Echo Park Jitterbug

Nothing like coming back to a loving, loving friend after a long seperation. I gave up soda about a year ago, and have basically said goodbye to my main source of caffeine. Sure, I've had the occassional bit of chocolate, but not enough to really maintain a heavy consistent amount of caffeine in my body. All through my adolescent life, I was never without some kind of sugary beverage to pump in my body; heck, I even got into coffee by the 12th grade. I destroyed that bitter taste with sugar and creamer, of course.

I find it rather humorous that I never felt a "boost" in energy. I could go through a couple of sugary cups of coffee with a couple of warm strawberry poptarts, and not feel the slightest jitter in my legs or arms. If anything, I was just maintaining my caffeine/sugar addiction and that's it, no spike in activity. Eventually, I bored myself of coffee and slowly backed out of soda until I was drinking no more (no need for cold turkey!). It was actually rather easy when I considered substitutes, namely water or juice. I wonder if that's the secret to people kicking heavy addictions. Not saying that I could easily handle a cigarrette/cocaine addiction, but if I ever did, I'd look into trying to replace the stuff with similar, healthy actions.

Anyway, I'm living with a friend and his family now and I've noticed a very interesting invention in the kitchen: the ONE CUP coffee maker. That's right, one cup. No need for dishing out a heeping cup of Folger's brew either, as the coffee maker takes these little plastic coffee cups you simply place in a cartridge. Just add water, press a button or two, and you've got a cup of brewed coffee in about half a minute. I know I'm probably overrating this dated piece of a equipment, but sometimes accessibility, even for the stupidest things, can take me by surprise.

I decided to make a cup of coffee last night. I was on the computer, a few hours before I usually call it a night, and I was just in the mood for a slightly bitter/slightly sweet taste. It's not like I'll be wired, right? Caffeine's never had that effect on me before. I insert one of the little coffee brew cups, add some water, add a little sugar when it's done, and go back to my room. I slowly sip on the liquid, taking my time and progressing to bigger swigs as the coffee cools down. I eventually finish the cup, place the cup in the sink, go back to my room and sit.

... And I sit there... and I look blankly at my computer screen. Then, my mind starts telling me quite a few things.. "you wanna play guitar, no wait, the mandolin, you haven't gotten that out in a while. What about those Japanese flash cards right there beside you, study study study! Light that candle too, get this room smelling like some cinnamon! Christ, put your hair up it keeps falling in your eyes you need a haircut, hey remember those Tae Kwon Do moves you learned as a kid can you still do them hey put on some music NO NOT THAT AMBIENT TRASH PUT ON SOME ROCKIN yeah I guess Elvis Costello will do damn dude you still haven't memorized those Japanese phrases you gotta study more hey I bet you could play this tune on guitar LOOK IT UP ULTIMATE GUITAR DOT COM NOW LOOK IT UP holy crap dude wait wanna go on a run?? ehh it's pretty late how about a bike ride or pacing up and down the living room or something YOUR LEGS ARE JITTERING LIKE CRAZY DUDE YOU KNOW YOU WANNA MOVE JUST GET UP LETS DO SOMETHING come on come on COMEON COMEON."

Yep, I was jittery as hell. I've never felt that from caffeine before. And I also learned why people don't drink coffee at night, as I stayed up quite a few hours past my usual bed time looking over Japanese, playing bass guitar, and making quite a lot of progress in Mega Man X4. Even when I was exhausted, my body was still tingly and wanted to move. I'm actually considering adding coffee to my diet for the middle of the day when I feel the most unmotivated and lacking of energy. I just want to make sure I don't drink it in excess this time around; I should be fine with a little self control. What do you guys think of coffee? Is it a miracle study/concentration/energy device or does it taste like yucky diarrhea in your mouth? If anything, I'm happy to say I've got another weapon to fight against idleness.

I Forgot It in People

Before Broken Social Scene went famous in the hip indie music world in 2002, the Canadian singer/songwriter Kevin Drew was in a musical project by the name of K.C. Accidental. The project was mostly home-recorded instrumental rock diddies, and was created by Drew and future BSS bandmate Charles Spearin. Two albums were released during the group's lifetime: Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub in the late '90s, and Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills in 2000.

