Trivia that matter
So it seems they kicked this thing off with a production meeting where they asked: How can we update Ushio and Tora to make it relevant to the 21st century?
And then fired everyone who offered suggestions.
That makes two shows that might be worth my time this summer. (The other is GATE.)
(The art is from here.)
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.)
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.
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.
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.
Another one of my pictures is the Botany Photo of the Day.
I’m in the middle of a complicated project, and I’ll probably remain scarce for a while. The picture above is a sort of preview.
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.
See if you can guess how I spent Sunday evening. A hint:
There was a reverse trap involved.
Blank spaces count as characters. It’s true.
I wasn’t sure. And then I thought of you.
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.”
It’s time to stop privileging sanity.
Just when you thought you were safe from the St. Louis Jesuits:
Missa Meus Parum Equus. ((Or something like that; my Latin’s very rusty.))
(Via the comments at Josh’s place.)
Will someone please put the Flash plugin out of its misery? I’m tired of updating the damned thing every fifteen minutes. My laptop refuses the most recent update, and I don’t blame it.
Recent editions of the free notation software MuseScore have the ability to import MIDI files. This means, in principle, that I can export pieces I’ve written in Logic to MuseScore and put them online for anyone silly enough to want to play them. It’s a bit fiddly, but it does work with a little fussing, and I’ve launched a page at MuseScore for my sheet music. There are only a couple of pieces there so far, but there will eventually be more. Whether anyone finds them worth playing remains to be seen.
Here are the first two measures of “Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom — Nuclear Fusion,” from the Touhou Game Subterranean Animism, as arranged by Dorian Bluet. The notes in the treble clef include C, G, G-flat, D, A, A-flat, E, F, D-flat and B. In the bass clef there are E-flat and B-flat. ZUN might not be a rigorous old-fashioned avant-garde dodecaphonist, but there are surprises in his music.
What exactly does “much cooler” mean?
Most versions of “U.N. Owen Was Her?,” whether they be rock, techno, frenetic piano, accordion or whatever, tend to be frenzied, heavy and ominous. I took a different approach with ZUN’s tune.
It’s my computer playing, as usual, though I think this arrangement is simple enough that even I could manage it. I’m not entirely happy with it and I may revisit it someday.
The connection between Ulick and Una Owen and Flandre Scarlet is rather tenuous.
Update (July 16): I revised the arrangement and uploaded a new recording. I’m still not satisfied with it, but I’ve tinkered with it long enough.
You can see and download the score here. The mp3 is here.
Something to brighten a slow Tuesday morning. (Via the Borderline Boy.)
I’m in the middle of several projects right now, plus it looks like the rains are pausing long enough to allow a bit of gardening. Consequently, I will continue to be scarce here, and what I do post will likely be inconsequential.
Here’s a preview of one of the projects. Those who know their Touhou might recognize the tune.
Celles et Ceux des Cimes et Cieux from Gwenn GERMAIN on Vimeo.
A trailer for a movie that doesn’t exist but should, with music by Joe Hisaishi.
I quit watching teevee when I was quite young, so I never saw this until a few days ago.
Seventeen minutes of Roger doing what Roger does, non-stop.
I discovered this morning that as of last January, the translation of Marie & Gali 2.0 has reached episode three. That leaves just 27 more to go. I wonder if I’ll live long enough to see the rest.
