8 posts tagged “music”
Can practicing Zen save me from being iSad for the next month?
Wait, let me back up for a moment. My first iPod, a refurbished silver 4GB mini purchased two years ago, started showing signs of battery deterioration a few weeks ago. (Which didn't surprise me too much, since I use the thing like crazy.) It wasn't completely dead however, so I was determined to squeeze as much life out of it as possible. That is, I was until the following four seemingly unconnected events occurred:
- Apple announced their latest "refresh" to the iPod lineup where the Nano got fat, the Classic got more storage, the Jesus Phone got cheaper, but most importantly, the iPod Touch was announced. Music, video, the Internet and YouTube all in one super sleek and touchable device? Activate technolust!
- Being a volunteer in SPLAT (for the Idaho Commission for Libraries), I received a "free" 1GB Creative Zen V. (The only catch is that I have to demonstrate the new statewide downloadable e-audiobook service through NetLibrary, which is something I was going to do anyway.)
- I received confirmation that I would be receiving a $500 scholarship from the Idaho Library Association for my graduate school tuition. I'll be receiving the check at an awards ceremony in early October.
- My mother-in-law's birthday is rapidly approaching and the thing she wanted most was an iPod. (And it's just tradition for me to get everyone iPods, since I've helped spread the iLove to my wife, Anna, Drew and Erin so far.)
Using my super special awesome powers of craftiness, I quickly concocted a plan to combo all these seemingly unrelated events together for maximum damage. I shipped my dear iPod Mini to the tech doctors at Apple for a battery replacement so I can give it my mother-in-law for her birthday as a like-new iPod. Then, while iPod-less, I leverage my little Zen V to keep my necessary flow of portable music and podcasts going. Finally, once I receive my scholarship check, I will dub it my "iPod Touch scholarship" and use it to purchase a brand-spankin'-new 8GB iPod Touch.
So, with my perplexing iPod problem solved, now it's on to lesser difficulties that plague humanity. Do you think I should work on solving world hunger next or finding a cure for cancer?
(And how about a bonus question for the audience? What is the device name of your iPod or your inferior non-iPod music player? My iPod Mini was dubbed first Serenity and then Gryphon, while my Zen V is currently known as Dragon.)
Polymorph Any Object is one frickin' badass eighth-level arcane spell that can royally fuck with your favorite PCs. Did you want a save with that? Suck it up (at least in the realm of Paragon). How about at least getting to use your defense against a touch attack? Not with this one.
Ironically however, this insane transmutation spell can also backfire on game masters when they least expect it. Case in point was the use of this badass spell on my primary PC in Anthony's long-running Paragon campaign. The rakshasa uber-villain opted to use this on my bronze dragon (formerly griffon) Celeres to turn him into an adorable little lion cub instead.
However, rather than viewing this magical mishap as a setback, I quickly realized it was the perfect opportunity in disguise. You see, Anthony's campaign now bore a striking resemblance to a certain 1994 Disney feature film.
So rather than bemoan my character's loss of draconic abilities and the nuking of his physical ability scores (except dexterity), I ran with it as a full-round action. It would have been awfully hard for a large-sized bronze dragon to hop on top of the Counsel Meeting Table, but it's no problem for Celeres to do so in order to belt out his best rendition of I Just Can't Wait To Be King!
It's just like they all say: hakuna matata. Or, in Paragon-terms: hakuna ma-lemon.
In this case, I'm talking about musical main themes, liberated from other works. Ghostwalk's is thanks to Neon Dragon (author/illustrator of the awesome DragonArt, which is my drawing bible) who shared Suicide Mission (by Wild Whirled Music). Apparently, the piece is from an Eragon trailer, so, like "porchmonkeys" in Clerks II, I'm reclaiming this brilliant theme for my Ghostwalk campaign. (Thanks for the inspiration, Ernie!)