Both albums have a similar outlook: slow churning instrumental jams, recommended to kickstart your sullen, reflective state of mind. Besides the sound, the albums feature a similar setup as well: six songs, tail ended by 12 minute introspective epics. However, differences can be squared away after a couple of listens to the albums. Captured Anthems, the earlier release, has a strong cacophonous sound on the percussion that is almost completely missing from future BSS-related recordings. The album is heavy on that reflective, building sound I stated before, but isn't afraid to push that sound aside for a more immediate, loud offering, as you can hear on the opening rocker Nancy and the Girdle Boy and Anorexic He-Man. Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills is where contemporary BSS is starting to shine through. Songs like Residental Love Song and Them (Pop Song #3333) are lively counterparts to future BSS recordings; Them even features an early inclusions of vocals, albeit in a more experimental, not so melodically rich manner.

Broken Social Scene was one of my first jumps into modern alternative rock, after being stuck in a classic rock mindset throughout my middle school years. Lots of wonderful moments I can pinpoint thanks to their musical output, and I have been really enjoying going back to their roots and hearing the beginnings of their graceful sound. K.C. Accidental's two albums are slightly rock-oriented mood music, and are easily palatable with whatever tasks us humans waste our limited time on. If you like your music with a little more emphasis on composition alongside texture, try out Broken Social Scene's later albums. Here's Residential Love Song by K.C. Accidental.

Just Like a Dream: a Just Like Heaven Song Review

You know what I can appreciate in music? When a song takes you by the throat and demands you listen. That's right, I like to be at the complete mercy of a musical tune. These are the kind of songs that aren't going to fade into the background before someone makes a comment. It may even halt a few conversations as the listeners' attention have submitted to the sound. The song doesn't necessarily have to be drenched in self-importance or really any seriousness for that matter; it can be a simple ode to love and love lost.

The Cure were no strangers to such subjects, especially by the mid-80's with their single Just Like Heaven, a track cut from their '87 double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. Robert Smith definitely knew how to write a pop song (even if it wasn't always his creative intention). With this talent, Smith crafted one of his best upbeat love songs on Just Live Heaven.

The song starts with an optimistic drum beat and simple bass groove, and goes directly into an instrumental build: big, thick strums of an acoustic guitar are introduced, then bright, heavenly synth chords, followed by jangly electric guitar, and finally, pop ecstasy with Robert Smith's bright, emotional vocals. The vocals
carry the emotion of the song throughout its three and a half minutes, but the instrumental sound and flourishes just perfect the mood and back the vocals completely. I especially love the bouncy piano, playing not chords but simple notes, that comes in during the second verse. Like any good love song, it's meaning is fragile and ambiguous; it has just enough uncertainty in the lyrics and minor chords to show love can stand joyfully beside sorrow.

If you're hooked by the beginning, I guarantee you will be wanting more by the end. And that's the beauty of it.. the song ends rather abrubtly, as if to say, "yeah, I could of gone for a few more bars, maybe even throw in a few more chorus repeats, but I'm not gonna!". Pretty clever for an attention-demanding love song, eh? I could go on and analyze every wonderful thing this song has to offer, but I'll let the track speak for itself. Here's the link, hope you folks enjoy it.

Learning Routines for Foreign Languages

Since high school biology class, I have always held up the effectiveness of completely engulfing myself in learning a subject. This can be done through different styles, including seeing, hearing, and hands-on experience. I remember taking many of those tests in school which always stated I was a "visual" learner, but I still stand by the idea of  attacking your brain with knowledge from all the senses. I'm still trying to tackle the German and Japanese languages with different methods.

For Japanese, I have the wonderful Genki textbook, apparently a preferred book for schools featuring basic Japanese learning courses (I have the audio CD, too). With the textbook, notebook, and a pencil, I've been taking notes on the grammar, writing all the vocabulary, and stopping my music occasionally (usually ambient, or at least quiet) to listen to the audio CD tracks of whatever segment I am on. Learning the Hiragana and Katakana alphabet is going to take a lot of practice to memorize; to help me on this, I've made printer-paper flash cards!

For German, I've opted for the Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning German. It's a bit more of a fun, easy read compared to the Japanese textbook, but I think the contrast will keep me more interested. For a more audio-oriented learning, I've been using youtube learning videos. Here's one of them:

As you can see, I don't quite yet have much "hands-on experience" in my learning methods just yet. An idea that comes to mind is to make up fake scenarios with somebody and act them out (which does sound fun if I can actually get somebody to join me). That will have to do until I can befriend a bunch of German and Japanese people, heh. I've also considered acquiring some flicks with German or Japanese audio to keep my entertainment learning-minded. What kinds of studying methods are most effective for you folks? Any tips and tricks are welcome.

