"Adelaide's Lament", Guys and Dolls

Just watched Guys and Dolls. This was one of my favorite songs. It's not that popular on youtube (so I suppose it counts for Love Deprived), but that aside, I really...just felt like blogging about it. Posting it, you know?

Guys and Dolls is so cool...the art in the music and over acting and silly, witty, mundane problems and dialogue is quite astoundingly sublime. I enjoyed it greatly. I don't think enough of today's culture (well, from what I've observed in my country, anyway) appreciates the medium of the musical. I know I didn't until just recently.

Love Deprived---Britt Nicole, "Headphones"

Less than 500,000 views. A little bit more views than i usually like, but this song still ought to be watched more often.

I'm back.

;)



Lolita, Not the Book

If you are into Japanese culture, fashion, manga, BDJ's, etc. or just happen to stumble across it during a wikiwalk, Lolita is a term you are at least somewhat familiar with.

This is NOT about the book, may I again emphasize (which I never read, but am getting a stomach-turning-creepy vibe from), nor about Loli/Shotacon anything. Just so you know. This site I have found incredibly useful as my interest in sporting the style grew (surprisingly, it can cater to many tastes, including my own punk-alternative-random-etc. type style), and explains much as to the ins and outs of this unusual manner of dress.

The basics, however: Lolita is one part subculture, one part fashion, with a few other bits and pieces, “branchings”-off and derivatives thrown in the mix. It arose somewhere in the 80’s and is heavily influenced by Rococo and Victorian aesthetics and clothing, with a twist of alternative and/or modern style. The actual look varies greatly, with everything from Punk and Gothic to Sweet and Classic Lolita, this fashion can be altered to fit numerous personalities and predilections. The movement’s significance and what the style represents in regards to Japanese society, as well as societies worldwide, can be broadly interpreted; for some it’s a way of life, for others, well, they just like the clothes. ;)  The flavor of Lolita, however, remains consistent, though at times subverted— rebellious, but with subtly; loud, but soft; pretty, gentle, and, though pop-culture and racy manga will tell you otherwise, generally modest. The philosophies of the eras which this style borrows its look from also influences its message, whether or not it they are turned on their heads or become the subject of satire. Despite the world view of Lolita constantly shifting with the times and/or existing undefined, there’s no doubt regarding the prevalence of Lolita, which has not only stayed but thrived (unlike a few other subcultures and styles, which I hope I can discuss at another time), and worked it’s way into many venues of art and culture, such as music, manga and anime, dolls, advertizing, literature, advertising, and so much more. Lolita may or may not be here to stay, but its modern timelessness and traditional deviance certainly has an appeal which is undoubtedly worth studying.

Armored Flight

Psalm 11:1-3 (KJV)
In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? [2] For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. [3] If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

If the time stamp on this post is any indication, this verse has great significance to me right now. I am so tired, so I'm going to go to sleep now...

Anyone else feeling the Same way as me and the author (David, btw, if I'm not mistake; the man had hordes of enemies.)?

Basically: God is ifinite, yet we are but mortal men and women, fragile and breakable. If owe enemies overwhelm us, what can we do about it?

Well, my friends, call on God of course (while it is the logical conclusion, I didn't just pull that our of my sleeve; read the rest of the verse for more. Some unsavory things happen to those archers in wait of God's bir- i mean, children. Bird children? Sorry, it's late and I'm out of it...). Just know, He is all powerful and more than able to defend those He loves. He can save us when we can not save ourselves (so, constantly).

Anyway, goodnight readers! Thanks for your patronage, and I hope that, in return, I have written something which you have found purposeful, interesting, enjoyable, something good...

"Farewell...May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks."*

~RRC

*I know this is the answer to the greeting technically, but it sounded better. Sleep well, LOTR junkies!

F. Scott Fitzgerald---Gatsby's Secrets...

...I must know them. Though, truthfully, I prefer Nick's company at the present time; He is interesting in a somewhat normal way, and comforting because of this. I think. Not sure, really...

So I started the Great Gatsby. Fantastistic so far, but i'm not far past the start so I can't be certain whether or not I personally will love it. I love it's style,that's for certain. Not too fond of Daisy, but I have a feeling she may have more depth than she let's on. Then again, may be not.

Fitzgerald was a very interesting man, really, quite fascinating---like Nick he seemed to have a both humble and most undeniable awareness of brilliance that let you know of his sincerity. But those are first impressions; more will arise about this later, I'm quite certain. I hope to write more about Fitzgerald, as he seems like the type of dead author I love stalking erratically. Mathematicians, artists, poets, and fictional characters also tend to get this treatment. Just to let you all know--- he's next! Probably.

