Author: Don

Reimu goes to Caledonia

Here’s “Bad Apple” arranged as a strathspey/reel combination. I made two recordings, the first solo piano, the second strings, ((Solo fiddle would have been better, but none of my virtual violins sounded right.)) piano and bass. The score is here.

Two Bad Apples (piano) (Right-click the titles to download the mp3s.)

Two Bad Apples (strings)

*****

Memo to the Brickmuppet: Non-existent tornadoes are rarely dangerous. Lost sleep because of faulty sirens is a greater concern. Also, what the hell is a “vibrant and rewarding social life”? The words don’t go together.

Boom x 10

Colima

Colima, a volcano west of Mexico City not far from the Pacific coast, is getting feisty. There’s a good view on the webcam here, ((when it works)) and when it’s cloudy you can watch time-lapse videos by clicking the icons below “El día en un minuto.”

Colima has been deemed a “decade volcano” by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior, one of sixteen worthy of special study because of capacity for dangerous eruptions and proximity to populated areas. Some of the denizens of Volcano Café find the IAVCEI list unsatisfactory and are currently announcing their own, one volcano at a time each Friday. ((usually if they feel like it)) Theirs is based on the pleasant notion of “million death expectancy” possible within the next century or so. Of the five listed thus far, I anticipated two (Kelud and Mayon), was not surprised by two of the others, but did not expect #7 at all. There are five more to go. I hesitate to make any predictions, but I’m pretty sure that Yellowstone is not on the list.

Superhero appreciation

Anthony Sacramone:

Believe me, you don’t want to live in a country that doesn’t have Comic-Cons, that doesn’t know how to play—even well into adulthood. When exactly are you too sophisticated, too grounded, too spiritual, too concerned with the plight of the suffering masses, too damn serious to set out on bold intergalactic adventures, even if you never leave the confines of a climate-controlled auditorium?
You know when? When you’re part of the problem.
You know which countries don’t have Comic-Cons? Syria. Sudan. North Korea. Saudi Arabia. Venezuela. Cuba.

Bradley J. Birzer:

Throughout the western tradition, man has craved heroism. We may find it in an Odysseus, an Aeneas, or a Beowulf. We may find it in a St. Perpetua, a St. Ignatius, or a Sir Thomas More. We may find them in an Ivanhoe, a Natty Bumppo, or a Sherlock Holmes. Or, we may find them in a Superman or a Batman. There is a continuity from an Aeneas to a St. Ignatius to a Superman. We long for heroes, and we will have them. Indeed, the entire genre of the superhero most closely resembles the stories of the saints. While more modern comic authors have often shaded the areas of morality, in terms of violence and sex, the great figures of the genre—Superman and Batman, to name two—remain, at essence good. Their goals are for a just and merciful society. The powers of the superheroes—when so endowed—are the powers of the Catholic and Orthodox saints. They can levitate, bi-locate, teleport, and see visions of the past, future, and into other realms. Should we be surprised? The Greeks and Romans had their gods, demi-gods, and heroes. The medievals had God and His saints. Consequently, we moderns, no matter how sophisticated we believe ourselves to be, have our new demi-gods and heroes.

Hybrid vigor

While there are plenty of Vocaloid cover versions of popular songs, examples of live human vocalists covering songs originally “performed” by software singers are less common. They do exist, though, and Wagakki Band‘s first album consists entirely of Vocaloid songs. Even without the novelty repertoire, the group is noteworthy for their lively combination of traditional Japanese instruments and hard rock. I’m curious to hear their second album, which features their own material.

I think this is the original, with Hatsune Miku.

If you’d like to play along, there are plenty of arrangements here.

(Via Vocaloidism.)

Continue reading “Hybrid vigor”

Gensokyo inverted

Minor and major

Touhou melodies generally are in minor modes. However, if you invert them — e.g., where the original goes up a major second, the transformed melody goes down a major second — you frequently get bright, cheerful major key tunes. I combined several inverted themes and made a piano rag out of them. Here is the “Gensokyo Rag.”

Touhou music aficionados might find it interesting to identify the original tunes. The excerpts from “U.N. Owen” should be easy to spot, but the others may be more challenging. Standing on your head might help.

You can download it here.

Update: The sources of the tunes I used are identified below the fold.

The score is up at my MuseScore page.

Continue reading “Gensokyo inverted”

Unbelievable speed

That is faster than my usual cruising speed on my bicycle, but if you're planning to bop around the solar system at 25 k/h, pack a lunch.
That is faster than my usual cruising speed on my bicycle, but if you’re planning to bop around the solar system at 25 k/h, pack a lunch.

I sampled a few of the summer offerings on Crunchyroll. Classroom Crisis‘ chief distinction is that every single one of its characters is annoying. It also make unreasonable demands on one’s willing suspension of disbelief. Pass.

Just how densely rocky is the asteroid belt? There's no way you could navigate through this at 25 k/h, let alone 250,000 k/h.
Just how densely rocky is the asteroid belt? There’s no way you could navigate through this at 25 k/h, let alone 250,000 k/h.

GATE, on the other hand, might be very good if it doesn’t overplay the otaku card. See Steven for comments and screencaps. Update: There’s a more detailed discussion of the first episode here, with lots of screencaps.

I eventually dropped every spring series, though I might yet finish Rin-ne and Etotama. Mostly when I watch anything, it’s either an old movie — Airplane! and This Is Spinal Tap are still very funny — or neglected anime — Shounen Onmyouji deserves a license rescue, and Un-Go, though partly spoiled by too many novelties, provides something to think about and warms my cold, cynical heart.

I recently discovered that Hulu has The Avengers from the 1960s, with Diana Rigg and the late Patrick Macnee in glorious black-and-white. I’m pleased to note that Steed and Mrs. Peel remain excellent company. Checking just now, I see that Patrick McGoohan’s Secret Agent is also available. I’ll have to see how well it corresponds to my memories.

… and now back to the inverted world.

As who likes it?

"Ganymede" and Orlando

At one point in As You Like It, Rosalind, the female lead, while dressed as a boy, pretends to be a girl as she gives Orlando, the male lead, a workshop in courtship. In Shakespeare’s time, Rosalind would have been played by a boy, so you would have a boy portraying a girl disguised as a boy pretending to be a girl. This sort of ambiguity ought to be irresistable to a certain class of otaku, and I’m surprised that there hasn’t been an As You Like It anime yet.

All the girls were acted by females in the “Shakespeare in the Park” production of As You Like It I saw Sunday evening, as were many of the guys — the latter not very convincingly. It might have worked better if most hadn’t been so chubby and if they had been able to project their voices better.

Continue reading “As who likes it?”

A few quotes

Next year, instead of buying TurboTax, I’ll just let the Chinese government file my taxes for me.

—J. Greely, in the comments here.

What is slavery? Well let us suppose Jewish rules applied … It is saying, “You can manage my life better than I can.”
What does government tell us these days? “We can manage your life better than you can.”

—Classical Values

It’s time to stop privileging sanity.

—Strange Herring