Sounds From the Blocky World: Minecraft's Music

I appear in a bright, sunny world, where crude blocks of sand, grass, and stone surround me. Simple farm animals bounce up and down on the terrain, and colorful paperthin flowers are speckled throughout. I immediately know my situation: if I want to survive through the night, I'm going to need a shelter. I must collect wood, and with that wood I'll set up a work bench to make the tools I need to go deep into the ground. With no time to spare, I head over toward the trees and slowly supply myself with the material. It's a painstaking job, but I can relax later (hopefully in my fully lit, underground shelter).

As I am working hard to survive, I begin to hear a sound. A soft chord from the touch of a piano. Then, an accompaniment of strings, swelling in a very subtle manner. As the melodic tune builds, sharp xylophone is buried into the mix. The sound is like a knock on my brain, reminding me that this peace is not timeless and tranquility, both inner and outer, is a secret. A secret you might have to struggle with for the rest of your existence. I'm working hard on making a wooden pickaxe when I realize, I can only hear the soft piano chords now. Eventually, those simplistic chords fade away too. All that's left is the natural sound of this land's living, breathing wonders.

Minecraft's music is not only a perfect soundtrack to crafting a door to keep out the zombies and spiders, or even trying desperately to find your way out of a long, complex cave you created; it is also some of the finest, unexpectantly organic chamber music I've heard in an independent PC game. Minecraft's popularity is skyrocketing for its creatively ambigious setup as a "sandbox" title with such a simple (and rather deceptive) look. And really, the beauty in this simplicity is found in Minecraft's music. Usually accompanied by the environment's various noises, Minecraft's music will slowly break the silence and caress your hard at work brain as you face the day's obstacles.

I do have favorites in the soundtrack. Check out these links, with the songs calm1 and calm3, respectively. The soundtrack really goes beyond the game; I had it playing through my earbuds one beautiful night time bike ride, just after a major rainstorm. I can't describe the way I felt as I strolled past a massive ditch of rainwater clearly reflecting all of the lights above.

The Divided World of Syntax

It's easy to get in a habit of making big statements and not sticking to them. Whether we vocalize them or not, we can fool ourselves in the end with such glorious ideas. This is probably due to our fantasies that give us limitless possibilities without considering the tussle of dedication. I recently had a similar statement spat out of my mind: "I want to learn a foreign language!"

What's my reasoning? Well, the exciting possibilities of one day travelling to foreign lands and avoiding the intimidating language barrier. Also, boredom. Lots of that. It only to a little consideration to figure out the languages I wanted to learn, too. Recently, I've been enjoying my Sega Saturn with some Japanese titles, filled with so letters and symbols, I can't even imagine the meaning behind them. So there's one language on my plate; how about another one? My mind went directly to the coarse and defiantly hip enunciation found in the German language. So there you have it, I'm learning Japanese and German. Just like that.

Am I fool? Maybe, but with free time and no college to give my brain a workout, I don't see any harm (I'll just be out a couple dollars on notebooks and no. 2 pencils). Only time will tell if I keep at this, or just piddle away out of boredom. So, are you folks pursuing any gigantic goals that just came to you out of the blue? Or are any of you currently learning a savvy new language?

I dedicate this post to the "ka" hiragana symbol in Japanese. You're one of my favorites to write, buddy.

Brawling Monsters: A Review of Night Warriors

Pizzerias knew how to catch my young eye when I was growing up. They had gumballs, sticker machines, silly little gadgets of all sorts, and that was just in the entrance. By the time I made it to a table, my interests would direct toward the shop's cute fluffy mascot, merchandise at the cash register, and most importantly, the arcade machines. I remember quite distinctively a period of time at my local Pizza Hut they had a certain arcade cabinet by the name of Night Warriors. On the surface it was another fighting game, but with just enough quirkiness to really waste a nice amount of change on the machine.

