More bible coming soon. I've actually got through Genesis with commentary and after that I started straight up reading and I'm currently half way through Deuteronomy. I still can't believe how stupid the bible is. There's a section where God is telling Moses how to build some sort of worship tent where they can sacrifice goats and shit that goes on for pages and pages (Exodus 25-40, TWENTY FIVE THROUGH FORTY.) I can't write commentary because it's literally just tent construction. I might as well comment on the instructions for an erector set. My favorite and, I think most telling, is the many multiple times God punishes the Israelites for doubting him. To be fair they do act incredibly dumb, they doubt this gods existence after they literally heard him talking to them like a week earlier. God punishes them by making them all walk around in the desert until their whole generation is dead. Commit thoughtcrime and God will fucking kill you.
I won a magic tournament last friday. So far I've been kicking ass at Innistrad drafts, every one I've entered I've either won or finished in the money. This game is finally really starting to come together for me. By nature, I'm not that competitive a guy but there is an exception to that. The better I get at something, the more I want to win. This only shows in a couple areas of my life: select video games, at work and now competitive magic. I'm hoping to get out to higher level tournament sometime, and I want to keep improving my game. I'm playing to win here!
A girl got fired at work the other day, the same awkward "Deuceaholic" I mentioned earlier. I was surprised but when I thought about it I decided I was more surprised that I was surprised. I hadn't really been paying attention, but thinking back it was pretty easy to notice she had been working on the same generic thing for over a month or so. She also didn't hide it very well when she was slacking, once she spent a solid 30 minutes at her desk fiddling with her magic deck (Note to self: don't do that.) She was an odd duck but also a good person, so I hope she landed on her feet. It's weird to see someone in your department get let go. It's like she died. We speak about her in hushed tones and if someone slips out one of her sayings we all clamor "Ooooooo, too soon."
I've never been more excited for a Drew album. The songs so far are "Gold Jerry, Gold!" at least in my own professional opinion. Some of them may be a little too much jaying off on our part but the whole band was very proud of Tonight, Tonight and Boys of Summer, even if they don't always make for the most comical of choices. The rest were all picked for their lyrics and work well. Baby made for a great single since it's so popular, easy to play and Jay knocked the Ludacris part out of the park. We only have a couple more songs to record and I have high hopes for all of them. The skits between songs make me bust up every time I hear them too. Me and Jay discussed the other day whether or not we'd be able to play a gig. If we had the time to prepare and practice, I really don't think it'd be out of the question. It's funny to think about what would've happened if all that Drewcifers energy was channeled into a functional band. All-in-all it makes me want to play more in general including writing some more songs or doing a couple songs for youtube.
Travel sounds appealing these days. I finally have the money to justify making long trips, the time is a much more scarce commodity and that's really where I have to save up. Budgeting my vacation days around Xmas this season is looking to be a challenge. I'm looking to hit an early tourney, visit the Joe, make my way back to cleveland for work and Jo'hearns Birthday party, get back to Dexter for family Xmas, and finally head to Canada for extended family Xmas. I'll admit to posting about the sugar bowl on hamtwitter as well but that's just a pipe dream (this year.) Whoever posted next was right, the time and money must be saved for HamFrance.
Damn Steven, go to bed it's like 2:30am.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Let's Read: The Bible! Pt. 2
Getting into the meat of it now. I've started skipping some sections since literally nothing happens in them besides some old fashioned begetting.
Genesis 6
TL;DR Humans did… something and they all deserve to die
"Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings [a] came down and married the ones they wanted. … …The children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors. They were called Nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later."
And thats the last we ever hear of the half angels. Seriously, I looked this up. They're never mentioned again.
"I'll destroy every living creature on earth! I'll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I'm sorry I ever made them."
Water way to go. ba dum tsss
"Bring into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile."
Reptiles, separate from the animal kingdom.
Genesis 7
TL;DR Da Flood
"Take seven pairs of every kind of animal that can be used for sacrifice"
You'd think god could go 40 days without animal sacrifice. This is a real big deal to him in these early testaments.
"Finally, the mighty flood was so deep that even the highest mountain peaks were almost twenty-five feet below the surface of the water."
I love that the bible is so precise with measurements here. It's like it's begging for facts to wreck it up. This one's fine, but the arc measurements really conflict with the whole 2 of every animal thing.
Genesis 8
TL;DR less flood than earlier
"Forty days later Noah opened a window to send out a raven, but it kept flying around until the water had dried up. Noah wanted to find out if the water had gone down, and he sent out a dove."
Fucking unreliable ravens. These bits that seem to exist for no reason are my favorites.
"Noah built an altar where he could offer sacrifices to the LORD. Then he offered on the altar one of each kind of animal and bird that could be used for a sacrifice."
Well, there go the animals. At least there's still reptiles.
Genesis 9
TL;DR Noah gets shitfaced
"All animals, birds, reptiles, and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them under your control, and I have given them to you for food. From now on, you may eat them"
Hell yeah, eat animals fuck bitches
"But life is in the blood, and you must not eat any meat that still has blood in it."
Uhhhhh… whatever you say there chief.
"If an animal kills someone, that animal must die."
Yeah, that'll teach 'em.
"Noah farmed the land and was the first to plant a vineyard. One day he got drunk and was lying naked in his tent."
This guy Noahs how to party.
"Ham entered the tent and saw him naked, then went back outside and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth put a robe over their shoulders and walked backwards into the tent. Without looking at their father, they placed it over his body.
When Noah woke up and learned what his youngest son had done, he said,
"I now put a curse on Canaan!
He will be the lowest slave
of his brothers."
What? What just happened? Noah got drunk, his son sees his drunken ass. Then Noah wakes up and makes his grandson a slave? This is a book people live their lives by.
Genesis 11
TL;DR Tower of Babel, then literally nothing happens
"Let's build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We'll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We'll become famous, and we won't be scattered all over the world."
This is probably the first thing that seems to make sense to me.
"The people had to stop building the city, because the LORD confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. "
…Seriously? This lesson of the bible has taught me to stomp on sandcastles at the beach
begets…begets…begets…
Genesis 12
TL;DR Abram lies to a pharoah
"When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live."
That seems like reasonable line of thought Abram.
"and Abram acquired male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels."
The camels preferred not to subscribe to preconceived gender roles.
"But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ""
Seems like Abram would have remembered the whole 'chosen one' thing. Wait, why was he chosen again?
Genesis 13
tl;dr Abram pitches a tent
"pitched his tents near Sodom"
*snicker*
"So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”"
So Abram said to Lot 'you take the high road and I'll take the low.'
"So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents."
*snicker*
Genesis 15
tl;dr abram does some weird shit with animals.
"Abram asked, "LORD God, how can I know the land will be mine?" Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon.""
Oh, of course.
"Abram obeyed the LORD. Then he cut the animals in half and laid the two halves of each animal opposite each other on the ground. But he did not cut the doves and pigeons in half."
Well, I guess he knew what to do with them
"Then the LORD said: Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace. But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn't belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for four hundred years."
But you said I'll die peacefully right?
Genesis 17
tl;dr God hates foreskin
"The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”"
Hey, that's nice. Descendants are a real big deal to these bible folks.
"As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised."
Well there it is in black and white. The reason 50% of the population is missing a part of their dick.
"On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him."
And what a day that was.
Genesis 18
tl;dr God thinks about dropping the bomb on Sodom
"Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”"
~~ThE CaLlOuT~~
"The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home."
Going once… going twice…sold!
Genesis 19
tl;dr Sodomy and Incest
"Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”"
A reasonable request.
"“No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them."
I knew this one was coming, but it's still shocking. If you're looking for a good reason to stop listening to the bible I recommend Genesis 19:8
"Early the next morning the two angels tried to make Lot hurry and leave. They said, "Take your wife and your two daughters and get out of here as fast as you can! If you don't, every one of you will be killed when the LORD destroys the city." Lot just stood there."
I'm going to give this one the benefit of the doubt and blame the translation.
"Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."
“No, Lot's wife. You are the demons” And then Lot's wife was a zombie.
"One day his older daughter said to her sister, "Our father is old, and there are no men anywhere for us to marry. Let's get our father drunk! Then we can sleep with him and have children.""
Oh, Genesis 19 you so crazy.
Genesis 20
tl;dr Abraham fucks with the king
"there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her."
BECAUSE THIS WORKED SO WELL THE FIRST TIME
"God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead""
God then came at Abimelek with a broken beer bottle
"I did it because I didn't think any of you respected God, and I was sure that someone would kill me to get my wife. Besides, she is my half sister"
I wish I could say I'm surprised.
Genesis 22
tl;dr Abraham [almost] sacrifices his son
"Some years later God decided to test Abraham… Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar."
God continues to fuck with people for shits and giggles. This is seriously fucked.
Genesis 25
"Abraham married Keturah, and they had six sons"
Abraaham, at this point is well over 100 years old.
"when Abraham died, he left everything to Isaac."
How many sons did he have again?
" "I'm starving to death! Give me some of that red stew right now!" "Sell me your rights as the first-born son." "I'm about to die," Esau answered. "What good will those rights do me?" But Jacob said, "Promise me your birthrights, here and now!" And that's what Esau did. Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born."
Ah he fell for the ol' soup for birthrights trick
Genesis 26
Isaac moved to Gerar with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister.
HEY GREAT IDEA
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Let's Read: The bible
Background: It's been a goal of mine for a while now to read the Bible cover to cover. I've got a few reasons for this.
1) Being such an influential book to the human race, it seems like a good thing to have read once.
2) I want the word straight from the horse's mouth. The Bible seems to be misquoted and misconstrued all the time and I want to know what it really says when it comes up.
3) It seems like an interesting way to entertain myself.
4) It's an insight into if the bible can really be a justification for any modern occurrences.
I'll be reading a contemporary English translation because damned if I'm reading all the footnotes in King James.
Genesis 1
TL;DR: God makes ALL the shit
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Ok, the very first line and I'm already confused. Why did God do this? Just for shits and giggles? I feel like most mythology has a reason for being.
"God said, "I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it. And that's what happened. God made the dome 8nd named it "Sky.""
The sky is literally a dome that surrounds the earth in the bible.
"God looked at what he had done, and it was good"
Why does he keep doing this? It's like when you finish a puzzle and are like 'yeaaaah, I'm the shit'
"Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures."
Humans rule, animals drool.
Genesis 2
TL;DR: Garden of Eden
"The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man"
Wait what? Didn't he already make a bunch of humans? How does this fit into the 7 days
"Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life--the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong."
Now I always thought the tree gave knowledge, not morality. Bits like this are why I'm reading this.
"You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!"
