Rachmaninoff

What I'm reading is rather dry since I'm currently taking a look at this: [B]Outlines of Music History[/B] by Clarence G. Hamilton. As it says at Amazon since it's easier to simply copy and paste - This book is meant to meet the demand for a concise history of the entire field of musical development, presented in the light of new research. It is designed for both the student and general reader. The author hopes this volume will give the reader an intelligent conception of how music developed and has added numerous illustrations to illuminate the text as to the style and materials used in the different epochs and as to the personality and characteristics of the leading composers. I'm a music geek, obviously, and I teach as well, need I say more? Well other than whether or not it's actually any good or useful is another story. I've only just started it after all. >_> I need to read something different for fun or rather something not music related. Heh.

[quote name='Sabrina'][FONT="Tahoma"]Oh that Hiyori! I just giggled when Patricia found her sketchbook, greatly embarrassing her, especially when she got to the recent sketches of [spoiler]Minami and Yutaka together in a yuri pairing. [/spoiler][/FONT][/QUOTE]It's been a while since I watched this show. I really should watch it again, I mean I have a little, but not far enough to where Hiyori is in the series. She's so wonderfully wacky and insane as well as fun to follow in the show. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I'd love to see a second season with her and the other new characters. The interaction between the group is just hilarious to see. Heh.

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Question: where does Nathan need to head first after he comes back through? Obviously he wants to see Alex, but he'll get Lucia's message as soon as he's fully through, and I assume she said something like "at your earliest convenience" or sommat similar. I'm trying to decide whether to have Nathan hunt his charge down or take a detour in the meantime; either way he has to reconnoiter with Isen first, so it'd be merely a direction and intent indicator towards the end of the next post.[/FONT][/QUOTE]Well considering what Beth said... You could have Nathan at Alex's place, talking with Isen when Alex gets back from handling his assignment. I don't have any plans for that since it's just normal routine work. If you're worried about timing, you could have Alex indicate that it took longer than expected on account of getting another job while he was out handling the first one. You know... the one that Lucia refused to accept. Heh. [B]EDIT:[/B] Okay as discussed in our chat the other night, here is the pictures for Alex's mentor, Patrick and his two familiars Terry and Fiero. I'll explain after the links. [URL="http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8946/patrickterryfiero02ie5.jpg"][U]Patrick Terry Fiero[/U][/URL] [URL="http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2900/patrickterryfiero01in7.jpg"][U]Patrick Terry Fiero[/U][/URL] [URL="http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2538/patrickscytheaa4.jpg"][U]Patricks' Scythe[/U][/URL] Okay, and there you have it, I'm sure the names for the familiars give away which is which. And no I don't know why they have such dorky names, you can ask them if you want. It's not like they really tell me anything. Anyway... The two are sea dragons. Most of the time they stay in a smaller form on Patrick's shoulders, but like Nall, they get a lot bigger in full form, hence the two pictures to sort of give you a hint as to how that would look. For them, being partnered to a Shinigami means they gained the ability to move through air as if it were water and they no longer need or require it to survive. Key notes about Patrick's personality... He never takes anything seriously and his skills are rather basic since he is not a veteran like Nathan and Gavrie. He does have the basics down good, but not much more than that. Oh and before I forget, the main post has been edited to include them in the npc section.

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Personally, I doubt that "elegant" is quite the right word to use for this style. In fact, [I]elegant[/I] to me means something more like [I]mature[/I] and [I]demure[/I] beauty, with graceful bearing. Not [I]childish[/I] and [I]provocative[/I].[/FONT][/QUOTE]That's what I was thinking. It's too childish looking instead of more elegant like some of the Victorian style of dress it's modeled after. The phrase "Elegant Gothic Lolita" is nothing more than a "coined" term to make it more appealing to a wider audience who most likely don't grasp it's intended purpose.

[quote name='Aceburner']Sometimes, advertisements can be funny, interesting or informative, but they[B] usually just get on my nerves[/B].[/QUOTE]That's about my take on it. I don't watch anywhere near as much television as I use to because advertising just annoys the hell out of me. It doesn't help that in the 1960s a typical hour-long American show would run for 51 minutes excluding advertisements. Today, a similar program would only be 42. So that gap of actual show vs commercials keeps getting wider. The whole marketing bit just grates on my nerves since everywhere you turn stuff is practically tossed in your face in an effort to get you to buy something. Sure its necessary, but I'd rather pay a fee to not be subjected to it. Though since I have cable and use the onDemand section to watch stuff without all the annoying ads, I suppose I already do. So my take on publicity for marketing purposes... mostly bad.