Good themes for campaigns always inspire me to imagine what sort of video clips would be set to the music, if the campaign was instead an episodic television show. Listening to Suicide Mission on repeat today generated the following images in my mind (which may or may not be of interest to those of you playing Ghostwalk). (Some juicy spoilers here, if you wade through my geeky bullets.)
- The title sequence opens with Ghostwalk written in a gothic font, pale blue against a pure black background. The text slowly fades out as the first clip fades in.
- We are shown the PCs waking up on stone slabs (a la the introductory session) looking about themselves in confusion and ignorance.
- As the music builds (the rhythmic drums), we are treated to more clips from that introductory session as the PCs acquire their artifacts (the Articles of Inequity) and fight their captor, Tristram the insane fallen Paladin.
- After the music builds to full (the female voices), each PC is shown in turn pulling off some kick ass combat stunt, along with their character name and player name near the bottom of the screen in the same pale blue gothic font. For instance, we see Selyf shooting a female monk right in the chest with her arbalest. These clips are pulled from the entire campaign, so we might also see Alacross (sp?) blasting demons with magic missiles out of his nye.
- Once all the PCs (primary cast) have been introduced, we're treated to a variety of action clips showcasing a variety of the campaign. In one, a male tiefling is raises his hand and calls down hellfire on the PCs. In another, a pair of angelic beings guard some sort of gate, swords burning with blue flames.
- Near the climax, we zoom out from PCs to see gigantic draconic silhouette descending upon the city of Manifest. A blast of ghostly blue flame spirals out towards the camera as the music concludes and everything fades to black.
On the first day of Giftmas, my true dOrange group gave to me:
- Poker and Popcorn Tin (courtesy of Ernie in our second annual white elephant gift exchange).
- Okami video game and an accompanying Play-friggin'-station 2 from the ever-awesome Anthony. Way to rock L's and my world, my friend.
- Your Whole Family Is Made Out Of Meat: The Best of Dinosaur Comics book. Claws-down, the most sexy, exciting gift I got a week early. ("I guess there is a lesson here for us all.")
- Trace Memory video game for the DS.
- Veronica Mars soundtrack.
- "Guns don't kill people. Magic Missiles kill people." t-shirt. My newest, coolest and geekiest apparel.
- I (Heart) Huckabees DVD. ("How am I not myself?")
- Green fleece jacket, which I look super great in.
- Official ACI purple fleece jacket (courtesy of Drew in our family white elephant gift exchange). Go Yotes!
- Tsuro board game (courtesy of my Dad and Femie in our family white elephant gift exchange). This was actually L's pick, but since we're married, we get to share!
- Cold, hard cash from my Dad and Femie. (They know just what to get newlyweds!) My parents are pretty darn awesome and I love them.
- Warm, black pajama pants. My legs shall be frozen no longer!
- Old Navy and EB Games gift cards (from L's mom); Fred Meyer gift card (from Andy); and Record Exchange gift card (from L's Drew). I smell a shopping trip coming on.
- Picnic basket.
-
Cryptonomicon book. Looks like a very meaty, man-sized read!
- Mickey and Minnie cheesy Christmas ornament for the newly married couple.
All in all, it was really rockin' Giftmas this year, not merely because of the super fine gifts, but mostly because of the fabulous times with friends and family. What an awesome end to an awesome year! Here's to hoping that 2007 will be even more crazy delicious!
What's your favorite song to sing karaoke-style? If you don't have one, why not?
The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. A Dungeons & Dragons (or d20 Modern) boss combat just isn't the same without a rousing singalong of this bouncy, fun and geeky song. Some of the best moments are when Ernie, Looney, and myself have belted out the lyrics together while rolling dice.