Oh…
"the LORD made a woman out of the rib. The LORD God brought her to the man, and the man exclaimed, "Here is someone like me! She is part of my body, my own flesh and bones. She came from me, a man."
-Adam, The bible
"Maybe you should listen to Catalina: she's a woman just like Natalie. They're both women, her and Natalie. You and I are men. We're not women. You see, men think different than women. You and I think different than Natalie and Catalina 'cause we are men and they are women. I'm right, right? I'm not wrong... Am I wrong?"
-Randy Hickey, My name is Earl
Genesis 3
TL;DR That mofo snake
"the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees. The LORD called out to the man and asked, "Where are you?""
God: created the heavens and earth. Terrible at hide-and-seek
"So the LORD God said to the snake: "Because of what you have done, you will be the only animal to suffer this curse-- For as long as you live, you will crawl on your stomach and eat dirt."
Suck it snakes.
"You and this woman will hate each other"
And the LORD god made women hate snakes, and it was good.
"The LORD said, "These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever.""
Yeah, Fuck 'em.
Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree.
Woah, what? Winged creatures? Flaming sword? what's going on he…END OF CHAPTER
Genesis 4
TL;DR Abel gets got
"One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the LORD, and Abel also gave an offering to the LORD. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the LORD the best parts of it. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings. The LORD said to Cain: What's wrong with you?"
Yeah, NERD
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go for a walk." And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him. Afterwards the LORD asked Cain, "Where is Abel?"
Olly Olly Oxenfree!
""This punishment is too hard!" Cain said."
WAAAAAAAAH!
"Cain beget Enoch beget… x6 ...beget naamah"
I won't even question where the wives came from. I guess the important thing here is we've advanced 6 gens
"One day, Lamech said to his two wives, "A young man wounded me, and I killed him"
I don't even know where to begin with this one.
"Adam and his wife had another son."
…Adam and Eve are still alive?
Genesis 5
TL;DR some begetting it on
"Adam had more children and died at the age of nine hundred thirty"
He must have flossed regularly
"When Lamech was one hundred eighty-two, he had a son. Lamech said, "I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the LORD has put under a curse.""
God's a dick, but I think I NOAH this guy from somewhere
NEXT TIME on Let's Read: The bible, The flood.
1) Being such an influential book to the human race, it seems like a good thing to have read once.
2) I want the word straight from the horse's mouth. The Bible seems to be misquoted and misconstrued all the time and I want to know what it really says when it comes up.
3) It seems like an interesting way to entertain myself.
4) It's an insight into if the bible can really be a justification for any modern occurrences.
I'll be reading a contemporary English translation because damned if I'm reading all the footnotes in King James.
Genesis 1
TL;DR: God makes ALL the shit
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Ok, the very first line and I'm already confused. Why did God do this? Just for shits and giggles? I feel like most mythology has a reason for being.
"God said, "I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it. And that's what happened. God made the dome 8nd named it "Sky.""
The sky is literally a dome that surrounds the earth in the bible.
"God looked at what he had done, and it was good"
Why does he keep doing this? It's like when you finish a puzzle and are like 'yeaaaah, I'm the shit'
"Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures."
Humans rule, animals drool.
Genesis 2
TL;DR: Garden of Eden
"The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man"
Wait what? Didn't he already make a bunch of humans? How does this fit into the 7 days
"Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life--the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong."
Now I always thought the tree gave knowledge, not morality. Bits like this are why I'm reading this.
"You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!"
Oh…
"the LORD made a woman out of the rib. The LORD God brought her to the man, and the man exclaimed, "Here is someone like me! She is part of my body, my own flesh and bones. She came from me, a man."
-Adam, The bible
"Maybe you should listen to Catalina: she's a woman just like Natalie. They're both women, her and Natalie. You and I are men. We're not women. You see, men think different than women. You and I think different than Natalie and Catalina 'cause we are men and they are women. I'm right, right? I'm not wrong... Am I wrong?"
-Randy Hickey, My name is Earl
Genesis 3
TL;DR That mofo snake
"the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees. The LORD called out to the man and asked, "Where are you?""
God: created the heavens and earth. Terrible at hide-and-seek
"So the LORD God said to the snake: "Because of what you have done, you will be the only animal to suffer this curse-- For as long as you live, you will crawl on your stomach and eat dirt."
Suck it snakes.
"You and this woman will hate each other"
And the LORD god made women hate snakes, and it was good.
"The LORD said, "These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever.""
Yeah, Fuck 'em.
Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree.
Woah, what? Winged creatures? Flaming sword? what's going on he…END OF CHAPTER
Genesis 4
TL;DR Abel gets got
"One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the LORD, and Abel also gave an offering to the LORD. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the LORD the best parts of it. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings. The LORD said to Cain: What's wrong with you?"
Yeah, NERD
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go for a walk." And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him. Afterwards the LORD asked Cain, "Where is Abel?"
Olly Olly Oxenfree!
""This punishment is too hard!" Cain said."
WAAAAAAAAH!
"Cain beget Enoch beget… x6 ...beget naamah"
I won't even question where the wives came from. I guess the important thing here is we've advanced 6 gens
"One day, Lamech said to his two wives, "A young man wounded me, and I killed him"
I don't even know where to begin with this one.
"Adam and his wife had another son."
…Adam and Eve are still alive?
Genesis 5
TL;DR some begetting it on
"Adam had more children and died at the age of nine hundred thirty"
He must have flossed regularly
"When Lamech was one hundred eighty-two, he had a son. Lamech said, "I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the LORD has put under a curse.""
God's a dick, but I think I NOAH this guy from somewhere
NEXT TIME on Let's Read: The bible, The flood.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Triple Threat
My friend at work, good guy though he is, has three bad habits that tend to irk me.
1. Nervous nail biting. He is constantly chewing on his nails when we work. It's not just a when-they're-long kinda thing, it's an slow ongoing chew.
2. Touching the computer screen. He has no qualms about touching stuff that's going on on the screen for long periods of time.
3. Pointing at stuff with his middle finger. "Hey look at this, also fuck you"
Now, alone, all these unconscious habits wouldn't get to me. We all do things that bother the people around us. However, these habits fluidly combine into the ultimate transgression and the next time he touches his chewed up middle finger to my computer screen I may start bleeding internally.
1. Nervous nail biting. He is constantly chewing on his nails when we work. It's not just a when-they're-long kinda thing, it's an slow ongoing chew.
2. Touching the computer screen. He has no qualms about touching stuff that's going on on the screen for long periods of time.
3. Pointing at stuff with his middle finger. "Hey look at this, also fuck you"
Now, alone, all these unconscious habits wouldn't get to me. We all do things that bother the people around us. However, these habits fluidly combine into the ultimate transgression and the next time he touches his chewed up middle finger to my computer screen I may start bleeding internally.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Vignettes n' such
First off, way to go blogger. You've adapted your horrendous interface into merely a bad one. I still can't access other blogs without going through a rigamarole but at least I am now able to access Caitlin's blog without having to search through gmail for the link. Thumbs up. [Actually I take part of that back seeing as how it automatically removed most of my formatting when I originally posted this.]
I've been liking Spotify a lot. If you're not on it this is what it's all about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify. At it's core it mostly wants me to sign up for some sort of premium account and I must admit it's working. I can definitely foresee a world in which all my music lives only in the cloud but right now it still makes me a little nervous not actually having a file. My starred playlist was cleared once removing those songs from my library, it'd be pretty dreadful if that happened after a years worth of accumulation.
Speaking of music, I've been listening to a lot of new artists recently with Spotify partially to thank but more credit due to Pandora. Working is a good time to listen to music but when I don't have access to my library I'm left with internet radio and that forces me to listen to different stuff. I've found the Phoenix station to be my favorite so far with all it's uptempo indie pop.
Work is nice. I'm at the end of my training and I'm in a sort of awkward spot where I've got less to do and more time to do it. As a result I let myself get carried away adding features to various coding problems. One simple problem I was given involved taking in an input as follows
5 5
3 3 N
RLM
the first line is the boundaries on a plane, the second line is the position and direction of a rover and the third line gives a path for the rover to follow with (R=Right, L=Left, M=Move) From this input I output the final position of the rover.
That's all well and good but it was probably the most fun I've had at on the job so far and I finished it pretty quickly. So then I added a GUI, then I added a webview to show wikipedia for Mars Rovers, then I made a text editor to make input files (with a .rov extension), then I made it so that you could generate rover input text into the text editor. Basically everything just snowballed out of control and now I have a piece of software that does 10x it's original functionality.
I've haven't turned on the gas for my place yet.
This song is awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcNo07Xp8aQ&ob=av3e
I'm going to play magic, swim, play halo and get fucked up all this weekend and it's going to rule.
I've been liking Spotify a lot. If you're not on it this is what it's all about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify. At it's core it mostly wants me to sign up for some sort of premium account and I must admit it's working. I can definitely foresee a world in which all my music lives only in the cloud but right now it still makes me a little nervous not actually having a file. My starred playlist was cleared once removing those songs from my library, it'd be pretty dreadful if that happened after a years worth of accumulation.
Speaking of music, I've been listening to a lot of new artists recently with Spotify partially to thank but more credit due to Pandora. Working is a good time to listen to music but when I don't have access to my library I'm left with internet radio and that forces me to listen to different stuff. I've found the Phoenix station to be my favorite so far with all it's uptempo indie pop.
Work is nice. I'm at the end of my training and I'm in a sort of awkward spot where I've got less to do and more time to do it. As a result I let myself get carried away adding features to various coding problems. One simple problem I was given involved taking in an input as follows
5 5
3 3 N
RLM
the first line is the boundaries on a plane, the second line is the position and direction of a rover and the third line gives a path for the rover to follow with (R=Right, L=Left, M=Move) From this input I output the final position of the rover.
That's all well and good but it was probably the most fun I've had at on the job so far and I finished it pretty quickly. So then I added a GUI, then I added a webview to show wikipedia for Mars Rovers, then I made a text editor to make input files (with a .rov extension), then I made it so that you could generate rover input text into the text editor. Basically everything just snowballed out of control and now I have a piece of software that does 10x it's original functionality.
I've haven't turned on the gas for my place yet.
This song is awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcNo07Xp8aQ&ob=av3e
I'm going to play magic, swim, play halo and get fucked up all this weekend and it's going to rule.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
MRI Software doesn't make software for MRIs
Job's started and so far so good. This week has been a series of training lectures, videos and short assignments. So all in all it's very easy so far but not super exciting. I've done very little so far that has to do with what I'm actually going to be doing there. I guess they want us to learn about the real estate business and some of the accounting behind it before we really dive into code. Only today I started watching training videos about how Visual Studio works.