Well thanks to Des... I'm listening to [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HXHTHgNfnw"][U]Gruberova - Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen[/U][/URL] "Hell's vengeance boils in my heart" which is the second aria sung by the Queen of the Night in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). I kind of had to after being subjected to that horrible Hatsune Miku version. Just to get that sound of the other one out of my mind. XP If you like opera at all, it's a beautiful piece.

[quote name='Desbreko'][color=#4B0082]Here's one for you, Rach. Crystia said you'd enjoy it. :catgirl:[/color] [center][youtube=Hatsune Miku's Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen]witmhVb_VPI[/youtube][/center][/QUOTE]Oh hell. I should have known better than to click on that. *shudder* That?s like nails on a chalkboard, you realize that right? Crystia tells you I?d like something that?s classical?? That should have been a dead give way to NOT click on the link. XP I'm going to go and listen to the real thing... my poor ears. And while I do that, you all can listen to this, it does have language though. [YOUTUBE="Eddie Izzard- Death Star Canteen"]Sv5iEK-IEzw[/YOUTUBE]

[quote name='Allamorph;808424][FONT=Arial][COLOR="DarkRed"]Rach[/COLOR], play with the scene with Isen for a few; Nathan's comin' back,so it shouldn't be long there.[/FONT][/QUOTE]That's my plan, I've already got a bit of an idea running though my mind for a post. I just hope I read Isen correctly. Heh.[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial][B]Edit 2:[/B'] Just for grins, I checked our word count on page six. 14,704. Around 30 pages in Word. (Give or take.)[/FONT][/quote]o_O Damn, we've been busy haven't we? [B]EDIT:[/B] Okay, and I finally posted. >_> I hope I got Isen right. I also wrote Shaula further out of the story since she's not a part of it anymore. I figured that would work, having her essentially moved to another city. Oh and I'm including the second scythe form for Nathan in the first post. :p

[CENTER][B]Do You Play?[/B][/CENTER] Alex was relieved to finally be away from that vampire at Nathan?s place and yet even now, he wasn?t sure what to do. In a way he didn?t really know Isen all that well and he didn?t know what to say either. [I]Now what? [/I]It wasn?t like he could offer her tea or any of the normal things he did to occupy his time when he was between assignments, or could he? Nall seemed unruffled by her presence, which also made no sense. Alex was certain that at one time Nall had commented on the fact that she knew far more than he did. And usually that made him more quiet and reserved. "[B]So, uh, Isen... What do you like to do with your spare time?[/B]" He finally ventured. Isen just looked up from where she was sitting on the chair opposite the sofa that Alex and Nall were on, tilting her head to the side slightly as if considering what to say. "[B]It depends.[/B]" "[B]Well Nathan likes that tri-chess game right? I don't have that but I do have the other version. Do you like to play?[/B]" "[B]Sometimes.[/B]" "[B]Well if you don't mind an easy win, you should play him Isen.[/B]" Nall quipped, giving Alex an amused grin when he turned towards him in protest. "[B]Hey![/B]" Nall just laughed, turning back to Isen. "[B]He hasn't managed to beat me yet.[/B]" "[B]Sounds like he needs lessons then.[/B]" "[B]Not really, I'm not very good either. I find it boring.[/B]" Nall explained. "[B]That's too bad.[/B]" "[B]Oh I know, maybe if I had someone more challenging to play with it would be more fun.[/B]" He looked meaningfully over to Alex. "[B]But... oh well.[/B]" Alex sighed inwardly, there was no stopping Nall when he was in one of his twitting moods. No the only way to end that was to counter him and he knew just the thing for that. He suppressed the smile that threatened to show itself, though it wasn't easy on account of the desire he felt to laugh. He mock sighed instead. "[B]Yeah, I know what you mean Nall, after all, it's [I]so[/I] hard to find someone who can get past the first boss in Lunar Silver Star Story.[/B]" Now it was his turn to grin at Nall's indignant snort. "[B]It's not a matter of being able to get past it, I refuse to play that stupid game.[/B]" "[B]Sure Nall, you keep telling yourself that.[/B]" He laughed and then stopped at the sound of his cell going off. [I]Who could that be?[/I] He opened it up, surprised to see that it was from the other side.[I] What? But I told them I would call them when I was ready.[/I] Sure he was mostly healed, but his spiritual energy indicated that the process wasn't quite finished yet. "[B]An assignment already?[/B]" Nall asked upon landing on his shoulder and looking at the message that had been sent. "[B]They're impatient. What happened to the call us when you're ready bit?[/B]" "[B]It's Shaula, she's not returning to the city. They've moved her elsewhere.[/B]" Alex explained. "[B]They want us to pick up what she would have been assigned since she was not involved in the fight with the Count and didn't get hurt.[/B]" Alex closed his cell phone. "[B]It's an easy job, an infant, so I don't see a problem.[/B]" He stood up. "[B]We'll be right back once we're done Isen.[/B]" "[B]Alright, just be sure to avoid any vampires.[/B]" She cautioned him. "[B]I'll be waiting for you here.[/B]" "[B]Okay. Rest assured I want nothing to do with them, at least not until I get some more training first.[/B]" He looked to Nall sitting on his shoulder and then turned and took off. It wouldn't take him long to deal with the work. [I]I just hope Nathan is back once we're finished.[/I] He still felt uncomfortable at the thought of running into a vampire on his own.

