Disproportional Return

You know it's going to be an interesting day if the first five seconds of your day started with a tired sign and the words: "I need a drink."

Sunday night looked something like this. Plus three friends. Plus beer. Plus fun.

In all honesty, I didn't drink anything today. (Not yet, at least.) However, it got me thinking about some things, which as we all know leads into more thinking about more things. And then it hit me like a slippery fish: I haven't posted anything yet. Frak! *downs a screwdriver and begins typing furiously*





CURRENT MUSIC:
Bear McCreary - "Refugees Return"
Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 Original Soundtrack

Most everyone here who is reading this should be familiar with the term "bittersweet victory" - where a participating party succeeds in their objective(s) at some kind of cost. It's a staple in most movies and television shows (particularly those involving war), and can also be seen in real life (with "Pyrrhic victory" being viewed as an extreme version of it). Battlestar Galactica is no exception, and Bear McCreary does a wonderful job in translating the meaning of "bittersweet victory" into music. As the end of this month carries with it a bittersweet feel to it (to me, at least), I figured that this track should receive some attention.

"Refugees Return" is one of the more powerful pieces from the third season's score. Portrayed as a subtle track with resonating strings and a lone bansuri near the end, the sound it emanates is all but subtle. It accomplishes a difficult and rather unique task: to aurally portray a duality in victory and defeat - a pair that (at least in music) should never be placed side by side. There's a decent amount of heartwarming strings on here (both literally with the instruments and figuratively with the metaphor - after all, Admiral Adama's mission to rescue pretty much everyone on New Caprica actually worked) that fits with the triumphant surge of the scene. The crowd of civilians even join in on the joy when they start chanting his name and parade him around the hangar deck.

WILLIAM ADAMA: You did it. You brought them home, Saul.
SAUL TIGH: [sheer pain in his voice] Not all of them.

However, it's clear that for some, the costs were too high. The music conveys that throughout the three minutes and forty-five seconds "Refugees Return" plays, and it makes sure to tell us that despite the amazing rescue mission we just saw in this episode, we can't consider this to be a total victory. The experiences of those stuck on the surface (particularly those of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, and especially those of Colonel Saul Tigh) start to sink in, and it is here that the music tells us that these traumatized souls have been scarred deeply. While they're physically present, their cores have been devastated to the point of despair.

Having watched the series before, I decided to watch it again just to see if I catch anything I didn't the first two times around. As I finished watching "Exodus, Part II" I realized that the music here really, really sets the tone for defining the meaning of "bittersweet victory." The civilians' euphoria over being rescued is lifting our moods up, but yet we notice that some walk away with despondency in their eyes. "Refugees Return" brings that to life by setting the surprising groundwork for a Saul Tigh that most Battlestar Galactica fans suddenly begin to sympathize with. Adama spots this, and if you're noticing the contrasts in the scene, you can, too.

Think about it - for the past two seasons we saw this militaristic, zealous alcoholic that many people (both inside the show and out) hated. (I was no exception - I hated the Colonel when I first began watching the show.) Then the third season began, and after going through everything he endured (being interred for Gods-know-how-long by the Cylons, getting his right eye plucked out, and being forced to execute his wife after discovering that she sold the resistance out), we begin to feel sorry, but we don't know it yet. When we see him step off of that Raptor, we no longer see the proud and mighty Saul Tigh - we see a hollow shell of a cyclops man filled with nothing but grief.

Jesus. I don't know how Bear McCreary was able to come up with an amazing score with pieces that just resonate so well with or without a visual accompaniment. Amateur movie makers: if you're filming a scene that needs to aurally convey some kind of bittersweet moment (with said moment leaning a tad more towards "despondency"), then try "Refugees Return." If it's able to carry this kind of emotion, for Battlestar Galactica (and Saul Tigh), then I'm sure it should do the same for your work.


Shouji Meguro - "Reasoning"
Persona 4 Original Soundtrack

Part of me ended up speculating on some things as I reviewed my blogging progress for this month. Truth be told, I was a bit baffled with myself and how I let May end up like this. Feel like being the Watson to my Sherlock Holmes, ladies and gentlemen? Yes? Good, because it's time for us to be solving a mystery. Cue the music! *dons a detective hat*

"Reasoning" plays in Persona 4 occasionally whenever your party members or one of the Inaba police detectives attempt to extrapolate clues from newly-learned evidence. It's got the perfect sound for a mystery - which is rather fitting when you consider the fact that you're trying to solve a murder case in-game.

While I'm having better success in the story of the PlayStation 2 game, I'm not having so much luck here in real life. There's something that's been bugging me for the last night or two, and I've been trying to figure out what's going on. But rather than tell you all about it right here, you'll just have to read on in the actual meat of today's entry. (At least Dojima knows what he's dealing with in his mystery. Sort of.)





Afternoon, everypony. We're dealing with the end of the month here, and that means I can finally relax after it ends. Sort of.

Sweetfire Spam and Fried Eggs Marshall on Garlic Toast.

