the cornerlaugher

I have this friend
who is really awesome.


I talk to her
on
the
phone.


I've never seen New in Town,
she informs me,

but I might like

tapioca pudding.


I have a platypus.


She tells me

I will fit in only if I am on LSD.


The friend...

not the platypus.


Just so you know.


But the platypus is pink
and male, anyway.


(Not a she.)


I wonder about platypuses.


(Platypi?)


Anyway,
why do they lay eggs?


Why

do bears hibernate?


And why

don't I

hibernate as well?


What does a bear do

that makes it

so

very

tired?


What do I do

that makes me

so


very


tireder?


Make up words?


Tastry. Debacon. Squarea. Pitytart.


Whimsy
overtakes me.


Poems about math,

hamburger doodles,

stuffed platypi,

knee-high umbrella socks.


Portions of fancy,

samples of dreams,

glimpses of memory,

fragments of musing.


Like so many

awkwardly

spaced

thoughts

on a regular, dreary Thursday.

Song of the Week 22: 'The Result is Always Death' by Another Soundscape

Alright, I'm not going to go into all my random commentary that I put in here. I might as well just get to the song and start reviewing it. Okay, so this week's song is from the game series "Shadow Hearts", and the song is called "The Result is Always Death". What a depressing title; this better be good. Anyway, for information on the song, click here. For those who don't have enough time to look at information as well as other comments from other reviewers, click here for the direct link to the song.

The beginning of the song is rather eerie, but if it weren't for the dynamics in the sounds giving off that feeling, it would start out with a rather dull impression. Fortunately, at 0:08, a beat comes in to make things a little more interesting. The syncopation between the beat and the melody is great, by the way. At 0:13 some strings are added in for an extra effect. As you can tell from previous reviews, I love a song with a string section. At 0:16 everything seems to come together into one melody, a percussion section, and also a bass and string section in the background. It's interesting how even though the song is very electronic, it's very relaxing. At 0:30 most of the instrumentation here drops, and it's just the bass and percussion proving that they can be just as interesting as the melody. I'm not saying that the bass and percussion are boring, it's just that the melody draws my attention. At 0:47 the song goes back into what it was at 0:16 though. At 1:17 different sounds are introduced, such as the triangle, the piano, and a semi-low bass section. The melody here on the piano is awesome; it really gives off a "mysterious" feeling (if that's some way to describe it). At 1:48 the song combines the two different sections (the one from 0:16, as well as the one from 1:17) to make one great section. The bass does a really good job of supporting the piano also, providing an excellent harmony to go with it. This entire section continues until the song is almost over, 2:51 to be precise. Here everything is dropped except for the piano, the bass, and some bells in the background to go with it. Thus the song ends with a brief bass solo.

Pros: There was great instrumentation in this piece, and was executed very well with its use of dynamics, harmonies, background sounds, etc. It gave off a great mood while listening to it also.

Cons: The bass was probably a little bit too loud during some sections of the song; the same goes to the percussion as well. It wasn't all that bad though, so it doesn't affect the song too much.

Overall: Well done, AnSo. Well done. Can't say much other than that.

Rating: 9.5/10

Sonnet XX "Ghosts"

With Memory ephemeral,
And history constructed myth,
And mother's milk so tainted with
That madness daemoniacal
Which so corrupts the unformed mind
To swallow wholly ever Lie
And call it true, we can but try
To maintain Hope to someday find
A meaning, Hope, however small,
A future, Hope, however dim,
An exit, Hope, however slim,
A wingéd Hope to never fall.
With nets of myth and lie and shame,
We long for Hope to fly again

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Reogan is gone for just about the entire month and I'm in charge if you haven't already figured that out. Last week I managed to schedule everything in advance and it wasn't half bad as far as quality goes. However, this week will be interesting. I want to provide quality posting every day, but it's not easy. I'm currently in the process of writing the next chapter of Operational Catalyst, so hopefully that'll appear this week, but as far as the other stories go (bar Karachay) it's going to be an interesting ride. Hopefully I'll find some authors to help contribute in these "difficult times." Any ideas? You tell me.