Hmmm, that's the same as what's here in Allamorph's post Sandy:[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Finally: For all those fans of [URL="http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/115884.html"][COLOR="Blue"]Dead Fantasy I[/COLOR][/URL], good news! [URL="http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/193489.html"][COLOR="Blue"]The sequel[/COLOR][/URL] has finally arrived.[/FONT][/QUOTE]Still fun though. I'm only disappointed that it's not more... for a moment I thought that what you posted was part three and four. Damn.

Well this does look like fun so... [CENTER]Music Notes full of rhythm Bow drawn across a string Melodies of joy come forth Songs[/CENTER] And yes... I think you were expecting music in there somehow. lol

Good lord DB, if not for Crystia, I swear dude, I'd hang you up by your toes. But putting that aside, the real reason I'm here is that I'm currently listening to this piece here: [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU96Yvk310s"][U]Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture[/U][/URL] It starts out a little slow, but then it gets going and is very lively and fun to listen to.

And you've just met 2008DigitalBoy Sabrina. Though that does beg one question, why the hell he's using that older account. And yes, he's a perv. :p You know it's true DB. But anyway, I agree, looks may be important but I've had my share of meeting girls who were adorable but personality wise? *shudder* No thanks.

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]If there's anyone you really should try to stop giving Des ideas Darren, it's probably Crys. [/SIZE][/QUOTE]Don't I know it. >_> She's too good at that, seriously. Also... Des! Here's a good idea! From Gavin no less! [quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"] turn the entire boards into one giant Caramelldansen video. [/SIZE][/QUOTE]:D Oh how I love quoting out of context. Hehehe.

Okay, I've now hit 100 hours for playing [B]Lunar Silver Star Story [/B]and the sequel [B]Lunar 2 Eternal Blue[/B]. I can safely say that out of all the games I've ever played, they are among my favorites now. For ps1 games, there's just no getting around how fun the characters are and I love all the anime cut scenes that it had woven into it. I think the second one literally had over an hour of that. And the music was great. I'm going to end up playing both of them again. Heh.

>_> And why did I have to be right? About feeling like there would be more [spoiler]tragic and yet heroic deaths?[/spoiler] That was a great post though Gavin, I enjoyed reading it.

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Take Johann Pachelbel, whose Canon in D (the bane of every cellist's existence) had been taken for its pleasant chord progression by numerous artists, such as Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter ("One Tin Soldier"), Vitamin C ("Graduation Song"), Aerosmith ("Cryin"), Blues Traveler ("Hook"), Green Day ("Basket Case"), and probably several others that I can't remember right off the top of my head.[/FONT][/QUOTE]I try to pretend that on some level, that the piece doesn't exist, I mean... the same two-bar bass line and harmonic sequence is repeated over and over... 28 times in total. (I think) It is pretty, but kind of annoying to actually play. And since I got off on it I'll subject the rest of you to it: [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Af372EQLck&feature=related"][U]Canon in D[/U][/URL] And now I'll move to something else since honestly, even if it's pretty, it makes me want to fall asleep. >_>

