.
So, we spent nearly two hours standing in line, even though we were preregistered. The good thing about that was that it gave us plenty of time to peruse the people in costume. I fully admit to being clueless as to who most of them were supposed to be, but some of them had obviously put some serious time and money into those outfits, and it was fun to watch people trying to achieve the impossible appearance of animated characters. This was starting to get a little old as the temperature dropped, my feet got tired, and the group of teen girls in line behind us started singing Backstreet Boys songs to amuse themselves.
We reached the dealers' room (my wife's main target) shortly after we got in, where I was delighted to find one of my old game convention friends I haven't seen in quite a while, along with his three daughters and wife. His daughters were all anime fans, and the two older girls were in full regalia. I recognized one of the costumes as being from the movie "Princess Monanoke" and I don't have a clue what the other one was. She had long green hair and a black outfit with gold trim. My old friend and I caught up on old times and exchanged introductions to wives, then my wife and the girls got back down to business exploring the dealers' room.
It was no surprise that roughly a third of the dealers' room was devoted to cosplay outfits, and so was of little interest to my wife. She did find a few things, such as a prop watch from the "Full Metal Alchemist" series, but was disappointed that the art room was relatively small and didn't have anything she wanted.
We couldn't make it to any of the panels because I had Mike H's last session to attend at home, but that wasn't much of a problem because the only panels of interest to my wife were either scheduled for much earlier (before we were able to get in) or much later (we would have been disinclined to stay that late anyway). I was very happy to have run into my old friend Delfino and truly didn't mind people-watching while my wife searched for anime treasure. She was delighted that I came along to keep her company, so it was basically a good day all around.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Mike H's FATE Campaign
We finished off Mike H's FATE Dresden-style campaign last night. We had a lot of game time to cover very quickly, since he was ending the campaign abruptly because of a sudden move. Unfortunately, two of the five players unexpectedly had to cancel at the last minute, making it that much harder to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion. However, Mike rose to the occasion and found ways to make it work.
There were several things I've learned from this campaign. I rarely have the opportunity to participate in roleplaying games as a player because I usually GM. I had an interesting concept for a character, but ultimately the character turned out to be more of a plot device than a personality. It's not a mistake I usually make. I felt as though I had a grasp on the character during the first session, but after that I only seemed to have that grasp sporadically. I think that I always had a better grip on the sort of things that I wanted the character to do than on who he was, and I'm usually much better at understanding the internal workings of my characters. That's because I usually closely link the external abilities of the character and the way his head works. In this case, I didn't do that. I conceived of his precognition ability, then had to figure out who the guy was, and those two things never came together the way I'd hoped. It's a lesson for the future.
From a GMing perspective, I learned a few useful things from the way the game was run. I enjoyed the way Mike had each of the players supply campaign elements that he brought together into a reasonably cohesive whole. I know that the methodology wasn't originated by him, but it was the first time I'd seen it and I think he did a good job of implementing it. I found the methodology itself a little mechanical, as those things often seem to me, but the concept of having the players contribute such things is worth keeping, and I think I'll have to use it for my upcoming Cabal campaign.
I'm going to miss having a GM of Mike's caliber around. He was always well prepared (maps, photos of NPCs, etc.) in ways that I've tended to slack off of personally in recent years. He often ended up leading the group when he was playing in one of my campaigns. And I'm really going to miss the post-game conversations, which ranged all over the place subject-wise. Thanks for the gaming, Mike, and I hope we'll continue to cross paths in the future.
There were several things I've learned from this campaign. I rarely have the opportunity to participate in roleplaying games as a player because I usually GM. I had an interesting concept for a character, but ultimately the character turned out to be more of a plot device than a personality. It's not a mistake I usually make. I felt as though I had a grasp on the character during the first session, but after that I only seemed to have that grasp sporadically. I think that I always had a better grip on the sort of things that I wanted the character to do than on who he was, and I'm usually much better at understanding the internal workings of my characters. That's because I usually closely link the external abilities of the character and the way his head works. In this case, I didn't do that. I conceived of his precognition ability, then had to figure out who the guy was, and those two things never came together the way I'd hoped. It's a lesson for the future.
From a GMing perspective, I learned a few useful things from the way the game was run. I enjoyed the way Mike had each of the players supply campaign elements that he brought together into a reasonably cohesive whole. I know that the methodology wasn't originated by him, but it was the first time I'd seen it and I think he did a good job of implementing it. I found the methodology itself a little mechanical, as those things often seem to me, but the concept of having the players contribute such things is worth keeping, and I think I'll have to use it for my upcoming Cabal campaign.
