NEWS:

12.13.04 - Terrence Marks:

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of classical. My folks wanted a certain set of classical songs so I went and found them. Mostly turn-of-the-century French music. In the process, I got nearly every piano piece that Saint-Saens ever composed. You probably never heard of him before, but keep reading, I'm going somewhere with this. The short answer was that I didn't like them. I'm sure the pianist was talented. I know Saint-Saens was a good composer. And it's my favorite genre of classical music. It just didn't impress me. And after you listen to six pieces of mediocre classical music in a row, any others that you listen to after that aren't going to seem any better; it reaches the point where it all sounds the same. You probably don't like classical music, yourself. Thing is, there's a lot more mediocre classical music out there than any other genre. If you start listening to mediocre albums, you won't be able to tell what's good and what isn't. If you want to get into classical music - and you should at least try - the trick is finding the right place to start. The performers are as important as the composers are. I can't tell the difference between an uninspired rendition of a good song, versus a good rendition of an uninspired song. * Do not start with any kind of "Classical Library" collection. Nobody who actually likes classical music listens to those "25 composers on 25 albums" compilations. Yes, you can get them cheap, but they're not meant to be listened to. They're meant to be prominently displayed so that people who come to visit you see them and are impressed by your exhaustive classical music collection. Their main selling point is that you don't have to make any decisions concerning what kind of music you want. Those four-CD-for-ten-bucks sets aren't much better. Do not start with budget classical. * Don't start with etudes either; I'm not really sure what an etude is. I know it's French for "study". They're usually about as fun as studying. * No "relaxing classical" or anything like that. You want music you can pay attention to and maybe hum a little when it's over. You want music that you can remember. My advice is to pick up a themed compilation, preferably something that costs at least $15. Start with a famous composer; there's a reason why they're famous. My personal favorites are Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals" and Isao Tomita's electronic renditions of Debussy on "The Snowflakes are Dancing". I even didn't like classical until I got "The Snowflakes are Dancing"; now it's one of my favorite albums. If you don't like classical, that's cool. But if you haven't, you should give it a chance. I mean, it's a couple centuries of music and some of it is pretty cool. And discuss it in the forum

12.17.04 - Terrence Marks:

Boy, today's comic sure is existential. I'm sure that's what the director was going for. Anyhow, I was going to go on a long ramble about music, but it's not quite ready. Instead, Isabel and I watched four episodes of the Yakitate!! Japan anime. I like it even better than the manga. I owe fanmail to Anime-Empire for subbing it. And to Takashi Hashiguchi, the mangaka. But that anime inspired us. Isabel wants to work on comics. I want to make bread, but it's 2 AM out here and I don't know how to bake. So instead I have My Christmas Wishlist: (Sorry about not getting this out to you guys a few weeks ago, but hey. Late presents are cool.) * A job, first and foremost. I've done tech support for Gateway, IBM, and the VHA. If it's computer-related and needs fixing or configuring, I can do it. Preferably something around Pasadena, Glendale, or Los Angeles. *A copy of The Moles' Instinct, to replace the copy that I lost while moving to California; dealer's choice of formats. *A copy of any of Mort Garson's zodiac albums; dealer's choice of format. I seriously doubt that they've been released on CD, however. *A copy of "Museum", by Donovan, preferably the demo version off Troubador. Yes, I'm too cheap to buy a two-CD Greatest Hits anthology for a couple of alternate versions. The Herman's Hermits version is acceptable, as well. *Any tropicalia CDs, preferably Gilberto Gil or Os Mutantes. *Tablature to any songs by The Incredible String Band (pre-U). Or "War in Peace" by Skip Spence. *Bass tabs for any song(s) by The Monochrome set. Or "S-E-X-X-Y" by TMBG. Or "Happy Family" or "Indoor Games" by King Crimson. *A copy of the Rumic World compilations that Viz cannot seem to keep in print. *Donations are, of course, cheerfully accepted. I realize my taste in things runs extremely obscure. *Fanmail. You don't have obscure music, an open tech support position, or spare cash? Send fanmail. Not necessarily to me, that's not what this is about. Send fanmail out to three people. Your favorite cartoonist, writer, manga scanlation group...the guy who runs that useful website for your favorite TV show, or hosts that game you play...anybody online who made the Internet a little better for you. Somebody who you think doesn't get enough fanmail. Let them know you're out there and that you like what they're doing.