[quote name='Aceburner']If the pattern keeps up, I'd hate to be you next Tuesday, Rach.[/QUOTE]Gods... don't go giving Des ideas! >_> Not that he needs any help. That Valentines Day prank is proof of that. XP

Thanks a lot Sabrina, for reviving this thread. Man, and here this thing had finally dropped off the front page... I'm beginning to think that this prank is going to haunt me forever. I can see that I should have included[I] banging my head on my desk[/I] as one of my activities for Valentines Day in the thread I started on it. XP

[quote name='Panache']Tchaikovsy Owns My Soul!!!! I don't know why...it just does.[/QUOTE]Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is one that I would list and then the reasons as to why one should love his music would run into a full length essay/paper. He has so many works that I enjoy listening to. Anyway, you all already know that one of my main obsessions is Sergei Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff is regarded as one of the most influential pianists of the 20th century. His stuff is just fantastic and I pretty much never get tired of listening to it... :animesmil In fact, I think I'm going to go and put in one of his piano concertos to listen to. Heh.

Where would I even begin? >_> I have so many things that I consider a music obsession and I could easily spend hours listing all of them and the reasons as to why you should check them out. XP I don't have just one album or recent song that I'm geeking over so to speak, I have so many that it's a challenge to decide just which one I'm going to listen to. If we are going by recent additions that are not classical in nature, then I would have to list Nightwish, specifically their Dark Passion Play album, as it's one of the more recent additions to my library as it were. I like it because of this aspect: As with their previous studio album, Once, the band worked with the London Session Orchestra and Metro Voices Choir while recording the album. There's just no getting around how powerful the songs are on account of the orchestral work that went into the songs.

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]So as of recently, no. Grunge does not have Classical influence. But, looking at the broader musical spectrum, Grunge owes its existence to light rock, jazz, classical, etc.[/FONT][/QUOTE]Well yes and no, not necessarily grunge per se, but there is a lot of styles of music that were heavily influenced by classical as it were. [list][*]The use of instruments and timbres that resemble classical music, such as piano, harpsichord, violin and orchestra sounds, emulated or not by synthesizers. [*]Adaptation of traditionally classical instruments techniques, specifically the violin for the electric guitar (notably their vibrato). [*]The frequent transcription and/or adaptation or emulation of Classical pieces - mostly violin ones - to formations involving the electric guitar as the soloist. For the introduction to 1981's "Diary of a Madman", Rhoads borrowed heavily from Cuban classical guitar composer Leo Brouwer's "Etude #7". [*]The frequent borrowing of harmony, motifs and themes from specially well-known classical pieces. [*]The central role of guitar shredding playing techniques, many of them inspired by Paganini's style of playing.[/list] It's more than just metal, many of the styles and techniques get borrowed on a regular basis and in some outright copied. I don't remember the name of the western I saw, but the romantic music for the show was none other than one of Brahms symphonies. So basically, as Allamorph just said, many of today's styles are on some level influenced by the development of music over the centuries. :p So naturally I laugh when people dismiss older classical music as blech, when serious musicians will make a point of studying it to improve their ability and range of techniques. Because they know that those techniques in the big picture, came from the development of music over more than just a few decades. And now that I've gone on way to long... I'm listening to [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2PDW2EVWQ"][U]Tchaikovsky Piano concerto No.1[/U][/URL] that you mentioned Panache. Great piece really. Heh. [B]EDIT:[/B] Allamorph... Edited... I got thrown off by putting the example in and didn't catch the repeat. lol

I use to go to church for Easter... But I haven't done that in quite some time. So other than to perhaps visit my parents, something I often do on the weekends, I won't be doing anything different for the day. Other than my usual, get up, practice, have lunch, visit parents, spend time with friends, do stuff with Beth, etc. That about sums up my Sundays. XP

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Don't knock the old stuff, guys?it's where grunge and metal came from.[/FONT][/QUOTE]That's what I was just thinking. I always do when people bash the stuff and then rave over things that are heavily influenced by it. Heh. Anyway, I am now listening to this: [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akc0v_KTZBM"][U]Beethoven - Piano Concerto no.5[/U][/URL] You're out of luck Prem... You have to like it since it's Beethoven. :p That and the pianist Claudio Arrau... good lord is he good.

It's one's parents job to do that sort of thing, teach about smoking. But if they want to put warnings on it or rather make sure it's part of the description as to what's in it. That works in my opinion. Beyond that, I see no need to change anything really.