Sunday, October 26, 2008

Possibly the Greatest Animation Ever

Four years ago, the popular Flash animation site was hit with an animation called "Fallen Angel Teaser". The animation (which can be seen here) was a 3-4 minute action thriller set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, where a random girl comes in and causes some extreme havoc/carnage. Fantastically animated, it was rated among the top animations of its time.

Four years later, the teaser has finally bloomed into a full-blown animated feature, Episode 1 of a continuing series. I do not estimate by saying it is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Flash animations that I have ever seen. Trust me, you will NOT be disappointed.

It comes in 3 parts, and is about 12 minutes long, total.

Fallen Angel, Episode 1, Pt. 1
Fallen Angel, Episode 1, Pt. 2
Fallen Angel, Episode 1, Pt. 3

Saturday, October 25, 2008

A Musician's Nightmare

Anyone who has ever even dabbled in the performance of music can appreciate this. I dare anyone to attempt to play the first two lines. Or any two lines, for that matter.

Monday, October 20, 2008

SCHNAUSS'D!

I've been listening to a good amount of ambient electronic stuff lately, especially while doing schoolwork. Specifically, the work of Jon Hopkins and The Field. Very good, innovative, relaxing stuff. Today I've found a third artist to complete a trilogy of ambience. This guy's been categorized as ambient, although he's a bit... frankly, louder and beatier than the others. Nonetheless, it'll do just fine.

Oh, and his name is Ulrich Schnauss.

Hehe. Schnauss.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Heima

Trawling through IMDB, I discovered a documentary called Heima, purported to be the highest-rated documentary to date on IMDB. Curious, I took a look - as it turns out, it's a 90-minute documentary by an Icelandic post-rock band that I am currently obsessed with - Sigur Ros.

Heima, at its core, I would describe as a pure work of art. It combines a couple of videos of live performances with a lot of really cool nature shots, and a couple of interviews with the members of the band, explaining what it was like to return home after a long time touring the world, the benefits and letdowns of success, and other random things.
The music itself is so amazing and artful that a music video itself would suffice. But the beauty of the shots that they blend combined with the raw honesty of the band and their sound just makes Heima a gem. There's no plotline, no story: Just an hour and a half of satisfying elegance, filmed entirely on-location in Iceland.
Disclaimer: I would probably listen to Sigur Ros's music before you watch. If you don't like them, this might not be for you. But if you can appreciate (or, like me, love) Sigur Ros's music, then give it a go. It's great stuff.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Diversification

Never hurts to try something new, right? I've recently been diversifying my musical tastes a good bit... From a pretty solid backgound of rock, alt and indie rock into the more... eclectic... genres of electronica (with trancey music from Jon Hopkins and The Field) and post-rock (with several not-so-well-known bands including Cordis, Mono, and Clogs). Today, however, I've decided to open up a new horizon, that being...

Classical music. Or, in 1800s terms, music. Pretty much, it's what we had up until about a hundred years ago. So it's bound to be worth something, right? I've gained a pretty strong appreciation for classical music through my high school orchestra, so I figured I'd get some stuff for my iPod. I've just gotten some Vivaldi, Yo-Yo Ma, and three 15-20 minute pieces that all sound pretty good. It's... interesting music, to say the least. Takes a while to get used to, but it's really good stuff when you listen to it, especially while you're working.

I feel like it's weird to listen to classical music, though. Pretty much, nobody does, so, well, yeah. Oh well. Screw you, convention!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Kakistocracy

I recently learned a new word: Kakistocracy: Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens. I'm prayin that that's not where we're headed, although with Sarah Palin on the G.O.P. ticket, I haven't exactly been put at ease. Nonetheless, one can at least hope that we'll make the right choice come November 4th.

Also, atoning for one's sins on an empty stomach is hard work.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Presidential Debate, Round 2

And the second of three debates between Barack Obama and John McCain is now underway. The format is a bit more interesting - not just a straight-up moderator Q&A session with the two candidates. It's a "town hall format" - with a live audience asking questions in addition to a moderator, and the candidates standing up (without a podium) and addressing the questions. It seems a bit more personal and engaging, really.

Well, we'll see how this goes. They say that McCain is losing speed, and that a bad showing here would just about seal the deal for the Obama campaign. We shall see.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Phightin' Phils

The Economist is really a great newsmagazine. If you want to stay up on current affairs, and just be a generally worldly person, I'd definitely recommend it. 'Course, you could just go to newyorktimes.com, as well. But, if it's a weekly, more portable scoop you need, is good.

Also figured I've give a shout-out to my home team, the Philadelphia Phillies, who have just won their first playoff series in 15 years. They'll face the LA Dodgers in the NLCS. We rock the house.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Rosh Hashannah

Well, the Jewish new year has come and gone. We Jews dipped apples in honey, threw bread into rivers, and blew oversized ram's horns all over the world, and thus ushered in a brand new cycle in the neverending circle of life. Fun fun fun.

The great thing about his time of year is that it gives us a time to zoom out for a second from our daily concerns. We get so caught up in our lives, with school, work, friends, social pressures, and so much more, that we almost neve have time to just take a minute and take a look at the bigger picture, to be thankful for all that we have. The truth is, it's not often that we have some time to look back on the past year and reflect on what we've done, good and bad. And more so, it's not often that we take a look at how much we have to be grateful for, and realize how incredibly lucky and blessed we are to have all that we have.

Gratefulness, I think, is key to a happy life. Rosh Hashannah, in many ways, gives me a reason to look at this again, and I hope to make it a core part of my philosophy. Consider it.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

VP Smackdown

Watching the VP debate right now: Biden vs. Palin. Admittedly, Palin has looked a lot stronger and less... flustered than I thought she would, but nonetheless it seems like Biden is strongly in the lead here. Palin doesn't seem to want to give straight answers.

Personally, I think that Sarah Palin is an aberration in this country that cannot possibly be allowed to gain any real political power in this nation. Doing so would be a huge mistake. So I'm siding with Biden on this one.