| We're All Just People Passing By |
[Dec. 28th, 2004|07:28 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Introspective | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Pain of Salvation-People Passing By | ] |
Lots to talk about. First the fun stuff.
Holiday was fun, the usual avalanche of presents, from flashy to the mundane, all appreciated. Mostly clothes (always needed) foodstuffs (can't survive without it) and the "other" stuff. Falling in the later catagory my brother got me the LOTR: ROTK extended edition which we stupidly stayed up Christmas Eve night watching and subsequently didn't get to opening the presents on Christmas day until like noon. Also falling in the later catagory was alot of home furnishing stuff for future apartment. Mostly in the modern asian decor look (black mostly). And several chinese teapots. Thats a fairly long story but the short version is that when my brother went on the evil Atkins diet thing he gave up coffee and drank alot of loose leaf tea (lower caffeine than the dust in tea bags) which lead me to a recommendation to a badass place in Georgetown Park called Ching Ching Cha which is a traditional chinese tea house. Incredible food and traditional chinese tea. These guys mean business they have like 100 different kinds of tea and serve it to you in these little clay teapots. These little pots are called Yixing pots and are pretty elaborate and handmade of a special clay that absorbs the flavor of a tea (you only use one type of tea in a pot). They vary in size from tiny (2-3oz) to massive (50 oz). So anyways I thought these things were just extremely cool, so I've got a couple now and I got a few more for christmas. I think I have 7 now total and yes I do use them all, most of the ones I got were different dragon shapes. One of the Yixing Pots I got. I also got an awesome hand painted chinese mug from that chinese place I mentioned above. So it was a good christmas on the present front.
So driving back to VA I go through North Carolina and they must have had some crazy frozen rainstorm the day before because it was like driving through an ice forest, everything was coated in a sheet of ice, it looked amazing but from the look of most of those trees, they probably will never recover, there was also an amazing orange full moon that night, shame I didn't have time to stop and take pictures. As it is I got in around midnight.
Now for the bad stuff. I get back and go in to work today and find out that my coworker fucked up his knee and will be out for quite some time, which means I will probably wind up having to do his job as well as my job and the jobs of everyone else's that I am asked to do on a regular basis. Fun. Except not.
The other bad thing is the watery death those people on the Indian Ocean got for a Christmas present. Day after Christmas and I wake up to headlines about thousands dead to a massive tsunami caused by a 9.0 earthquake. Now its up to more than 50,000 dead. Me and Ben were talking about it last night in chat and the footage is just horrifying. I'd say that I'm praying for the people over there but it rings kind hollow to me when it seems illogical that a benevolent God would allow this kind of shit to happen. So all I can say is that for those that died I hope they find their way to a better place, and for those that survive that they can find some kind of peace and put this tragedy behind them. Easy words to say, but its all I have to offer. What annoys me though is that immediately after the news kept mentioning the American death toll, as if I really care what race the people were that died. They were people, period. All races, all nations should care and feel sorrow for those people, regardless of wether people from their own country died. Its tragedy on a catastrophic scale, end of story.
The song? its my favorite song and has been for a few years. The perfect fusion of jazz and metal but the real power of this song is the lyrics. Daniel Gildenlow the singer and guitarist for Pain of Salvation is also one of the most gifted lyrcists I've ever seen. See for yourself. Lyrics |
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| Happy Holidays! |
[Dec. 22nd, 2004|08:16 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  stressed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Therion-Abraxas | ] |
This will be my last entry before the Holidays cause I'll be on the road the next few days headed down to Florida.
Anyways the last few days have been crazy. Firstly until today it was Motherfucking Cold here. As in - degrees with the windchill. Evil. Then I've been busy at work and with getting a Christmas Event going for Skyrift. Work has been pretty crazy lately, end of Christmas is always crazy in retail but the scheduling this week as far as shows is loaded with matinee's and since we never have enough help in the shops, it means I have to do a job thats not mine and its not just me but my coworkers. So it puts me behind on the stuff that is actually my JOB to do.