On that note, I can't believe how many training videos there are on this website. My training schedule says it expects me to finish the first round by the end of the month. "Wow, I have a lot of time to do this. It can't possibly take that long." But each video is at least 30 minutes and each segment has about 8 videos. I didn't count but there were a lot of segments. The end of the month was not an outrageous deadline.
The people there seem pretty alright. I've been hanging around with a guy who started the same day as me and is on me team. He's incredibly quiet though and it's hard to figure what he's saying sometimes. It doesn't help he has a slight Indian accent. Product Development has been doing training with the new Sales guys and it's kinda funny to see all these reserved techies hanging out with the boisterous sales dudes.
When meeting we went around the circle and did the whole say your name and something about you thing. The girl to the right of me timidly said "I'm Elizabeth, and I'm a deuce-aholic." The circle went quiet for a second as we all reflected on this statement.
On that note, I can't believe how many training videos there are on this website. My training schedule says it expects me to finish the first round by the end of the month. "Wow, I have a lot of time to do this. It can't possibly take that long." But each video is at least 30 minutes and each segment has about 8 videos. I didn't count but there were a lot of segments. The end of the month was not an outrageous deadline.
The people there seem pretty alright. I've been hanging around with a guy who started the same day as me and is on me team. He's incredibly quiet though and it's hard to figure what he's saying sometimes. It doesn't help he has a slight Indian accent. Product Development has been doing training with the new Sales guys and it's kinda funny to see all these reserved techies hanging out with the boisterous sales dudes.
When meeting we went around the circle and did the whole say your name and something about you thing. The girl to the right of me timidly said "I'm Elizabeth, and I'm a deuce-aholic." The circle went quiet for a second as we all reflected on this statement.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
THE POST
THE CLEVELAND
In 7 days I will officially become a real person.
My feelings on the matter are an odd mix of excitement, confusion and a bit of worry. It certainly seems like the right time to get out of Michigan with everyone else out of the area already and others leaving soon. I visited Cleveland last week and had a good night out on the town with Dano and Jo. We hit a couple bars and did some trivia. The next day me and Dano visited some apartments and I found a nice one for $740/month with a fireplace, heat/electric included, and lots of room for one person. It seems the market is fairly desperate in the area. I feel like the same amount of rent would get me 1/10 the amount of space in AA.
THE GATHERING
I keep missing Legacy tournaments, which is a shame because I finally got all the pieces for my deck together. The M:tg scene in the Clev seems fairly active so I'm hoping to find a good crowd for such things. Unfortunately Legacy has gotten much worse since the printing of Mental Misstep. Suddenly every deck can counter 1 drops if it so chooses and then it turns out the best way to counteract Mental Misstep is to play Mental Misstep. Legacy has gone from a vibrant variety of decks to a metagame of three real decks and a couple tier 2 strategies. Lame.
THE BLOGS
There's been a severe lack of blog updates in recent times. Mike's doing pretty good and so is Sara but the rest of us are slacking (I haven't had an actual update since May...) Let's pick it up people!
THE MOVIE
Despite Drew's many recommendations I still hadn't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog until last Saturday. It was pretty funny throughout and the songs were alright but I thought ending was where it really shone. I think there's a lot that could be discussed there and it's definitely one I would watch again.
THE BAD TRIP
My buddy Eric recently broke up with his girlfriend after 5 years of being together. I always thought they seemed like an odd couple but I definitely wasn't expecting a break-up without a major event to push them there. This made me wonder about something Brandon McCoy and Christian Smith were talking about the day we went to the planetarium. “Everybody should have a bad trip at least one time in their life in order to be a better person.” I think the same might be true of getting your heart broken, The parallels run fairly deep between those occurrences. It's one of the worst experiences ever, no one should ever have to live through it twice in a lifetime, but you come out of it a better person.
THE DROID
My droid has been frustrating me beyond belief these past few months. Slowly it has functioned less and less as time goes on. It started with a few program crashes once in a while but has escalated without ever reaching a point of no return. Here's a graph to illustrate.
Each day it gets more annoying but still not annoying enough to pay any fees to leave my contract early. Not to mention my desire to pay those fees decreases as I get closer to the date it ends. I brought it into the verizon store a little while ago and they recommended doing a factory reset of the phone. I tried that and it still sucks but now I don't have any apps.
THE WEEKEND
Last Saturday was one the best days of the summer. It started off with a failed attempt to go shooting at the range so instead we picked up Double Dank Little Caesar’s and played video games at Jay's house until Jay had to go direct his church's rendition of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. From there, we picked up some CC and Icehouse from the mini-mart (Anybody tried this before? It's a shit beer I'd never heard of.) With my parents in Dexter for the weekend, proceeded to get as rowdy as we could for the rest of the night. Several beers were chugged in the drive-way and we sang a boisterous rendition of Stacy's Mom which consisted of only the ending bridge repeated (STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, etc.) We downed some five hour energy for good measure and played a couple rounds of M:tg and Halo. Jay pissed on Kevin's car and Eric rubbed his cheeks on his windows which ended in Kevin chasing Jay down the street. We partook of cigars and Ryan smoked his simultaneously with a cig. Danny saw three full moons as he came back inside from driveway beers. We hit the hay at about 6am.
In 7 days I will officially become a real person.
My feelings on the matter are an odd mix of excitement, confusion and a bit of worry. It certainly seems like the right time to get out of Michigan with everyone else out of the area already and others leaving soon. I visited Cleveland last week and had a good night out on the town with Dano and Jo. We hit a couple bars and did some trivia. The next day me and Dano visited some apartments and I found a nice one for $740/month with a fireplace, heat/electric included, and lots of room for one person. It seems the market is fairly desperate in the area. I feel like the same amount of rent would get me 1/10 the amount of space in AA.
THE GATHERING
I keep missing Legacy tournaments, which is a shame because I finally got all the pieces for my deck together. The M:tg scene in the Clev seems fairly active so I'm hoping to find a good crowd for such things. Unfortunately Legacy has gotten much worse since the printing of Mental Misstep. Suddenly every deck can counter 1 drops if it so chooses and then it turns out the best way to counteract Mental Misstep is to play Mental Misstep. Legacy has gone from a vibrant variety of decks to a metagame of three real decks and a couple tier 2 strategies. Lame.
THE BLOGS
There's been a severe lack of blog updates in recent times. Mike's doing pretty good and so is Sara but the rest of us are slacking (I haven't had an actual update since May...) Let's pick it up people!
THE MOVIE
Despite Drew's many recommendations I still hadn't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog until last Saturday. It was pretty funny throughout and the songs were alright but I thought ending was where it really shone. I think there's a lot that could be discussed there and it's definitely one I would watch again.
THE BAD TRIP
My buddy Eric recently broke up with his girlfriend after 5 years of being together. I always thought they seemed like an odd couple but I definitely wasn't expecting a break-up without a major event to push them there. This made me wonder about something Brandon McCoy and Christian Smith were talking about the day we went to the planetarium. “Everybody should have a bad trip at least one time in their life in order to be a better person.” I think the same might be true of getting your heart broken, The parallels run fairly deep between those occurrences. It's one of the worst experiences ever, no one should ever have to live through it twice in a lifetime, but you come out of it a better person.
THE DROID
My droid has been frustrating me beyond belief these past few months. Slowly it has functioned less and less as time goes on. It started with a few program crashes once in a while but has escalated without ever reaching a point of no return. Here's a graph to illustrate.
Each day it gets more annoying but still not annoying enough to pay any fees to leave my contract early. Not to mention my desire to pay those fees decreases as I get closer to the date it ends. I brought it into the verizon store a little while ago and they recommended doing a factory reset of the phone. I tried that and it still sucks but now I don't have any apps.
THE WEEKEND
Last Saturday was one the best days of the summer. It started off with a failed attempt to go shooting at the range so instead we picked up Double Dank Little Caesar’s and played video games at Jay's house until Jay had to go direct his church's rendition of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. From there, we picked up some CC and Icehouse from the mini-mart (Anybody tried this before? It's a shit beer I'd never heard of.) With my parents in Dexter for the weekend, proceeded to get as rowdy as we could for the rest of the night. Several beers were chugged in the drive-way and we sang a boisterous rendition of Stacy's Mom which consisted of only the ending bridge repeated (STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, STACEY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON, etc.) We downed some five hour energy for good measure and played a couple rounds of M:tg and Halo. Jay pissed on Kevin's car and Eric rubbed his cheeks on his windows which ended in Kevin chasing Jay down the street. We partook of cigars and Ryan smoked his simultaneously with a cig. Danny saw three full moons as he came back inside from driveway beers. We hit the hay at about 6am.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Tourney Report: M12 prerelease
As always here's a report on the recent prerelease. Non-magic players be warned, this one's full of jargon and talk of the game and not much else and is super skippable. Real blog coming soonish.
It felt good to be back at a prerelease. I had skipped the prere for New Phyrexia and I've definitely been hankering for pwning the n00bs in some sealed deck. M12 appears to be a pretty decent, nothing in it is going to break the game wide open, but that's the nature of core sets so it just feels good to see exciting reprints. Notable cards from the set include
Grim Lavamancer
Gideon Jura
Day of Judgment (AKA Wrath of God)
Oblivion Ring
Smallpox
The Titan Cycle
Sutured Ghoul
Goblin Grenade
Incinerate
Overrun
Rampant Growth
Solemn Simulacrum
There's some new cards as well including some mediocre planeswalkers and bad sphinxes, dragons and demons, the usual fare.
I open my pool to find a pretty good set of cards staring back at me. I have bomby rares in Aegis Angel and Furyborn Hellkite. My white is very deep with 2 pacifisms and 1 oblivion ring with some solid flyers to back them up. My red is pretty abysmal so I have to let my dragon sit on the sidelines. Instead I end up playing blue with the big cards being Turn to Frog, Chasm Drake, Phantasmal Image, Phantasmal Drake and Sidewinder Drake. So In short I'm playing blue white flyers with a good removal package, classic stuff.
Kevin and Dan put together decent decks each. Dan's pool was a little lackluster so he had to splash blue in his primarily black/white deck. Kevin had a blue/black concoction with flyers and good removal. Strangely both Kevin and Dan had the same bomb in Sorin Markov.
Round 1
I start off by facing the mirror match. His deck is incredibly close to mine. It even has the same white bomb in Aegis Angel. Game 1 I steam roll him but blowing up his threats and swinging with flyers. Game 2 is where things start to slow down. I mean that literally, my opponent over thinks pretty much every play and takes a long ass time. The board stalls out early with him having a creature tapper and defensive flyers. He gains a slight creature advantage and starts hitting me for two a turn. This of course makes the game last a very long time and suddenly our judge shouts out "10 MINUTES LEFT IN THE ROUND." Well shit, I'm sure I can beat him in game 3 but we probably won't make it by the time he finishes thinking and actually manages to kill me. I go for a win in this game even though I'm behind but he still takes it. As we move into game 3 time is called and we end up drawing since we can't kill each other in 5 total turns.