Advent of Mystics: Chapter One

The forest was settling into an evening calm. Saren watched as his daughter walked toward him, head bowed in disappointment. There was silence as they walked back to their small home together. Saren knew what had likely transpired. Miranda, his only daughter, had always shown a keen interest in magic, a remarkable thing in such transient times. She'd taken an upper school course on the subject and was now in the process where it was do or die; guessing by the look on her face, Saren knew the answer. Miranda had never been talkative, she was brilliant with a firm grasp of philosophy, religion, and science. Saren knew this was a very rare combination and he did everything he could to manage his daughter to the best of his ability despite the changing times.
"There's still hope." He said to his daughter over dinner, as if it could lighten the mood.
She didn't respond.
Saren didn't know what to do, he had once worked as a mage, traveling the land, keeping order, and helping the poor. He knew magic, but he hadn't the knack for it his wife did. His wife, Faith, was away, working to support the family as the sole source of income. She was a talented magic user with pitch black hair and an often solemn expression. Miranda knew little of her mother, she was only able to return to the small village twice every year. Saren knew that his daughter wanted to be just like Faith, but he had no idea how to make things right for Miranda.
"I'm done." Miranda snapped Saren out of his thoughts.
"You didn't..."
"Father, I'm nineteen, I'll finish it later. I know."
Saren sighed as he watched her head out to the front porch. That was the other thing about Miranda, she loved to spend time outdoors, always embracing nature. However, it also meant that she was somewhat of an isolationist, taking long walks in the woods on her own. Saren didn't like the way things in the world were headed. He was no expert, but he could see the new generation clash with the old on the most central topic of the last 40 or so years, magic and science. It'd started about 20 years ago, around when Miranda was born, that the news of a man in a far off town had invented a new weapon based on explosives. War hadn't followed, not then, but Saren believed it was only a matter of time. This new discovery led to a renewed interest in the science of mundane life: physics. Most of the new generation openly rejected magic as the inferior ways of the past. Although magic was by far more formidable in combat, the new generation hailed scientific discovery in physics as the new way of thinking. A wide gap had formed between science and magic, there were extremists on both sides, but so far it hadn't sparked a conflict. However, the new leads in science has persuaded the extremists to take a new direction most saw as absolute madness. Despite the growing gap between science and magic, it was still the general consensus that the Lyoh was a very real and powerful intelligent force behind magic. The extreme scientists denied this assertion with the claim that magic was just with certain people because of their heritage. It was a very dangerous belief and the few that expressed it openly were often driven away from civilization.
"Father?"
Saren looked at her, his face still wrinkled in thought.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes," He looked down briefly before looking up again.
She sat down and began to finish what remained of her meal.
Saren stared at the table, mind blank of solutions for any of the current problems.
"It's okay, father. I'll find something else to do." Miranda said after finishing her meal.
"I know." Saren was disconcerted; he knew it was a sure sign of age if his daughter was comforting him.
"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked him.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should've worked with you more, I could've done something." It was one of those rare moments where Saren was actually bringing his problems to his daughter.
"It's not your fault. I just can't do alchemy or transformations." She replied.
Saren just sighed, still deep in thought.
"I love you."
"I love you too." He replied, still unsure of what to do in this situation. Miranda was successful at nearly everything she put her mind to and he was not used to dealing with her failure; he's had enough of his own failure during his lifetime.
They spent the rest of that day in the main room, only briefly striking up topics of conversation. The sun shown in through the windows and they moved their conversation outside as the sun neared the horizon and the sky changed to dusk. Saren and Miranda had watched sunsets together nearly every night since Miranda had been born. Tonight was different in one respect; there was a green glow that night, not unusual enough for people to talk about, but many later remembered it as the night where everything changed.

Song of the Week 21.5: 'Global Empire' by Big Giant Circles, Sole Signal, Tweek (redo)

I have another .5 edition this time, mainly because this post is going to be a little more unique than the others. This review is going to be based off an earlier Song of the Week by Met, back when he first started doing these. It's my job now to make it longer, more detailed, and basically better than the one that was written over a year ago. This is from Song of the Week 6. After reading it, Met still has the introductory stuff down; he's way better at that than me, even when he posted it a year ago. So yeah, here's the link to the song information, and here's the link to the direct song. So anyway, here's the song called "Global Empire".

