Music

No, not what you think. With few exceptions, the "holidays" aspect of the Fall and Winter is a stress-reliever for me. What I'm referring to is that my financial year usually starts in March, April or May; and ends in December. I start getting some income in December. So, the period from November to the end of the year is filled with making every dollar count. Plus, you never "really" know how good a job you did during the year until this final huge, expensive effort.

The amount of work that goes into a harvest and all of the stress mentioned above means, as I posted last year, that I don't really have a lot of time for posting...and when I do, I don't feel like it. I don't want to just do more re-posting from other blogs. I like to try to keep blog mentions confined to other bloggers' original work rather than contributing to another round of viral videos. OTOH, Wonderduck comes up with some of the more unique and entertaining examples I've seen, there are currently two good videos on his front page.

So, just to force myself, I'll just run through some randomness.

Recently found the Let's Play Archive. This particular LP got me wanting to play KotOR 2 again...he made the game sound pretty good. As I tweeted recently; though, I actually think the writing is WORSE in 2 than in one. Different, yes. The story certainly has the basis for something MUCH deeper and more complex than KotOR. Unfortunately, the writer(s) didn't know what they were talking about half the time. Obviously, somebody made it through the first chapter of the Pop Guide to Chaos Theory and a Psychology 101 primer, but missed out on War Strategy and Tactics That Anyone Can Understand and Principles of Leadership: A Common Sense Approach. Then there are the "moral choices." Bioware games and western RPG's in general have become well-known for their "black and white" moral choices. KotOR 2 was made by Obsidian rather than Bioware, and a lot of players felt that Obsidian did a better job of making those choices more like "multiple shades of gray." I don't see it, myself. Most of the choices are still "Save/Eat Puppy", they just word them differently. Most of the "gray" choices are actually railroading by the plot...which is to say, rather than "Save/Eat Puppy" you get to choose "Eat Puppy Now/Eat Puppy Later." See, the writer(s) don't really give you a lot of freedom in "defining" your character. Sure, you can level and play your Jedi as Light/Dark Side, Neutral or Insane; but KotOR 2 goes well beyond KotOR's "this is who you are and what you did, now what are you going to do?" KotOR 2 says, "this is who you are, what you did, why you did it, who you did it with and for, and what you thought of them. Now what are you going to do? Oh, and you're still mad about this, so you should probably choose A, and even though we've made it perfectly clear to you repeatedly, and you have high intelligence and wisdom, you don't really understand B, so we'll just fill in "duuuuuuuuuuuh" for that answer.

And so on.

End the end, it still comes down to "side with/kill bad guy". But there's so much arrogance and ignorance in the story, and the frequent Character Development railroading make the game less enjoyable than KotOR...at least to a certain degree. On the other hand, the story IS more complex...not better, just deeper. The game is bigger, the mechanics are a little better, the crafting system is much improved, and the animations and graphics are much better. On the third hand, the rushed development time means that something like 20% of the game got cut before release, and you see a lot of the resultant broken bits still in the game. I don't bear any hard feelings about that, though...13 months is not enough time to develop a game like this.

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I'm just about tired of my iPhone. Getting sick of what I can't do with it. It's a decent multimedia phone, but it just can't compare to a full smartphone with better desktop integration. Add to that the number of ways that Apple WON'T service the phone, and the dreaded iTunes. Think I'll switch to THIS.

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Thought about playing Dwarf Fortress. Got over it.

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Can't think of anything else, right now. Although this is good:

Doesn't look like we're going to get any more votes, so here are the results with links.

Number one goes to Never, Never Gonna Give You Up - Barry White

A tie for number two between I Wanna Kiss You All Over - Exile and Let's Get it On - Marvin Gaye.

A three way tie for third (btw, I'm counting ties by vote count, not by ranked position) among Do You Wanna Touch Me – Joan Jett, Feel Like Makin' Love - Susanna Hoffs, and Between the Sheets - The Isley Brothers.

And finally, a four way tie for fourth: Wicked Game – Chris Isaak, Do Me Baby – Prince, and Smooth – Santana

That Susanna Hoffs video was hard to find.

I had another poll idea recently, but can't think of it at the moment. I'll add a new one soon, I hope.

The winners from the second poll were:

Wicked Game by Chris Isaak and Feel Like Makin' Love by Susanna Hoffs

Love Won't Let Me Wait by Luther Vandross was one vote behind, followed by Do You Wanna Touch Me by Joan Jett and Do Me Baby by Prince. Crimson and Clover by Joan Jett garnered a wild card spot by being the only other song to get more than two votes.

These songs, combined with the winners from the first round, are now up in a final poll.

Please pick FOUR.

I was hoping to get a few more votes on part one, but it's been a couple of weeks since anyone voted so we might as well move on to the second part of the poll. Here are the winners from the first poll:

Let's Get it On - Marvin Gaye
I Wanna Kiss You All Over - Exile
Between the Sheets - The Isley Brothers
Never, Never Gonna Give You Up - Barry White
Smooth – Santana
Slow Hand - The Pointer Sisters

These six vote getters will be included in the third poll, along with the winners of part two.