Record 0-0-1
Kevin 1-0
Dan 1-0
Round 2
I hate drawing in magic. Getting a draw is almost as bad as just losing (you get 3 points for winning, 0 for losing and 1 for drawing for reference) so that's a bit of a kick to the face for the start. This round I'm facing one of the more annoying guys there. He's one those who thinks he's the shit at magic but is actually mediocre to straight bad. I know he had swept his opponent in the previous round. We start up and he 's playing some green and black thing. His deck's not bad but he doesn't seem to playing terribly well. He's got a lot of spiders to block my spiders but I just pacify them or send them to oblivion and my fliers are enough to take game 1. Game 2 is very similar but he drops a Grave Titan at some point. That's all well and good and is probably why he won the first round but I'm way ahead at this point so I just O-Ring a spider and beat his face in with my flyers.
Record 1-0-1
Kevin 2-0
Dan 2-0
Everyone's doing well today. That accursed draw is holding me back!
Round 3
The guy I'm playing is the owner of the arcade in the mall. He's pretty down on his deck and up on mine. He's got a black white thing with nothing particularly memorable except for a Vengeful Pharaoh that I end up O-Ringing. When he plays his creatures he lays them out so that the text is facing me. It's very odd and somewhat annoying. I understand it's a courtesy but if I need to read your card I'll ask to see it. He gets me game 2 with some good tempo but I roll him over games 1 and 3.
Record 2-0-1
Kevin 2-1
Dan 3-0
Kevin's down a game but Dan's still going strong.
Round 4
I'm facing a guy Dan beat in a previous round. I'm also in the middle of a trade with him. I'm looking to pick up a Sword of War and Peace and he wants my Splinter Twin for a recent standard combo deck. His deck is super aggressive with 3 Threatens and lots of ways to get them back. For the first time my Aegis Angel decides to show up to the party and turns out to be pretty sweet. I get him in game 1 with flyers removal etc. and he gets me in game 2 after attacking me with my own dude 3 times and top decking a burn spell for the win. Game 3 I smash him with flyers.
Record 3-0-1
Kevin 2-2
Dan 3-0-1
Dan chose to draw this round with his opponent since he knew he'd be making the top 8 no matter what. I was sad to see Kevin had lost since there was a pretty good chance that knocked him out of top 8.
Me and My opponent draw this round to both skate into the top 8.
Record 3-0-2
Dan 3-1-1
Kevin 3-2
Dan's opponent wanted to play for whatever reason and his decks was just the nuts. He had about 4 different beastly flyers and tons of removal backing it up. Kevin won his game and the tiebreaker stars aligned and put him into the top 8
Top 8 Round 1
I have no idea how my opponent is in the top 8. His mana is bad both matches but I don't think it would have made a difference. He's playing Sundial of the Infinite and I can't imagine why. I knock him out 2-0
Kevin and Dan both lose their match unfortunately but they play much better opponents. With a top 8 place they get 3 packs of m12 each. At this point I'm also exhausted and convince the others to split for first. we each get ten packs and are on our merry way. It's good to win a tourney as always and my packs are awesome. I open Jace, Memory Adept, Grim Lavamancer, Solemn Simulacrum and Primeval titan.
It felt good to be back at a prerelease. I had skipped the prere for New Phyrexia and I've definitely been hankering for pwning the n00bs in some sealed deck. M12 appears to be a pretty decent, nothing in it is going to break the game wide open, but that's the nature of core sets so it just feels good to see exciting reprints. Notable cards from the set include
Grim Lavamancer
Gideon Jura
Day of Judgment (AKA Wrath of God)
Oblivion Ring
Smallpox
The Titan Cycle
Sutured Ghoul
Goblin Grenade
Incinerate
Overrun
Rampant Growth
Solemn Simulacrum
There's some new cards as well including some mediocre planeswalkers and bad sphinxes, dragons and demons, the usual fare.
I open my pool to find a pretty good set of cards staring back at me. I have bomby rares in Aegis Angel and Furyborn Hellkite. My white is very deep with 2 pacifisms and 1 oblivion ring with some solid flyers to back them up. My red is pretty abysmal so I have to let my dragon sit on the sidelines. Instead I end up playing blue with the big cards being Turn to Frog, Chasm Drake, Phantasmal Image, Phantasmal Drake and Sidewinder Drake. So In short I'm playing blue white flyers with a good removal package, classic stuff.
Kevin and Dan put together decent decks each. Dan's pool was a little lackluster so he had to splash blue in his primarily black/white deck. Kevin had a blue/black concoction with flyers and good removal. Strangely both Kevin and Dan had the same bomb in Sorin Markov.
Round 1
I start off by facing the mirror match. His deck is incredibly close to mine. It even has the same white bomb in Aegis Angel. Game 1 I steam roll him but blowing up his threats and swinging with flyers. Game 2 is where things start to slow down. I mean that literally, my opponent over thinks pretty much every play and takes a long ass time. The board stalls out early with him having a creature tapper and defensive flyers. He gains a slight creature advantage and starts hitting me for two a turn. This of course makes the game last a very long time and suddenly our judge shouts out "10 MINUTES LEFT IN THE ROUND." Well shit, I'm sure I can beat him in game 3 but we probably won't make it by the time he finishes thinking and actually manages to kill me. I go for a win in this game even though I'm behind but he still takes it. As we move into game 3 time is called and we end up drawing since we can't kill each other in 5 total turns.
Record 0-0-1
Kevin 1-0
Dan 1-0
Round 2
I hate drawing in magic. Getting a draw is almost as bad as just losing (you get 3 points for winning, 0 for losing and 1 for drawing for reference) so that's a bit of a kick to the face for the start. This round I'm facing one of the more annoying guys there. He's one those who thinks he's the shit at magic but is actually mediocre to straight bad. I know he had swept his opponent in the previous round. We start up and he 's playing some green and black thing. His deck's not bad but he doesn't seem to playing terribly well. He's got a lot of spiders to block my spiders but I just pacify them or send them to oblivion and my fliers are enough to take game 1. Game 2 is very similar but he drops a Grave Titan at some point. That's all well and good and is probably why he won the first round but I'm way ahead at this point so I just O-Ring a spider and beat his face in with my flyers.
Record 1-0-1
Kevin 2-0
Dan 2-0
Everyone's doing well today. That accursed draw is holding me back!
Round 3
The guy I'm playing is the owner of the arcade in the mall. He's pretty down on his deck and up on mine. He's got a black white thing with nothing particularly memorable except for a Vengeful Pharaoh that I end up O-Ringing. When he plays his creatures he lays them out so that the text is facing me. It's very odd and somewhat annoying. I understand it's a courtesy but if I need to read your card I'll ask to see it. He gets me game 2 with some good tempo but I roll him over games 1 and 3.
Record 2-0-1
Kevin 2-1
Dan 3-0
Kevin's down a game but Dan's still going strong.
Round 4
I'm facing a guy Dan beat in a previous round. I'm also in the middle of a trade with him. I'm looking to pick up a Sword of War and Peace and he wants my Splinter Twin for a recent standard combo deck. His deck is super aggressive with 3 Threatens and lots of ways to get them back. For the first time my Aegis Angel decides to show up to the party and turns out to be pretty sweet. I get him in game 1 with flyers removal etc. and he gets me in game 2 after attacking me with my own dude 3 times and top decking a burn spell for the win. Game 3 I smash him with flyers.
Record 3-0-1
Kevin 2-2
Dan 3-0-1
Dan chose to draw this round with his opponent since he knew he'd be making the top 8 no matter what. I was sad to see Kevin had lost since there was a pretty good chance that knocked him out of top 8.
Me and My opponent draw this round to both skate into the top 8.
Record 3-0-2
Dan 3-1-1
Kevin 3-2
Dan's opponent wanted to play for whatever reason and his decks was just the nuts. He had about 4 different beastly flyers and tons of removal backing it up. Kevin won his game and the tiebreaker stars aligned and put him into the top 8
Top 8 Round 1
I have no idea how my opponent is in the top 8. His mana is bad both matches but I don't think it would have made a difference. He's playing Sundial of the Infinite and I can't imagine why. I knock him out 2-0
Kevin and Dan both lose their match unfortunately but they play much better opponents. With a top 8 place they get 3 packs of m12 each. At this point I'm also exhausted and convince the others to split for first. we each get ten packs and are on our merry way. It's good to win a tourney as always and my packs are awesome. I open Jace, Memory Adept, Grim Lavamancer, Solemn Simulacrum and Primeval titan.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Best Song Ever: All My Friends
Sometimes the stars align. There's so many factors that can hit right to make a song "good" or even "great." Rhythm, melody, instrumentation, lyrical meaning, relatability, nostalgia, etc. etc. etc. Each of these factors gives the listener their own personal experience when they listen to a song and they experience can be positive, negative or anywhere in-between. I can understand that for others "All my Friends" may not hit all the right notes. But for me, everything went right.
link first
Full Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDRLW748j68
Music Video(edited): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2V_ZT-nyOs
"You spend the first five years trying to get with the plan, and the next five years trying to be with your friends again"
This is the elevator pitch for us 20-somethings. It's all about transitions right now and the future is uncertain. We want to maintain those friendships we've been kindling our whole lives but we still write "willing to relocate" on our resumes. What's the balance? It's easy to put friendships aside as we flesh out the rest of our lives but I'm not convinced it's necessarily right.
"I wouldn't trade one stupid decision
for another five years of live"
University is a pretty good time to make mistakes and I definitely took advantage of that. The three dumbest things I've ever done linger in my mind with what-ifs surrounding them. But it's nearly a sin to complain about the college experience when it's such a unique and fantastic time in life. I can't say I wouldn't take anything back, but it wouldn't be much.
"We set controls for the heart of the sun"
Now, we're moving at lightning paces. In college, I often joked about becoming a "real person" post graduation. Well here we are living in our real house, paying real bills, going to our real jobs with our real responsibilities. This is about as real as it gets. The difference for us "young professionals" is that in a couple months it could all go out the window. It's something to appreciate, though. This sort of instability will only last so long and we should enjoy it, frightening though it may be. The top of the roller coaster is the best part after all.
"It comes apart, the way it does in bad films"
Things go wrong. Not just day to day problems, but the real shit. Where you want to be, who you want to be with, what you want to do, all that stuff can fall apart at the seams as you watch. It's good to have a plan, but it's also good to know your plan can fail magnificently.