For now, I felt like mentioning this, but...I suppose today was not my day. Oh well. Tomorrow, then?

More Math Rock

Sorry this isn't much of a post, but I'm kind of in a rut right now and it's late, so...
Here's some more math rock samples. These two are far more diverse than the last one. Still includes some weirdness, though (of varying types), so be cautious.

(Note: I'm so sorry, I realize some of these songs and/or band names are not very appropriate. It appears I will have to be more careful in the future. I will try to replace these samples with "cleaner ones" very soon. In the mean time, feel free to either listen at your discretion or avoid these videos. Thank you.)

What God Had to Say to Me Today...

"Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than a fool in his folly.~Proverbs 17:12

My devotional bible says in  it's annotations "Sure to attack you and rip you open." (Zondervan NIV Study Bible [not properly cited, I know..."

Well, I'm not quite sure what significance this holds for me...at least, I hope it doesn't particularly hold significance for me. But it's important, and I'm sure it is even more important to one of my readers, so...

Anyway, goodnight! God bless!

~RRC

P.S. Also for tonight: "Pleasent words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."~Proverbs 16:24
This one always has prominate significance for me! Well, goodnight again my readers! God be with you!

Math Rock

Math rock, who knew such a thing existed?
a rather obscure form of experimental rock that arose in the 80's, heavily influenced by progressive rock and various advant-garde genres of music. There is much focus on the music and much less on the lyrics and human vocals, which are either treated as simply another instrument, sometimes found in the middle or at the bottom of the mix, or omitted entirely. The rhythms are atypical, complex, and mutable; one could almost describe the sound as "a pleasant dissonance". It has a very free flowing, jazzy feel to it, in my opinion, so you can think of it as "Jazzy rock" I guess. It gained the name "Math Rock" because of it's complexity; it sadly has no real relation to music with a mathematical theme. The sound is definitely enough to make up for it, though.

But why am i ranting about it? Elvis Costello is quoted saying "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." I may disagree somewhat, but i still hold to that. Reading paragraphs about how the music is "a meld between progressive rock and jazz, it originated in the 13th century, blah blah blah" tells much less about the music than 10 seconds of listening to it. So, what are you waiting for; Math rock is simply a click away.

(This was my first sampling; more will be on the way.)

(Also note: some of the covers and names are a little strange, and one band is called "Hella". If that doesn't bug you, this won't be a problem. If it does but you're still interested, I'll put up a different video soon with more samples. I have become very fond of this genre of music.)

...You Know What, We Simply Present: Gwen Smith's Uncluttered

Oh dear, this really doesn't fall into any of the categories...It's just been on my mind today.

Awesome video, just awesome. Excellent message, and...only <10000 page views! (so it COULD count for a "Love Deprived"...)

Randomized Cool: Pi, We Love You.

Continuing the "numbers" trend, here is Pi by Kate Bush. Admittedtly, over 300000 views, but still seems a little underloved. So let us spread the word, and fill the world with Pi. 



Numbers Have Love

Just know this. Numbers...add meaning to life.
They don't just tell you
how much time you've wasted today
how little you are really getting paid
How long a distance you have to travel to reach your goals
Sometimes they say "You're almost there; don't give up."
Or "You've defied the odds, you've broken the rules, but the rules don't care. Congrats."
Or "This one little
mistake
waste
problem
incident
spike of pain
moment of heartache
failure
misfortune
hurt
sorrow
time of despair
is like an instantaneous velocity of the speeding line
it's existence holds things in place
without it, the physical as we know it
couldn't exist
but the number describing it
is so small
so infinitesimally small
it infinitely nears zero
it brushes against the nothing
it reached the Event Horizon
and in the grand scheme
When infinity becomes our reality
though it shouldn't be forgotten
because scars, you see,
add character
and harden the skin
and remind us of life before,
it can still be counted
as zero.
nothing.
nothing at all."

Sometimes Numbers are much nicer than you first assumed.

Devotional: Blessings of God---No One Forsaken

Psalm 9:10,18 (KJV)

"And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord , hast not forsaken them that seek thee."

And

"[18] For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever."

Just felt like sharing that with you tonight. This exact subject has been on my mind a ton recently. let us act as the hands of God and reach out to those in need. Let us allow God to bless us as well. We all could use it, especially in times such as these.