Just finished K-On! Doubt my comments will add much to the discussion, but here they are nonetheless.

Firstly, kudos to KyoAni. They've turned out another series that I enjoyed without any serious reservations.

Going into the series, I thought I knew what to expect. Early reviews and comments seemed to depict another off-beat, sports-anime-like series, where a bunch of ordinary students must join together to form an awesome rock band.

Boy, is that wrong.

K-On!'s story archetype is the high-school-girls-slice-of-life series, albeit with the plot of a sports anime. However, the plot is definitely a minor consideration in this series. The plot establishes the key moments, but the main characters keep getting sidetracked by fluffy bunnies and cake. There is almost no character development...or rather it would be more accurate to say there is NO character development other than the mid-season "new recruit"; and THAT development is purely plot-related. In fact, the thirteenth "extra" episode seems to have been made entirely to point out that THERE IS NO CHARACTER DEVLOPMENT. More on that later.

Anyways...the story begins by introducing the main character, Yui. Yui is an airhead...not a ditz or a dim bulb...just a MASSIVE airhead. The kind who forgets how to walk properly if she's distracted by something shiny. At first she seems like a blond clone of Osaka from Azumanga Daioh, which wouldn't be too bad...except that I can just go watch AD if I need an Osaka fix (and don't we all? Right?) Thankfully, Yui is moved out of the rip-off category early on. We join Yui in her first year of high school. She wants to join a club, but can't find anything she's interested in (or good at, for that matter.)

We're also introduced to Ritsu and Mio, the somewhat stereotypical Genki Girl and Tsundere. Ritsu wants to join the Light Music Club (keion-bu...K-on...get it? Hah.) only to find out from the music teacher there are no existing members; therefore the club will be closed unless four new members can be recruited. Ritsu calculates that with no remaining members, she would be the president by default. She drafts Mio, who would rather join the literature club. They pick up a third member when Tsumugi, the moe girl with large eyebrows, wanders into the music room while looking for the Choir club. Of course, we all know who the fourth member will be.

Yui, who has no musical talent, but was praised by her teacher in kindergarten for playing the castanets well, decides that a "light" music club could be fun. And of course, Ritsu needs that fourth warm body, so Yui is accepted. Thankfully, conveniently, Ritsu is a talented (if too enthusiastic) drummer, Mio is accomplished on the electric bass, and Mugi just happens to be an award-winning keyboardist. Yeah, I'll let it slide. Just go with it.

Needing a guitarist, the girls all take Yui shopping. Yui, an average-sized Japanese schoolgirl with very little ambition or coordination, falls in love with a "cute" Gibson Les Paul Standard Sunburst (she later names it "Geeta"). Large in both size and price, all of the girls take a part time job counting traffic to supplement Yui's funds in order to buy the guitar. In the end, Yui just can't accept the money, and decides to purchase a cheaper guitar. Mugi, getting into the spirit of things, decides to haggle with the store clerk. The clerk, recognizing Mugi as his company's president's daughter, gives in to her demands, allowing Yui to purchase the guitar for a fraction of it's worth.

So now we get to the music, right? No, not really...the show actually slows down a bit here. First, Yui needs to learn how to play the guitar...she doesn't even read music. She appears to be a quick study, however...she masters chords in one night. Unfortunately, we learn of one of Yui's little eccentricities here: a tendency to completely forget something she just learned if she get's distracted. Having failed her midterms due to studying the guitar, she aces the retest only to forget every chord she learned.

We also learn in this period that Mugi is filthy rich (there's always one) and loves teatime (although you really get the feeling throughout the series that what Mugi loves most is having friends...you suspect that Mugi must have had one of those stereotypical rich-Japanese-kid upbringings, but the show never explores in that direction). We learn that Tsundere Mio is scared to death of scary things, slimy things, and performing (or generally being seen by other people). We don't learn anything new about Ritsu...in fact she stays pretty undeveloped throughout the series. We learn that Yui is a bum who has an almost identical and completely perfect one-year-younger sister.

Before the club's first performance at the school festival, they have a couple of episode-long problems to take care of. First, the girls never found a club advisor. The sweet and quiet music teacher turns them down, until the girls reveal an old photo and recording of a previous keion-bu band called Death Devil, which featured a guitarist/lead singer that looks somewhat familiar. (It also turns out that sensei still has a few death-metal tendencies.) And then they have to write lyrics for their original composition and decide who will sing. Mio comes through with some utterly absurd-sounding lyrics, but cannot stand the thought of singing in front of other people. Yui desperately wants to sing; unfortunately, she can't seem to manage playing the guitar and singing at the same time. Thankfully a night of training with Sensei solves the problem...except that Yui trains so much she loses her voice.

Of course, when they finally DO perform, it's pretty awesome. Mio's silly lyrics work out well, and of course she has an awesome voice. Unfortunately, relieved at a good performance, she trips over a wire leaving the stage. As the hushed whisper of "shimapan!" echoes through the auditorium, you wonder if Mio will ever get on stage again.