"If I could see all my friends tonight"
I can't even begin to articulate what my friends mean to me (friends=you guys). I'm the busiest I've ever been and each day is critical in it's own way, but there isn't a day I wouldn't drop it all to see all my friends. Hell, even one person would be enough. And I believe my priorities are 100% correct here. Jobs come and go and so do people, but real friends are hard to come by. The Poker Nights and Hamham/Packpack times make up so many of the best moments in my life.
I could write a paragraph about every single lyric in this song but I'll spare you that. I feel the song's flexible enough that each person should be applying it to their own lives in different ways anyways. You can appreciate the actual musicality for yourself too, I can only pretend I know something about that stuff for 127 songs.
Thanks for reading bros
link first
Full Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDRLW748j68
Music Video(edited): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2V_ZT-nyOs
"You spend the first five years trying to get with the plan, and the next five years trying to be with your friends again"
This is the elevator pitch for us 20-somethings. It's all about transitions right now and the future is uncertain. We want to maintain those friendships we've been kindling our whole lives but we still write "willing to relocate" on our resumes. What's the balance? It's easy to put friendships aside as we flesh out the rest of our lives but I'm not convinced it's necessarily right.
"I wouldn't trade one stupid decision
for another five years of live"
University is a pretty good time to make mistakes and I definitely took advantage of that. The three dumbest things I've ever done linger in my mind with what-ifs surrounding them. But it's nearly a sin to complain about the college experience when it's such a unique and fantastic time in life. I can't say I wouldn't take anything back, but it wouldn't be much.
"We set controls for the heart of the sun"
Now, we're moving at lightning paces. In college, I often joked about becoming a "real person" post graduation. Well here we are living in our real house, paying real bills, going to our real jobs with our real responsibilities. This is about as real as it gets. The difference for us "young professionals" is that in a couple months it could all go out the window. It's something to appreciate, though. This sort of instability will only last so long and we should enjoy it, frightening though it may be. The top of the roller coaster is the best part after all.
"It comes apart, the way it does in bad films"
Things go wrong. Not just day to day problems, but the real shit. Where you want to be, who you want to be with, what you want to do, all that stuff can fall apart at the seams as you watch. It's good to have a plan, but it's also good to know your plan can fail magnificently.
"If I could see all my friends tonight"
I can't even begin to articulate what my friends mean to me (friends=you guys). I'm the busiest I've ever been and each day is critical in it's own way, but there isn't a day I wouldn't drop it all to see all my friends. Hell, even one person would be enough. And I believe my priorities are 100% correct here. Jobs come and go and so do people, but real friends are hard to come by. The Poker Nights and Hamham/Packpack times make up so many of the best moments in my life.
I could write a paragraph about every single lyric in this song but I'll spare you that. I feel the song's flexible enough that each person should be applying it to their own lives in different ways anyways. You can appreciate the actual musicality for yourself too, I can only pretend I know something about that stuff for 127 songs.
Thanks for reading bros
Monday, May 23, 2011
BSE? Endgame
Well, here we are at the end. For some reason I've decided to wait over a month to finish this thing up so sorry about that.
lemme give you the scores up to this point
Caitlin: 7+4+4=15
Ian: 6+4+4=14
Drew: 7+4+0=11
Mike: 5+4+8=17
Each round was worth 8 points total with the value for each individual match doubling each round (ie. R1: 1pt per match, R2: 2pts per match, etc.) So right now we have Mike in first with Caitlin and Ian close behind. Drew didn't predict a finalist so he is out of the running with the lowest score. Caitlin chose Day in the Life as her champion so she is also out at this point.
So now we have Mike with Modern Leper predicted as the winner and Ian who predicted All my Friends as the winner. As such the outcome of this whole thing depends on who wins this final match.
Drumroll please
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The Champion : All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
Runner up: The Modern Leper
Congrats to Ian! I shall be sending you something soon, is your address still the one in UNC?
Why did Modern Leper deserve to be here?
I'll keep it short and sweet for this one.
Modern Leper is the number one played song in my iTunes. Of course that means less now that number is maxxed out at one on my new mac. But it was also true on my PC clocking in at 200~250 plays. Keep in mind that this song was only released in 2008. So on average I played this song every fifth day.
As you know I'm a champion for lyrics and The Modern Leper hits that nail on the head. It's a song of self-deprecation to the greatest extremes. As you can pick up from the title the singer regards himself as a leper and uses that metaphor throughout the song to great effect.
"That limb that I have lost, it was the only thing holding me up"
The tunes are quite kicking for a song that's so down on itself. When the Hammers saw them at The Blind Pig they had one of the best shows I've seen there. It's hard to make a song like this one danceable but they somehow achieved it.
Why did this song deserve to be here?
Well in some senses it didn't. I believe the true finals occurred when Losing My Religion faced All My Friends a couple rounds back, but thats what you get when you do random seeding. But Modern Leper 100% earned its position here.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu2TPvtOTEw
Be back soon with All My Friends
lemme give you the scores up to this point
Caitlin: 7+4+4=15
Ian: 6+4+4=14
Drew: 7+4+0=11
Mike: 5+4+8=17
Each round was worth 8 points total with the value for each individual match doubling each round (ie. R1: 1pt per match, R2: 2pts per match, etc.) So right now we have Mike in first with Caitlin and Ian close behind. Drew didn't predict a finalist so he is out of the running with the lowest score. Caitlin chose Day in the Life as her champion so she is also out at this point.
So now we have Mike with Modern Leper predicted as the winner and Ian who predicted All my Friends as the winner. As such the outcome of this whole thing depends on who wins this final match.
Drumroll please
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The Champion : All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
Runner up: The Modern Leper
Congrats to Ian! I shall be sending you something soon, is your address still the one in UNC?
Why did Modern Leper deserve to be here?
I'll keep it short and sweet for this one.
Modern Leper is the number one played song in my iTunes. Of course that means less now that number is maxxed out at one on my new mac. But it was also true on my PC clocking in at 200~250 plays. Keep in mind that this song was only released in 2008. So on average I played this song every fifth day.
As you know I'm a champion for lyrics and The Modern Leper hits that nail on the head. It's a song of self-deprecation to the greatest extremes. As you can pick up from the title the singer regards himself as a leper and uses that metaphor throughout the song to great effect.
"That limb that I have lost, it was the only thing holding me up"
The tunes are quite kicking for a song that's so down on itself. When the Hammers saw them at The Blind Pig they had one of the best shows I've seen there. It's hard to make a song like this one danceable but they somehow achieved it.
Why did this song deserve to be here?
Well in some senses it didn't. I believe the true finals occurred when Losing My Religion faced All My Friends a couple rounds back, but thats what you get when you do random seeding. But Modern Leper 100% earned its position here.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu2TPvtOTEw
Be back soon with All My Friends
Friday, May 13, 2011
Where to start?
Here I am in Grand Rapids, living in the real world. Well, sort of anyways. It's kind of like a job, except I don't get paid. We've worked out a plan for my compensation, all my rent and some of my food is paid for courtesy of Momentum (the company providing FoodCircles with its seed money) and in 8 weeks, if I'm still here, I'm looking at about 5-8% ownership of the company. In this first week I've been incredibly busy. Most of the week has been consumed by introductory events and meetings along with a couple informative ones about topics such as intellectual property.
I spent today attending the Tedx event. If you're unfamiliar with Ted and Tedtalks, it's just a series of presentations where everyone just talks about something cool. What I didn't know about Ted is that it's a networking hotbed. There are 3 breaks and each one is over an hour long and during this time everyone just goes into the lobby and gives each other business cards. Each person had "I innovate _____" on their name-tag and having "I innovate Android apps" as my name-tag opened a lot of doors for me. I have 5 people who I need to follow up with, 2 of which told me about jobs they'd have for me. Where were you guys 3 months ago?
Some people thrive academically at the college after a poor performance at high school. The more open environment works for them and they come into their own. I'm starting to feel like college didn't work for me but 9 to 5 does. I don't think it's because I'm not setting my own schedule or anything like that, I feel it's because the things I'm doing actually matter and others are depending on me. University always felt like it doesn't matter how I do as long as I learned the important stuff and got a passing grade. But here, I want to achieve big things.
Our house has no furniture. No couches, no tables, no TVs, no dressers, no rugs, no microwave. We didn't even have a shower curtain up until yesterday. My room holds a fold-out bed that's about as soft as the floor and only slightly cleaner. I have a bedside table that houses my keys, wallet, etc. I keep my pants and shirts hung up in the closet and my socks and underwear in a suitcase on the floor. Much of this arrangement is temporary but since I won't be in Ann Arbor for at least a couple of weeks it's going to be a long temporary. To top it off, we don't have internet and we won't have it until the end of the week. To keep myself busy I bought several movies on the cheap at meijer. Tonight's feature was "The Legend of Bagger Vance." Tomorrow I've got "The Warriors" lined up.
This isn't how I pictured my post education world. I never had a large desire to attempt entrepreneurism. Now that I'm here, I'm not sure what I would take given the choice between this and a job in corporate America. In any case, there will be time for job security and paychecks later in my life. For now I can focus on learning, networking, and making something cool.
P.S. The BSE? will be done soon, I know the winner and I've written part of the entry. It shouldn't be more than a week. (assuming I get internet soon…)
I spent today attending the Tedx event. If you're unfamiliar with Ted and Tedtalks, it's just a series of presentations where everyone just talks about something cool. What I didn't know about Ted is that it's a networking hotbed. There are 3 breaks and each one is over an hour long and during this time everyone just goes into the lobby and gives each other business cards. Each person had "I innovate _____" on their name-tag and having "I innovate Android apps" as my name-tag opened a lot of doors for me. I have 5 people who I need to follow up with, 2 of which told me about jobs they'd have for me. Where were you guys 3 months ago?
Some people thrive academically at the college after a poor performance at high school. The more open environment works for them and they come into their own. I'm starting to feel like college didn't work for me but 9 to 5 does. I don't think it's because I'm not setting my own schedule or anything like that, I feel it's because the things I'm doing actually matter and others are depending on me. University always felt like it doesn't matter how I do as long as I learned the important stuff and got a passing grade. But here, I want to achieve big things.
Our house has no furniture. No couches, no tables, no TVs, no dressers, no rugs, no microwave. We didn't even have a shower curtain up until yesterday. My room holds a fold-out bed that's about as soft as the floor and only slightly cleaner. I have a bedside table that houses my keys, wallet, etc. I keep my pants and shirts hung up in the closet and my socks and underwear in a suitcase on the floor. Much of this arrangement is temporary but since I won't be in Ann Arbor for at least a couple of weeks it's going to be a long temporary. To top it off, we don't have internet and we won't have it until the end of the week. To keep myself busy I bought several movies on the cheap at meijer. Tonight's feature was "The Legend of Bagger Vance." Tomorrow I've got "The Warriors" lined up.