Old Godzilla was hopping around
Tokyo City like a big playground
when suddenly Batman burst from the shade
and hit Godzilla with a Batgrenade
Godzilla got pissed and began to attack
but didn't expect to be blocked by Shaq
who proceeded to open up a can of Shaq Fu
when Aaron Carter came out of the blue
and he started beating up Shaquille O'Neal
then they both got flattened by the Batmobile
but before it could make it back to the Batcave
Abraham Lincoln popped out of his grave
and took an AK47 out from under his hat
and blew Batman away with a rat-a-tat-tat
but he ran out of bullets and he ran away
because Optimus Prime came to save the day
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see
and only one will survive, I wonder who it will be
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Godzilla took a bite out of Optimus Prime
like Scruff McGruff took a bite out of crime
and then Shaq came back covered in a tire track
but Jackie Chan jumped out and landed on his back
and Batman was injured, and trying to get steady
when Abraham Lincoln came back with a machete
but suddenly something caught his leg and he tripped
Indiana Jones took him out with his whip
then he saw Godzilla sneaking up from behind
and he reached for his gun which he just couldn't find
'cause Batman stole it and he shot and he missed
and Jackie Chan deflected it with his fist
then he jumped in the air and did a summersault
while Abraham Lincoln tried to pole vault
onto Optimus Prime, but they collided in the air
then they both got hit by a Care Bear Stare, oooh
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see
and only one will survive, I wonder who it will be
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
angels sang out in immaculate chorus
down from the heavens descended Chuck Norris
who deliver a kick which could shatter bones
into the crotch of Indiana Jones
who fell over on the ground, writhing in pain
as Batman changed back into Bruce Wayne
but Chuck saw through his clever disguise
and he crushed Batman's head in between his thighs
then Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White and
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail"'s Black Knight and
Benito Mussolini and The Blue Meanie and
Cowboy Curtis and Jambi the Genie
Robocop, the Terminator, Captain Kirk, and Darth Vader
Lo Pan, Superman, every single Power Ranger
Bill S. Preston and Theodore Logan,
Spock, The Rock, Doc Ock, and Hulk Hogan
all came out of no where lightning fast
and they kicked Chuck Norris in his cowboy ass
it was the bloodiest battle the world ever saw
with civilians looking on total awe
and the fight raged on for a century
many lives were claimed, but eventually
the champion stood, the rest saw their better:
Mr. Rogers in a bloodstained sweater
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see
and only one will survive, I wonder who it will be
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
of Ultimate Destiny
Of course, Cobra Starship's Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) is also a great singalong. 'Cause I haven't yet had it with that motherfuckin' song from that motherfuckin' movie!
(Tag: Colleen better mention some of her favorite singalong songs in her journal, because I know she has several.)
What song or lyrics are stuck in your head at the moment? What album is it from?
Submitted by Lox Ly.
Lammasu can testify that I've got Cobra Starship's Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) lodged in my brain right now. I can't really explain why the song appeals to me so much, but it's even catchier than finding snakes on a plane.
My favorite lyrics from the song are part of the chorus:
Bring it.So kiss me goodbye.
Honey, I'm gonna make it out alive.
So kiss me goodbye.
I can see the venom in your eyes.
Goodbye.
What movie would you really recommend renting or seeing this weekend?
AGENT FLYNN: "That's it! I've had it with these motherfuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane!"
Lamassu and I just got back from seeing the iconic Snakes on a Plane. We thought seeing a movie after dinner sounded like a nice thing to do. After reviewing the titles playing at our local first-run movie theater, the only movie out of the whole lineup that sounded even remotely entertaining involved (you guessed it) snakes and a plane.
Given that our expectations weren't that high to begin with, we both enjoyed this silly, cheesy movie. It succeeds because it doesn't try to take itself too seriously. It's a little bit gross in some parts, but it's funny as all heck if you can put up with that. Go see it while it's still in theaters!
Even if you don't see the movie, check out an awesome video mashup of TWO Internet phenomena: All Your Snakes Are Belong To Us. Geeks rejoice!
Also, check out the Cobra Starship's catchy Snakes on a Plane (Bring It). (It's going to be joining The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny on my fun RPG combat music playlist.)
What's your cell phone's ringtone? What made you pick it?
"Call Connected Thru The NSA" by They Might Be Giants. Since all Americans know that the National Security Agency is tapping their phones, why not proclaim it? Welcome to the Orwellian future.