God bless, my readers. God bless.

~RRC

Steve Jobs...May He Rest in Peace.

I know that millions of people have probably commented on, tweeted and facebooked about, and reblogged this news, but...wow, Steve Jobs is dead. I'm very saddened...

Reblogged:

"The family of former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said that he died "peacefully" on Wednesday, surrounded by his family. A memorial Web site will be posted.
Jobs passed away at the age of 56. Jobs is survived by his wife Laurene and two children, as well as a daughter from a previous relationship.

On August 24, Jobs stepped down, stating that he could no longer meet his duties and expectations as Apple's chief executive. Jobs was diagnosed with and treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer in 2004, but he said the 2009 absence was not a resurgence of that cancer. He took a medical leave of absence in January.
In a statement, Jobs' family said he died peacefully.
"Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.
"In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve's illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.

"We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief."
Numerous members of the tech world chimed in with their own tributes, and Twitter was filled with condolences attached to the #RIPSteveJobs hashtag. Online, mourners began leaving notes on Facebook tribute pages as well as the Steve Jobs Day Facebook page."

The original and complete article can be found on PCmag.com. I don't know if it's the best article written on the subject (i thought it was pretty good); i just picked a concise one and went with it. There were a ton of kind, touching comments worth looking through, as well.

I personally owe Steve Jobs for awesome computers, Apple in general, and especially for Pixar. yep, that's right; Pixar might never have existed if he hadn't believed in what those crazy, story-loving, author/artist/computer geeks could do back in the day. I thank him, and pray for him and his family.


~Sincerely,

RRC

Love Deprived: Amazone by Sortilège

I'm not completely familiar with Sortilège, truth be told, but I do like what I've heard so far; primarily this particular song (more on them later...I have a weakness for foreign music, especially rap, opera, or heavy metal. Don't ask me why).  

What I gathered from the lyrics and title, it is about women who are Amazon warriors and describes their passion and lethal ability masked by disarming beauty (that is my guess, anyway. ;)  Being new to the rules of the French language, I wasn't sure how to position the words so that the translator that I used [Google's very own langauge tools] would make the most sense. Also, it's an online translator, albeit a rather good one; anyone know of a site with translated lyrics or who speaks French? I like to check up on all of my songs, to make sure the lyrics are not only good quality but okay spiritually. :)

While this does seem to be one of their more popular ones, it still has (currently) under 6000 views. Enjoy.

Randomized Cool: Paper Shepherd

Just thought I'd post this because it's AWESOME. Just so you know.

Randomized Cool: Orca Statue+

I prepared a great long post ready for today, but it needs to be edited, I had trouble coming up with anything else, and it's really late and I'm EXHAUSTED. So, I was skimming through wikipedia, just trying to find an idea for my next post, when i came to the article on killer whales and found this lovely statue from the early 1900's done by Bill Reid.




The picture can be found on the article here and the original photo on flickr here. I think I'll do a nice post on statues and killer whales and satues of killer whales and Bill Reid and ancient art (even though this doesn't qualify) and Haida art and etc. but for now...hope you like this pic...

...And these:




found here.



found here.



found here.

And...



found here.

Love Deprived: Tax Free by Jimi Hendrix

Don't know much about the guy, but I know this instramental rocks. And the top choices on youtube have less than 6000 views.

Yes, the pix involve mostly Godzilla, but think about it; it increases the awesomeness by at least 55%. At very least.

(Also, a note to my readers: I personally think that taking youtube videos off the web because they contain a song which viewers can listen to fully without paying for is stupid. If listeners know what the whole song sounds like, they will more apt to buy it, and thus will buy more songs than if they were being cautious. It opens up the market to people who would have never heard of or tried the song otherwise. It does not grant full access like a download does, and thus, if they like the song enough, they will most likely buy it anyway. It's like a free sample: it whets the listener's appitite. If it's good, it's what they're going to buy for dinner. Why am I telling you, the readers this? My argument only works if someone eventually purchases the song. It doesn't have to be you, I'm just saying; if you like it enough, you should probably end up buying it. It's best for the artists and for you. Sorry if that was heavy handed, but few things irritate me more than removal of youtube videos becuase of "Copy Right Infringment", when people clearly state that they do not own the song, so-and-so does. If the companies get more money from these videos, they are less likely to take them down. Okay, I'm off my soap box.)