However, I have things to do and stuff to talk about, so it looks like I can't call it a day just yet. Get ready, folks - it's time to write. But first, lemme scarf my brunch down. I'm hungry. *noms*





Trial Session Almost Up!
(If you would like to get the full version, please upgrade now.)

The Thirty Thousand Trial is going to end after tomorrow, and I can finally rest easy. Suffice to say that unlike the last trial, this one seemed to be a tad more arduous. While I continued to go on and write longer entries back in the early days of October 2011, June 2012 may not have the same results.

Honestly, I don't know what it was about this month that got me so strained for typing things up and composing entries for people to read. Last I checked, I didn't have much on my plate, and I didn't have anything on mine back in September, either. So what was it that got me so... what's the word? I don't want to say "disillusioned," but I want to say something in relation to this feeling of mental lethargy. Let's go with that.

So what was it that got me to be so mentally lethargic? I'm pretty sure I hung out with people as much as I did back in September (if not more), so a deficit in social interaction can't be the case. While the 805 can be pretty boring at times, it wasn't that dead (social interactivity helps a lot in that part), and there were plenty of things to do... when I was scheduled a shift. Honestly, all the good things with my friends happen when I'm working, and all the good things at work happen on my days off. Crappy stroke of luck there, don't you think? As bad as that is, though, I'm not sure that's the source of this laziness. *crosses off checklist*

Maybe it's because I have no real source of inspiration lately. Okay, that's not true - I do have plenty of sources and resources, but maybe I'm just too tired of drawing on them... too tired to do anything productive... too "bleh" over everything. I get all these things I want to do, and then I try doing all of them, and then I end up with my energy sapped and gone and all of these things are only at 35% completion at best. So, by that regard, maybe it's just tackling too many things. However, I do that all the time, and every once in a while it becomes the subject of a blog entry (perhaps a potential life lesson for me?). So... that can't be it, either. *crosses off checklist*

Heh. Now you can see why "Reasoning" is on the playlist for today. (Stop thinking it's because I'm obsessed with Persona 4.)

Sometimes my frustrations make me want to cry. But then I remember that there's other things to cry over... like doing a painful amount of wing-ups. With friends watching. And staring. AND JUDGING.

So what is it? One month hanging dry with only a few decent entries and we don't even know if this is serious or not. We've got no clues about the perp. We don't even have a sus because the sec with a mo's got a perf al. (Shut UP, Adachi!) While this is nothing serious, it's starting to drive me up a wall since I can't figure out what's wrong with this scenario - what's wrong with this month and this trial.

I'm starting to think that maybe this month was just a bad one to pull off a second trial - and not for the reasons you'd think they'd be. While it was by no means quiet and boring, May was probably not my month for me to do this effectively. I did say I wanted something to do for this month back in April, but maybe I was a bit over my head. *shrugs*





Vlog It Up
(So much to do in so little time!)

Much to do, much to do - and I've little time to deal with any of it. So why'd I write it out, then?

I said I'd post a video blog by the end of the month, and would you look at the time!? That means I have until tomorrow night to do so - otherwise I'm probably going to smack myself silly.

As you can see with the above image, there's going to be a fair amount of topics I'm going to (attempt to) cover, so it'll be interesting to see me attempt to create a vlog that's short, sweet, to-the-point, and all-around funny... while covering anything and everything that apparently exists.

What some of it may look like. It's all subject to change. And that's not a typo.

Time is short, and I have to spend some of it at work. Why do I set myself up for these things, really? All I know is that I have tomorrow off, and between writing another set of thousand words on here and having to post this, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this and escape with my sanity in check... but damn, I have to try!





At the (Lego) Rock Show
("You'll be right in the front row. Heart and soul - they both know it's where you gotta be!")

Since I'm the kind of guy who is still a child at heart, I figured I'd showcase some silly things. And guess what? We'll be building this silly thing! Lego time! Huzzah!

Remember earlier this month how I showcased a made-up band within the Lego world I've imagined for my minifigs? Well, apparently they were playing a live show for some mercenary soldiers in the densely-grassy fields where the air still smells of peace.

TreSkullz in an undisclosed field, playing on top of a self-propelled artillery gun.
From left to right: Giselle A. Tasselano, bagpipes; Liva "Shocker" Adley, lead vocals and lead guitar; Sporto, bass guitar and vocals; and Travis Oremo, trumpet.

Apparently, they recruited a fourth member in bagpiper Giselle Tasselano, so the band name might change (there's four skulls instead of three now). Regardless, I think they're having fun.

TreSkullz posing for their sophomore album Historia.

So much fun in fact that when they began recording their second album, Sporto was able to convice the others to dress up in league with their album's overall theme of world history. The whole point of the outfits here was that they were emulating history worldwide. Travis is sporting a pseudo-Medievalesque outfit; Giselle's wearing a pseudo-Roman legionnaire outfit; Liva's donning a cavewoman loincloth; and Sporto decided to go all tribal (and yes: that headband's on him all the time).





Alright, everypony; that's it for today. If you'll excuse me, I have work to go work at... and other work for me to take care of by 'morrow's end. I'll see y'all at that time, so take care of yourselves!