This song first starts out rather quiet, but then it crescendos until 0:18. At 0:18 it gives off a very electric feel, sounding almost robotic. The percussion in this section works out great, by the way. At 0:40, it transitions into...an orchestral song? That's pretty awesome. The entire rhythm can really be described using one word, a word that Met even used in his review: epic. At 0:51, you can now hear a mix of electric and orchestra. That's a pretty interesting combination; I never would have thought that those two music genres would combine, and then actually make the song sound awesome. At 1:03 it goes back into mainly electric though. The beat here is insane; the percussion absolutely drives here. At 1:26 it switches back into an orchestra piece. I do so love a song with a great string section, and this is definitely something with that quality. At 1:48 there's more of a mix of genres again; this time it's more of a mix between orchestra and rock. The melody for this section is very cool, especially at 2:45. At 3:03 more bass is brought up, which really helps bring out the song a little more. At 3:10 there is a brief piano interlude, which really calm things down. The wind chimes here in the background along with the piano make a very relaxing tone. At 3:32 the track goes back into the electric genre, with some additional piano to help. At 3:55 the melody that was previously piano changed into a more electric-sounding melody here. I personally liked the piano before, but that's only my opinion. At 4:09 there's a section which probably sounds the most electric, and it's most likely the most upbeat section of the song. The beat, along with the bass, are amazing here. I could definitely tap my foot to this song. There are short little breaks where the sounds in the song are completely cut for a beat. It's really not that important, but I thought I would just mention that because it's sounds really cool. At 5:03 there's a very cool part where it sounds like somebody is scratching records, and then all of a sudden at 5:05 it goes right back into the orchestra. The artist(s) nailed that transition right there. Along with the orchestra is some electric guitar in the background; it really shows that this section is a mix of orchestra and rock. Then at 5:17, it's a mix of all three coming together. This is absolutely awesome, mixing these three different genres into something so cool. The electronic melody here is insane compared to the rest of the instruments being played. Instead of everything else, where they play a simple, yet epic rhythm, the melody goes all out. It really stands out, and has to be one of the coolest parts of the song. This section dies down at about 6:03, and then the song comes to a close.

Pros: There's too many of them! This really is incredible stuff here. The instrumentation, the melodies, the variety. This is an awesome piece of music right here.

Cons: I can't really think of any for this song...

Overall: This is definitely a piece worth listening to, and I hope others can enjoy it as well. This is brilliantly executed, and pretty much flawless.

Rating: 9.6/10

Karachay: Part 6

Thursday, June 1st, 1967
Dear Isaak,
I can hardly spare the time to write you. Four more have fallen ill, and only one has recovered. The first - the man I have written of from the beginning - fluctuates between fevered dreams and nightmarish, waking rants. He refuses food and drink, and I've no way to drug him. I find myself being called about the village at all hours, and I worry that I may stretch myself too thin. If I were to-
But such talk is neither here nor there. We've little room for the hypothetical when the actual demands so much of us. As it is, we've little room for that which makes life worth living. But we make it. We sit and we write our letters. We ask the important questions.
Speaking of which, how is our friend Mikhail? Give him my love, and this message: "I find myself remembering your spirits fondly, though I suspect that it is merely because even pigswill is preferable to nothing at all."
I don't notice the dust anymore. I've never a need to remember my mask, as I'm never in one place long enough to remove it. I fear life will remain like this until I die. Few intend to leave, even if it means death, and I am bound to them. How is-
The bell is tolling. I doubt I will have more time to write, and so I wish you all the luck you need.
Sincerely,
Lyov

NaNoWriMo

Suicide.

They call it
Painless.


It's not.


Not when you

Carve

Your noose.

Pull threads of
Soul

Into the loom.


Not when
Death
Comes from


Words.

Song of the Week 21: 'Wasteland' by zircon

Okay, this week's song is once again from a site that I've never even heard of again. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just that I don't even know how the heck Met finds all these songs for me to review. So yeah, here's the link for the song. It's called "Wasteland", and it's by the artist Zircon. I've heard of Zircon (mainly from what Met tells me of him), but I still really don't know much about him or any of the artists for the songs I review. Enough of that though, so I might as well start off this review.

The first ten seconds of the song sound sort of creepy; it gives off a science-fiction sound (if that's a good way to explain it). More of a beat starts to appear at 0:10, and that with some percussion added in give off a nice electronic groove. At 0:21 more treble sounds start to appear, consisting of a string section. This at this point makes up the melody. At 0:33 the piano takes over the melody, transforming the strings into more of a bass section. Until 0:43, the piano is just simple, loud notes. When it does get to 0:43, the melody in the piano has a little more excitement. It's not much excitement, but it's something better at least. At 0:54 it drops down into just the bass and percussion playing, which works quite well together. More piano appears during this section also. The dynamics of this song are pretty decent; the piano is loud enough, however the percussion and bass could change volume level once in a while. At 1:16 the song definitely become more upbeat than it was before. This section is pretty sweet, although lacking a melody. It dies down, and during this section you can hear somewhat of a melody. At 1:56 the song transitions into a different rhythm, with some musical harmony to support the piano melody. At 2:40 it goes back into what it was before at 1:16, with some differences though. At 3:08 it dies down again, leading into the song's conclusion.