Anyways tomorrow is gonna be pretty rough but I think the vacation in Florida will make up for it.
The song? Its from one of the most unique bands in any genre. Though Therion most definitely falls in the category of heavy metal they have done a brilliant job of mixing classical music with metal and opera. This song is one of the best examples of that mix. The opening choruses are a light metal riff with a female soprano. Then at the middle the choral and orchestra comes in and then it shifts gears to a full choir section with a very thrashy drum bit, and then a solo and Iron Maidenesque dual lead that ends the song.
Well I'll have lots to talk about after the holidays to be sure. Until then, peace. Happy Holidays! |
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| As we walk through the ashes, I whisper your name |
[Dec. 17th, 2004|08:26 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  energetic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Pain of Salvation-Ashes (live and acoustic) | ] |
So Wednseday night was the TSO concert. It was just killer, no less than I expected but here's a recap.
I got to the Patriot Center about 30 minutes before scheduled start time. Found our seats (its a family thing for us, my parents love them too, so we go every Christmas). I went back around the front to get a tour shirt, which they were sold out of. So I bought one of the new logo ones, has TSO written in frozen ice thats being thrown by some ice wizard. Its kinda cool.
So about 20 minutes late the place finally is pretty much full to capacity (I believe they started late because of the extra security checks) and they kill the lights. First let me say I was concerned about our seats, the elaborate rigging for the show was sort of like a giant metal archway and then 4 giant suspended light trussels with a white canopy over top due to that I couldn't see the stage. There was also a double vertical lightning rig that extended out over the floor seats that had the snowblowers attached (I'll explain later). So anyways when the show starts the canopy flies off the 4 lightning rigs and they do this transformeresque shift, moving at a 90 degree angle then elevating until they are radiating out from the top of the arc like spokes from a wheel. Very cool. Then the band comes out and without further ado launched into Wizards in Winter. Very different live than on the album, very heavy guitar sound. After that was over the traditional piano intro for the "Christmas Eve" portion of the show started up, the narrator came out, and the story began. The lineup is pretty simple. Starts off with Angel Came Down, O Holy Night, some narration about Russia, then Mad Russian's Tea Party, First Snow (the snow blowers blow out snow over the crowd during this song), extended and quite lovely narration about Sarajevo, Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24), Hark the Herald Angels Sing, some narration about the Ornament trilogy, Ornament, Some more narration about the Ornament trilogy, Old City Bar, Final narration about the Ornament Trilogy, This Christmas Day, Good King Joy, The final narration and conclusion of the Christmas Eve story, and finally it ends with An Angel Returned.
That was just the first set. A couple of points of note, the narrator is extremely cool. He's very much like a James Earl Jones with a big booming voice. There was a new singer doing the role of the Angel this year, and he was kinda interesting because usually its a Broadway singer. This year they choose an opera baritone. It was a very different sound. Even though it wasn't a single off the album, First Snow remains a crowd favorite, I think the fake snow has alot to do with it, Its quite a sight. The guy singing Hark the Herald and Good King Joy was a replacement this year, to the man who I mentioned in my LJ a week ago, Daryl Pediford. The new guy has an equally awesome and powerful voice, but while Daryl had a unique raspiness, this new guy was true gospel and smooth as silk. The crowd loved him. As usual the crowd went nuts for Christmas Eve, their biggest hit. The singer for the Ornament trilogy was new as well, he had a very Joe Cocker like voice, raspy at times. And though it was the same singer for Old City Bar this year as the previous years, he sang it different this time. Not sure if I liked it as well, it was dragged out a bit to much. Live the song was almost 10 minutes! After that the lights went up and the guitarist Chris Caffery introduced the band, first asking people to give a big applause to Daryl Pediford, because as he said "Daryl is always with us now". He asked how many people were new fans that had never seen them, suprisingly about half the audience was. I bet they didn't know it was gonna be this elaborate! Its hard to describe to people just how amazing their stage show is. Tons of lasers, lights, pyro and fake snow. Its just