Aural Focus

"I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be."
- Peter Gibbons
Office Space

Sometimes, I think we all need a day like this. I got one today, and it felt GREAT. =)





Evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the first blog here that just might throw you off... mostly because I willingly detract from the usual norm*.

Why? It has to do with two things: what happened to me when I woke up, and what I did for the day afterwards.



I woke up and for the first hour of consciousness or so, I had zero sense of time - for some odd reason, my sense of time was not active. I had trouble convincing myself today was Thursday, and it took me about ten minutes' worth of staring at an analog clock** and roughly fifty minutes of me mentally arguing with myself about whether today was actually Thursday or not.

After that weird... episode... I decided that I would just take it easy for the rest of the day. As a result, today was mostly uneventful. For starters, I was asleep most of the day for some unknown reason, and when I was active, it was either to react to a power outage that nearly messed up my external hard drives (I was defragging my laptop and the externals at the time) or eating a meal that would give me a pleasant food coma.

I wanna say that I pretty much became Peter Gibbons incarnate... y'know, if I actually had work today at a desk job I hate oh-so-much. That's not to say that I did absolutely nothing - I had a personal day that I thoroughly enjoyed (and currently still enjoying) sorting music, listening to said music, sorting TCG cards, and sipping various suicides*** and cleaning my room. It sounds uneventful, but paradoxically I think I actually got a decent amount of things I wanted done. Made me happy and - from a mental standpoint - fully recharged. I like that. It's going to be worth it being in a state like this when I go into work for the Memorial Day weekend.



So, what does all that have to do with today's entry and it "detracting from the usual norm" that I go by? Well, that's where the footnotes come in. (Well, the first one, at least.)



* = For God's sake, I threw up the quote as the first thing on here! How does that NOT detract from the usual norm? Also, notice that the bulk of today's entry is first as compared to the pre-blog things I usually tout off when I throw up something decent. Come on... PLEASE tell me you're not this dense...

** = A lazy American? Using analog clocks to tell time!? HAH! That sounds almost as preposterous as card games on motorcycles!

*** = I associate the term "suicide" with two different things. The first is the obvious one everyone knows it as (the taking of one's own life). The second (which I was using in the footnoted sentence) is a self-concocted beverage that consists of your choice of whatever drinks are readily available - combined, modified, and served at your disclosure. This can be done as a virgin drink (if you wanna be experimental, kid-friendly and highly caffeinated) or as an alcoholic cocktail that's a wary step up from an Adios Motherfucker (if you wanna be experimental, "kid-friendly" and highly drunk). Just don't use milk. EVER.





Now, seeing as how I had loads of fun going through my music collections, I think that will be today's entry's primary focus. Play the music along with me or search for these things online so you can - if anything, it'll provide you with interesting ambient music.

Who knows? You might end up becoming intrigued by one of these tracks as well. *arches an eyebrow*

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: For your aural pleasure*, I've provided a YouTube link to each of these tracks. Now you don't have to go through a painstakingly difficult search to find out what it sounds like - the only painstaking task you have to go through would be to bear with the annoying advertisements. I just hope you're using an Internet browser that supports tabbed browsing as that'll be much easier to use. Oh, and in regards to finding you links: you're welcome. =P)

* = Heh. "Aural pleasure." Sounds dirty. *snerk*





CURRENT MUSIC:
Bear McCreary - "Prelude to War"
Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Soundtrack

Wow. I just love how this track opens up. I heard this and I'm sitting there thinking of a gazillion different scenarios I could use this in when speaking from a movie perspective.

This track (along with the rest of Battlestar Galactica's music) now has me somewhat intrigued with the show . While it possessed the "space operatic" feel I was expecting from a sci-fi series' soundtrack, the overall ethnic sound carefully woven into the music was a welcome surprise. With the numerous (combat) scenes I imagined in my head as "Prelude to War" played in my head, it made me wonder how the track was actually used in the series.

I've yet to see the actual show itself, but from some of my friends keen in the science fiction department, they say it's a pretty good program. Judging from my reaction to the aural quality of its soundtrack, I think I might have to give the series a shot.


George Michael - "Careless Whisper"
Make It Big

I know a few of my readers were either old enough to listen to music during the 1980s or are fans of '80s music are cheering a bit because of my song selection. Knowledgeable people (in regards to popular music or me) will probably be arching an eyebrow. Of course, the rest of you are probably asking me or yourselves, "...the hell is this song?"

Subconsciously, if you're around my age or older, you already know "Careless Whisper" - either you heard it on some radio station doing some '80s throwback when you were a kid, or your parents listened to this enough.
Regardless, I'm quite sure everyone knows of its famous riff.

Jazz rendition of Super Mario Bros. 3 music aside... *clears throat*


Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda - "Bombardment 2"
Eternal Arcadia Original Soundtrack

Quite the track to use for an aerial-based fight (or any fight, for that matter). Not only that, but it has a bit of a pirate-like feel to it, which makes it all the more fun.

I mean, after all... pirate ships. Airships. Pirate airships. Pirate airship battles. OOO.
Try imagining a pirate ship fight using your choice of vehicles (historical pirate ships, wooden sail airships, spaceships, etc.) and try to use a different track afterwards.

I can guarantee few come close to how... epic... "Bombardment 2" sounds with that.


Koutarou Nakagawa - "Beautiful Emperor"
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Original Soundtrack Volume 1

God, I love this piece. It screams heroic dominance - kind of an announcement to the listener that says, "Hey! Pay attention to the guy/girl who's currently using this as their entry fanfare!" Perfect for byronic narcissists and power-hungry would-be global conquerers alike.

Which means that every once in a while, this'll be blared by yours truly. I might be at work walking into the team member service center to clock out, or I might be stuck in heavy traffic in the city. No matter the situation, you will know... that the person blaring this believes themselves to be of high value to society.

*blares "Beautiful Emperor" and sets the speakers to 11*


The Lonely Island - "I'm on a Boat (f. T-Pain)"
Incredibad

Probably one of The Lonely Island's most known songs from their debut album. Every time this comes on, I can't help but sing along. (It's better if more people are present with you when it does go on. And for future reference, dibs on T-Pain's lyrics. =P)

Anyway, what's NOT to love about this song? Absolutely brilliant - it's a great satirical take on rap songs out there today. Hell - even the music video does the same thing. Incessant swearing, lyrics and film clips that have nothing to do with the song itself, a sick beat, and backing vocals by T-Pain? What more does a rap song/video need?





Well, that'll be it for tonight. I'll see you all tomorrow, I suppose?