Randomized Cool: Vocaloid Luka, Just Be Friends

Seriously, a computer singing. A person who programmed a computer to sing. Basically, a human acting as the parts of another human's brain which control vocolization, pitch, tempo, etc. but for a computer system. How awesome is that? Put it to a somewhat surreal video in an anime art style, and you've got it.

Randomized Cool: Socks

I've personally been obsessing over cool socks recently (though I won't say why just yet...), but that's all I'm gonna tell you regarding me and the subject matter.
Bottom line: these socks are sweet.

(note: the links to the sites are in the images.)

Love Deprived: Charmaine

Charmaine is an excellent artist, but most people have never heard of her, unless they heard her song "Run" on Airone. Most of youtube videos of her songs have <50000 views.

She works in the electronic music genre, I believe?

(If the videos aren't working, click this link for "Run" and this one for "Tokyo".)

Her website is here.

Love Deprived: New Age Improv on a Bench

Okay, I cheated a little, but...

I am seeking out things which are quite good or excellent, but which few appreciate: videos, art, songs, bands, theories (math, science...), etc. and letting the world know about. Well, okay, for now the occasional random person who stumbles upon this blog by accident and doesn't immediately click the "next blog" button or tries a different URL or something.

This one I found out about during a Philosophy group, on the subjects of Christianity and Relativism. More on that subject later, but for now...enjoy. (P.S. We Christians are not that cruel, it is not the love of God...but it's sure dang funny.)

(P.P.S. Most videos I post will have 10,000 views or less, but there are exceptions [i.e. I will sometimes post videos with less than, say, 100,000 views, but I prefer more under-loved. The more obscure, the better!]. also, if anyone has any suggestions at all, I'm open to it. However, be warned---I am far less open to any thing, videos, songs, or otherwise, with inapropriateness content of any kind. I am not open to anything obscene. At all. No exceptions.
[:P too harsh? Thought it sounded a little stiff... You know, in a hilarious kind of way...])

(Edit: I have discontinued Love Deprived, but I still post stuff that I think needs more love, and i will mention it when I post it. You may still enjoy. ^J^)

Mystos!

I felt, it being so late and I having many new posts on the rise, I should take a breather and write a short incosiquential post on MST3k (for the "uninformed", Mystery Science Theater 3000).

What can I say, in spite of its silliness (and occasional inapropriateness), it's one of my favorite shows. It has a cult following fo a very good reason--- it appeals either to normal people with a random streak (or perhaps, simply, a good sense of humor) or people who have unique tastes that are hard pressed to be fill anywhere else (unless there's some show out there I missed...). It's witty, as well as crazy; watching it the first time was kind of like, "I...have found...my show!" (after the initial, "What the heck is this?!")

For those of you who are unfamiliar with MST3k...

In the not too distant future,
Next Sunday A.D.
... You know what, just watch this.

Anyway, thought I'd start with what I know (moi), so, though I won't make a habit (hopefully) of raving about my personal opinions...

5 Things About Me and MST...3k that is (but I appreciated the rhyme of sorts...):

1. I liked some of the skits (in fact, the titular one is one of my favorite parts of the show. Take a Look. [long story short, network decided they didn't know what kind of people watched MST3k, so they just played dozens of ridiculous Mentos commercials over and over again between commercial breaks. The cast of mST3k caught onto this...]), but the riffing and the original songs were my favorite. (when I edit this post tommorow, I'll put in some links. Fave songs: normal view, killer shrews, the stock footage song, and more, but later [edit: seriously, I simply can't think of more...])

2. Be warned; it is very hard to watch tv or movies now without a snarky comment or two. This might become you after a few episodes, so, take care.

3. This is the first show I've seen (especially sci-fi wise) comfortable with the fact that it's a tv show and, truth be told, has a cheesy-ness appeal to the scenery.

4. Favorite short in the beginning---either Money Talks or The Puerto Rico commercial (I think Puerto Rico just might win out...)

5. Favorite Episode---it's hard to finish some of those awful, awful movies, even with the riffing, but I have fond memories of The Lost Continent, Killer Shrews, and the Santa Clause movie. I also liked what I saw of Monster A-go-go, but be warned, it is insanely mind numbing to endure, even for a short period of time. same with Beast of Yucca flats, which I liked but was bad enough that my brain didn't think right for the remainder of the day.


And that's it I guess. The links are quite a hassle, because right now I have to do them manually, so if you can be patient, I will try to set them up tomorrow. I have some more writing to do, and then off to sleep! Goodnight, my readers!