I'm going to miss having a GM of Mike's caliber around. He was always well prepared (maps, photos of NPCs, etc.) in ways that I've tended to slack off of personally in recent years. He often ended up leading the group when he was playing in one of my campaigns. And I'm really going to miss the post-game conversations, which ranged all over the place subject-wise. Thanks for the gaming, Mike, and I hope we'll continue to cross paths in the future.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Persona Bands
I'm really intrigued by the whole phenomenon of musical groups aimed at extremely specific audiences, such as the Lovecraftian band, Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. Portland, Oregon apparently has a lot of them. I've just become aware of the Klingon death metal band Stovokor (named after the Klingon afterlife, by the way), though they've actually been around for a while. And of course there's the whole Wizard Rock subgenre, starting with Harry and the Potters. I've even seen ads for computer game conventions that include appearances by bands that play music specific to favorite video games. Pre-internet, some of these groups might not have amounted to more than a one shot laugh at a convention or a local oddity, and now some of them are able to go on short tours or release recordings of their music and actually become profitable (if not full time) enterprises. As I understand it, at least one of the Harry Potter themed groups works as a regular cover band most of the time and just changes clothes and material when they're using the other name, which strikes me as a good way to go.
As a musician and a gamer, it's a tempting path to combine the two, which is how Darkest of the Hillside Thickets started in the first place. You still have all of the usual work involved in piecing together a decent band, with the additional restrictions of making your original material stick to your theme and showing at least some thematically appropriate flare, but then the audience is about as likely to be receptive as you could possibly ask. Getting work in a mainstream setting may be problematic, but there's far less competition for the specialty work (at conventions, etc.). And if you're a gamer (or Star Trek fan, or whatever), you'd probably enjoy going to the conventions anyway. You probably won't become famous or rich this way, but I could see it being Big Fun if you have the right people involved and the right mindset.
As for me personally, I don't think I know enough people with the right combination of skill sets and obsessions, but you never know who you might stumble across at a convention, so I wouldn't rule it out if the opportunity arises or I come up with the right concept myself.
As a musician and a gamer, it's a tempting path to combine the two, which is how Darkest of the Hillside Thickets started in the first place. You still have all of the usual work involved in piecing together a decent band, with the additional restrictions of making your original material stick to your theme and showing at least some thematically appropriate flare, but then the audience is about as likely to be receptive as you could possibly ask. Getting work in a mainstream setting may be problematic, but there's far less competition for the specialty work (at conventions, etc.). And if you're a gamer (or Star Trek fan, or whatever), you'd probably enjoy going to the conventions anyway. You probably won't become famous or rich this way, but I could see it being Big Fun if you have the right people involved and the right mindset.
As for me personally, I don't think I know enough people with the right combination of skill sets and obsessions, but you never know who you might stumble across at a convention, so I wouldn't rule it out if the opportunity arises or I come up with the right concept myself.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Belonging
I hadn't intended to write about Dollhouse again so soon, but they've hit it out of the park two weeks in a row, and the previews from upcoming episodes look like they're going to be in the same league. If you'd even consider jumping on the bandwagon, now is the time.
I know ratings ticked up a bit for a couple of recent episodes, but to be honest, I still don't hold out a lot of hope for the series to survive beyond the end of this season, so this really is not just me trying to get anyone I can interested. The series truly has gotten that good after a rough start.
If you want to give it a chance, I'd suggest checking out the last four episodes or so of the first season, and don't read too much into the slightly weaker first episode of the second season before the overarcing story kicks into gear. Trust me; this is well worth your time.
I know ratings ticked up a bit for a couple of recent episodes, but to be honest, I still don't hold out a lot of hope for the series to survive beyond the end of this season, so this really is not just me trying to get anyone I can interested. The series truly has gotten that good after a rough start.
If you want to give it a chance, I'd suggest checking out the last four episodes or so of the first season, and don't read too much into the slightly weaker first episode of the second season before the overarcing story kicks into gear. Trust me; this is well worth your time.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Staycation
My wife and I took the week off with no special plans in mind, and that's exactly what happened. We took care of some miscellaneous things that we needed to tend to and lounged around a lot. I'd like to say that I got more creative work done than I did, but it just didn't happen. I'm still feeling really stalled in that respect.
We decided that rather than buy each other separate anniversary gifts, we'd both get MP3 players and make the necessary musical conversion from CDs. It's going to take some doing to get our CD collection converted to MP3s, but then it'll be nice to be able to cherry pick some of the songs we like from performers we don't like enough to buy a full CD.
My wife continued on her anime kick and I finished season three of the Dexter TV series, both via Netflix. Dexter continues to be wonderfully written and acted. It remains one of the most tightly written television shows I've ever seen, and I can't wait to see season four. Not enough to subscribe to Showtime, mind you, but season four is already in my Netflix queue for when it is released in DVD. I watched a couple of other interesting movies as well, which I expect to cover in separate entries a little later.
On a side note, the Dollhouse TV series finally hit one out of the park with the episode "Belle Chose". Part of the reason this episode succeeded so well was that they really turned Enver Gjokaj loose in multiple roles and gave him a lot more screen time. Of all of the actors on the show, he's the one I find most convincing in truly different personalities. The other reason was Tim Minear's script, which took full advantage of the possibilities of the Dollhouse setting. The brass at Fox either didn't know what "belle chose" meant or thought the reference sufficiently obscure that most of the public wouldn't find out. I didn't know what it meant myself, but found it right away when I got curious enough to look it up. The capsule version is that it's a spicy Chaucer reference. Dollhouse continues to improve, but it's probably too late for it to achieve its full potential before Fox will have to cancel it for low ratings.