You then get a pretty standard Christmas episode, then move on to the next school year, where the keion-bu is trying to recruit new members. They get a freshman named Azusa, who joins the club because she was impressed with their live performance at the opening ceremony. Unfortunately, Azusa is a talented guitarist from a family of musicians, who is quickly put off by the girls' dedication to snacking, goofing off, and generally not practicing to be awesome musicians. She is driven to distraction by the dichotomy of the keion-bu's incredible live performances and their lack of seriousness, compounded by her own feelings of enjoying herself when she's around them, despite the absence of dedication.

The second half of the series centers on this plotline, although it's pretty obvious from the beginning how it will turn out. The most amusing moments in the second half come from learning that Yui has perfect pitch, and really does have an uncanny ability to learn how to play the guitar. When Azusa suggests Yui use a certain technique, Yui professes ignorance...and Azusa, puzzled, explains that Yui has been using the technique all along (Yui just didn't know what it was called.) There's also a minor subplot involving Mio and Ritsu's friendship, and the show ends (officially) with their second-year festival concert.

And then there's the extra episode that seems to exist, as I said, solely to point out the lack of character development. The episode starts out with a very serious undertone, and implies that all of the girls are moving on to more serious things, or are being driven apart by disparate necessities. After 20 minutes of this, all is explained, and of course nothing was what it seemed. Ha ha.

Now, contrary to how this review sounds, K-On! was a complete blast. I loved every minute of it. Much like the lyrics of the songs they sing, this show pure light and fluffy entertainment. Don't except anything deep, significant, or meaningful. In fact, Yui's "recollection" of the past two years in the last episode (a fairly standard trope in this type of series) feels incredibly out of place. I would rather the creators had thrown more music in at the end, instead of going for a trope that doesn't belong in a program THIS lighthearted.

And that's really my one big complaint about K-On!...for a series about music, there really isn't a lot of music. Other than the OP and the ED, there are only three songs featured, and you only get full performances of two of them. However, I understand that if you liked the music, there are already several bonus soundtracks available featuring the voice actresses from the show.

Oh yeah, one other thing. The animation style is kinda funny. It's good, but the proportions frequently look strange. All of the girls seem to have a few inches missing between their knees and ankles, and their feet are TINY. The heads sometimes look oversized, as well. I'm not sure where this design decision came from; during the two beach episodes, all of the girls look fine in their swimsuits. I dunno. Also, the mouth movements look really weird. Maybe KyoAni was trying some new software or something.

All in all, K-On! is enjoyable. It has moderate re-watchability, although I imaging most viewings will tend to center on certain episodes and scenes. I can imaging a sequel, given the success of the program and having one school year left to go...talented writing could even move the characters past high school, but you would have to change the tone a bit, I think.

Anyway, I recommend you give it a try. If you don't like it, you won't be missing much.

courtesy of ItsJustSomeRandomGuy

2 people voting so far; please remember to vote --> To the right and down a bit...

UPDATE: OK, new polling program installed. There will be three top ten sexiest songs polls; please pick 5 in the current poll. Let me know if something doesn't work.


OK, I activated the Top Ten Sexiest Songs Poll with all of the nominations I received and all that I could think of without trying too hard. I'm not sure I really like this poll module, and may see if I can find a better one (I know there are a lot of free ones out there). But for now, vote for one. I would appreciate it if you would let me know if the module will let you vote more than once, on the same day or even after a day or two has gone by. Since you can only vote for one, and it's a long list, I may end up running a second round. We'll see. Thanks to some of the webmaster tools I've added and started using, I know that there are many more people visiting than commenting, so maybe this will draw a few out.

UPDATE: It won't let ME vote more than once, anyway. But outside of digging into the module itself, there are no customization or format options. I'm definitely going to have to find a better module.

UPDATE: Now, Tuesday, it WILL let me vote again. Not a very vigorous security check, apparently. I've tried two other polling programs so far but couldn't get them to work. S9Y doesn't do embedded php with conditions, that I can figure out. Has to be a simple php call, a java app or a java script.

Reminder: Nominate songs for the "10 Sexiest Songs" Poll in the comments for THIS ENTRY.

100th real, permanent blog entry for MidniteTease. And today I'll be adding the polls plugin, just because it sounded like fun. Also, I want to add an image rotation for my photography portfolio.

Anyway, to the right is the Polls App. The first poll is open for nominations: Top Ten Sexiest Songs. This because twice recently I've heard Joan Jett's cover of Crimson & Clover...and wow. I mean, really, Joan Jett's cover is basically a love long from one girl to another that starts with an orgasm. How can you beat that?

Please comment nominations. I know not many people read this blog, but maybe we can at least get 10 nominations, and they can be the winners!

I'll start with two nominations:

Crimson & Clover (Joan Jett Cover)
Feel Like Makin' Love (Susanna Hoffs Cover)