This isn't how I pictured my post education world. I never had a large desire to attempt entrepreneurism. Now that I'm here, I'm not sure what I would take given the choice between this and a job in corporate America. In any case, there will be time for job security and paychecks later in my life. For now I can focus on learning, networking, and making something cool.
P.S. The BSE? will be done soon, I know the winner and I've written part of the entry. It shouldn't be more than a week. (assuming I get internet soon…)
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Odd future
I guess I'm a poor interviewer or something. That doesn't surprise me, I've always been low key in my tone and a 'man of few words.' Neither of those attributes fill the ideal candidate role very well. As a result, each interview I do is a battle against my own nature. This tends to result in everything just feeling slightly off.
I have, however, found something to do after graduation and it came from a most unlikely source. In my mobile phone programming class I've been working with a small start-up to develop an android app for their idea. It's been going real well and they just got funding to continue their work. So I'm going to stay on the team after class is over. I'm not sure where I'll end up but it seems I could live pretty much anywhere in MI as there will only be weekly meetings. So maybe I'll stay in AA but more likely for now I think I'm going back to SJ. While there I'm going to keep applying to jobs and hopefully land something more stable after the summer ends.
So it may not be ideal money wise (My only paycheck might come in the form of equity) but I'll be doing what I like to do. Mobile apps have really been a source of enjoyment for me and I'm glad I get to make a job out of it, even if it's temporary. I also plan on developing my own apps as well (One with Mike and Drew too) so it should be a fun summer, even if I don't make a dime.
I have, however, found something to do after graduation and it came from a most unlikely source. In my mobile phone programming class I've been working with a small start-up to develop an android app for their idea. It's been going real well and they just got funding to continue their work. So I'm going to stay on the team after class is over. I'm not sure where I'll end up but it seems I could live pretty much anywhere in MI as there will only be weekly meetings. So maybe I'll stay in AA but more likely for now I think I'm going back to SJ. While there I'm going to keep applying to jobs and hopefully land something more stable after the summer ends.
So it may not be ideal money wise (My only paycheck might come in the form of equity) but I'll be doing what I like to do. Mobile apps have really been a source of enjoyment for me and I'm glad I get to make a job out of it, even if it's temporary. I also plan on developing my own apps as well (One with Mike and Drew too) so it should be a fun summer, even if I don't make a dime.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
BSE? Semifinals
Much like the real March Madness mine also extends well into April and I too am in my final four. While we’re talking about NCAA I would like to extend a “suck it” to Drew and Ian for getting whomped by me this year in our HamMadness tourney. UCONN! UCONN! UCONN! I can feel my pride bars rapidly leveling up as we speak.
Semifinals Match 1
Victor: The Modern Leper – Frightened Rabbit
Defeated: No Woman, No Cry – Bob Marley
Why did this song deserve to be here?
I’ve been misunderstanding the lyrics of this song for years now. This isn’t too strange of an occurrence but the difference here is I usually like my own version of the song better. Maybe that’s just because I’m used to it that way, maybe not. Some examples are the lyrics in Beta Band’s Dry the Rain (“I will be your light” vs. “I will be alright”) and Twilight Sad’s Cold Days From the Birdhouse (“Where are your manners?” vs “Where are your medals?”)
Now I never mistook any of the lyrics in No Woman, No Cry but I certainly got the message wrong. As you can imagine, I thought it was a song about scorning the fairer sex in order to not be hurt. Instead Marley’s meaning is closer to “No Woman, Don’t Cry.” The whole song is about how Marley remembers his life in Trenchtown. There are so many good lyrics in this song and they’re oftern very good at pulling on heart strings.
“Then we would cook corn meal porridge
Of which I'll share with you”
“My feet is my only carriage
So I've got to push on through”
“In this bright future you can't forget your past”
“Ev'rything's gonna be alright”
A lyrics as simple as “Ev'rything's gonna be alright” rarely seems like it’d be something so good. But Marley’s genuine tone makes this repeated line in the bridge the best part of the song.
The style is of course Reggae with heavy organ playing counter melodies with the focus on Marley’s voice. There’s a sweet slow guitar solo in the middle too. Reggae’s not exactly a big genre but this song appeals to absolutely everyone.
Why did it lose?
Mike’s been hitting the Modern Leper hard. If you had asked me if it was going to be in the finals I would’ve said no so I don’t know how he knew. I suppose I’ve tired myself out a bit on No Woman, No Cry as it’s one of the songs I feel like I’ve grown up with. My dad was always a big fan. That said this was incredibly close, as I’m listening to the version linked below I almost feel like switching it up. But as soon as I listen to Modern Leper I know I’ll feel the same way about that. It’s always hard to pick one of these songs, they all deserve their credit.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGqrvn3q1oo (This is a really awesome live version (but not the version on Legend))
Semifinals Match 2
Victor: All My Friends-LCD Soundsystem
Defeated: Changes – 2pac
Why did this Song deserve to be here?
Mike likes to make fun of me for when I rave about people who say “I like all music except for country and rap.” My usual argument is that it doesn’t make sense to “cut yourself off from a whole genre of music.” I repeated that particular line several times and throughout the latter years of college Mike tended to apply it to different situations partially to irk me and partially to agree with the point. For example “How can someone not like beans? It’s like they’re cutting themselves off from a whole genre of legumes!”
All that aside, it really does bother me when someone says they don’t like all of a genre. Periodically in my life I’ve heard people say they don’t like rap. If I’m anywhere near a computer I will make them listen to this song. “Ok, well I liked that song but I still don’t like rap.” Ok, whatever.
I don’t know where to start with this song. 2pac picked the perfect sample to along with his rap. Changes always did feel like a 90’s version of the very 80sish The Way it Is. Those cheesy drum synths are gone and replaced with hip-hop beats. 2pac gets some very talented back-up singers to fill in the gaps as well. It’s all very well produced.
Of course the lyrics are the star of the show. Let’s just look at the first couple lines of the song.
“I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself
is life worth living should I blast myself?
I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black
my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
one less hungry mouth on the welfare”
What can you even say about something as powerful as that? It doesn’t need any analysis.
Why did it lose?
Gotta go with the gut.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL5sdu3pNrU
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
MODO
This is a M:tg blog but I promise I'll keep the jargon to a minimum.
So recently I started playing Magic Online. It's another way to sink money into a game that already takes about 50% of my spare cash. It has been extremely enjoyable so far and the more drafts you win the more you can play for free. Of course every draft requires 2 dollars to play in addition to the prizes you can win from a draft. In that sense it's a lot like playing poker at a casino, you can come out ahead but the house always takes a share. If you sell off the "cards" you open you can usually make back the money you spent, so luckily this nonsense isn't too expensive.
As there are prizes on the line people take this shit as SERIOUS BUSINESS. Most people you play online won't say anything or just give a friendly "gl" at the start of the match. Others are not so civil about the whole business. One guy I was about to beat decided he'd rather log off and force me to wait for him to time out than concede.
My favorite time was when I attacked some guy and he prevented all the damage from my worst creature. He then said "Whoops! I clicked the wrong thing, good game." This was weird off the bat because he obviously wasn't dead yet just looking at the state of things. Then I figured out he was deliberately lying to me in order to kill my best creatures without me realizing his plan. I've bluffed in magic before and played like I could do something I couldn't but never have I just lied to my opponent. That's a whole new level of skeez. I promptly killed him after that.
One guy I played had a username of HankYu. Despite Cong's egging on, I managed to resist saying "Hank Yu for a good game."
So recently I started playing Magic Online. It's another way to sink money into a game that already takes about 50% of my spare cash. It has been extremely enjoyable so far and the more drafts you win the more you can play for free. Of course every draft requires 2 dollars to play in addition to the prizes you can win from a draft. In that sense it's a lot like playing poker at a casino, you can come out ahead but the house always takes a share. If you sell off the "cards" you open you can usually make back the money you spent, so luckily this nonsense isn't too expensive.
As there are prizes on the line people take this shit as SERIOUS BUSINESS. Most people you play online won't say anything or just give a friendly "gl" at the start of the match. Others are not so civil about the whole business. One guy I was about to beat decided he'd rather log off and force me to wait for him to time out than concede.
My favorite time was when I attacked some guy and he prevented all the damage from my worst creature. He then said "Whoops! I clicked the wrong thing, good game." This was weird off the bat because he obviously wasn't dead yet just looking at the state of things. Then I figured out he was deliberately lying to me in order to kill my best creatures without me realizing his plan. I've bluffed in magic before and played like I could do something I couldn't but never have I just lied to my opponent. That's a whole new level of skeez. I promptly killed him after that.
One guy I played had a username of HankYu. Despite Cong's egging on, I managed to resist saying "Hank Yu for a good game."
Saturday, March 12, 2011
BSE Round 5
Well it's getting real close now, we're off the the final 4 after this. At this level pretty much every song on the list has some personal meaning to me as well as just being awesome. I think I only had one upset from my initial thoughts in round 5.2. I still don't know who wins yet either so I'm feeling pretty excited at finishing this up after 3 and a half months. Next round sometime next week. I might do some bonus lists too (or just regular entries) inbetween depending on how busy I am.
Match 5.1
Victor: No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley
Defeated: A Day in the Life – The Beatles
Why did this song deserve to be here?
So basically every round that the Beatles had been in so far up until now I just had to look at the match to determine the winner. God Only Knows has been its only real competition so far and even then I don’t like that song nearly as much comparatively. So here we are in round five and it turns out I’m actually going to have to listen to A Day in the Life.
Ok, so the Beatles might just be objectively the best band ever. They broke down musical barriers, they produced infinite singles and they were the ultimate pop icons. We all have our favorite Beatles song. For some it’s Hey Jude, others prefer Yesterday and crazy people love Maxwell’s Silver Hammer and Octopus’s Garden (Why????) Picking the ones Beatles song to represent their entire catalogue wasn’t easy to do. I needed a song that wasn’t tired or overused, something that has still retained its Beatle Magic, but it needed to have that instant recognizability as a top song of their discography.
A Day in the Life pushed pop boundaries with its three song glued together vibe. Random orchestra noise glues these sections together in an unconventional fashion. Sgt. Peppers is one of the Beatles albums people really get behind (Revolver, Abbey Road, and Let it Be being the others in my experience) and A Day in the Life is a cornerstone of the album. All in all the song represents the Beatles well. It’s a great song, we all know it, but we don’t really want to listen to it right now.
Why did it lose?