We also pulled together costumes for Halloween. We haven't decided exactly what we're wearing yet, but we each have at least two options. I'm looking forward to using them.
We decided that rather than buy each other separate anniversary gifts, we'd both get MP3 players and make the necessary musical conversion from CDs. It's going to take some doing to get our CD collection converted to MP3s, but then it'll be nice to be able to cherry pick some of the songs we like from performers we don't like enough to buy a full CD.
My wife continued on her anime kick and I finished season three of the Dexter TV series, both via Netflix. Dexter continues to be wonderfully written and acted. It remains one of the most tightly written television shows I've ever seen, and I can't wait to see season four. Not enough to subscribe to Showtime, mind you, but season four is already in my Netflix queue for when it is released in DVD. I watched a couple of other interesting movies as well, which I expect to cover in separate entries a little later.
On a side note, the Dollhouse TV series finally hit one out of the park with the episode "Belle Chose". Part of the reason this episode succeeded so well was that they really turned Enver Gjokaj loose in multiple roles and gave him a lot more screen time. Of all of the actors on the show, he's the one I find most convincing in truly different personalities. The other reason was Tim Minear's script, which took full advantage of the possibilities of the Dollhouse setting. The brass at Fox either didn't know what "belle chose" meant or thought the reference sufficiently obscure that most of the public wouldn't find out. I didn't know what it meant myself, but found it right away when I got curious enough to look it up. The capsule version is that it's a spicy Chaucer reference. Dollhouse continues to improve, but it's probably too late for it to achieve its full potential before Fox will have to cancel it for low ratings.
We also pulled together costumes for Halloween. We haven't decided exactly what we're wearing yet, but we each have at least two options. I'm looking forward to using them.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
New Cabal Campaign Work
I've gotten a little more work done on the new Cabal campaign, thought there's still a very long way to go. The main thing I've done is work on Big Picture stuff, like the whole arc of where each of the player characters is likely to go over time, so I can build the shorter stories around those larger issues. It will ultimately be up to the players to decide the evolution of the characters; I just wanted some sort of road map for myself.
My thought process is that I might be able to use the individual character arcs to suggest scenario ideas I can use in the big picture. I haven't tried this approach before, so I have no idea if it will help at all. I'll post the result as things develop, either way.
My thought process is that I might be able to use the individual character arcs to suggest scenario ideas I can use in the big picture. I haven't tried this approach before, so I have no idea if it will help at all. I'll post the result as things develop, either way.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
October Music Project Session
We finally had the same three musicians turn up two sessions in a row. Rob was back on guitar, enabling me to stay on bass for virtually the entire session. My only guitar time was a quick run through one song to show Rob what I'd been playing for a song he was unfamiliar with, and two songs played through with Jason after Rob had left to keep those songs in some degree of practice for us while Rob gets up to speed.
The good news is that the songs that Rob has learned sound good, all limitations considered. A three piece band with one singer playing songs recorded by larger groups with more than one singer has to do some adapting to make things work. The bad news is that Rob learns relatively slowly. The good news is that we only get together once a month, so he has plenty of time between sessions to practice.
We've started hearing some interest from other people who'd like to come in to play at some point, which is what I'd had in mind from the start, but we're still not drawing much vocal help. Things are trending in the right direction, though, so maybe help will come in time.
The good news is that the songs that Rob has learned sound good, all limitations considered. A three piece band with one singer playing songs recorded by larger groups with more than one singer has to do some adapting to make things work. The bad news is that Rob learns relatively slowly. The good news is that we only get together once a month, so he has plenty of time between sessions to practice.
We've started hearing some interest from other people who'd like to come in to play at some point, which is what I'd had in mind from the start, but we're still not drawing much vocal help. Things are trending in the right direction, though, so maybe help will come in time.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Stressbuster
I think I've found the stressbuster I've been looking for. I haven't taken breaks at work in many years, but I've started doing ten minute mini-meditation sessions mid-morning and mid-afternoon, whether I feel like I need it or not, and it's really working for me. I've found that even if I feel fine, there's almost always a certain amount of stress lurking in the wings that I can find and eliminate before it builds to the point of being an issue.
Meditation in general continues to work for me. I feel generally sharper and calmer than I ever have. There have been some interesting side effects, too. I've always carried my tension in my neck, and now that I'm dealing better with stress, I can feel a significant difference there. It also seems to have helped my singing voice, which came as a pleasant surprise, but it makes sense. Less tension in the body makes it a better instrument.
Now if I could find a solution to the problem of there not being enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do, I'd really be set.
Meditation in general continues to work for me. I feel generally sharper and calmer than I ever have. There have been some interesting side effects, too. I've always carried my tension in my neck, and now that I'm dealing better with stress, I can feel a significant difference there. It also seems to have helped my singing voice, which came as a pleasant surprise, but it makes sense. Less tension in the body makes it a better instrument.
Now if I could find a solution to the problem of there not being enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do, I'd really be set.
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