crazy! Anyways then he said there was alot more to come and the lights went down again and they launched into a song from the new cd, Christmas Lights in Blue. The guy who sang the Ornament and This Christmas Day songs was apparently the guy who sang Christmas Light in Blue on the cd, who knew? Anyways about halfway in the second guitarist (ex Testament, now jazz wizard Alex Skulnick) switched to a double neck guitar, sauntered out to the center stage and launched straight into Stairway to Heaven. People went nuts. They got to the part where it goes heavy and then to my shock, launched into The Immigrant Song. The guy with the raspy voice that sounded like Joe Cocker had a spot on PERFECT Robert Plant impression. Amazed me and everybody else, he got huge applause at the end. Then they did a Emerson Lake and Palmer cover (I think) and launched into a mind blowing Drum Solo that went on several minutes and ended the song with 2 short but crazy guitar solos from Chris and Alex. The new few songs they did after were from Beethovens Last Night. Then Chris came out and announced they were working on a new tour and cd for the summer that was non Christmas, called Night Castle and they were gonna play the first song from that cd. It was one they have played the last two years. Carmina Burana. Not much to say about this, its just insanely powerful. Its incredibly heavy (the original piece is as well) and intense. They used the pyro for this one and I was getting baked by the heat coming off those (we were close to the left side pyro jets). Then TSO creator Paul O'Neill came out and in a suprise move the record company gave him a double platinum commemorative plaque for Christmas Eve and Other Stories, their first cd. 2 Million copies sold. Quite an achievement. He thanked some people and said they had a few more songs to do. One of the female singers came out and blew everyone away with her vocals for Christmas Canon Rock, then another backup singer (an opera singer) came out and did one from the new album called Queen of Winter. Then they did a medley of songs from Beethoven's Last Night, which would be part of the Night Castle tour. They had alot of new pyro stuff going on here and it was extremely cool. Then Chris came out, thanked everyone and said Goodnight and closed with Wish Liszt off the new cd (this one sounded amazing live) and an Encore version of Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) where he ran around through the crowd playing finally ending up on stage for the blinding light show that signified the end of the show. They all came out to take a bow to massive applause and that was that! An amazing show really, as it is every year. If you enjoy any TSO songs you hear on the radio I can't recommend the live show enough.
Whats with the song I'm listening too? Well not much, I just am all TSO'd out at the moment. This song was originally on the Pain of Salvation cd The Perfect Element. This version is from their live acoustic cd 12:5, totally different arrangement but it suits the song very well. |
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| I'm Broken |
[Dec. 14th, 2004|11:50 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Mourning | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Pantera-I'm Broken | ] |
So my internet is finally back up, after 2 days of downtime from the wireless.
Tomorrow is the TSO concert. I'm definitely excited, I'm hoping they do something new this year with the new album and all.
As to why I'm mourning. Well those who know me can probably guess. I'm mourning the loss last Thursday of a metal legend. Guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbot. Formerly of Pantera, recently of DamagePlan. Not just him but the other people shot and killed by that psycho path in a senseless tragedy. Dimebag was such a huge influence on my playing, his technical but heavy in your face style is where I formulated alot of my sound. I also learned alot from his lessons in Guitar World. He was a great teacher and always came across as such a happy fun loving guy (though perpetually inebriated and usually swearing :)). The huge public response to his death just shows how much this guy was connected with not just the metal community but the rock and roll world as well. He will never be forgotten. Which brings me to my last rant.
I'm angry. I'm fucking pissed. You wanna know why? This is why. This moronic idiot is not only an arrogant prick but the fact that he is actually laughing at the people mourning the loss of this great guitar legend shows what a sick freak this guy is. I can't believe people take this crap for journalism. It turns my stomach. I'm not even gonna get into how closely heavy metal is tied to classical music or how Dimebag was classically trained. I just wanna show this. Thats the guy (on the left) that he's calling a semi-human barbarian. So tell me who's the barbarian?