Pros: The song did give off a nice feel, the instrumentation was decent, and everything blended together nicely.

Cons: There was a lack of melodies in many places, the dynamics weren't all that great, and in some sections the song seemed sort of dry.

Overall: This is a pretty decent song. I can't really give much for a review for it though; it's way shorter than most of the songs I review. It's pretty well-rounded, and the artist did a good job in making this.

Rating: 8.6/10


Met:
I've labeled Marim a heretic for giving zircon a rating under 9 and I will now continue with the proper review :). Alright, you'll notice that this track is from a compilation of sorts for 10/10/10 and it also features a few artists I've heard around at Protagonist Records. However, as far as I'm concerned, Wasteland is a track by zircon from an unreleased album featuring more of a darker tone (something I'm very excited for). With this in mind, it is possible there will be a few minor differences between this track and the actual song when it is released. Going back to my opening statement, I may be a bit bias toward zircon because I absolutely love his music and I've gotten my hands on just about all of his stuff (except maybe the complete Phasma Elementum, his first album). Zircon has built himself an impressive reputation in my opinion and he seems to work tirelessly at what he does. Anyway, I should get down to the review already.

This actually does appear to be a little different from most of the zircon stuff I've heard in the past, but I like how he's pushing things in different directions. Some abstract synthwork starts this track out before the drums are introduced under a low pass which is slowly lifted. Matrix Rob Dougan-esque strings soon join the track, but they soon start laying down a more complicated bass line than I usually hear with Rob Dougan. You'll notice that the time signature is somewhat hard to pin down with the odd percussion hits. I counted it initially in 4, but I soon realized that 3 actually works better; I'd love to see some speculative comments about the time signature here. Anyway, the piano lays down a slow and somewhat wary/trippy melody with the beat and chord progression that breaks open on a high note at around 0:43 with the percussion. The same melody is repeated this time with some higher piano added in further adding to the wary/trippy feel. 0:54 is a transition with a variety of ambient synths and such with some intermittent piano added on top before it breaks open again at 1:16 into a more percussion and synth heavy section. Piano chords are added for emphasis beginning at 1:29 until we loose the trip heavy low percussion at 1:42. At this point the entire track sounds fairly uncertain without the bass as it changes notes almost on a whim, but keeping with the wary/trippy structure of the track, the synth work is pretty good. However, 1:55 brings it back together completely. Now we're rolling with some sweet synths and trippy beats with the original piano melody added in at 2:06. I'm digging the feel here and the trippy beats make for a memorable track at this point even if it isn't your favorite. 2:28 drops the central percussion again, but leaves the piano albeit with some glitch effects this time among the swirling synths. This uncertain section is once again gathered in at 2:39 when things come together in a more resolved form similar to what we heard from 1:29 to 1:55 although this time with the central percussion always there. Things are subtly escalated with the high piano notes and synths until the track wraps up at 3:05 leaving some swirly synth sounds that trail off into the distance.

Pros: Tricky beats and melody with excellent-as-always synth work by zircon. I absolutely dig 1:55 and the ensuing synth, piano, and beat work. Good cohesion on a tricky melody and beat.

Cons: This track seems to suffer from lack of structure, usually zircon's music is more styled specific. This track broke open a little too early in my opinion and it was a little too uncertain. Keeping with the trippy feel this may be intentional, but I can't help but feel that it detracts somewhat.

Overall: zircon is as good as always, but this track let me down slightly. However, that may be the point, keeping with the trippy feel in all; art is art. My personal taste tells me that this track, if it was more mature, would be one of my favorites. However, it seems a little too raw. Perhaps this isn't the final version though; we'll have to wait for zircon's album release. In the mean time, check out Space Whale Studios. Andrew Aversa certainly keeps busy in the world of music and video games.

Rating: I was joking about the heretic thing obviously. This is subject to the same rules as all other tracks we look over. 8.9.

Advent of Mystics: Prologue

The lights cast a greenish hue upon the figure. He raised his hand as if to banish the world from existence. Something had been changed, an altercation without notice. He smiled with grotesque passion at his work. It was only a matter of time before his life, like so many other before him, would be rendered unto oblivion. He knew the truth; death has no avatar of emotion, only coldness.