Night Warriors is the second game in Capcom's series of fighting monsters, Darkstalkers. It came out in the mid-'90s and gained a following for fighting game enthusiasts. It's use of monsters, each with their own wacky special moves and notions, instead of human fighters, made for an interesting take on the fighter genre. It has an obligatory sinister atmosphere, with just enough light-heartedness in its comedy to avoid being too pretentious. The monsters range from gigantic musclebound abominations, to sensual and deadly hellcats (which the character Felicia is, quite literally).

There are 16 playable characters (or atrocities, if you prefer). I had fun just deciding which weirdo I wanted to play as when I first tried out this game. They are accompanied with their own menacing, detailed level and fist-pumping techno music. My personal favorite tune is Hsien-Ko's theme, complete with her own "Hya!"'s in the mix.  It's a solid fighter, no doubt. But what else would you expect from Capcom? Some deem it as a Street Fighter clone with monsters gimmick, but I'd say Night Warriors has enough charm to warrant its own franchise.

If you are new to Capcom fighting games, there is a bit of a learning curve in the characters' abilities and tactics; having a movelist/strategy guide up and ready to go wouldn't hurt. If you are no stranger to games like the Street Fighter series, the gameplay will come naturally. Besides, why wouldn't you want to master Sasquatch's moves to defeat a Frankenstein-esque creature? Or how about using a swiping combo with a werewolf to take out a giant mummy? Whether you've got a worn-out arcade cabinet still taking in quarters down at the pizzeria, or your own personal copy for the Playstation or Saturn, Night Warriors is a ridiculous and fun fighting game.

Sleep ∞ Over's Glorious B-Side

So it's February 2011 and this glo-fi chillwave vhs-core trend is still maintaning some consitency in my audio adventures. The staples of the genre are quick to realize: muddled drones, dreamy melodies, mashed up din, DANCE. MUSIC. It's the sound of pleasurable, lazy nostalgia with a whole new meaning.  I recently salvaged a little band called Sleep ∞ Over, which falls in the glo-fi genre tree. Three indie ladies with their myspace and their features on compilations  and their sevin inch single, Outer Limits. No album yet, but that 7'' is a killer. The song chosen for each side is obvious, as A-side Outer Limits just has a perfect lo-fi Cocteau Mac groove going for it. Or if you prefer, an all female new wave group's basement tapes. But... the b-side.. the song La Rose.. is where the real magic is at. Check it out:

What a tune.. so many glorious marks in this dream pop tune, that it easily earned itself to be the soundtrack to my night time bike rides these past few weeks. The way the  intertwining vocals swirl in and out, that meaty drum beat, that simple guitar break after the first chorus... and how the song just picks itself right back up again. It's hazy, yet emotive and meaningful, as it guides you through lonely dark city streets (probably in midsummer). It's the song that just exemplifies the emotion I can extract from music, and gives me a little hope in finding that hidden audio gem while digging through all these hip indie genres.

Doom Doom Doom

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

A churning chunk of sound cutting into the headphones. Monotonous, thick guitars playing from all corners of my ears. Backwards instrumentation chopping and ripping through the headphones. A serious voice ascending from the Netherlands, stating the meaning behind it all. This is doom metal. And as a fan of soundscapes in my metal, doom is my preferred subgenre. And while listening to doom.. I thought.. why not play some?

Bah - DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

Well, not exactly. After mustering up a copy of Doom for my beloved Saturn, I quickly learned the sad truth: it's a crappy port of the game. It has the always unwanted problem of slowdown.. shame on the Saturn! Luckily, using my noggin just a bit, I quickly considered the idea of a DOOM flash game. Which google reviewed to be true, on good old Newgrounds!

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/470460

So, I fired that bad boy up, got my Electric Wizard and Reverend Bizarre 12 inch mix blasting, and emerged myself in the fires of DOS hell. It never hurts to give classic games a little soundtrack update, you know? Next time you're cruising for a little nostalgia of the darker side of gaming, why not add a little doom metal flair? If you aren't familiar to the genre, try a little taste of this monolith of a track:

And now my mind is a vapid cesspool of dark imagery. Thank you, doom.

Here's my Jeweler

To use, or make use, of something-or-other, we need to know the uses. Even with that knowledge we're not safe from scars of scratches. But, we smile and continue our boundless work. In here, I will bring notice to things I feel the digital age might want to know; might want to use. Or really.. anything I feel might be of some interest. Or some ridiculous cogitation. Maybe you will find some entertainment in all of this.

Godspeed.