R.I.P. Dimebag |
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| Walk. With. Me. (I see myself in you) |
[Dec. 7th, 2004|01:24 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  apathetic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Pain of Salvation-! (Foreward) | ] |
Meh, just after my first entry I start working on SkyRO only to find that the NexusAtlas IRC is down. I'd hate to get hooked on another game because once IRC is back up I wanna get back to work. Unfortunately the new DAOC expansion comes out tomorrow...so its tough. Luckily I found I completely uninstalled DAOC by accident so its probably not gonna be much of a problem.
I've been working on compiling my best of lists for 2004. May be too early for a movie list, but music wise I think most everything is out that I am interested in.
TSO concert in a week! Yay!
This song is so amazing. Isn't it funny that no matter how great subsequent releases by a band are, the first one usually remains the best or holds a special place in your heart? Entropia may lack Pain of Salvations new found pop sensibilities and complexities but the riffs and melodies are without compare. And honestly I think lyrically its one of the best as well. Although anything anti war automatically gets my vote.
Hero is such a great movie, get the DVD people! I can't wait for Zhang Yimou's new one, House of Flying Daggers. Its supposed to open around here Dec. 17th. |
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| So, lets get this party started.. |
[Dec. 2nd, 2004|07:58 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | pensive | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Trans Siberian Orchestra- For the Sake of Our Brother | ] |
Well out of sheer boredom, and a period of creative regression I have decided to start this little livejournal.
Those who know me, know I'm working on a Ragnarok Online server currently and I have to say I am feeling rather uninspired. Which is odd because I just got my old pal TSWolf on board which is exciting. He's a bit of a pain in the ass to work with but he keeps me honest. I have lots of ideas but alot of time I am not so good at thinking through the consequences. With me and him and GuySmily running my server, all should be great. But I'm feeling oddly bored and unmotivated. Its wierd cause I spent last night watching TV (Lost) and playing guitar when both my tv and my guitar are right next to my computer. I could have easily gotten some work done. But I didn't. I don't think I am losing interest in the server, I truly intend to make this great, but today once again I feel unmotivated. I dunno whats up with me. It may have to do with work. Let me switch gears here
I love my job, something few can say. However it doesn't pay well, at all. I have no apartment, and I feel that I should. I am happy with my life right now except that I feel that I am not yet independent enough. Yet when I search for a new job I get nothing. On top of that my boss has been perhaps stringing me along by saying he is gonna promote me to a position with better benefits and substantial pay so that in a year or so I may be able to get my own place. However he's said that for about 3 months now. Its a real bitch cause I have it so good here. I can honestly say I don't really hate any of my coworkers and most of them I consider friends not only that but its a fun and interesting job. Working in performing arts is something I never though I would do yet its made me a much better person. Lately though I'm frustrated because I know I deserve better than what I have. If I leave my job I hate to sound pompous but they are gonna be in some serious shit for a while after until they replace me. At some point I am gonna have to leave, if I don't get a new job I will have to move to Florida with my parents (which I may do anyways) because I simply don't make enough to afford my own place. It seems my best bet is to make a real push in January and if I don't get a response right away about the promotion, to start really searching everywhere for a better job. I know I have to put my needs first but I don't want to leave my coworkers screwed by leaving at a time when they are overloaded like now. Spring time will be best. But I think about it more and more lately cause I'm getting older, and I do want to be on my own. I like my parents and all but..well ya know. So maybe having all this on my mind is stunting me creatively.
Whatever the point is, I have to force myself to do some work on the server, cause I don't wanna be the lazy GM who does nothing.
As for the music? Its a bit of a tribute. The singer on this song (Daryl Pediford) died a few days ago and for those who have seen TSO in concert you know what I mean when I say that I will sincerely miss hearing him sing live. He was an incredibly passionate singer and loved to work with the audience. I'll be seeing them in 13 days and I'm sure they will be great but it won't be the same without his singing. I am sure their replacement will be good, but he was truly unique. |
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