For the aforementioned reasons as well as Marley’s song being amazing.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Q9D4dcYng
Match 5.2
Victor: The Modern Leper – Frightened Rabbit
Defeated: Heroes – David Bowie
Why did this song deserve to be here?
I still debate with myself on whether this is the Bowie song that should have been here. Changes hold so much nostalgia for me that it’s almost unbearable. Space Oddity continues to be amazing. More recently I’ve taken a liking to the song Life on Mars? Which I hadn’t heard of before about 4 months ago. Ziggy Stardust probably would have done just as well too.
In the end I picked Heroes for somewhat of a different reason. On multiple occasions I heard my brother rave about Heroes and how the 3 minute version was complete bullshit. It took me a few listens to realize how great Heroes really is but I eventually realized he was right and the song truly stood out in the Bowie catalogue. So when I hear this song I think of my brother and the influence he has had on my musical perspectives.
The 3 minute version is bullshit. They cut out all the buildup!
Why did it lose?
I guess Heroes can be a little repetitive and the love story is a little tired. I’ve listened to it a lot recently so I guess I’m putting it to rest. Modern Leper continues to be awesome.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3SjCzA71eM (Had to search a bit for the real version)
Match 5.3
Victor: All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem
Defeated: Losing My Religion – R.E.M.
Why did this song deserve to be here?
This song has everything to me, extreme nostalgia, awesome lyrics, catchy melodies. It wasn’t that long ago that my perspective on the song changed. I always took the phrase “losing my religion” as more of a literal expression but I guess it can also take on the meaning that one is at the end of their rope. It really makes the whole song a whole lot more cohesive for me. It has the same lyrical themes that Every Breath You Take has but it executes them much more effectively. It gets a little too creepy in Breath. R.E.M. has the same unrequited love but the author seems to realize that it’s all a hopeless effort.
I mentioned this in the last set but the music video is really awesome. You know right from the start when the milk jug crashes in time that you’re in for a sweet video. The religious figures in the song give some good literal visuals. I love how Stipe avoids eye contact with the camera for much of the song. His dancing at the end is really bad and yet fits perfectly.
There’s a certain set of songs that were on one of my original mix CDs that I used to play over hours and hours of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. Losing My Religion is one of those songs and I always get vibes of good times when I hear it.
Why did it lose?
Hardest match this round easily and definitely the song I’m saddest to see go.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-UzXIQ5vw
Match 5.4
Victor: Changes – 2pac
Defeated: Greener – Tally Hall
Why did this song deserve to be here?
The Tally Hall album is song by song the biggest string of hit or miss songs I’ve ever seen. Haiku and The Bidding are both boring and unpleasant. Two Wuv is god awful. Taken for a Ride, Spring and the Storm and just Apathy are all awesome.
Greener stand high and tall above all of these songs though. I think this song is probably the best representation of a long distance relationship and the damage it can cause that I’ve heard.
“Telephones make you seem miles away from home
All alone I get a little meaner
I leave a message at your tone
And miles away from home
You get a little cleaner of me
And I find a little greener shade of envy”
That pretty much wraps the whole experience very well. Apart, relationships have a tendency to crumble and jealousy has great potential to develop. What I really like about this song is that it sounds like the couple is a really good match, but it’s all outside factors that are tearing them apart.
“You fit just right
Right next to me
But there's always a reason why you can't be”
Why did it lose?
It’s still just a little too Tally Hall. One of the big disadvantages of a hit or miss album is that image somewhat taints the songs around it.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLZrJ36whP4
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
BSE? Round 4
And we're here with the sweet 16 going into the top 8. Sorry it took longer than I thought, spring break is very distracting. Later updates should be quicker since I'll have less songs to comment on. Another tough round I saw a lot of my favorites go. Well, I knew there'd be lots of heartbreakers in these late rounds. Hope your picks came out well!
Match 4.1
Victor: A Day in the Life – The Beatles
Defeated: Brian Wilson - BNL
Why does this song deserve to be here?
Ah BNL, you’ve been my problem child this tournament with your come back from the dead stunt and your continued success against songs that probably weren’t good enough for the round they were in. You’re probably the weakest player of all the songs left in, save possibly for one candidate, and it’s honestly about time to for you to exit.
This song’s match-up’s have been interesting, The Weight could have beaten BNL on most days but I felt really sick of the song when I took it back, having played it about 30 times the previous week. Roam is a straight up loser to BW but Peacebone was much closer.
Caitlin said in a comment “I also don't understand what's so great about Brian Wilson. It just sounds like BNL.” Well put, this is probably the greatest factor the song has going against it with some dumb lyrics like “I had a dream that I was 300 pounds[…] and I floated until I couldn’t see the ground.” These humor lyrics tend to work against the song in the way someone’s bad jokes rub against you the wrong way.
But enough of the negative, the song did make it here of its own merit. Much of that stems in catchy guitar strum patterns and uptempo choruses. This is all good for a casual listen but I like to think there’s something a little deeper going on. The use of minor chords gives us that this-is-a-sad-song vibe during the verse but switches it around during the chorus. In the end we’re left feeling somewhat middle of the road emotion wise and really that’s what I feel the whole song is about. There’s a lot of sleeping, listening to music, doing nothing and the highlight of the day is going out to the record shop like it’s an accomplishment. I love when musical themes match up with lyrical ones like this and the whole piece conveys this feeling of extreme mildness very well.
Also, it’s hella fun to sing/play along with this song
Why did it lose?
Beatles Etc. as well previously mentioned dumb BNL lyrics and bad attempts at humor.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch84fmOa414
Match 4.2
Victor: No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley
Defeated: Lost in the Supermarket – The Clash
Why does this song deserve to be here?
This is another one of those Steven-really-likes-lyrics kind of songs. Of course, it’s more than that too. The guitar is complex and interesting and the intro is a really cool little riff. There are lots of good licks that are peppered throughout the song too that keeps everything flowing well. The solo is catchy too.
But let’s get to the meat here. The words are about the rapid commercialization of the world. The main point of the song is summarized well in the chorus.
“I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality”
The special offer can refer to any product that’s ever projected a happier life through advertising, basically everything. Products are shown to make the consumer more interesting, more attractive and more human. In other words, ads are made to sell the “personality.”
The verses describe the emptiness and loneliness that our mystery shopper is trying to cure. These verse have some of my favorite lyrics ever.
“I wasn't born so much as I fell out”
“The kids in the halls and the pipes in the walls
Make me noises for company”
“I empty a bottle and I feel a bit free”
Let’s think about that first line for a second. That’s nine words. It’s truly amazing to me how much meaning can be packed into a nine word sentence.
Why did it lose?
In the email Ian sent me for his entry: “I feel sorry for you. [these songs] are all so fucking good at this point your job is practically hopeless.” This match-up I felt that particularly so. Most of the rest of this round I already have a winner picked out in my head but this one required many repeated listens to both. Now at the end where I’ve picked a song I’m still unsure about it. Sometimes you just have to pick one.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA8LWKiOTGI
Match 4.3
Victor: Heroes – David Bowie
Defeated: Boys of Summer – Don Henley
Why does this song deserve to be here?
How is it that every song from the eighties is instantly recognizable as such? I guess every thing is just a little more synthesized. Maybe people will say about the same thing about this generation’s music “Everything is so auto-tuned.”
Boys of Summer definitely has that going for and against it. The eightiesness increases its capabilities as a sing along as you’re driving song but hurts it in not being so damn eighties (I can’t even describe it any other way, it was this way for Time After Time too.) I know there’s really good lyrics in there too but I don’t really care about them. I just want to crank it up and jam.
Let’s talk about the one line that matters. “Out on the road today I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac” It sticks out amongst the rest of the song because of its placement in the song as well as its sound devices. Conveniently it wraps up the entire motif of the song as well. The times are a changing and what was previously seen as a sign of rebellion (Deadhead (Grateful Dead) sticker) can now be seen on the high class trophy car.
“Don’t look back you can never look back”
Why did it lose?
A variety of reasons. I always felt like this was somebody else’s song. Like it could hold a lot of nostalgia, memories and meaning for someone, but I only just downloaded it sometime in 2008 or 2009.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhaGE7RlMrY
Match 4.4
Victor: The Modern Leper – Frightened Rabbit
Defeated: The Message – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Why does this song deserve to be here?
Looking at the Wikipedia it appears that Grandmaster Flash himself had very little to do with the song. It was written by a member of the Furious Five and recorded solely by him after Flash and the rest of the Five showed no interest in recording it. It seems like every band that names itself after a sole member of the group is doomed to break-up at this point because of scuffles like this. How many times have I credited this song to Flash only? I’d say at least 95% of the time.
The song itself is one of the top hip-hop songs ever. The song has a real focus on the lyrics as the music is rather simplistic. Of course as a hip-hop song this is where it excels. It’s a song about the tragedies of living in the ghetto. Our rapper slowly goes from a light-hearted tone to a solemn voice and then to an almost crazed frustrated tone. It’s here that the chorus has really come to reality (“Don’t push me I’m close to the edge”) The whole song is a bombardment of awesome lyrics.
Why did it lose?
I’ll admit that partially this is a preference in song style. I’m more partial to guitar heavy pop/rock/alternative/whatever songs then early hip-hop. The Message is undoubtedly the top of its game though, despite what anyone might say about Rapper’s Delight.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY
Match 4.5
Victor: All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem
Defeated: Waterloo Sunset – The Kinks
Why does this song deserve to be here?
Some songs need to be danced to, some songs need to be analyzed and other songs need to be sung along with. Waterloo Sunset’s in a different sort of vein in that when I listen to the song I want to be doing something extraordinarily relaxing like laying on a couch with a blanket over my head, floating in a pool on a summer day or just falling asleep at night.
Waterloo Sunset provides an atmosphere that encourages this sort of relaxation coma. Everything about this song sends out the easy going happy vibe. The lyrics encourage forgetting about your troubles and letting the beauty of the little things take a hold on you.
“But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise”
Why did it lose?
That’s all well and good, but an active song will almost always beat a passive one. But when you’re in the right mood for Waterloo Sunset it’s all you want to hear.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J3gX47rHGg
Match 4.6
Victor: Losing My Religion – R.E.M.
Defeated: Gold Soundz - Pavement
Why does this song deserve to be here?
Gold Soundz always had a magical quality about it. A lot of that stems from the melodic guitars that come in right at the start and continue through the rest of the song. Stephen sings some pretty words alongside of them and his usually cracking voice stays on target but is so close to the. In “Range Life” Stephen uses a cracked voice to represent vulnerability but Gold Soundz hides that, like someone who is trying not to cry.
Gold Soundz is a short one coming in at 2:40 but it packs a lot into those 3 minutes. The chorus is 2 short lines and Malkmus announces when we’re approaching it “And we’re coming to the chorus now.” But what’s best about the chorus is how it changes from “I keep my address to yourself because we need secrets” to “I keep my address to myself because it’s secret” There’s an implied loss of trust here and maybe even a break-up. The song is very obfuscated in its meaning.
Best line: “You’re the kind of girl I like because you’re empty/and I’m empty./And we can never quarantine the past.”
Why did it lose?
This match and the Clash vs. Marley are definitely the most difficult of this round. I had to spend a bit of time listening to each song, rereading the lyrics, and watching the music videos (The video for R.E.M. by the way is dynamite.) Going into this match, I would have given Pavement the win on gut. If I had done seeding Gold Soundz might have been #1 too. I guess you never know
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj6QilYg5VA
Match 4.7
Victor: Greener – Tally Hall
Defeated: Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
Why does this song deserve to be here?
I like talking about the lesser known songs a bit more because really, what can you say about Sympathy for the Devil that everyone hasn’t already heard. The bongos are infectious, the piano is awesome and everyone loves the “Wooo, Wooo.”
The theme is my favorite part of it. It partially implies a devil acting to produce some of the lowest points of human history. But all in all these are human performed actions and the stones remind us to take a look at ourselves “Because after all it was you and me”
Why did it lose?
Over saturation hurts a lot. Sorry Stones, but you’re in far too many commercials
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je8MXiwmNIk
Match 4.8
Victor: Changes – 2pac
Defeated: The Rat – The Walkmen
Why does this song deserve to be here?
A lot of angry music is directed at some sort of institution. Sometimes it’s the police, the government, or even just your parents. It’s much less frequent that we get an angry song that is much more personal than that. In The Rat our lead singer is definitely mad at one figure. We don’t find out much about this person but that’s ok, anger doesn’t need to explain itself. We can probably infer that it was an Ex but even that’s not for sure. What we do know is that our singer is pissed to be hearing from this person, asking a favor no less. What’s also interesting is the line “I know we've been through this before” seems to lead me to think that he’ll give in to her yet again.
“When I used to go out I'd know everyone I saw/Now I go out alone if I go out at all” This line is repeated 3 times during the break and it’s difficult to tell if it’s related to the rest of the theme or just a mourning of the good times. I like to think he’s referring to how hard it is to meet someone new at his age.
The drums are the best part of this song. They give so much atmosphere to the song and it would be a very different song without the intensity they provide.
Why did it lose?
I just like Changes a lot.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipehdaDw7v4
Monday, February 14, 2011
BSE? Round 3 Part 2 plus BSE MaRcH MaDnEsS
Round 3 is finito. We saw a lot of great songs go but we saw even more greats progress. This project is close to wrapping up and coincidentally we happen to be headed into March. Hmmm, March... Brackets... sounds familiar.
Contest!
Ok, here's the deal, I'll be finishing this thing up all throughout March with probably one update per week. Send me your predictions for the rest of the bracket in any form you like along with your mailing address. I shall organize and score them as I go along and the winner shall receive a (secret) (special) prize! Here's the bracket so far:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=143649&tclass=Best%20Songs%20Ever%3F
Good luck bros and brosephines!
Match 3.9
Victor: Waterloo Sunset – The Kinks
Defeated: Under Pressure-Queen and David Bowie
Why did it deserve to be here?
What a fantastic collaboration. It seems like David Bowie and Freddie Mercury were made to sing together. I don’t think I could pick a more perfect pair of artists to work together. It’s a great duet, Mercury and Bowie are both obviously fantastic singers and they play off each other extremely well. Their lyrics are often overlayed on each other and this makes for some very interesting effects. Its got some memorable riffs including the famous Vanilla Ice bit. It’s definitely a vocal song but the parts in the background are technically sound and support the two singers very well.
Why did it lose?
Oh such a dreamy kinks song. It always just makes me a little happier and relaxed. Under Pressure is just a little arena rock. Plus they ripped off Vanilla Ice.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYXKaAzEJrk (check this out if you haven’t already)
Match 3.10
Victor: All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem
Defeated: No Children – The Mountain Goats
Why did it deserve to be here?
There are an awful lot of love songs out there in the world and it’s hard to approach the concept in the new way. Even break-up songs all tend to have the same “I’m so sad” themes. So that’s what really makes No Children something special. It’s not a break-up song since our couple has no intentions of splitting up and its dreary words and mutual hate tell us it’s certainly not a love song. This is more of a staying together in perpetual misery song. It’s a fate much worse than a break-up and the Mountain Goats encapsulate all the feelings of this type of relationship incredibly well in 3 minute song. The spite is fierce “I hope I lie, and tell everyone that you were a good wife.” Our narrator doesn’t want to give his wife the satisfaction of admitting their relationship is a failure. Every positive feeling is a façade but it’s all maintained for appearances sake. The title wraps up the song perfectly. There will be no children in this loveless arrangement.
Why did it lose?
All my friends is more relatable and the music is a bit more complex and interesting. Hard to see no children go though.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRP6egIEABk
Match 3.11
Victor: Gold Soundz - Pavement
Defeated: Hey Ya! - Outkast
Why did it deserve to be here?
I’ve talked a lot about pop songs over this contest and I don’t mean rock-pop, alternative-pop or any other adjective-pop. I’m talking straight off the radio, bubblegum happy, toe-tapping pop music. This is one of the most difficult genres to compose for without selling your soul. Much of the pop music you hear is recycled garbage from the other recycled garbage. Don’t get me wrong, borrowing from other musicians is all well and good, but when the third R&B song about “the club” comes on it’s just a little too much for me.
So in this wasteland of a genre a good song can shine like no other. I spoke about Roam, Real World, and Brimful of Asha really repping their genre and they are truly fantastic pop songs. But in the world of pop music I find that Hey Ya! rules them all. (I’m limiting this to modern pop music here before anyone gets in a huff. Yes, the Beatles are pop music.)
Hey Ya! is indescribably catchy. It’s simply impossible to listen and not move a little bit. The bass is kicking, the drums are popping, Andre is nailing those vocals to the wall. Everything about this song went right. Andre even makes sure to through in a little call and answer for some audience participation “What’s cooler than being cool?!” “ICE COLD.” And who can forget “Shake it like a Polaroid picture.”
Why did it lose?
Oh Gold soundz, you’re so damn good.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw
Match 3.12
Victor: Losing My Religion – R.E.M.
Defeated: Purple Rain - Prince
Why did it deserve to be here?
It’s the power ballad to end all power ballads. It’s a powerful 8 minute performance with killer vocals and awesome guitar solos all emanating from our main man Prince. I always loved that Prince plays his own guitar. So many bands just have Guitar George in the background cranking out perfect notes while the soloist only sings. There’s not too much to say about this song that you don’t already know but it is a classic.
Why did it lose?
Losing my religion has just about everything I want in a song. Honestly purple rain is too long as well, though I can’t say I’d want it to be cut.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtrQK8Zqj-g
Match 3.13
Victor: Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
Defeated: Disarm – The Smashing Pumpkins
Why did it deserve to be here?
It’s a really good mellow one from the Pumpkins. Corgan has stated that the song is about the shaky relationship between him and his parents as a child. Though I can see how that works with some of the lines I have some difficulty seeing how that relates with a lot of the lyrics. Despite the link between the metaphors and the reality being shaky without knowing the background, you can tell that Billy is passionate with his words and there is a lot of meaning sunk into them.
The guitar sounds much deeper than its simple chord progression lends it to be, this is one of those 4 chord songs. The interesting strum pattern allows Corgan to use this simple progression and make it sound complex. The orchestra in the background definitely helps propel the song and doesn’t come off as overproduced.
Why did it lose?
I had it the other way around as a snap pick. The Stones’ statement about humanity in sympathy is so effective though that I felt compelled to switch it around.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQtLoJlQD6E
Match 3.14
Victor: Greener – Tally Hall
Defeated: Chicago – Sufjan Stevens
Why did it deserve to be here?
What awesome orchestration, usually a song throws violins and cellos underneath the melody to add some layers to the song. But in Chicago, the orchestra plays a central role to melody alongside the vocals. When the horns come in during the center of the song, the whole song comes together and reaches a peak. Sufjan then brings everything down a notch to emphasize the most important lyrics of the song
“if I was crying
in the van, with my friend
it was for freedom
from myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes”
A difficult song to classify, I’d say it fall somewhere under folk-power-ballad. It’s truly something unique and extremely satisfactory for the ears.
Why did it lose?
Greener is such a classic story with a mix of catchiness. Relatable, sad and fun all at the same time.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRrqcZbdPU
Match 3.15
Victor: The Rat- The Walkmen
Defeated: Cold Days From the Birdhouse – The Twilight Sad
Why did it deserve to be here?
It’s definitely one of the more obscure songs on this list. Frightened Rabbit describe The Twilight Sad as one of their big influences and you can definitely hear it in their songs. I absolutely love the instrumentation of this song. We start out with a repeating out of key piano note. Then the twangy guitars come in with lots of slides. There’s lots of sounds in the background that I can only really characterize as vibrations. I think I hear an accordion in there. Finally our lead singer joins in and I can’t tell you how perfect the Scottish accent is in this song (and album.) If I was a teenage girl I might describe it as “dreamy.”
It’s hard to find meaning in the lyrics, but it definitely about a relationship turning sour. You can hear it in the tone of the voice and in certain lines of the song. “Romantic gesture //With ruined plans” It’s a really fantastic melodic piece.
Why did it lose?
The Rat is intense and powerful. It’s an awesome song.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79pmP4FjnXc
Match 3.16
Victor: Changes – 2pac
Defeated: The Who - Baba O’Riley
Why did it deserve to be here?
They say there’s The Who people and there’s Led Zeppelin people. I have no idea how anyone could be a Led Zeppelin person when The Who is the alternative. I like some regular old rock music now and then as the Zep tends to be but it just doesn’t match The Who.
Baba started its life as part of a rock opera The Who was composing as a follow-up to their record Tommy. The lyrics over top of it are supposed to be sung by the main character of the story to his wife “Sally.” The frantic organ sounds in the background were intitially planned to be the life of mystic “Baba” (hence Baba O’Riley) fed into a synthesizer. When this plan didn’t work out one of the band members simply played this part on the organ.
The song itself is of course breathtaking. It amps you up. It gives you a boost. It plays to your emotions and sets you up like your heading out on a journey (as was the intention in the original opera.) It’s a great composition.
Why did it lose?
2pac’s got it all, lyrics, beats, and a great tune. Fare thee well Who.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2KRpRMSu4g (I had some cool stuff happen playing this song over itself with a 15 second delay, though it does desync eventually at the tempo change)
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